Southwest Airlines Community

@Spunky1013 wrote: Where can I fly from Louisville for $53? Hola!   This page should help: https://www.southwest.com/find-best-flight-deals/   Scroll down to "Search for Low Fares". As of the time of this post, both airports in Chicago have flights posted for under $100 from SDF. New York LGA Airport $104. I would check back to this page whenever Southwest announces a sale.   Current prices are nowhere near the $53 territory to be clear but hopefully this page can assist in finding destinations with lower fares from SDF.   ... View more

@dtwakgolf wrote: Is there a moderator or community manager that can assist with a username or handle change?   If not, I would like to delete my account.     Hi @CarlyeThornton    It looks like this user is requesting a username change. Thanks!   ... View more

@Peakcelln wrote: I have an iPad 9 with newest updated sw and it still wont play Southwest Inflight entertainment. My Android phone plays it fine. I will get the SW Wi-Fi working, and get into the inflight app. I can even scroll thru all the movies and TV stations; but when I press on any of them, nothing happens. I think all my settings are good, but maybe I'm missing something? I think I remember it working a while back, but not in last 2 yrs or so. Any suggestions? Greetings:   You mentioned your OS software is current which should be at version 14.0+ or higher. You've stated yours is at 17.5.1 which should be good. Southwest also specifies to play movies or on-demand TV for iPad, the Apple Safari browser is the supported browser. Music and Live TV can be played with Safari or Google Chrome on the iPad as supported. See:   https://www.southwest.com/inflight-entertainment-portal/ (scroll to the bottom of the page to the 'What Kind of Device do I need' FAQ.   Please confirm you're using Apple Safari when you try to play the movies or on-demand TV. Also VPN's such as Apple Private Relay may conflict with the portal. Please confirm any VPN's are turned off.  ... View more

@vebba wrote: In the last year I’ve flown internationally on multiple carriers. In the last 3 months I’ve flown Westjet, American, and Delta, and currently, southwest. I am not exaggerating…8 out of my last 10 southwest flights I’ve had no WiFi. These are different hubs, different size planes and crews. WiFi has worked continually both domestically (US) and internationally on almost every flight I’ve taken from literally any other airline. I truly do not understand it. Maybe there’s a technical explanation, I’d love to learn why. It tracks with Southwest performance in falling behind in growth metrics to cheaper options like frontier and allegiant. And at this point it’s almost as expensive as American, United, and Delta. What is going on in WiFi land Hello-   Sorry to hear you're having trouble with the Wi-Fi. Signal drops unfortunately is a known reported issue, especially aboard the older 737-700 fleets but outages have occurred on the other SW planes as you stated. I've also personally had better luck with the signal aboard Southwest's newer fleets.   I would send your inquiry directly to SW Customer service as this forum is customer-to-customer and community posts will most likely not reach SW's IT Department. If you purchased full Wi-Fi service for any of your flights but experienced a poor connection during your flight, I would contact Southwest directly to request a refund. Email here: https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/email-us   You can also send a DM via Twitter/X. Hope this helps. ... View more

@chinchunchen wrote: This is frustrated that I have paid attention to the airport (SNA), Santa Ana or Orange County of California, has been always on excluded on promotion for more than 6 months.   I have no idea why SNA is discriminated and not ever in the promotion list.   SNA is a popular destination for Disneyland and else and it is not like isolated place.   I am a 1.5M miles Rapid Reward flyer and I fly at least every other week.  If SNA is always excluded from flight promotion,  SWA will be losing customers like business travelers,  family in vacation and SWA customer.   Hola! I understand the frustration but this appears to be beyond SW's control; thus I have never been able to utilize SNA being a frequent flyer out of SoCal. The pic above is from one of my short-haul flights from Northern Cal passing by SNA making its initial descent into SAN.    The strange fact is this: I would consider SNA as a potential 'convenience' airport if I didn't want to head to SAN but like you, I've never been able to get deals or good pricing at SNA. My reason for all this is kind of speculative but my opinion is based on this key fact:   SNA has operated since 1985 under a legal settlement with OC, Newport Beach and a few organizations: https://www.ocair.com/about/administration/settlement-agreement/   Long story short, this legal settlement includes an annual passenger cap which unfortunately creates a situation where airlines cannot expand supply or add flights to meet growing demand which leads to higher prices. If SW were to include SNA in a sale, my prediction is that would result in my opinion a surge in demand growth that would create a situation where far too many passengers would be fed into SNA which would violate the cap restrictions on the settlement, thus a huge no-no.   Given that OC is a high-demand market thanks to Disney and other major destinations, I believe Southwest is in a position where it cannot run promos that would bring additional passenger traffic through SNA.    Hope this info helps and I do agree and hope something gets done to resolve all these legal hurdles so the market economy can be free to efficiently drive the airport operations and SNA can better compete and grow. Thankfully, there are competing alternative convenience airports not too far away including LGB and ONT which kind of helps keep prices somewhat in check for SNA but the passenger cap I believe is the key driver of why SNA gets excluded from SW sales.  ... View more

@ashrosenberg wrote: I will be flying next week with 10 month old twins and a four year old. I have a foldable wagon that seats four kids and the seats have to come out for it to fold. Is this something I can gate check? I have seen other discussions about foldable wagons but I haven't seen anything about what the policy is if the seats have to be removed in order for it to collapse.  Hola!   This subject was discussed and addressed before in a prior post. I assume transport of the removable seats would be accommodated but I would send the link of the model to SW Customer service to be sure: https://community.southwest.com/t5/Travel-Policies/folding-wagon-for-kids-and-carseats/td-p/51903   Here's what @DancingDavidE  mentioned in the prior thread: If it folds up like a stroller then it would be treated like a stroller. Particularly if the manufacturer advertises it as airport friendly you should be fine. Send a link to the specific model if you still aren't sure.   For instance - if you put it inside one of the Southwest blue bags to protect it from scuffs, and no one would know whether it was a wagon or a stroller inside the bag - then it is equivalent to a stroller.   This is the website: https://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/baggage/carryon-bags-pol.html?CLK=SITESEARCH - -> they describe "any type of stroller" which the wagon seems to be equivalent as long as it folds up and is able to be carried by the baggage handler.   Hope this helps! ... View more

@kasey97 wrote: What is the point of digitally checking in bags if you still have to go to the kiosk to print your bag tags? I haven't used this feature before. I assume it currently speeds up the process at the baggage tag kiosk with fewer prompts as the required information is already pre-entered beforehand. ... View more

@CCamrSWA wrote: I filled out a Lost  n found report with serial # , description and pictures. Just reaching out to see if anyone from SWA remembers finding it or turning it in. I know it could be a long process, just found this portal and thought I would take a chance. Had a family medical emergency had to get on an earlier flight from Raleigh to Chicago last Thursday 6/6. Had to take it out of my carry on and place it upright along the chair leg under the seat in front of me. Was so distracted when de-boarding, I grabbed my bag and forgot the laptop. went straight to hospital and didn't realize it until 6am next day.....Any info would be appreciated. Just hoping an honest person found it. CC Greetings:   Hope your family is doing better! It looks like you already filed a Lost Item Report directly to Southwest based on your post. At this point, it is a matter of holding until they reply. As this forum is customer-to-customer, we your fellow travelers don't have the means to follow up on your claim unfortunately. However, to check status, I would return to the Lost Item Portal (linked below), click on "Left Items on the Plane" but then click on "Manage My Report" under "Did you already report lost item(s)?" https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/article/I-lost-a-carryon-item-during-my-travel   The FAQ's on the process are also posted there too.   Ordinarily, I would also suggest contacting the airport's Lost & Found department as items may sometimes end up there, but it appears MDW does not have a direct Lost & Found contact published on their website and suggests instead contacting the airline for items left on the plane which would be SW's Lost Item Portal for SW flights: https://www.flychicago.com/midway/ServicesAmenities/services/Pages/lostfound.aspx   Hope this helps and hopefully SW staff will reach out to you very soon! ... View more

@dfwskier wrote: Arghhh -- and I can;t take advantage of it til after 8 pm. My phone stopped receiving cell data three days ago and the app doesn't work with wifi -- at least for me. Well I guess playing the contest game and getting one bag with flip-flops and the other with a camera...     ...now allowed me to book my remaining BDAY promo flights on my desktop now instead of mobile-only 😊       Okay...I don't think the contest game had anything to do with the device policy change from yesterday but being able to book the promo flights on my desktop makes it much easier for SoCalFlyer97 to utilize BDAY! ... View more

@dfwskier wrote: https://www.reddit.com/r/SouthwestAirlines/comments/1dbyque/southwest_birthday_sale_1018_june_2024/ Thanks for the tip! Saw the promo on SW's website today:     Just checked and repriced an existing booked trip from ONT to PHX for after Labor Day. Deal knocked off a whole $85 from the roundtrip bill but with a twist! The offer didn't work for me when changing an existing flight via the Change Flight module. The original booking had to be cancelled to redeem via the Self Serve tools. The promo booking had to be done via a new flight and also through my mobile device (that's an interesting condition...). Doesn't work on the desktop and going to mobile.southwest.com on a desktop didn't cut it either!   Thankfully, got it done on my phone via the App! Getting all those screenshots of the pricing and confirmation details from the App and into my trip file saved on the cloud was a little bit of a chore but for $85-off...whining doesn't fly here!   Funny how Southwest told me "The Flight won't be the same without you" when I scrapped the original booking; so I rebooked!   Looking to get the rest of my fall trip lineup all booked and ready to go! Stay tuned!   And no...I didn't get the matching luggage from today's Birthday contest game...no worries though...Will try again tomorrow 🤞. ... View more

@cjcsabennett wrote: My sis and I will flying to Vegas on June 17 to celebrate our 50th birthday. Birthday is actually on the 20th. Who do I speak to about her being given a special birthday shoutout as a surprise. I live to embarrass her, so I thought out would do the trick. Hola!   Southwest may be able to do this for you but to be clear, no guarantee. I would recommend first reaching out to Southwest via Twitter/X or Facebook in a DM and request that they put the birthday shoutout request note on your reservation so that the Ops crew has note of your request.   Also, I would do a follow up on travel day... If possible, once you arrive at your gate to wait, I would find a seat a distance away from the Gate Agent desk (the smaller desk closest to the gate door where the Ops agent operates the boarding process). Once settled and you see the gate agent watching the gate, go up to that desk (let the sister know that you need to 'check something with the flight' or something similar and have her watch the luggage...) and quietly follow up on the request to them; they should be able to communicate this to the Flight Attendants at this point. Likely the FA's will also have direct access to your request too.   Again, no guarantee that they'll be able to do this for you (e.g. if the Ops crew is hurried due to a delay or other need, they'll need to maintain their focus) but hopefully, they'll be able to accommodate your request and sing to her aboard your flight!   Best and happy birthday wishes to her. ... View more

@Sneelock wrote: Wow- if this goes thru, I will definitely not be a-list in future years, as I will not be fling SW much, if at all. I rarely check a bag, and if they used the mentioned cost tiers, picking a decent seat will cost more than selecting a premier seat at other airlines.   https://onemileatatime.com/news/southwest-transform-business-model/ I think all of the mass media speculation on this subject is based on this single quote: “We are evaluating options to enhance our Customer Experience as we study product preferences and expectations, including onboard seating and our cabin.”   That tells me that this is all under review and nothing is official as of yet. I found nothing mentioned specifically of seating assignments or separate class cabins, yet the press ran with it. I doubt what the media is saying will become reality and I think the CEO's quote may have been taken out of context but I could be wrong...   Some educated speculation--A few simple "onboard seating" enhancements I could think of: Maybe disclose how full a particular flight currently is and is projected to be upon purchase (maybe have a link to a similar diagram on the booking page such as this):   This would help the buyer in deciding whether to purchase perks like EBCI or Upgraded Boarding.   Maybe disclose whether Upgraded Boarding A1-A15 seating is available while one is completing an online transaction to do a Same-day Confirmed Flight Change. That way, they'll know they'll have the option to upgrade to the A-group if they desire before they complete the transaction. Also, maybe allow Upgraded Boarding purchases to transfer with Same-day Confirmed Flight Change/Standby (if A1-A15 is all sold out on the new flight, board at A61 instead of forfeiting). These are all my ideas but they would fall under the "onboard seating" category.   We already know for sure that cabin "expectation/preferences" upgrades are already  underway including the installation of larger overhead bin space capacity and USB outlets:       One cabin "enhancement" I could think of would be the FA's reserving/guaranteeing space in the front overhead bin for those seated in the front row/bulkhead as both luggage and personal items are stowed there. The bin would be labeled "Reserved for Front Row Passengers".   I'm sure the current Boeing delivery issues and how it relates to SW financials will be a part of their discussions. And I would assume that any key changes would still fall under Southwest's purpose and vision:   To connect People to what's important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel. To be the world's most loved, most efficient, and most profitable airline.   https://www.southwest.com/about-southwest/       ... View more

@Sneelock wrote: This will probably increase the entitled people who also save seats for their entire family or group. At least this Dad only saved 5 seats - not like the "donut-lady" who saved 13?  https://viewfromthewing.com/dad-hacks-southwest-airlines-boarding-process-saves-240-and-secures-the-best-seats/ Interesting story...but there's some key facts that I didn't see reported.     The article didn't mention whether the father with the A3 Upgraded Boarding position went to the back of the plane to save the six seats. I assume he kind of "had to" in order to avert likely conflict with the other passengers as the back rows don't typically start filling up until the mid-B's get on where seat "saving" would be more feasible. I can already see a nasty feud erupting had the seat-saving occurred up front which many folks consider the "Best Seats" according to the headline. If he took those seats up front, I would like to see how the details of the story unfolded, especially with the "lay across 6 seats and get into it with anyone that challenges my 6 seat sprawl" remark.     Otherwise, back of the plane are usually safe zones to save seats given there's no official rule on this, demand for these seats are low generally until the mid-B's get on, and SW has written policy to accommodate if there's children involved (more on that in a moment). Unfortunately, I didn't see any pictures posted and it looks like the Facebook posts referenced in the article were taken down.   The Donut Lady story appears to be different. According the referenced RedIt post which did have a photo published, the saved seats with the donut bags were toward the front of either a 8H4 or MAX8 craft. How could I tell?...it's because the seat behind the saved row had the missing window which is located just before the wing. Now that article spells out the worst case scenario with all the anonymous reporting of "crumpled tissues" or "intentionally creepy" passengers. Do I believe those anonymous reports?...No, and having frequently flown Southwest, I very rarely run into "reserved" seats in the front half of the plane when I board. For the one or two times that I seen seats saved in the front half, I just move on...And I always ask the people already seated in the row if I can take the available window...except for those 1-2 instances, the answer is always "yes".    Back to the Family Story...Another key factor...What was the age of their four kids? That's another key fact. Children age six or younger with an adult qualifies for Family Boarding. Plus by rule, families with children age 7-13 can also be accommodated at no cost. It's very possible these are key factors that need to be applied before jumping to conclusions on this story. That generally means whole rows would be available toward the back of the plane for the family; thus they can "confidently walk on like a boss". https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/article/boarding-process   Trust me...with A-List and Global Entry w/ PreCheck perks, I get that "VIP" feeling too bypassing long lines and having Priority Boarding. "Just get on 'confidently' and walk 'on like a boss.'"     Trust me, SoCalFlyer97 has personal travel "hacks" too, that includes utilizing free parking and public transit to get into SAN that has saved me well more than $200 in airport parking tolls and gas.      Anyhow, I'm glad to hear that there was a family who knew their benefits and utilized them. I would have however not published the "6-seat sprawl challenge" remark which I think sparked the media attention. ... View more

@dfwskier wrote: Why to keep A-List? My most significant 2.   1) Free same day change regrdless of ticket type   2) When doing sme day change, getting to board at essentially A61 - regrdless of what boarding position shows os up on your boarding pass - pretty much guaranteeing an aisle or window seat.. Do that same day change on American, United and Delta and you;ll be stuck in a midde seat in the back of the bus.   Well said!   Had to use "A61" a few times following a Same Day Flight Change...Still plenty of windows and aisles and bin space. Also the back has its benefit of overall wider seat space as the plane is narrower in the front and there's not a bunch of buzzsaw noise during the takeoff phase aboard the 737-700's and 8H4 planes. I admit, I like the buzzsaw as that tells me plane's engine is roaring but there's other folks who prefer not to hear it.   There was one recent flight where I was in the back aboard a full flight on a 737-700 and the wait time to exit the plane after crews opened the door was about 8 minutes. I've found it's usually 10-12 minutes aboard 8H4 and MAX8 planes but given their large capacity, one can still likely find a great window or aisle toward the middle ahead of the wing even at "A61". ... View more

@RoseCliver wrote: Hello, Excited by a Southwest Airlines fare sale notification, I promptly visited the site and entered my travel dates. Since I will be using my RW miles, I need to stay witin a certain amount. In selecting the best time to fly calendar I was elated to see a great possibility for us, even gave me the amount which fit into my points. Next I was instructed to select flights and all of a sudden prices where considerably higher than the first page. Is this standard operating procedure? This appears to be bait-and-switch; none of the flight combinations matched the initial page's prices, even with the cheapest selection.   Greetings from your fellow traveler:   I assume you're referring to this infamous message:     It took me a long time, but I think I finally figured out why I was seeing this for many of my bookings whenever I shopped via the Low Fare Calendar but I'm not sure if this is the same cause for your needs.   Being from SoCal, SW has multiple short-haul non-stop flights up and down the state regularly with routes running every 60-90 minutes at times which allows for commuter travel (i.e.: travel in the morning, take care of business, return in the afternoon).    It took me a while to figure out why I was running into this message frequently during sales, but for me, it was mostly due to most of my trips involving a same-day return trip home which would conflict with the flights that posted the lowest fare.   The message would pop whenever the flight options with the lowest posted fares for the day would not be possible under a same day round-trip itinerary as they would conflict (e.g. If I do the day roundtrip on a Friday and the lowest-priced outbound trip was priced for an evening flight). That would trip the message.   I do agree the message is misleading and should be changed to something like:   "Oops, it looks like one or more flight times with lowest fare is not possible under this Same Day Return Itinerary - But don't give up! You can still..."   What route/dates/fare are you trying to book and I'll see if I can reproduce this?    ... View more

@alexa57762 wrote: It was a long day taking Flight 1584 from Chicago to Orlando.  The flight had been delayed for over 2.5 hours.  When we disembarked, I left the plane, rode the trolley to the departure and headed to baggage claim when I realized I didn't have my phone. In a panic, I went to the information check and that person suggested I work with a counter agent.  Niq was the sole agent at that hour and he started the process of telling me the steps of relocating my phone.  He was told to fill out a form online to reclaim the phone from lost and found.  Of course, with no phone I could not do that. I gave Niq my number and he dialed it several times to see if an employee would answer to no avail.  Niq suggested I get my luggage and he’d reconnect with me at the check-in counter in about 30 minutes, while he continued to relocate the phone.  We met later after I retrieved my luggage and I found out that Niq went away and retrieved the phone.  I was elated.  Our phones are our lifelines is this day and age.  Like most of us, I cannot do my job with it.  I am so grateful to have run into my very own Saint Niq, who was certainly saved the day. P.S. I would be remiss not to mention Niq's helpers.  I have a message on the lock screen with my wife's number.  She told me that two people called her to let her know that someone cleaning the plane discovered the phone.  I don't have their names, but know you have incredible people working at Southwest and they are appreciated. Beautiful story 😊. Thanks for sharing!   As @dfwskier mentioned, be sure to let SW staff know directly either via email or on SW's Facebook or Twitter/X page so that your praise can be processed. Great to see wonderful stories like this on the discussion forums. ... View more

@Scouter68 wrote: Thanks so much that really helps find out Houston and I called Southwest and got some information as well.  So I think I’m set.   Just hard to wrap my head around being at the airport at 2:30 to 3 AM for 5 AM flight domestic but I guess you have to do what you gotta do   Safe travels aboard your first flight. Here's a typical break down of the 2-hour window upon walking into the Departures level of the Southwest Terminal:   Allow about a 30-minute buffer to Check Bags at SW Check-In Counter or speak to an agent if needed. That's in case if the line is long which could happen even at odd hours of the day. That was the case last summer at PDX one day at 5:14am in the morning.     Otherwise 5-10 minutes will do if one just needs to go a self-serve kiosk to reprint a boarding pass but is traveling carry-on only. As Southwest says in the email, these passengers can "carry-on to security".   Allow about a 45-minute buffer to clear TSA in case the line is long or if you get a secondary search. That's preparing for about 30 mins for the line wait + up to 15 minutes to clear inspection in case of any random or flagged secondary searches). This buffer can be reduced to about 15-20 minutes for TSA PreCheck, CLEAR or Priority Express travelers. In most cases, it does not take 45 whole minutes to clear TSA and most airports have multiple checkpoints that feed into Southwest gates, but on busy travel days, the queue can be extensive. On one my trips from PHX last September, the checkpoint feeding directly into the Southwest gates posted a 35 minute wait. However at PHX specifically, one can access the Southwest gates from any one of four Terminal 4's checkpoints that posted much shorter waits, and PHX does a good job at communicating that.     After clearing TSA, 15 minutes is good buffer to locate and comfortably walk to your gate, use bathrooms, and refill water bottles.     The remaining 30 minute buffer is the boarding time prior to most Southwest departures; about 45-50 minutes prior for most other carriers. You should certainly be at the gate ready to go as boarding begins to ensure you'll board when it's your turn to get on.     In the majority of cases, the waits at check-in counter and TSA are not that excessively long and you'll comfortably arrive at the gate typically at about 1 hour prior and be able to use the restaurants and amenities post-TSA, but keep in mind if there's any major hold ups at the check-in counter or at the TSA checkpoint, having that extra time buffer is absolutely necessary as the flight will not wait for latecomers. That's why a 2-hour buffer is advised.     Hope this helps and enjoy your trip. ... View more

@kasey97 wrote: I have conclusive evidence that I renewed my status in late 2022, and my KTN did NOT change upon renewal.   Greetings All: For the record and to clarify, I most likely had a misunderstanding and have posted a misstatement and advised the OP that KTN's change upon Global Entry renewal. Actually, numerous source reference docs indicate that if one has TSA PreCheck and then later enrolls in Global Entry, a new KTN number is assigned for Global Entry. US Passport numbers also change upon renewal, but there were no docs supporting my initial statement of Global Entry renewals changing the KTN and I likely had a misunderstanding of that policy when I signed up for the program. Also for TSA PreCheck renewals, TSA advises that the KTN does not change.   Hope this makes better sense. ... View more

@kasey97 wrote: well i don't have her Global Entry card.  i know our 3 family members applied for GE at the same time, within a few mos of each other.  So she either applied in 2022 and expires in 2027.  Or she applied in 2023 and expires in 2028.  (Global Entry is good for 5 yrs) Ok. Thanks for clarifying. It's possible that there's a missing step somewhere. I would check with TSA directly at this point to troubleshoot. They should be able to confirm whether there was a random standard screening applied for these flights or if there was a step missed in relation with the KTN and reservations. This would be your go-to place to confirm or troubleshoot this: https://www.tsa.gov/contact-center/form/precheck   As mentioned, let us know if this happens again for this weekend's flights. ... View more

@SoCalFlyer97 wrote: @kasey97 wrote: Thank you.  Everything matches exactly.  She has TSA precheck thru her Global Entry status.  It expires in 2028.  Her name is exactly the same in her frequent flyer profile for both airlines, in her reservations for the flites, and in her Global Entry/TSA profile.  She/we fly and travel frequently.  We didn't do anything differently when making these two reservations.  I was not with her during check-in for these flites.  It wasn't a concern to her at the time, and she prob didn't have sufficient time to really address it with an airline rep.  We will both be flying this weekend on Southwest.  I will be sure to see what happens.  Tks! One more question before we determine that the reason was likely a random Standard Screening by TSA:   Global Entry KTN's change upon full Approval of a Renewal Application. Since hers now expires in 2028, it looks like the membership was either commenced or renewed just this last year in 2023. Were the KTN's for both airlines updated upon the 2023 Global Entry approval? I would log into the CBP TTP website and compare the KTN's. Also doublecheck and ensure her Global Entry status shows the green "Approved" indicator. You can also verify the KTN's by checking her PASSID on the back of her most recent issued land border crossing card.   If this is good, then it's possible that she was randomly selected for Standard Screening that day. If this happens again for this weekend's travel, I would inquire with a SW agent at the airport. If they cannot help you, it's possible that a redress inquiry with TSA may be needed at that point to see if there's any potential name conflicts that is preventing this benefit from showing. I forgot to mention that TSA has a form which you can use to determine beyond doubt whether TSA issued a random standard screening for these flights or not. This would be your go-to place to confirm this: https://www.tsa.gov/contact-center/form/precheck   ... View more

@kasey97 wrote: Thank you.  Everything matches exactly.  She has TSA precheck thru her Global Entry status.  It expires in 2028.  Her name is exactly the same in her frequent flyer profile for both airlines, in her reservations for the flites, and in her Global Entry/TSA profile.  She/we fly and travel frequently.  We didn't do anything differently when making these two reservations.  I was not with her during check-in for these flites.  It wasn't a concern to her at the time, and she prob didn't have sufficient time to really address it with an airline rep.  We will both be flying this weekend on Southwest.  I will be sure to see what happens.  Tks! One more question before we determine that the reason was likely a random Standard Screening by TSA:   Global Entry KTN's change upon full Approval of a Renewal Application. Since hers now expires in 2028, it looks like the membership was either commenced or renewed just this last year in 2023. Were the KTN's for both airlines updated upon the 2023 Global Entry approval? I would log into the CBP TTP website and compare the KTN's. Also doublecheck and ensure her Global Entry status shows the green "Approved" indicator. You can also verify the KTN's by checking her PASSID on the back of her most recent issued land border crossing card.   If this is good, then it's possible that she was randomly selected for Standard Screening that day. If this happens again for this weekend's travel, I would inquire with a SW agent at the airport. If they cannot help you, it's possible that a redress inquiry with TSA may be needed at that point to see if there's any potential name conflicts that is preventing this benefit from showing. ... View more

@Wingo007 wrote: I fly and lot and it is amazing the amount of people boarding pre board either in wheel chairs, crutches, very pregnant, (whatever it may be).  People in wheel chairs have their entire family of 6 follow them onto the plane (all holding late B or C tickets) and when the flight lands 90+% of those people who needed wheel chairs to get on are now healed and wonder off never needing the wheel chair.  If people need this extra time to board the plane I think all of the pre boarders should be asked to sit toward the back of the air craft in the last 10 rows because if they needed extra time to get on they SHOULD need extra time getting off and that holds up the entire plane.    I understand you cannot by law ask if somebody has the disability but moving them to the back of the plane would certainly weed out the fakers who are looking to sit up front of the plane.  They can still get on early, they can get a window or aisle (whatever they are after) but they have to wait on everybody else to deplane and that would allow them all of the extra time they need again to get off the plane and not be rushed.   Even SW employees are gaming the system!!!! I was on a flight recently where a dad, mom and two 15-17 year old children were checking in when the dad asks the agent for extra time so he and his kids can board and sit together (B57-60 tickets).  Agent does it and the dad pulls his Southwest ID out and tells him good job.       I really hope SW looks into fixing the issue but keep the open seating as some times I need to sit up front due to a tight turnaround after a small delay to a connection or I have time and can head farther back on the plane Greetings!   Pre-boarding is widely discussed on this forum. The truth is Southwest has to follow federal law. This includes all commercial carriers, not just Southwest.   Although a high-preboard or Those-Needing-Extra-Time count for any given flight could create an appearance of unfairness for the other travelers, especially those who paid extra for priority boarding or EBCI benefits, the fact is all airlines must follow the Air Carrier Access Act and permit any passenger who self-declare disabilities to the agent to accommodate them and their assistants via the pre-board or Those-Needing-Extra Time benefits.    Southwest cannot under federal law force those who are pre-boarding to sit in the back of the plane. However, SW is permitted to not allow those pre-boarding to sit in the Emergency Exit row which SW currently enforces.   Airlines may not keep anyone out of a specific seat on the basis of disability, or require anyone to sit in a particular seat on the basis of disability, except to comply with FAA or foreign-government safety requirements. FAA's rule on exit row seating says that airlines may place in exit rows only persons who can perform a series of functions necessary in an emergency evacuation.   https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/passengers-disabilities   Regarding the SW employee and his family boarding during Those-Needing-Extra-Time: It's possible there was a separate need or case that was declared to the agent that granted the family this benefit. ... View more

Hola!   As a fellow traveler, I understand some of this frustration; however, since there was a mention that the "Information About Your Stay" email was in fact received, that indicates beyond doubt that Booking.com did in fact receive and process the reservation, and successfully booked the room at the hotel in question. I believe Chase denied the dispute on the basis that the failure for a buyer to receive a confirmation email does not place the liability on the seller; it still rests on the buyer due to a number of factors. That is generally the standard and it is also defined specifically in the SW Hotels terms of sale:   Booking.com and Southwest Airlines Co. disclaims any liability or responsibility for any communication with the Supplier on or through its platform. You cannot derive any rights from any request to, or communication with the Supplier or (any form of) acknowledgement of receipt of any communication or request. Neither Booking.com nor Southwest Airlines Co. can guarantee that any request or communication will be (duly and timely) received/read by, complied with, executed or accepted by the Supplier.   In order to duly complete and secure your reservation, you need to use your correct email address. Neither we nor Southwest Airlines Co. are responsible or liable for (and have no obligation to verify) any wrong or misspelled email address or inaccurate or wrong (mobile) phone number or credit card number.   Any claim or complaint against Booking.com or in respect of the Service must be promptly submitted, but in any event within 30 days after the scheduled day of consummation of the product or service (e.g. check out date). Any claim or complaint that is submitted after the 30 days period, may be rejected and the claimant shall forfeit its right to any (damage or cost) compensation.   Due to the continuous update and adjustments of rates and availability, we strongly suggest to make screenshots when making a reservation to support your position (if needed).   Unfortunately, email communication is not foolproof. With all kinds of spam filters and firewalls nowadays to protect us from real scandals, there's going to be chances where legit emails get blocked. I'm not necessarily a pro-SW-Hotels traveler but SW Hotels has delivered on numerous occasions for me with great deals on SW points; thus I continue to patronize it. If I run into a problem that SW Hotels does not resolve, I'll report it.  Case Example of where I was erroneously booked at a property next door to my desired hotel: https://community.southwest.com/t5/Rapid-Rewards/Oct-23-Southwest-Hotels-Five-One-Night-Trips-at-Five-Points-Plus/m-p/165116/highlight/true#M11254   Most folks reading this won't like my response, (think of it as the grit in the meal) but this case appears to be the buyer's responsibility of not saving the confirmation details after booking. Thus, Chase denied the dispute. Again, I've got to advise what is truthful, not what people want to believe. I don't think SW Hotels is at fault here.   Case Example on not receiving emails: Just a few days ago, I had some very important work-related emails that was communicated to me that my company's spam filter erroneously rejected and bounced back to the sender, thus requiring me to follow up with the sender by phone and working with my IT department to get the domain name in question whitelisted. The sender cannot be at fault. They sent the email. My company's system bounced it, but I'm still responsible for getting the work done.   Contacting the SW Hotels phone number on my 11/30 post or on the SW Hotels website and providing the details would have most likely resolved this issue as others who had similar issues followed this tip and got their situation resolved.   As mentioned in my prior post and in the SW Hotels Terms of Sale (I say it again with emphasis), always save a PDF or screenshot of the "You're All Set" Confirmation confirmation page going forward. Same can be said for everything else related to online reservations...yes, that includes online delivery and pick-up orders from the local fast food place too...I've been guilty too of just putting the phone to sleep after placing food orders only to notice the food order is running late, I didn't get the email, I re-open the browser and the web browser screen reloads and sends me back to the food provider's homepage. Can't blame the McD's or whoever is delivering the food for this. That was a lesson for me to save the screenshots of these confirmations too in case the order no-shows.   That's my closing argument on why the SW Hotels and Booking.com operations is legit and not a scandal to the industry.   Hope this helps. ... View more

@kasey97 wrote: My daughter experienced something weird recently while flying.  I booked her a one-way flite Austin to Phoenix on Southwest.  And a one-way flight Southwest to Austin on American.  She has a Known Traveler Number in her profile for both airlines.  On BOTH flites she was NOT designated as TSA Pre-Check.  So this occurred on two totally different airlines.  If it had been just one of the airlines I would speculate that maybe I entered her name wrong (with or without a middle initial, something like that).  But I'm certain that did not happen.  Since this occurred on both airlines, could this have been a wonky issue with the TSA software system or something like that?  Any ideas? Greetings-   I would first verify that KTN number is linked to an active, non-expired Trusted Traveler Program membership in Good Standing that includes PreCheck. If the membership expired (or if the traveler no longer qualifies), they will not receive the PreCheck benefit. If the account is still active and in Good Standing, verify that the name and date-of-birth of the traveler's profile for both airlines matches the TTP accountholder's profile as @bballflyer suggested.   Note that PreCheck is not guaranteed upon check-in. If the name and date-of-birth on the reservation matches and the TTP membership is in good standing, but still no PreCheck indicator on the boarding pass, the last option would be to either contact Customer Service by phone or approach a Customer Service agent at the airport on travel day for both airlines, advise them of the PreCheck issue, and verify whether the KTN was applied properly to the reservations in question and have them re-process the check-in/boarding pass. I've read that doing that sometimes will repair the problem but as mentioned, no guarantee.    Hope this helps! ... View more

Greetings!   See my post ‎dated November 30 on this thread.   The general cause of email delivery failures is either an incorrect email address was entered or some kind of spam filter on the user's account or network is erroneously blocking the confirmation email from coming through. Unfortunately, this is usually the buyer's responsibility, not the seller which I suspect why Chase denied the dispute. If you’ve been charged and the transaction posts to your statement, the seller should have record of the transaction.    SW Hotels bookings are powered through Booking.com, not directly through Southwest Airlines. Unfortunately, Southwest Airlines Customer Service cannot assist directly with SW Hotels bookings although I do agree that SW Customer Service should have a means to  transfer callers to a Booking.com rep for SW Hotel inquiries. Same can be said for SW Vacations bookings to a Apple Leisure Group rep.   SW Hotels has a dedicated concierge line posted on their website and in the confirmation email (also posted in my original reply). Did you try contacting this number prior to starting a dispute with Chase? Let the Booking.com rep know that you booked a hotel room for the specific dates you requested through Southwest Hotels but never received the confirmation email or number but were billed for the transaction. Give the rep the exact amount. If the rep cannot help you, ask that you speak to somebody in a supervisory position who may be able to look this up for you. Provide them with your name and email address too as confirmation. The fact that you were billed indicates they should have record of the transaction in question.   As stated in my reply...and this general advice would apply to any kind of online reservation whether it be air travel, hotel, or even pre-paying for parking...Always save (via screenshot or print to PDF) or do a hard copy print of the confirmation screen following the purchase in case the confirmation email fails to deliver. For Southwest Hotels, that would be the "You're All Set" page in conjunction with the linked PDF receipt. Save 'em before closing the window.   And a personal tip...I always pay the extra few dollars and opt for Free Cancellation. I don't normally buy travel insurance but having the Free Cancellation "insurance" is well worth it in case of a booking error, change of plans, or if prices later drop. ... View more

@LPD155 wrote: One very annoying feature with Southwest Airlines is the inability to obtain a detailed receipt when the flight is booked through a 3rd party vendor.  Receipts are only available when booking directly through Southwest.  I travel a lot with the government and forced to use “Concur” to book all travel.  Because of this, it’s always a struggle to get my Southwest Airline receipt for my travel voucher. This is the only airline I know of that prevents obtaining a receipts when not booking direct. My only solution has been to get a receipt from the ticket agent when checking in. Online receipts are not an option!  Again…very annoying.  Greetings:   It looks like this subject was brought up a few years ago: https://community.southwest.com/t5/Travel-Policies/Please-email-us-real-receipts/td-p/85103   It looks like this suggestion was brought to Southwest's staff back then but doesn't appear to have been implemented based on your post. As this message board is customer-to-customer, I would suggest forwarding your suggestion for better integration with the SAP Concur software directly to Southwest Customer Service so that it can be processed as it appears other carriers are able to supply the needed receipts via their self-serve tools: https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/email-us   Hope this helps. For now, I would collect any required receipts booked through Concur from customer service. ... View more

@Kirstie59 wrote: Hi, so I’ll be boarding an airplane next summer with my 8 month old and  I will be breastfeeding.   I’ve read A lot of info but I just want clarification because I am a stresser.. so a few questions I have.. 1) am I allowed to bring a stroller with a car seat and a bassinet that goes with the stroller that does separate without having to pay for it and can any of these items go with me on the plane rather then underneath the plane with other baggage and strollers? 2) when it comes to breastfeeding, I know they don’t charge for breast pump but am I allowed to bring a breast pump bag that hold my breast pumps and extra milk while still being able to bring my personal carry on and baggage or does the breast pump bag count as a personal carry on?  any tips and answers will be greatly appreciated! Thank you  Greetings!   My post assumes that your child will travel as a lap infant and will not occupy another seat since they're under 2 years old. Details here: https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/article/flying-with-infants   Southwest allows you to check one stroller and one car seat without charge. This allowance applies to any type of stroller and/or car seat and is in addition to the regular baggage allowance. You may check the stroller and car seat at the curb, check-in counter, or at the gate. More info: https://community.southwest.com/t5/Knowledge-Base/Traveling-with-Little-Ones-The-Logistics/ta-p/91231   I'm assuming the bassinet is separate from the stroller; for this item, it can be checked as one of your two free checked bags, provided it does not exceed 50 lbs and 62 inches (L+W+H). I would purchase a bag for both the car seat and bassinet for added protection and check both of these at the check-in counter so you're not having to carry these through the airport.   For the stroller, you can bring this to the gate and gate-check it there. You can get the tags with an Agent at the Customer Service desk working your gate.    For the breast milk, here's a nice article that should help as pumps do not count toward the carry-on limits: https://community.southwest.com/t5/Knowledge-Base/Nursing-Moms-Take-Flight/ta-p/93755/1000 I would declare the pump bag to the gate agent before boarding.   TSA also allows Formula, breast milk, toddler drinks, and baby/toddler food (to include puree pouches) in quantities greater than 3.4 ounces or 100 milliliters through the TSA Checkpoint in carry-on baggage; they do not need to fit within a quart-sized bag. TSA defines these as medically necessary liquids. This also applies to breast milk and formula cooling accessories, such as ice packs, freezer packs, and gel packs (regardless of presence of breast milk). https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/breast-milk   Since I assume the child is a lap child under 2 years of age, be sure to bring a copy of their birth certificate should agents need to validate the child's age. During boarding, you can board either in your assigned boarding position (assuming if you're in the A group) or during Family Boarding (in between the A and B groups).   Hope this helps!   ... View more