Southwest Airlines Community

@Ancadgel wrote: Hi! I pieced together 2 flights to get to Hawaii from Raleigh RDU. I was originally only carrying a backpack + carryon but they are both very full with no room left; they will still fit but I would probably have to mail souvenirs back! LOL.  I'm considering switching to checking a bag.  I have the first flight of the day 5am, from what i've read the ticket counter and security do not even open until 4am.  The terminal in which Southwest is located does not have the other major airlines so it is not normally as busy as the others (from my research). My question is do you think checking my bag to final destination will make me rushed in getting through security (I do have Pre-check also).  TIA! My main question is that it says you "pieced together" two flights - do you mean a one-way ticket to destination X and then another ticket from X to Hawaii? In that case carrying on may be favorable depending on your time for connection. You may be able to get checked baggage tagged for the final destination in Hawaii but there is a chance you'd have to retrieve it and go through re-checking when you get to X if I'm understanding the post.     ... View more

@bec102896 wrote: the only time I see an issue is if your A List qualifying flight is apart of a RT reservation you won’t get your A List status until your reservation is posted after all travel is completed.  Book one-ways!     ... View more

@Sueb22 wrote: I am an A lister with a companion pass. Up until today, my companion automatically had the position number right behind me and didn’t have to worry about it. Now all of a sudden he has to check in and has gotten B instead of right behind me in A? What has happened to change this? He is not an a lister but that had not mattered over the last year +. Any ideas?  It is supposed to work like your earlier experience - for some reason the companion got disassociated from you on the assignments on this one.   If it works like before on your next trip don’t worry about it, probably just a glitch of some kind on this recent ticket.   ... View more

Admin can help: @CarlyeThornton can you help @05bardic to edit his post? The response is not correct for the return trip through HOU, but is correct for heading to LIR. ... View more

They would only be in your account if all three were bought on one confirmation number.    ... View more

@jasonburgess wrote: I have both of the SW business credit cards that come with the perk of up to $500 in credits for points transfers on each card per year for a total potential credit of $1k. Last year, I used it to transfer a portion of my points to my daughter and son in law's account to help them get away for their honeymoon. I'm thinking of referring my wife for the SW personal CC while the bonus is at 85k points. Will I qualify for the business CC points transfer credit if I use my card to transfer Her new points into my RR account? The reason is that I would prefer to use my A-List Preferred status when booking our travel. But agreed - giving your kids a “no questions asked” transfer is different than your wife’s account you can just book tickets from her points for anyone including yourself and the passenger’s status will still apply.    ... View more

That makes sense - kind of like priority boarding upgrades they don’t care who it is that is upgraded, only that it is a charge for using that feature that can be reimbursed. ... View more

@SoCalFlyer97 wrote: @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! If it’s going inside a case or blue bag should be good. If you are leaving the wagon and loose seats at the jetbridge that sounds risky but post a link and let’s take a look.     ... View more

@HendersonVic wrote: Thanks for the reply and where to send the idea to Southwest. It may take some doing by the airport to honor the request, possibly re-route the electrical outlets and place 60 seats, back-to-back, so passengers can sit and wait in a comfortable manner. Fifteen minutes (15) before boarding begins, they ask all passengers to start taking their "assigned seats" to help move the boarding process faster. Sending passengers fifteen at a time helps unblock congestion getting on the plane and in the aisle- as passengers place their carry-ons in the overhead compartment. It may get some getting used to and there will be some growing pains for sure, just like any other change. At O’Hare for instance the gates are all shared use by the airlines so the seating thing would not work since Southwest may change which gates they use.   There may be a logistical issue as well with sixty seats per gate taken up for this purpose, some locations are so tight there is barely room for sixty seats in total.     ... View more

@CupCrusher40 wrote: thanks Flight credit yes, think of it this way: it includes your taxes from the cancelled flight.   Vouchers no.     ... View more

@ovocop8 wrote: I've been waiting for years for Southwest to look into flying to Canada, as SWA is my preferred airline (almost all flights I've ever taken have been with them). Been across the country, been international now by air. First country ever traveled to outside the US was Canada by car, but mostly in the East. There are many different places to see in Canada. For entertainment/leisure, I would visit the following: British Columbia: Vancouver Alberta: Edmonton, Calgary Saskatchewan: Regina Manitoba: Winnipeg Ontario: Toronto, Ottawa, London, Sault Ste. Marie Quebec: Montreal, Quebec (City) Nova Scotia: Halifax There are several others I would drive to for CHL games (including Hamilton, Kamloops, Saskatoon, etc.) but I would fly into these other cities. I'm sure for other people, there are probably some rural and rustic places to visit in the prairies out west and maybe some coastal areas, but these are the places I would like to see flights into from Southwest. One issue is that Southwest can only take bookings in USD while flying in Canada would require accepting CAD - it’s an IT issue, not any lack of interest.    ... View more

You’ll also lose the transferability from WGA+ but if you fly often then you probably don’t worry about using travel credits either. ... View more

I don't have it on me but search this forum for Scottsboro where I left a number there that you can call. They don't answer the phone, leave a detailed message describing your item and that you can see it online and ping it with your call back.   Otherwise make sure your lost and round report is as detailed as possible with serial numbers if possible for them to make a match.         ... View more

@5280Av8r wrote: It's still somewhat of a win because Southwest used to not offer overnight connections so that fact that they are now is an improvement. Though some may say otherwise because you have to sleep at the airport. Some of these I’d still get a room for four or five hours of sleep as long as it would be enough time in the a.m. to get back through security. Since there should be local originating passengers it should be fine to leave and come back.  But it is progress, they did at least announce the red eyes so we’ll see how long it takes to implement and on what routes they do it.   ... View more

@bec102896 wrote: I thought the credit cards came with free upgraded boarding several per year depending on the card you have. You charge it to your card then you get a statement credit for it  There is still a tier that doesn’t include it, I forget the names of the card tiers.    ... View more

@Dcsqueen wrote: The lack of assigned seating is stupid. I heard they're changing this policy finally! As a recommendation,  besides assigned seating, they should assign sections, such as, assigning the back of the plane to "C", then load the plane from "C" to "B" to "A". This would allow people to put their overhead in without disturbing people trying to get in. This would ensure on time departure. I don't understand why it took years for Southwest to figure this out. Also Mexican airplanes have doors in the front and the back of the plane and this makes boarding and deplaning great as well. Perhaps Southwest can get these kind of planes also. The 737’s do have doors in both front and rear. A few airports like LGB and BUR do use boarding from both doors.     ... View more

@tgsa01 wrote: Will arrive from Tokyo on ANA at O'Hare early next month and need to check in my suitcases on Southwest for Tampa. Is there a Southwest check in area straight after Immigration and Customs? Cannot do bag drop off as two separate tickets.  If you can confirm that ANA will deplane in Terminal 5 then the Southwest counter is also in Terminal 5 you’ll just have to make your way upstairs to the ticket desk.     ... View more

Luckily Southwest is in the ORD International Terminal 5 so it will just be taking the bags from CBP downstairs to Southwest’s ticket counter upstairs.   Preclearance would complicate the situation actually since then the United flight will come to Terminal 1 instead of T5. I’d check the current flights to see where they are landing.     ... View more

@dfwskier wrote: @DancingDavidE wrote: @mhdavenport wrote: How in the world are there no direct flights out of LAX into OKC when there are from LAX -> Kansas City? How can I escalate this to become a possibility? Really hate flying American in general but that's the only nonstop option for this route that I travel maybe 10+ times a year. Use the “Contact Us” to submit a suggestion.    The problem that Southwest has is that it is short of planes: courtesy Boeing's inability to actually ship the new planes it has committed to ship. Until that changes, any new routes are highly unlikely. Instead SW has been cutting cities to cope with the shortage. Actually I'm looking at some additional data and LAX and MCI are actually pretty similar in number of passenger and flights, but a huge difference in number of destinations, the capacity at LAX is used up on some "regular" routes compared to Kansas City going to a few more other cities. LAX is tied for least number of city connections among the top 20 busiest Southwest airports.   Kansas City however is the lowest total number of flights available of the top 20.    List of Southwest Airlines destinations - Wikipedia Sorted for connecting cities:       ... View more

@Artanis wrote: SoCal:  I forgot to say I hope you know how much everyone here appreciates the time and effort you put into assembling your great post along with all of the insightful comments.  We can see that it took a lot of time and effort on your part.  Thanks. I wish I could click the "love" button ten times, I love the trip reports.     ... View more

@mhdavenport wrote: How in the world are there no direct flights out of LAX into OKC when there are from LAX -> Kansas City? How can I escalate this to become a possibility? Really hate flying American in general but that's the only nonstop option for this route that I travel maybe 10+ times a year. Use the “Contact Us” to submit a suggestion.   Southwest has had a big presence at MCI for a long time, it’s a little further east to serve as a sort of hub, which TWA had originally planned and then moved to St. Louis.  OKC airport isn’t common for connections, MCI has about 4x the passenger traffic.        ... View more

@willjoh wrote: I fly on the 17th of June. It had a longer layover when I booked but I just received an email from SW saying the times changed and made the layover shorter. All flights on that date are booked. I guess I'll just have to pray there are no delays and make a run for it. Assuming it's in the same terminal, it shouldn't be too bad.  Can you standby to an earlier flight at BWI? ... View more

@DancingDavidE wrote: @SoCalFlyer97 wrote: @willjoh wrote: Hello, I have a flight from BWI to Nassau, Bahamas with a 50 minute layover at Orlando (MCO). I've tried to search all over Google to see if that's enough time. It seems like it's enough as long as I don't have to go to another terminal. Are all Southwest flights in the same terminal at MCO including international flights?   It seems like MCO has a separate terminal for international flights (Terminal C) while Southwest is in Terminal A.   Greetings!   @DancingDavidE should be able to confirm the SW Terminal A layout specifically for MCO but I assume that all departing Southwest flights and domestic SW arrivals occur in the same Terminal A. However, an international arrival that did not have pre-clearance would likely dock at a separate gate area at the appropriate International Arrivals Terminal C that feeds into the CBP Border Inspection Station. Since you're connecting from a domestic arrival to an international departure, I assume this would take place at SW Terminal A.   Regarding layover, the general advice is allowing at least an hour buffer for domestic flights and a two-hour layover time for connections to international flights. I would give myself a larger buffer if the international connection in question was the only outbound flight of the day to the international destination in case of an excessive delay. This can help assure a much more comfortable and stress-free journey than booking a trip with a very tight connection. Southwest is A-side is easier remembered as the gates 100-129 - there are four quadrants with gates and Southwest has all or most of one of those pods. As long as the two flights are in the 100-129 you will be pretty quick although a short walk between the two branches roughly half of the gates per each.   My only concern was that there was some expansion to the 90’s gates for east coast destinations but I don’t see any listing of that now, maybe it was temporary. If it was - still doable to catch the people mover DO NOT LEAVE SECURITY and head to the other tram. But most likely it will be a short walk within the 100-129 pod.   A and B are the two sides of the terminal - assuming all goes well you won’t be in that part of the airport at all.    Bahamas is pre-clearance so on the way back smooth sailing as you’ll go through customs in Nassau and use the regular MCO terminal as a domestic passenger.   ... View more

@SoCalFlyer97 wrote: @willjoh wrote: Hello, I have a flight from BWI to Nassau, Bahamas with a 50 minute layover at Orlando (MCO). I've tried to search all over Google to see if that's enough time. It seems like it's enough as long as I don't have to go to another terminal. Are all Southwest flights in the same terminal at MCO including international flights?   It seems like MCO has a separate terminal for international flights (Terminal C) while Southwest is in Terminal A.   Greetings!   @DancingDavidE should be able to confirm the SW Terminal A layout specifically for MCO but I assume that all departing Southwest flights and domestic SW arrivals occur in the same Terminal A. However, an international arrival that did not have pre-clearance would likely dock at a separate gate area at the appropriate International Arrivals Terminal C that feeds into the CBP Border Inspection Station. Since you're connecting from a domestic arrival to an international departure, I assume this would take place at SW Terminal A.   Regarding layover, the general advice is allowing at least an hour buffer for domestic flights and a two-hour layover time for connections to international flights. I would give myself a larger buffer if the international connection in question was the only outbound flight of the day to the international destination in case of an excessive delay. This can help assure a much more comfortable and stress-free journey than booking a trip with a very tight connection. Southwest is A-side is easier remembered as the gates 100-129 - there are four quadrants with gates and Southwest has all or most of one of those pods. As long as the two flights are in the 100-129 you will be pretty quick although a short walk between the two branches roughly half of the gates per each.   My only concern was that there was some expansion to the 90’s gates for east coast destinations but I don’t see any listing of that now, maybe it was temporary. If it was - still doable to catch the people mover DO NOT LEAVE SECURITY and head to the other tram. But most likely it will be a short walk within the 100-129 pod.   A and B are the two sides of the terminal - assuming all goes well you won’t be in that part of the airport at all.    ... View more

Also wanted to follow up on this thread - the gate agent at DEN this weekend announced "two adults per family" for the family boarding, so that's an interesting variation on the theme that at this gate it wouldn't be two adults per kid.         ... View more

@bballflyer wrote: I do try to get on single reservation when I can but do agree about linking an entire party; I frequently purchase different fare types for family members (dollars, points, IWG bs IWG+) and you can only link the minors,  I have sent many requests to SW to be able to either book different fare types on one reservation or to link reservations other than minors  Yes, would love this capability, the idea for us is booking mine with cash, wife with companion, and then kids with points. But we end up with three confirmation numbers in that scenario and now that my oldest child is out of the family boarding range she'll have to start being on the same reservation with me to get sequential. Then wife and little guy can follow up at Family Boarding.             ... View more

@ZevSupport wrote: Looks awesome! Where'd ya go?  The tower and terminal building are Orlando     ... View more

@N82EZ wrote: This has happened three times to me now and am compelled to write. On 4/27 I flew from KDEN to KAUS. I went to the Flyby Lane of the ticket counter where there was nobody and was invited in. I had to step up to the kiosk and enter my RR number, print my bag tags, peel and stick them on to my bags and load them on to the belt "wheels first and flat on the belt" The agent never touched the tag or the bag.... WTH is Priority or even special with that!? I call KDEN the laziest Flyby Lane in the system. KAUS, KBUR,KLAX, KSMF, or KLAS are not like that. How do they think they are that "special" and accommodating to Southwest's highest held passengers? (B.S., A-L preferred and A-List) Was the line shorter? That's the main benefit.    If there were no lines at that time of day, then good for you (and everyone else too).     ... View more