Southwest Airlines Community

Do you take advantage of Southwest Group Reservations’s? It's for groups of 10 or more and one nice benefit with a group reservation is you can Earn one roundtrip ticket to be used on your Group's itinerary for every 30th passenger booked (taxes and fees will apply). Also with group reservations it does offer a discount off of the current wanna get away fare for that particular flight.    You can read read more about Southwest Airlines Group Travel Here   -Blake  ... View more

I have never had a problem getting a gate pass for my child.  When you check in at the counter just ask the agent for a non flying gate pass.  You are only supposed to get one, but if you ask nicely you can get two(if both you and your spouse/sibling are with the child. ... View more

Book the same fare (WGA) for both your primary seat and the extra seat. Then contact Southwest after the flight to request the refund of the extra seat fare.   The only time you might want to book the extra seat as a childs fare is when you're booking Business Select or Anytime as your primary seat. ... View more

@bec102896,    Now that's some stellar hospitality!    ... View more

I think she is referencing your personal email address listed on your application. Good luck! ... View more

@AN90 wrote: Thank you! People will also tend to fly early if possible to maximize time at a destination, or business travelers making a same day appointment - so I do find that way early, way late, and odd-morning times can tend to be cheaper because of fewer passengers but there is definitely a prime time window that varies slightly across the nation's airports where it is more expensive due to demand for those slots.         ... View more

Thank you! ... View more

@Tankstank    Sorry to hear your flight is delayed. Delays are not fun but they happen.    If you would like to discuss your flight delay with Southwest you can reach out on Twitter or click on the Contact Us link at the bottom of the page to see more contact methods.   Hope your on your way soon! Blake ... View more

To clarify @Carlosjchavez if you are a little bit over but using a "standard" suitcase it would be fine to pay the overweight fee $75 for one item, but the limit is up to 100 pounds, so you wouldn't literally be getting 4 people x 2 items each x 50 lbs allowance = 400 lbs into one suitcase.   In theory you could use four suitcases at 100 lbs each for $75 each overweight fee = $300 extra or any combination less than that.   Unless you are getting reimbursed for luggage fees from work or from a credit card, most people would be trying to use their free luggage allowance and get these items into fewer smaller suitcases, either three for your group or four at < 50 lbs each.   Basically the luggage needs to be able to be carried by a human being and loaded into the aircraft, on and off the luggage carts, etc.   Instead since you may have baby gear coming with you with only two adults to pull the items, I'd suggest you plan on spending the $5 or so for a "Smart Carte" that are prevalent at airports in the US to help you get things back and forth from parking and check-in/baggage claim.   Double-check if you are taking the family internationally, some of the destinations have luggage limitations that are more strict on overweight or quantity per person.   I hope this helps - let us know what airport if you want any tips about how to navigate with excess baggage quantity.       ... View more

@dfwskier wrote: The value of points has not changed. It reamains x points per dollar of fare. However if the $ fares are higher, then the number of points to buy those fares also is higher.   X = 78. 😉   This factor last changed one year ago (April, 2018) when Southwest shifted from WGA points fares primarily at a variable 72-76 point per $1 cost (while also lowering the number of points required for Anytime and BS fares).   Historically, since the introduction of the points-based system, Southwest has instituted a devaluation almost annually. While it seems we may be "due" for another adjustment, I suspect that won't happen anytime soon, due the current circumstances under which Southwest is operating.  ... View more

A couple of additional thoughts - the advice above is great!   Ask when you check in at the ticket counter if you've used @bec102896 's tip to see if 8+ seats are available - in that case they may be able to clear you immediately and avoid being on standby at the gate, and you can check your luggage on your new flight. Nothing prohibits you from taking standby onto a direct flight if one is available that leaves prior to your original fight - go for it! (So will any other through A-list passengers going on your same route though!) The one loophole you don't have though is standby on a direct flight that departs later, even if it would arrive at your destination earlier than your original connecting flight. Have a backup plan if you arrive early and can't be accomodated - at BWI I say O'Brycki's, at MDW Reilly's Daughter in the new food court by A4, Denver lots of spots, etc.    ... View more

Sample receipt with LUV voucher and travel funds as payment   here is a sample email receipt when using a LUV voucher as well as travel funds as payment.     Hope this helps Blake  ... View more

When they announced the preboard - sometimes the passenger needs to raise their hand, wheel up front or do something so they know they need to take care of you.   They almost always annouce that more than once. ... View more

@MauiWowi57 Southwest just announced that they've completed the schdule updates through August 5th.  Blog post is here. ... View more

Is there any word on San-Koa start??? ... View more

Thank you for all your help! ... View more

Since this is a customer to customer forum, I'd suggest that you contact SW customer relations  directly at 855-234-4654.  ... View more

Thank you so much!! ... View more

@collshan    Sorry to hear your flight was affected by a schedule change. I recommend you reach out to Southwest by the Live chat option on the Southwest app or you can reach out to southwest at 800-435-9792 and one of the representatives would be glad to assist you.   As @SWDigits mentioned your original flight was probably affected by the ongoing MAX cancellations.     hope your able to get a more desirable itinerary without any trouble Blake  ... View more

@vbkelly56    sorry to hear you had had a long hold last night. I believe the reason the hold times were so long had to due with the weather in Texas lots of flight delays and cancellations on top of the MAX 8 cancellations which means lots of phone calls.    Hope you got through and we’re able to get things changed Blake  ... View more

@garcianc wrote: I don't know if you have done this but, do NOT EVER pay to upgrade to Business Select after you have checked in! I can't stress that enough.   I have been flying Southwest almost exclusively (the other airline was Airtran) for more than 10 years. During one of my trips, a few years ago, I booked my flight at the last minute due to a change of plans and I received a boarding position at the end of the C group. I decided to pay at the gate for an upgrade to Business Select. BIG MISTAKE.   Ever since then, I get C group every single time (one time I got C62 and took a picture of my boarding pass - the line oly goes up to C60). I am flying tomorrow and, when I checked in this morning I got C25. My theory is that I have been flagged as someone who would pay to upgrade and the C group assigment is arbitrary. How do I know this? I was in a Southwest flight from Birmingham to Washington where I was the only person standing in the C line and that is when the light bulb came on.   What I do now is that I book refundable fares when I book Southwest and cancel my reservation for a full refund when I get such a bad position after checking in online. Then I book with somebody else. I did that last month on my cross-country trip to Seattle. I couldn't find another flight for tomorrow, so that doesn't always work (though I will be cancelling my return flight), but I am sure that it is just as inconvenient to Southwest to get a last-minute cancellation.   I would think that someone that has flown SW for as long as you have would know that your boarding position is  based on when you check in (Business Select, A-list and EBCI get seats before that). If you check yourself in late, you're more likely to get  poorer boarding position. The more you delay after  24 hours pre flight time the worse the position.   There is no attempt to coerce you into buying a better seatboarding spot..   It's pretty much as chgoflyer said in response to both of your posts. ... View more

@sarahb3589 , yikes.  So sorry that this happened to you.  Like @bec102896, I suggest contacting them but I would probably opt for a letter.  It would be up to you to consider whether the letter should be instead of a call or in addition to a call. Southwest may not be able to immediately provide compensation but they may be able to provide something at a later time, and having the request in writing (versus only a phone call) will increase the likelihood of them being able to get back to you.     I am thinking that it may be later because Boeing finally released a statement about the Max 8, so I tend to think there will be some settlement between them and the airlines in the future.    Retooling the flights and crews, etc, usually could be done in advance of that 8 hour window of notification in most cases, so the money aspect is bad and the timing is worse.   As you have been a customer for years, I especially hope that you will give them another chance once all the Max 8 challenges get worked out.  This situation is not the norm for the company and, like weather delays, the rescheduling, the extra costs, the inconvenience for their customers is not typical.   Again, so sorry that this happened to you. ... View more

@DancingDavidE wrote: @chgoflyer wrote: Ugh. I can't believe Southwest let this happen again. Was it early in the year last year too? I feel like it was also at an "obvious" stage of the year when many people won't have earned it yet.   This would be disastrous at the end of the year when many people are close and may make decisions based on seeing that email.     I got one of those error emails back in January 2017 people were angry then since people thought “maybe they were helping me out since I was so close to earning the companion pass” ... View more

Your Rapid Rewards points post to your Southwest account after your credit card statement closes each month (check with Chase for timing of your statement close).  *Best case* scenario (as reported by several other customers in this thread) is that you will see your Companion Pass in your Southwest account about a week or so after you see the points post.  As noted by @bec102896 the terms of the offer provide a longer time frame so it could take longer.   Complete spend --> Credit card statement closes --> Points post to Southwest Rapid Rewards account --> Companion Pass posts to Southwest Rapid Rewards account.   Southwest also has a nice page explaining how to use your new Companion Pass: https://www.southwest.com/html/rapidrewards/promotions/promotions-companion-pass-tips.html ... View more

If you didn't have EBCI, then you still would check in for the first flight and get boarding passes for both - since you are a little bit ahead of the 24-hour time for the second flight your connecting flight will tend to have better boarding position than your originating flight, subject to several other variables that could make it higher or lower position.     ... View more

I have been a long-time loyal Southwest customer. However, I was very disappointed that SW did not ground the 737 Max planes prior to the Federal order. Now, given what we know about the issues with this plane, I would like to know if SW is going to stop using this plane.    ... View more

@Jwalsh3rd wrote: Just heard on the radio that SWA is number one of voters once more.  Congrats!   The Freddie Awards haven't yet been announced. Are you perhaps confusing this with another travel award? ... View more