Southwest Airlines Community

@DancingDavidE wrote: @TheMiddleSeat wrote:   I was able to find this summary: Starting January 1, Seven Up will replace Sprite and Sprite Zero will be replaced with Canada Dry Lemon Lime sparking water.     This actually sounds good to me.  Not sure why this suddenly floated to the top, but I did enjoy the sparkling water as predicted when I finally had a flight in April.     ... View more

@cschuller wrote: I have a flight booked with a companion and the online account shows the companion information, however, when I go to the Mobile app it does not.  Is this a problem?  Should it be showing? Yes and No:   On my iOS version of the app I see the companion booking for a future flight to be checked in. (In our case on Friday of this week.)  It will let me add Early Bird(r) or change/cancel.   However when you get to the same-day travel and the app is showing your boarding pass and flight info, the companion's boarding pass won't be shown there, it will only be shown on their own rapid rewards account login. It sounds like you did enter their RR# when you booked it, so the companion will be able to check-in, retrive their own boarding pass, etc. and have a mobile copy on their device.   This is a feature in one regard - you can both have mobile boarding passes since the confirmation numbers are different - if they were on the same one then Southwest's system doesn't provide mobile boarding passes to multiple passengers.            ... View more

@rtbarron wrote: @DancingDavidE wrote: Dang, I had a response to this one but I don't see it here...I wonder if I forgot to hit send, or lost connectivity before it posted.     I saw and read your response yesterday but it disappeared before I could "like" it. Could be the work of hackers from some other airline community. Or sunspots. I'm posting too frequently and got caught by the spam filter! It's back now. There was one bit of speculation in there I'll edit.  ... View more

Great to hear this! Happy to hear that your item was returned.  ... View more

Dang, I had a response to this one but I don't see it here...I wonder if I forgot to hit send, or lost connectivity before it posted.    Found it in the spam filter! Shouldn't mention "the other guys" by name        ... View more

@nancer wrote: I've looked at flights from LAX to HOU and then from HOU to LIR. I guess my frustration is when I want to go somewhere else and I don't know where to start my search. As I mentioned, I want to go to Aruba. Same thing - no flights show up. I could pick random cities (HOU, FLL, etc.) and see which ones fly there and when using the calendar, but that's a hassle. There has to be an easier way. Or the website needs to make suggestions - hey, you can't fly from LAX to ____, BUT if you flew from City A, then you could get there. It just is not intuitive at all. With their international flights, it would be great to find that table that lists what dates certain cities fly to foreign countries. I stumbled across it once and I can't seem to find it again 😞 If you go to the route map and click "nonstop only" you can see HOU and BWI are the only direct to LIR, and HOU, BWI, and FLL for San Jose (SJO). This is a good way to work the problem backwards. It doesn't show the days though, so you'd see partial or seasonal schedules once you dig in further.   https://www.southwest.com/travel_center/routemap_dyn.html   Aruba also has HOU, BWI, and FLL.    You can also use FlightAware to see between two cities, but it doesn't automatically show connections. But if you go DEN to LIR for example, you can see that there is a published connection in Houston where there isn't one for LAX, so you'll most likely have to "build your own" itinerary to fly LAX to those destinations.         ... View more

@nancerI would use the Low Fare Calendar in this case.   https://www.southwest.com/air/low-fare-calendar/select-dates.html?adultPassengersCount=1&currencyCode=USD&destinationAirportCode=SJO&originationAirportCode=LAX&passengerType=ADULT&returnAirportCode=&selectedFlight1=2018-06-14&selectedFlight2=2018-06-18&tripType=roundtrip&int=&userLoggedIn=false&redirectToVision=true&dest=&isSwaBizRequest=false&rapidRewardsShoppingUrl=http%3A%2F%2Frapidrewardsshopping.southwest.com&memberName=&currentPage=LOW_FARE_FINDER_ENTRY_PAGE&loggedInUserType=   That will show dates that are unavailable for depature or return flights.   However, I think you may be running into an additional issue where Southwest's ticketing system doesn't allow an unlimited number of possible connections, and maybe someone else can elaborate but the software seems to not allow connections with long layovers, so if the combination of flights from LAX to HOU to Costa Rica requires a long layover it may not be an option that is presented.   Some of the international flights also leave early from HOU, FLL, BWI etc. and make it difficult for West Coast originations to make it to the gateway airport in time which might be another factor. Southwest doesn't book redeye flights or overnight layovers. If you were willing to take an overnight then you could book LAX-HOU and HOU-Costa Rica as separate flights, although this would expose you to irregular operations due to storm, etc. that could affect one leg of your trip but not the other. We'd all like to think the customer service operator would accomodate you in that case, but it wouldn't technically be required due to multiple reservations.   Anyway - try the Low Fare Calendar and see if that helps, if not maybe one of the other suggestions will help. The other thing to check is if a different gateway airport works better - obviously you won't want to go to FLL or BWI from LAX if you didn't have to, but maybe the departures from those sites line up better.             ... View more

@stlyons84 wrote: The email is three pages long to print.  Client accounting department wants it all on one page, easy to see who is traveling, date, where and amount paid.  This should be easy.   Agree, but at this point no one on this board knows of any way to get it on one page until after the flight - the best recommendation is to send the confirmation in all of its three-page glory.       ... View more

She does not need to have it for TSA or for Southwest.   If you were worried about her being your granddaughter as opposed to your own daughter you could have a letter from her parents or copy of the birth certificate if it helps you feel better, but this is not necessary for TSA.   Southwest only requires documentation for age-restricted fares for infants, child fare, and senior fare, none of these would apply to a 14 year old - she probably has a Wanna Get Away fare.               ... View more

@Taylor1487 wrote: Several airports that many airlines fly to are not being serviced by Southwest. Here is a full list of airports that I think Southwest should start flying to:     Chicago (O'Hare), Illinois (ORD) Jackson, Mississippi (JAN) Miami, Florida (MIA) New York (Kennedy), New York (JFK)       Hopefully Southwest can start flying to these cities soon. Fun list, I'll second @rtbarron that I'm curious how you assembled this list. If you are personally flying to these sites then I think Southwest is interested to hear about it.   I can clarify a few from recent history:   ORD will be extremely difficult due to shortage of gates. Having MDW as an alternative is a great thing in my opinion, even if it is a little further away for me. I agree it would open up Southwest to more customers in the Chicago area by having a few flights there. Some people in the Chicago North Shore suburbs can get to MKE in about as much time, also a Southwest airport, and in a few cases even taking Amtrak there without driving, although daily/weekly parking is relatively cheap compared to MDW or ORD. Actually from Evanston it would probably only be 15-20 minutes longer for me at certain times of day, I should try it one of these times myself. Right now midday it's only 15 minutes longer according to Google Maps. Jackson Southwest just recently stopped service after inheriting from AirTran, I would not expect them to return there if it didn't make sense a few years ago. MIA is another gate-constrained location, recently expansion building activity at FLL seems to indicate no urgency to get into MIA. American has MIA on a lockdown. JFK isn't one I know as well as some others - I understand it to be an expensive location to operate and offering limited advantages over LGA and EWR, and I suppose a few flights to Long Island. The international connections may benefit some passengers though. Probably hard to get gates, and expensive once you have them.   Edit: I don't know all the reasons to discontinue service in Jackson, MS. I'm sure it is complicated! ... View more

@nalfonso1 wrote: Hi, Can someone travel with his driver licence expired? He han a electoral ID.  Allow extra time as the TSA may have some additional questioning to establish his identity. Some people report no trouble using expired driver's license, others some addidtional questioning but eventually cleared.   Is the voter card issued by the state and does it have his photo? https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification ... View more

@Bpoppie46 wrote: This company is in a tailspin, constant flight delays and excuse after excuse.  This is not the airline for business travelers as you will never be on time.  As a new one for me, we sat at the gate for an hour waiting for passengers that were delayed from another flight.  Who care that people were then late for their flights and missed connections.  They should stop putting departure times on the board and just use a default delayed message.  Pathetic!! Actually I just saw a different post (wasn't it yours?) that a flight was delayed while the connecting passengers arrived late.   So they care sometimes, but in this case inconveniently so for that flight. Maybe it was a case where the connections were on the last flight of the day or something? It's not my experience that any airline would hold a flight more than 20 minutes for connections but who knows what else was going on that day. ... View more

@Rpm007 wrote: ...my flight from PHX to ABQ and when I got on plane a male flight attendant greeted me with an insult when I walked on plane. He was made fun of my shoes. Well I figured this guy was having a bad day and I brushed it off...   ...I get on the airplane and a gentleman named “Bryan” was one of the flight attendants. To my surprise this is the same guy that was on my phx flight, he portrayed the same rude behavior to others on this flight that he did to me last month. I think this individual should be counseled if not fired and learn how to treat customers with some respect.  I hope that he meant whatever he said in fun, and that he had trouble with the delivery. Hopefully someone at Southwest can make the connection for Bryan so that he knows what he is saying may not be taken as he intends is.   Also please send pictures of the shoes, I'm curious now.         ... View more

The photocopy of the driver's license will be extremely helpful.   Student identification even with a photo can't be used as a primary source of ID, but it will be helpful to establish identification and cross-check the copy of the driver's license.           ... View more

@erikabp10 wrote: Traveling to FL in July with my husband and 2 kids, 4 and 10. We would like to bring our foldable wagon for when we go to the beach. Are we able to check that in with our luggage? Also for our 4yo, we would like to bring his stroller with us, can we bring it through security and check it at our gate? That way we have it immediately after exiting the plane and won’t have to wait for it to come through the baggage claim. First time flying with kids! There is a wealth of information on this board about family travel. Maybe we can provide a few tips to help out.   Foldable wagon - I don't see why not, but it should be secured so that it will be safe for the baggage handling, not likely to get damaged, etc. If it was made to be foldable for traveling like this that should be helpful...when you pack it up make sure there aren't loose parts that might stick out. Everyone will be ticketed so you'll have two bags per person including the wagon. Strollers are usually allowed in addition to the allowance. Gate check the stroller - yes! You'll go through security and to the gate with it, then ask them at the departure gate for a gate check sticker. If you have a cover or bag for the stroller, put the gate check tag on the cover. You'll want to do this in advance of boarding, especially if you will be using family boarding. If you don't already have a cover for the stroller, Southwest sells these for > $20 I believe at the ticket counter, and also at the baggage services. You can use your own cover as well. The procedure will be to take the stroller down the jetway and drop it outside the aircraft door. Someone will come grab it from there and stow it. Family boarding - assuming you don't all end up with A-numbers, you may want to use family boarding between the A and B groups. Make sure the stroller is bagged and ready to go before this time. The rules are for two adults per kid six and under - you should ask about bringing the 10 y/o through as well though. Some gate agents may not be flexible - in that case send one adult and both kids through family boarding, and the remaining adult board at their scheduled position. Retrieval of gate checked item - when you arrive, the stroller will be brought up and left outside the aircraft door - don't go up the jetway without it. It will be left in the equivalent position where you dropped it. Usually this works pretty well, but if it hasn't shown up yet ask one of the crew if they can look for it.  Safe travels!       ... View more

@Sillygirl wrote: Southwest does not question disability..... I am greatful for all the help .......I am flying in 2 days and expect another great experience....they always have a wheelchair waiting for me..... @I wasn't sure if you were asking about getting wheelchair lined up (i've contacted @SouthwestAir on twitter before for this successfully - wait for a DM request to send any personal info) or if you were happy about prior experience and wanted to share.   Glad it has gone well for you previously either way, and safe travels.     ... View more

@teach871969 wrote: That actually doesn't work.   I was trying to use my LUV voucher to book 2 roundtrip flights from ISP to BWI, August 23-27. There is a $49 sale for that particular flight, which is due to expire in 14 minutes.   I went through the steps you listed and there was no space to enter the voucher/security code numbers. I called Southwest Customer service at 10:30 PM EST and was told there was a 120 minute wait. Considering the sale ends in 14 minutes, I guess I'm out of luck!   I just find it curious that there is a two hour wait the evening that a sale you are running is due to expire.  Since they have had the sale availabe for a while I don't suspect a conspiracy to clog up the phone lines now - probably just a lot of others like yourself trying to book and looking for assistance.     ... View more

@etna9726b wrote: Pitch, roll, and ya'll.   I echo the sentiment missing SW at TYS.  With UT here, how could you NOT have full planes?   SW: Give the airport authority another chance to pitch Knoxville.  Roll out your great service here.  Ya'll be real happy with that business decision!       I lost my draft post somewhere, but currently wikipedia was showing 800,000 enplanements per year in Knoxville - compared to several other smaller Southwest airports that are 2,000,000 or so. Not all Southwest passengers, but one idea being to serve busier locations and take some existing business in addition to adding new passengers.   There are a few exceptions, i see Corpus Christie as a lower volume location, and new service at Paine Field would be below that figure.   But the idea would be one or two planes a day full is fine - many a day full is even better.   There could also be obstacles as far as accessing gates if the current carriers have the capacity tied up. ... View more

@chgoflyer wrote: I think the point (seemingly missed by many here) is that A-Listers (and/or Companion Pass holders) must give up their A-List boarding benefit when traveling with a minor child.   The rules may "apply," but that doesn't mean they make sense. 😉     ...   Sadly, this is yet another one of those examples of situations on Southwest where, when policy prevails, common sense is the loser.      Having gone as far as running a pilot on the companion pass boarding together, I'm hopeful for some changes in this area.   There are two issues to me - first that most companion pass holders would save a middle seat for their companion anyway - there's almost no practical difference in boarding the companion with the passholder, other than expanding capacity of the lineup corrals to allow extra "hidden" positions.   Secondly, whether companion or general ticketing there is a threshold for family boarding that is pretty stringent in my book - mine is just 2 years old now so not a logistical problem for me yet - but I can see that pre-teen kids that aren't eligible for family boarding could result in stress and confusion and perhaps safety in the case of leaving them out in the concourse to board on their own, more likely it results in someone forgoing their otherwise entitled position. If those are the rules they are the rules, but the unintended consequence is some bad feelings that as @chgoflyer says don't make common sense.   If it is desirable to seat families together then allow a wider age group at family boarding, maybe 12 years old at least? ... View more

The suffix field is a convenience, entering it on the regular line will still match for TSA purposes.   Note: not if you have PreCheck and need to match exactly, that's different ... View more

@arsr88 wrote: Hello I also purchased 2 non refundable tickets months ago that I wanted to see if I could get a refund for.  I canceled our vacation to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary bc of my heightened fear of flying after the tragic accident on Southwest. I suffer from PTSD & anxiety and that just put it over the edge.  My vacation is canceled & I just called the Customer Relations Department about a refund exception.   The person said under no circumstances are refunds given on the tickets I bought.  Very blunt, not helpful & a little bit rude @arsr88you should follow the advice from @TheMiddleSeat up above in the post that was marked the solution and write Southwest about your request.   Although customer relations may have been able to deliver the news in a better manner when you called, they probably are not offering refunds in general.   Maybe you can request a voucher instead when you write in so that the funds could be used by someone else. I don't know if Southwest is doing this or not, but you could try asking. They may need some supporting info when you write them if they were to consider this as an exception (they may not consider it, just an idea).             ... View more

That's a good sign @Berry_Lady - the Houston Hobby airport recently had a big expansion to allow for more efficient international travel. FLL also had new gates built that have ability to segregate international arrivals. These are very    When I last flew Southwest international in 2016 Southwest wouldn't produce PreCheck on a connecting flight, so if they had a PreCheck lane at Hobby that's a great sign that at least the capability is there since it is mainly for Southwest customers.   BWI seems to have quite a few of the destinations, so hopefully it was judged to be busy enough to have the PreCheck like you saw at Hobby.   This list isn't clear to me if the D/E location is within the airport for international flights, or if this the general access checkpoint. https://www.bwiairport.com/flying-with-us/security/tsa-prer   At Denver we had to go back through the main security lines, so if it is analagous then you should have a PreCheck lane available.               ... View more

@PDFelter wrote: Have you tried checking your child in for the flight before you do your own? Not sure why you would think the rules don't apply, but I agree with other posters that you should board with your child's boarding number, even if it is a C.  And yes, I have done this when my children were younger.   Definitely check them in first - you don't need to check-in at any particular time as A-list anyway.   If that's not working, or not reliably so then the companion is a great use of EBCI to get the better possible position, their ticket was "free" so in terms of value it may be worth it to spend the early bird fee for more reliable position. ... View more

@Dunc1000 wrote: I have a small business. I have a personal Chase/SWA card, and routinely use it for business purchases, too. I would like to accomplish two things:   1) Have a separate card for business-related purchases, that I would be financially for just like my personal card. 2) for the business card, have the employees authorized to use it get the RR points for doing so.   So I would be financially responsible for all uses, but the RR points could be specially allocated to those using the card. I believe that most arrangements where you are primary cardholder and the others are additional cardholders, the points from spending would go to you - the person that pays gets the points that are based on spending.   You may need to setup separate cardholder accounts in your name, but then supply the RR account of the other person if that's what your goal is - but these would be separate accounts for each person, not additional cards on the main account. You can't get multiple of any one type of Chase RR card, so you'd be limited to one of each "class" of card.   The employees will always get their own RR points from flights - those are tied to individuals who fly, not the cardholder or the payee. But if your goal is that they get the RR points for spending, they probably have to have a separate account for each person.   I'm not sure if the business card(s) would work for this, but I suspect that the points would still go to you as the owner of the account, even for additional cards.   You might need to stop in at your local Chase and discuss with them in person to see what the options are. ... View more

@kdt021 wrote:     Hey Southwest - stop having your CSR people reference policy and procedure and go back to the old tried and true ‘does it pass the common sense test’.    Taking care of your customers used to be a priority, not bait and switch gimmick promotions that leave customers frustrated and angry.   I am done with you.   Good riddance.   This week will be my last week of ever using you for my business and personal travel.    I'm sorry to hear that you aren't happy, but i don't see where there was any bait and switch taking place if you had already booked the flights. What did you do differently than if the promotion had never existed?   Agree that the terms should be clearer though, we had a lengthy thread on the topic already about "register, book, and fly" vs "register and fly" and having multiple interpretations.   ... View more

@jebchgo wrote: I wished I had a screen shot of the old version and then a screen shot of the new one side by side.  I have tried to use the new one quite a bit and just can't seem to be able to grasp the format nearly as easy as the old one.  It just seems way too busy overall!  If there is someone from Southwest reading this, I would love to have the have them get a screen shot of the old and a screenshot of the new and I can walk them through the differences.  I think it is a major setback for this website. Thanks,    Part of the change seems to be simplification, showing a little less detail than before - was there something that you used to look at that isn't there any longer?   Do you mean specifically in the interface where you book the flights?     ... View more

@Berry_Lady wrote: After arriving from Costa Rica to BWI and passing through Customs and Immigration, we will have to re-check our luggage through security. This can be very time-consuming. Is there a separate security line for TSA Pre-Check here? We have only an hour and 45 minutes layover. We are worried that will not be enough time to get through everything and make our connection. Has anyone had experience with this? Are you asking if there is a TSA PreCheck lane at BWI? I would say that there is although I don't know specifically about getting to it after leaving the customs area. Is your connecting flight also on Southwest? Maybe someone who has traveled through BWI recently can chime in.   The last time I had to make this same sort of transfer in Denver the legacy ticketing system wouldn't allow PreCheck to show up on the boarding passes for the connecting flights - some issue related to the addition of the international flights being incompatible with domestic flight ticketing. Hopefully this situation is remedied in the current ticketing software (or else it won't matter for you if there is or isn't easy access to a PreCheck lane).         ... View more

@dgassoway wrote: I love SW Airlines.  They are the best at wwhat they do.  After flying with SW for many years, i finally had to cancel a flight.  Imagine that.  i believe my airfare was based on the Wanna get away pricing model.  i just ordered my next ticket and i only received $50 credit to my new flight but I paid $495 for the Flight I cancelled.  is that all i should get bach or am i being stupid.  all comments welcomed. I think this is what you are looking for: https://www.southwest.com/flight/travel-funds-search.html   See if there will be $445 remaining.   How much was the new ticket, are you saying there was only $50 credit for a ticket that cost much more than that?     ... View more

@shelley0223 wrote: I am recently divorced and need to change my name back to my maiden name on my rapid rewards account.  There is no place to do it on line only a phone number.  That person gave me a link- swacr@wnco.com that doesn't work. This means there is no way to send any documents - divorce papers and drivers license to anyone at Southwest Airlines.  This is very customer unfriendly and using hours of my day that I will never get back due to a poor web-site and uninformed employees. Here is the address if you want to do it by mail:   Can I change the name on my Rapid Rewards account online? No. Name change requests must be submitted in writing to Rapid Rewards, P.O. Box 36657, Dallas, Texas 75235. Your written request must contain your current Member contact information (name, address, telephone number, and email address if available), Rapid Rewards account number, along with photocopies of your legal documentation (ex. old government issued photo ID and new government issued photo ID, marriage license, divorce decree, etc.) and an informational letter indicating your legal name.   Excerpt from: https://www.southwest.com/html/generated/help/faqs/rapid_rewards_membership_account_faq.html   ... View more

@shelley0223 wrote: I am recently divorced and need to change my name back to my maiden name on my rapid rewards account.  There is no place to do it on line only a phone number.  That person gave me a link- swacr@wnco.com that doesn't work. This means there is no way to send any documents - divorce papers and drivers license to anyone at Southwest Airlines.  This is very customer unfriendly and using hours of my day that I will never get back due to a poor web-site and uninformed employees. If you use Twitter that would be a way to initiate the change without calling. See this prior thread: https://www.southwestaircommunity.com/t5/Rapid-Rewards/Adding-married-name-to-my-rapid-rewards-account/td-p/50477     ... View more