Southwest Airlines Community

@WSB2010 wrote: We do have a connection with a 2 hour layover. You should be fine with the connection too. The low chance scenario involves getting to your connecting gate after boarding starts or is almost complete. If the connecting flight is a full flight then you may have to try to trade to get two seats together. It's low probability but is possible so I mention for awareness. It happened to my family many years ago. ... View more

@Finsout wrote: Does SW do these every year? Last year we got burned badly due to the late notice.   Southwest has been implementing a seasonal baggage embargo for several years. The embargo is usually in effect from mid-November until early January. Cities included in 2018/19 were Belize City (BZE), Montego Bay, (MBJ), Mexico City (MEX), Nassau (NAS), and San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO). The embargo disallows any additional checked bags over the allowance of two per passenger, and prohibits overweight and oversize baggage and all boxes.   It's impossible to predict for sure if the embargo will return in 2019/20, but I think it's safe to assume it will. It will likely apply to at least the same cities.   You might want to try contacting Southwest directly (see Contact Us below for options) to ask specifically about 2019/20, but I'm not sure you'll receive a clear answer. If you do, please come back and let us know what you find out. Hopefully the info might help others avoid the disappointment from Southwest's late notification as you experienced last year. ... View more

One trick I have found to always be successful is to say thank you often, audibly and sincerely.  In my early travels I would always try to get free mixed drinks by being especially nice.  My success rate was over 80%.  Today I have more coupons than I can use.  On a full flight of 143 passengers, I have observed that 80% are ambivalent regarding the floght crew, 10% are in a bad mood or just plain mean and 10% or less are appreciative and show it to the crew.  Calling them by name, saying thank you every chance you get and acknowledging they have a tough customer base will in my estimation yield more water than you could drink from Cancun to Houston.  Happy flying everyone. It works! ... View more

Thank you! It’s memphis to las vegas. The scheduler shows several per day so hopefully we will be ok.  ... View more

Another possibility may be to call customer service.  If you have all the information related to the original ticket issued, they may be ablr to work around the issue. I have found that group to be very resourceful. ... View more

Thank you both for your quick replies !! Fingers crossed the fare comes down.  ... View more

@heilenak ,   hmm, I have to line up with @TheMiddleSeat on this one.  I have probably exchanged tens of thousands of dollars of tickets (sorry, SWA schedulers) and have never had a problem (except that they have to be used within one year).  Also one has to cancel at least ten minutes before the flight departure.     Normally I get “travel funds” for the exchange and I have to track the original confirmation number, but I would not get a voucher (or be offered one).  If you can share more details without revealing private info, we might be able to help.    Sorry this happened.  Don’t lose faith!  All airlines can be frustrating; and although SWA give me great customer service in my opinion, there are some things that many folks would like to see changed.  I would like to see my travel funds when I log into their website, but I have to track them separately at this point, and it is not a computer glitch that causes that.     ... View more

Good to know this.  I will be traveling in June from Israel to Detroit then flying from Detroit to Dallas on Southwest.  My check in time would have been thwarted but for your great advice. ... View more

Thank you! I may go ahead and change it back.  Now I have to worry about Southwest canceling my flight all together! It said they were cancelling around 300 per day, so I'm hoping mine doesn't get cancelled because this is the only time my family can get together for this trip (this is stressful!) ... View more

@lorisue you should be able to log in to your account and then search for a flight you'd like to book. Just be sure to click "Points" instead of "$" on the top-right side of the page to book with points: https://www.southwest.com/air/booking/index.html I'm guessing you already have the phone number to call to book a reservation: 1-800-I-FLY-SWA (1-800-435-9792) ... View more

Thanks so much for the replies. They were very helpful. She has a cell phone, so I can walk her through it if needed. I'm sure the SW employees will help her as well. I'm going to go ahead and book the flight, she's super excited! ... View more

@judygolfing, if you are located anywhere around the middle of the country, please keep in mind that many flights are “one stop, no change of planes,” so you might be the first Business Select or Early Bird Boarder and still see a great many passengers in the front rows.  When a plane lands, the attendants usually say “and if you are continuing on to .... with us, please remain in your original seat until we can get a through count.  After that, you are free to change seats and use the lavatory.”  Many through passengers find it advantageous to move to the first few rows during these breaks between landing and boarding.     I know that does not address your specific situation if you see people that board first saving seats for later boarders, but even if you buy early bird (or if you are A-List Preferred), you may not be able to get one of the first seats on the plane.  I occasionally buy early bird for fellow travelers, but it has more to do with getting the guaranteed check-in than getting a specific seat.     And yes, you can buy one and save the seats for others as it is “free range seating,” but when I sit in the back, I time the deplaning, and it is typically less than ten minutes. So I let those folks save their seats if they want to put up with the hassle of being questioned frequently and with some people actually taking the seat.  Not me.  I don’t want to sit by those people and usually ten minutes is not a big deal.  I always secretly hope that they are on a special trip like a family reunion or going to a wedding, because it helps me justify their behavior.  I will never know but for me, it is just another business trip and the seat does not matter.  As others have mentioned, some people feel passionate about it, even though I do not.  I hope you get a chance to relax and enjoy your flying time wherever your travels take you. ... View more

You can use the weekly view of the flight schedule to get a visual of the number of stops (look just to the right of the flight times): https://www.southwest.com/air/flight-schedules/results.html?departureDate=2019-08-04&destinationAirportCode=TPA&originationAirportCode=ROC&scheduleViewType=weekly&timeOfDay=ALL_DAY ... View more

Aa a leader in Urban Land Institute (ULI), an international real estate organization, I would luv to see a Southwest presentation at one of our meetings. ... View more

@Jwalsh3rd wrote: Given the international opportunity for your youth companion to travel with you, I revommend you go ahead and get your companion a passport.  With that, you can use your miles to get to international locations on a short notice.  It has worked well for my grand daughter and her Dad. We also got our daughter one just in case a project came up, none had so far but if one did we're ready for it.   Except we have a new addition that we'll have to do the same for if he'll be going with us too now!     ... View more

Hey, one other thing. I just wanted to tell you how horribly sad I feel for you that this happened. Amazingly, I was saving my miles for the same reason. We have a dream of moving to Hawaii and was saving all my miles for when we started to fly back and forth. I was even planning on a surprise vacation there for my wife.   ... View more

Southwest Hawaii Additional Flights Delayed by 737 Max Grounding. https://beatofhawaii.com/southwest-hawaii-airline-update/ ... View more

@ajsk8mom wrote: I am wondering what airplane my upcoming flights are scheduled to be on.  I have great concern of using the airplane that has been on the news.  I would really like to know how I can find out this information. No airline in the world is flying 737 MAX planes at the moment. They have been grounded.   So if that is your concern, you should have no concern. ... View more

Yours is a common complaint and a long lasting pain point with the Southwest booking system. Unfortunately, the best you can do is call (or Tweet, as hold times are very long at the moment due to the operational emergency, weather issues and the recent grounding of MAX aircraft). If the phone rep can see the fare they can make the change for you. ... View more

@TheMiddleSeat wrote: @rtravis45  What is your home airport? Besides the sales only applying to some markets, you need to look at the dates specified in the ad.  Easiest way to look for a low price is to use the Low Fare Calendar at https://www.southwest.com/air/low-fare-calendar/ That will show you the lowest fare from point A to point B every day for a whole month.  Fares could be $200 one day, but if you fly the next day it could be a lot less.   --TheMiddleSeat No guarantee in time of day either, low fare due to sale should have some midday options if still available, other low fares due to demand may be early morning or late night, regardless of sale.     ... View more

That's your complaint? Just try this with ANY other airline! First anywhere up to $150 "change fee" THEN fare difference! Your original ticket will be worth about $50 if lucky. The SW refund policy and the free bags is the main reasons I fly them and am A-List every year. ... View more

@bonvoyagesafely wrote:     Has Southwest given any indication or reassurance about this training? Was this training made mandatory, or can it be? I know that we don’t have enough information at this point to be certain but it seems like a worthwhile investment to me to proactively ensure all pilots get this training ASAP before flying the 737-MAX’s again - a worthwhile investment both in terms of critical safety and in terms of reassuring customers with flights coming up on Southwest, such as myself. My fiancée and I are traveling Seattle to Providence, and then Albany to Seattle in the week before April to visit aging grandparents (in rapidly declining health in one case). We’d really rather not postpone, but given Southwest’s lack of action or accountability on this matter we may feel that we have no choice.    Why yes it has. Accoring te the SW pilot's union:   "We now have Extended Envelope Training (EET) in addition to our regular annual training and since SWAPA and others have brought awareness to the MCAS issue, we have additional resources to successfully deal with either a legitimate MCAS triggered event or a faulty triggered MCAS event.   SWAPA also has pushed hard for Angle of Attack (AOA) sensor displays to be put on all our aircraft and those are now being implemented into the fleet. All of these tools, in addition to SWAPA Pilots having the most experience on 737s in the industry, give me no pause that not only are our aircraft safe, but you are the safest 737 operators in the sky.  ... View more

I don't know if your family includes young children, but if so then the following also applies:   An adult traveling with a child six years old or younger may board during Family Boarding, which occurs after the “A” group has boarded and before the “B” group begins boarding. If the child and the adult are both holding an “A” boarding pass, they should board in their assigned boarding position.   Source: https://www.southwest.com/html/generated/help/faqs/boarding_the_plane_faq.html ... View more