Southwest Airlines Community

@watta71 wrote: Hi everyone, first time travelers to the US, we are flying from LAX to Memphis with a 50min stopover in Dallas Love field. I am worried about our checked luggage making the next flights. Will our bags go directly to the 2nd part of the trip or will we have to retrieve them and re check them? Thanks for any help When you check in with Southwest at LAX they will tag the baggage for MEM so when you get to DAL all you have to do is get yourselves to the next gate.   50 minutes is plenty at DAL to get the luggage, they book as tight as 30 minutes sometimes.     ... View more

@epcot wrote: I don’t think they’ve ever officially revealed, but the easiest for WN to calculate is likely status tier, then fare group (possibly using the underlying fare classes), then time of ticketing. This prevents having to make any external calls to a CRM or such Maybe they could do a quarterly update to everyone's "ranking" I agree it would be an effort to poll the system every day for those positions.     ... View more

@abbeynormal wrote: For example, you are the first one to make a reservation for a flight as business select.  Does that mean you are A1?  This part is known, yes.       @abbeynormal wrote: Or you make a wanna-get-away reservation, and as the first one to make the reservation, are you A16? This one isn't clear, time of purchase may be a big factor, ALP vs AL may be a factor, but we don't know if it also includes the fare class or other weighting. ... View more

@dfwskier wrote: @PDXMusicman wrote:     Second, Southwest tries to upsell EVERYONE to buy the A1-A15 boarding spots - including people that lmight already have A16. There's no conspiracy to give people bad boarding spots so that SW can upsell them. As I understand it the business is going quite well, definitely no need to do that.   There are too many variables here @PDXMusicman with number of A-List people, EBCI tickets, etc. that even if you were the first one to check in it can vary quite a bit.   You are doing everything that you can and I hope you get good results more often than not with your method.   A B-number may be common on flights with many A-list passengers.     ... View more

@dfwskier wrote: and the answer (from a post on a different blog) appears to have been right side:   "Flew from MCI to ATL today and had a great view on the right side of the plane." Definitely on the right side from MCI to ATL.    The angle was wrong from AUS to PIT so I'm not sure how theirs turned out.   Actually flying through the path of totality from start to finish would put the sun mostly behind you at that time of day. I'm hoping the pilot was able to weave around a little at the crucial moments to let people see.         ... View more

How did it go @SWloove ? ... View more

@abbeynormal wrote: I've been flying SWA for almost 47 years, and I've seen lots of changes - most of them good.  Often get "canceled" service on short flights (more than 176 miles) due to weather.   So what happens to my business select drink coupon?  The reason I saw "canceled due to weather" is in multiple instances, there wasn't any weather, and it appears that the service was "canceled" either because the captain or crew didn't want to perform in-flight service.  The other item I noticed about this is that it appears to happen when the crew is not Texas (Dallas or Houston) based.  Why can't I use my coupon on another flight since it was "canceled" at the discretion of SWA? In theory, they could cancel every in-flight service and never serve.  There has to be a solution  Take a screenshot of it and ask nicely on your next flight.   You won't be able to get your old boarding pass if your next flight is several days later so you'd need to take a picture of it in case the FA asked to see it.   So no guarantee on this but I've had it accepted many times this way during the paper boarding pass times. We'll have to see how it evolves with electronic passes and tickets.           ... View more

@bec102896 wrote: I hope the clouds hold off in Austin so you can see it the weather is looking iffy but maybe from 30K feet you can get a nice view.  if you get any photos from the flight can you share them here? I was going to be on an eclipse flight from DAL but life caused a change of plans unfortunately so I’ll have to hope for clouds to go away and look from the ground  I think the angle is going to be really high, it will depend on the pilot to bank the plane and or turn the direction to get a better look as the sun may be behind the plane if it were on a direct line from AUS to PIT. ... View more

@kasey97 wrote: Is the full refund within 24 hours of booking reservation  a literal 24 hours or by end of the next day?  For example, if I book a reservation at 10:00 am on Monday and subsequently need to cancel it .......do I have a refundable cancellation (under the 24-hour regulation) until 10:00 am on Tuesday OR until 11:59 pm on Tuesday? One exception is if the ticket is purchased within seven days of flying.   I'm not sure what Southwest's policy is if they continue to offer a refund even on shorter purchase windows but TSA requires the 24-hour policy for tickets purchased at least a week in advance for tickets serving the USA.     ... View more

@tahoedenizen wrote: This is a good question, but I went back through all my YTD credit card statements, and "adjusted out" 2x and 3x points earned and anniversary bonus points, which just reduces the total from 102,896 dollars to 97,601 dollars.  So 97,601 / 5000 = 19.52 and I should have at least 19 * 1500 = 28,500 tier qualifying points. But I don't -- I have 25,500.  That gap represents $10,000 of real spending -- hard to miss, and I'd like an explanation from Southwest. But AFAIK there's no Live Chat on Southwest.com, correct? No live chat for that purpose.   So there are no points from any other source, only spending and bonuses?   Is it possible that the accounting is off by a month and you had December TQP worth 3,000 points?     ... View more

@epcot wrote: Based on this, it looks like Southwest never received the points. You'd need to contact Chase about where those points are, and if they're not forthcoming with an answer you might want to look into the CFPB Agree, you first have to confirm that Chase sent the instructions for the points.     ... View more

@tappingmom1 wrote: Hi @ecurl ,   This is a community message board...and we love to read positive reviews of service provided by Southwest airlines!   To leave your review with Southwest, click on the blue Contact Us at the bottom of this page.  After it opens, scroll down to Provide Feedback.  And after it opens, click on Complements. It's always helpful if you can provide the date of service and airport.   Thank you for taking the time to acknowledge the assistance this SWA employee gave you!! They will also potentially ask for your confirmation number which helps validate what your pathway was as far as airports and aircraft during the day. Don't ever post that publicly, save it for the contact us form.     ... View more

@dfwskier wrote: Did you mean to say right side window seat?? the plane will be headed east so the sun should be to the right of the plane.   That's what I'm trying to figure out - how far into setting does it need to be before it would be visible on the left hand side?   If it was solar noon it would be to the right hand side.    The flight path diagram shows the airplane going southwest to northeast as well, so if the sun was only slightly setting it would be behind the plane.   Hopefully the pilot has leeway to swerve to the left and right so both sides get a view.         ... View more

  Here are the local times for totality in case it helps: According toEclipse2024.org, the unincorporated village of Eidson Road, near the U.S.-Mexico border will be the first to see the phenomenon. Here's the timing of each state's total solar eclipse: Dallas, Texas around 1:40 p.m. (CDT) Idabel, Oklahoma around 1:45 p.m. (CDT) Little Rock, Arkansas around 1:51 p.m. (CDT) Poplar Bluff, Missouri around 1:56 p.m. (CDT) Carbondale, Illinois at 1:59 p.m. (CDT) Paducah, Kentucky around 2 p.m. (CDT) Evansville, Indiana at 2:02 p.m. (CDT) Cleveland, Ohio at 3:13 p.m. (EDT) Erie, Pennsylvania at 3:16 p.m. (EDT) Buffalo, New York at 3:18 p.m. (EDT) Burlington, Vermont at 3:26 p.m. (EDT) Lancaster, New Hampshire at 3:27 p.m. (EDT) Caribou, Maine at 3:32 p.m. (EDT)   Solar noon for Chicago is around 1 p.m. CDT  and the path of totality would be around 2 p.m. so the sun should be just slightly setting.   I'd say left-side window seat and decide if you want the wing in the photo or not. The sun will be high above and slightly behind based on the path angle in the graphic so maybe right behind the wing gives the most angle to work with.   But then the pilot could straighten out briefly to give everyone a broadside view for a few minutes in which case in front of the wing might be better for a clear shot.   Dunno - glad to hear you got on this flight, let us know what you end up with and please post a photo!   I guess I didn't win the sweepstakes for a seat on the flight, that would have been awesome.             ... View more

@dfwskier wrote: I'm not abso.utely certain, but I'd expect you would get a decent boarding position Al-isters would be in front of you, but then other Anytimers in order of tiket purchase date.. I would not expect many Anytimers as most people are going to fly as WGA of WGA+. So the real question is how many A listers would be in front of you. It should be as good as possible without an A-list - just clarifying that you don't also have A-list?   I don't buy the Anytime fare often since the points benefit and extras with BS are so much higher for a relatively small step on the fare. I don't buy Business Select very often either, usually only if I'm booking a trip where the WGA prices are also already high.   However with companion as you pointed out the BS fare won't include the companion in boarding position, so any fare with A-list will be better. Then Anytime, then EBCI, then checking in at 24 hours.         ... View more

@avee8r wrote: Thats a good idea - I sent them a msg on Twitter and they got back to me in 10mins. Thanks for the idea !  Hopefully they find it now ! Is it still reporting from the same place? I was hoping you'd have it back by now.     ... View more

@Ann4077 wrote: I would love to know when they will come to Sioux Falls? I would love to see this airport have more options but I would also love to see another option to den, phx, Texas, and more options for the snow birds in this area.  is it true that they are taking over frontier? If so will they stay in Sioux Falls and how can a person apply?  The only articles I see mentioning the two by name are from more than ten years ago.   But that said the volume at FSD is on the lower end for a Southwest airport but if the availability of planes and pilots keeps up it might be in a future expansion.   A lot of southwest airports are on the small end at 1M enplanements per year so this would be a bit lower than that. Similar to Bellingham though which was added recently.         ... View more

@rpisaneschi wrote: Why the lack of Non-Stop flights from and to Chicago O'Hare largest airport in the world? ORD to SRQ, there are none, you have to fly out of Midway, Arrrg.   ORD to SJC there are none, you have to fly out of Miidway, Arrrg. Southwest only has a few gates in Terminal 5 as opposed to having most of Midway airport one of Southwest's largest operations.    The expansion there was reported to be competition with United and American so you'll see some flights to DAL, PHX, DEN and then a few flights to Southwest focus cities BNA, BWI, MCO.   But TL;DR: the limited gates mean fewer options compared to MDW and unfortunately your destinations aren't a match.   *I did take ORD to SRQ before though so maybe that route is seasonal or on certain days, there has been a direct flight at times.     ... View more

@SoCalFlyer97 wrote: @cdness99 wrote: I absolutely LOVE the new ability of anyone to join a flight's stand-by list, at NO COST, and see the # of available seats in real-time.  However, I have used it a few times now and have some ponderings.  I understand the explanations that I have found, and been told, about the prioritization of passengers on this list and that not every SW passenger is created equal (i.e. A-List, Military, Fare Class, etc.) when it comes to getting a spot (priority) in the queue.  And I am ok with that.  Where I am struggling is how this list seems to change, even up to the last minute of boarding.  Allow me to explain my experiences.  In two instances I was the first person to join the stand-by list for a flight, many hours before the flight (I know that does not matter, just wait).  In two instances, folks joined behind me and in front of me (assumably due to their status).  For my first flight I remained in the #1 spot until 30 mins before departure and for the second flight I had been bumped down the list a few spots throughout the day (again, I thought due to status).  What transpired next is what has me baffled and the gate agents could not make heads nor tails of it either.  In both instances, folks who were behind me the entire time suddenly jumped over me in the queue.  Going back to my first example, I was in the #1 spot (for 10 hours) until 30 mins before departure and suddenly the party directly behind me jumped me.  Then, 10 mins later I fell to 15th in the queue.  After explaining to the gate agent and showing screen shots I had taken he spoke to a supervisor and got me on the flight.  In my other example a similar thing happened, I had started out 1st in the queue in the morning and throughout the day fell to 5th.  Suddenly, right before they were about to assign seats for stand-by folks who had been behind me for hours jumped over me and I fell to 11th and did not get on the flight.  I (as well as the gate agents) am just thoroughly baffled at how and when the prioritization is supposed to work on this stand-by list.  Can someone from SW please way in and not only explain the overall stand-by process/algorithm and maybe also lend some insight into my situations?  In both my cases I arrived at the airport hours in advance of my original flight based on the hopes of getting on the stand-by flight based on my position in the queue vs. the number of available seats.  I certainly would not show up if I am 20th and only see a couple of seats available throughout the time I am monitoring it.  But, when your #1 in the queue until 30 mins before take-off and you suddenly drop to 15th, there seems to be a glitch somewhere.   Greetings:   Southwest defines the priority order on this page: https://www.southwest.com/airfare-types-benefits/sameday-standby-change/   See the last FAQ toward the bottom of the page.    Priority Order: Customers who are re-accommodated following flight disruptions A-List Preferred and A-List Rapid Reward Members prioritized based on fare (Business Select, Anytime, Wanna Get Away Plus, Wanna Get Away) All other Customers prioritized by the same fare order   It's possible for both instances the group who came up during the last 30 minutes may have been those who were re-accommodated from a disruption such as a missed connection or cancellation. Also possible that there were some A-List/ALP's in the mix too.   Given the volume of people who were prioritized before you at the 30-minute mark, it appears a disruption of some sort generated a last-minute surge in prioritized standby's ahead of you but I could be wrong...It wouldn't hurt to follow up with Southwest Customer Service just to confirm there wasn't a glitch involved in your case but if I had to guess, I would predict that these surges were due to passengers being re-accommodated as they get first priority by rule.   https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/email-us Click on "Comment/Question" and then "Customer Service"   Hope this makes better sense.   I'm only speculating but the list may not be ordered until the 30 minute mark. So you @cdness99  show up as first and stay that way until the sorting takes place?   Can anyone confirm for instance if they were A-list or ALP and joined a standby list did you immediately go to the top if there were others in line, and then went to the top at T-30 minutes?             ... View more

@gabelogan99 wrote: "Seemed to know what he was doing" as if this was his grand scheme and life's work all along... to get this one person booted off of an airplane. We aren't being told the whole story here. They don't kick someone off of an airplane for this... My reading between the lines was that the kid added to the story to compel security to detain the gentleman.   Obviously I wasn't there, I don't know what anyone said to anyone else.     ... View more

@Ntrums34 wrote: If I were to do that, is there a way to use my points and my spouse's points to pay? Right now, it is prompting me to buy more points because I do not have enough individually to pay for all four one way flights. Is this a situation where I should just call to have the reservation made? You can use your points to buy tickets for other people, or yourself and other people at the same time.   So you may:   If one person has enough points for everyone then that person will be logged in and buy RT tickets for four people. If not, then break it apart you buy four tickets one-way and spouse buys four tickets one-way. If not enough there, then you'll have to start splitting up the reservatations into pairs - spouse plus one kid and then yourself and one kid, pay cash for remaining tickets. If you do this, book one-way tickets so when you use cash on the return trip you can buy all four tickets together again. Since I'm chasing status personally I would use my points to buy tickets for my family, and cash for my own. Keep that in mind if either you or your spouse are trying to make A-list or ALP - buy that ticket cash and use your points for the kids.   If you split up from the kids you have to buy your ticket first and then theirs in case they are younger and can't fly alone, the system will ask for your confirmation number to be flying with them.         ... View more

Can you verify that these were shipped physical cards and not emailed digital cards?     ... View more

Personally I like to look at the enplanement data for a state to see the relative comparison of how busy airports are and which ones are served by Southwest.   I'm seeing quite a drop off when we get to the airports on the list not currently served by Southwest. It isn't impossible but there are a few airports with 1M+ enplanements that aren't yet served by Southwest around the country and I think it's a long shot.    Data from: List of airports in California - Wikipedia and then sorted by enplanements on the right hand column.     Santa Barbara on this list is the lower end and they just added it. Most Southwest airports are at least a classification of "P-S" maybe we can find a few in the P-N category.   For instance TYS in Knoxville is P-S category around a million enplanements and right now doesn't have much interest apparently.     ... View more

@epcot wrote: You’ll need to book individually and then transfer the remainder of the credit. It can only be applied one passenger at a time and only the the passenger whose account it is currently in. If this was the result of a Wanna Get Away Plus fare then I'd need clarification from @epcot how it works.   Each person would be assigned the credit and then make their own booking.   The credit can be transferred one time.   I'm not sure about the logistics of transferring only a portion of the credit and whether it could be distributed to two separate people or not.   I think what @epcot is saying is that you book your own flight then you can transfer the remaining credit to the new person. Then they book their flight, then can they transfer the remaining amount?       ... View more

@Robfb wrote: If you are flying back to the states from Cancun make sure you get to the airport early, at least 3 hours. It took us 1 hour 43 minutes to go through the general check in there were two check in posts that were empty and not being used. The belt for the bags was turned off and on . The plane was boarded and it took us an extra 50 minutes for the luggage to be loaded. We missed our connecting flight. Instead of getting the next nonstop flight back Southwest booked us on one stop flight. Be sure you leave more than one and a half hours between flights out of Cancun or try to get a nonstop flight  It sounds like a couple of different issues here - are you saying that if everyone on the flight had been there an hour earlier then the plane would have departed on time? That's probably wishful thinking but I agree it would help on busy days like that.   As far as connections coming back from international flights I'm a fan of allowing some extra time.    However if you miss a flight due to the airline's efforts and they reschedule you onto something you don't like, ask them again in case there is an option you prefer whether that's a direct non-stop flight later or a connection earlier.    Southwest uses a point-to-point network and so there is a significant portion of the passenger base that aren't bothered by connections if the end result is getting to the destination earlier and/or cheaper.    But if you get re-assigned a connecting flight but prefer a later non-stop just ask.             ... View more

@erobin524 wrote: This is my first time ever making a post such as this. I have always had positive flight experiences for the most part. However, last night was the most humiliating experience ever on a Southwest Airlines flight.  Sorry to hear about the agent's behavior, I'm glad the FA recognized it and hopefully that helped a little.   This is a customer-to-customer forum so if you want to take any concerns to Southwest you should use one of the Contact Southwest Customer Service methods.   If the agent really had a question whether someone was using "Customer of Size" program the agent should just come out and ask that.    It's much more subtle if someone was using that program - the extra seat is refunded, and the passenger would preboard and be able to hold the adjacent seat, I'm not sure if there is a little marker or card or something so it would be clear to the FA what was going on.         ... View more

@mitchthreadgill wrote: Purchased Wi-Fi in flight from CHI to DEN Started support with the AI chat, after 10 minutes of begging for a real person, the real person CANT help me.  Sends me a link to email customer service, 30 minutes later I receive an email to call them LOL, why couldnt that be in the chat. Called the number and they tell me they CANT help me either, I have to wait 3 days for them to contact me, as it is a 3rd party. It really floors me that what must be an EXTREMELY common NEED by business clients that there is not something a LOT more conveinent in place. The APP said it sent my receipt, I never received an email or any other documentation on the purchase. So 2.5 hours of my day and then now 3 days to wait!!! AND TO DRYLY PASS ME AROUND THE SUPPORT TEAM ONLY TO FIND THAT THERE IS NO HELP THAT ANY OF THEM CAN PORVIDE AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!! REALLY!!!!!!! Disney's Goofy running the show over there or what? I take a screenshot of the purchase page if I'll be submitting it. Email has usually worked for me but just in case.         ... View more

@bec102896 wrote: Yep if the baby has a paid seat the baby gets 2 bags as well so you could take the baby with you and check the bags that way then just have partner get boarding pass after they park or use mobile pass and head straight for security.  Stroller and car seat also are exempt and don't count if either of the bags was for that purpose. i.e. you and a ticketed baby get four items, plus two baby gear bags for stroller/car seat.         ... View more