Southwest Airlines Community

You're welcome to submit your suggestion to Southwest. Use the contact us link at the bottom of this page and send a message.   --TheMiddleSeat ... View more

Perhaps ask your coworker how they arranged their schedule?   --TheMiddleSeat ... View more

And now we know why....   SW somehow didn't create a file number for our claim so that's why it wasn't being handled.   Out of all the nice phone agents, today I spoke with someone who took his time to research and get me answers.   Now, we have to start over and submit an entirely new claim.   It's only taken over a month to uncover what happened.   So, to those who think patience is the way to go - maybe rethink your philosophy.   Had we relied on patience any longer, we would still assume our "escalated" issue was being handled behind the scenes when it hasn't been in front of anyone in all this time.   ... View more

Awesome.  Thank you! ... View more

The issue of preboarding has been discussed many, many times.  If you do a Google search you will find posts that date back over 10 years about the same subject.   Southwest has unassigned seating, open seating.  That means that it is truly first come, first served.  With preboard, the passenger has the right to self declare and is the first person on the plane.  That's the way it works.   There is somewhat of a "perfect storm" with Southwest since they charge a surcharge to be an earlier boarding passenger and then those same passengers get irritated by preboarding.     A little song has developed and I've heard it a few times at different airports.   ... View more

So here we are, over a month later and the complaints drag on...   Time for a housecleaning. ... View more

If there is another flight same day with WGA+ you can change to that then change again to the flight you really want with the same day change    Example:    you booked on a 6pm flight with WGA  you see a 7pm with WGA+ change to that  then change again to the earlier flight that you want  ... View more

How can we get that particular response to be marked as the "solution", so that people can find it more easily to make use of it?   Currently, the link for the "solution" leads to this commentary, so anyone looking for this information won't see the other, unless they happen to read all responses even after they have been led to believe this one is the answer.    That way we can avoid your snarky responses to anyone who is trying to provide an update with a better answer that would not be known to be somewhere else without reading the entire bulletin board.   ... View more

@parpitt1 wrote: For vacations I fly on points to Aruba. My direct flight from BWI, when I booked it, equated to about $400.00 per person just 2 weeks ago. Now I bought that tkt. the day they opened sales last summer.  As with almost any fare the closer you book to the planned travel date the higher the fare. Why are there fewer direct flights from BWI to AUA?  Good Question. Both our outbound and return flights were 100% full, not a single empty seat. Safe Travels  Especially with points when you re-price the ticket the points just go back to your account, so you don't have to carry a travel credit. Smart!     ... View more

Don't want to inconvenience anybody! Don't want to save seats! Don't mind sitting apart for 2 hours! What an amazing post. You must be the most courteous Southwest passenger EVER!!! Thank you.   ... View more

That BOLD print is such a cool effect in Floridaguys post  ... View more

I just had this happen as well. I had almost $1000 worth of extra expenses that I submitted, and yet today, I get an email stating I will be receiving less than $400. I am not happy and will escalate this further.  ... View more

Unfortunately he is not A list.  His job is such that he can't always stop to check his phone.  I checked myself in yesterday and then checked him in a couple of min later and the boarding spots were sequential, so it obviously tied them together even though he is the CP holder.  ... View more

DISASTER ... View more

@Tonyo906 wrote: Need them for specific flight. But might as well get the most of it. Since you have the credit card, I'm inferring that you will be flying more in the future - better off just buying your flight and earning points until you have enough to redeem for a flight that you want.   However if you can just "top off" your points by purchasing them that's sometimes what is needed. The cost per point is high compared to the estimated value from third-party sites.   Best option would be just to earn points regularly until you can use them though if you'll be flying enough.         ... View more

@TheMiddleSeat wrote: FYI, adding EarlyBird to your reservation within 36 hours of departure would have no benefit or affect. This also means if you or Southwest change your flight on the day of travel, EarlyBird would have no value to you on that flight.   --TheMiddleSea    I know this is marked solved already, but wanted to add that @01amyers  if you are on a round trip flight make sure that you don't need to re-purchase EBCI for the return flight alone as opposed to the first flight which you shouldn't have been able to add EBCI to a flight within the 36 hour window.      ... View more

@TheMiddleSeat wrote: Just so it's clear, Chase makes these decisions, not Southwest. Also, I know OP didn't do this on purpose, but it's not suggested to attempt "tricking" Chase into giving bonus points by making a large purchase then returning, that could really ruin your hopes for future banking with Chase.    --TheMiddleSeat Chase certainly has the language in the terms to treat it as a net and rescind any points or status if they would choose to do so.    We don't necessarily know the end of the story if the original poster has just had this happen, it could still be reversed if an audit catches it, or if the original poster doesn't end up earning the bonus anyway over the remaining time period it could be rescinded then.         ... View more

Same thing just happened for me. It showed I earned the Companion Pass yesterday (Jan 24, 2023) but shows that it expires Dec 31, 2023. I'm about 3k points short of the newly required 135k needed for Companion Pass. I emailed Southwest about all of this and am waiting on a response from them. Looks like it will be the exact same thing you just posted about them extending the 125k required to the end of this month (Jan 31, 2023). Once I get the bonus 10k boost for my two open Rapid Reward Credit Cards I'll have the 135k required points. Thanks for posting your update!  ... View more

I see, thank you so much! This has been helpful!  ... View more

I think you have to apply using a different e-mail address. ... View more

@TheMiddleSeat wrote: You may want to ask that person how they did it as I don't think any US airline would allow international travel without a valid, unexpired passport.   --TheMiddleSeat   The US authorities will not be impressed if this person is here with an expired passport either.   It does look like there is an online renewal - good luck! https://www.pica.gov.jm/passport/renew   Otherwise maybe check in at the nearest embassy. I can see the case where the traveler doesn't need a passport to go back to Jamaica as a resident there (it would sure be easier to have one, but let's say it can be done the hard way) but if there is some other way to prove identity on this end to board the aircraft I don't know.           ... View more

@PettyIntrigues wrote: I gotta be honest with you, even if pre-board had been half of that, and there wasn’t a separate family boarding, with a high B now you likely would’ve been in the Cs somewhere.    I am on these birds a few times a week, and I have learned that no desired seat is ever guaranteed. I’m A16 pretty much every single time and that’s still often the case.   Your best bet to get a seat (or any type of seat I should say) you desire is to pony for Business Select or even Early Bird. Failing that, there are a lot of other airlines with assigned seating.   (All that said, I’m apt to agree with you and all these threads—it does seem like preboard gets taken advantage of with some minor regularity. It doesn’t bother me personally though as I prefer the exit rows and they can’t sit there, so I usually have few problems grabbing one of those seats.) EBCI is probably not going to solve it as described, that may often be behind the families.     ... View more

No since it will be held and will not go in storage overhead or under the seat in front of the passenger.  It could also perhaps be considered a medical device?  If this were Frontier you might have to worry about it, but Southwest won't care about a pillow.   --TheMiddleSeat ... View more

You would definitely want to have this confirmed in writing by a Southwest representative prior to purchasing a ticket.  I would also have documentation and correspondence from the Gov't of Jamaica, not just a birth certificate. Since SWA typically requires passengers flying internationally to obtain a paper boarding pass on arrival at the departing airport, this is the stage where a valid passport must be presented, and the boarding pass gets stamped "DOCS OKAY." If you show up with expired travel documents and without some written confirmation from Southwest and the Gov't of your home country you would be setting yourself up for a world of pain and delay. Even then, plan on extra time to obtain the boarding pass because the agent will likely need to get a supervisor involved before issuing a boarding pass.    Good luck and safe travels. ... View more

Hi,    I was wondering if this is still possible?  ... View more

@floridaguy    I have a serious question for you    what brought you to the community? Was your flight late and you found this? Did you want to announce you’re a preboard passenger? Did you actually have a question about SW? I see you joined in 2021 so I’m just curious what brought you here  ... View more

The preboard rules are that anyone who "self declares" with a disability preboards and they can have one person accompany that individual   Preboarding has been discussed multiple times and there has even been a song written about preboarding.   Other airlines offer you to choose a particular seat.  With Southwest, it is open seating and that includes any open seat.  So, ideally, a preboard person has the largest selection of seats, except for the exit row(s) which are prohibited by law for a preboard passenger.     ... View more

Be warned.  Those through-passengers get dibs on the seats.  Paid $50 for an upgrade and got A3 to give my tall son a better chance at an exit row window seat.  The seats were gone.   ... View more

@ATLbasedpass I'm glad to hear you received something, that's a good start.  You did not specify how much the meals and taxi were so it's not possible to determine what valuation you were given for the points.  More info is needed to be able to give a informed opinion.  Also, as I said before various sites online seem to value Delta points at 1.1 to 1.5 cents per point so there is definitely discretion there as to what you will get and since (if I recall correctly) you did not provide a suggested valuation it's might be hard to go back now and argue.  You can certainly send back a request for more, but you will need to determine what valuation you received and send back a reasonable counter offer.   Edit: I'm also quite surprised you were given cash for the points.  You may have better luck negotiating any future reimbursement as vouchers or RR points.   --TheMiddleSeat ... View more

Good information to know, I've often wondered what I would do should I lose my identification while on travel.  That came from a near situation of losing my driver's license (only form of ID) only to actually find it hidden deep in my carry-on bag after I dumped everything out near the ticket counter.  THANK YOU ... View more