Southwest Airlines Community

@CareforNOLA wrote: interesting.  The millionmilesecrets website had already deleted the link. I am not sure what would make people want to go through a TSA checkpoint other than a flight.  The clubs are not comfortable to me unless there is a cubbie I can sneak into, but they are not going to be more comfy than my residence or my hotel, so it seems odd to me.  The club guy had regular tickets, and also bought the international tickets, went to the lounge, then refunded the international ticket and flew his regular flight -- apparently trying this weekly.     ... View more

@mhunter wrote: I saw this post yesterday and wanted to make everyone aware of it before it gets out of hand.   https://millionmilesecrets.com/guides/how-to-easily-pass-through-airport-security-to-walk-your-loved-ones-to-their-gate/   Basically, this person is making a reservation at the last minute then obtaining the boarding pass for the sole purpose of walking through the TSA checkpoint.  After he does this, he cancels his flight  and obtains a refund.    Another example of some people trying to game the system.    I believe Southwest has done a good thing with their trying to be helpful to people who have last minute change in plans and can't fly.  What I would suggest is that the policy be changed so that once you check-in and obtain your boarding pass, no refunds or credits.    It's a shame but you always need to stay ahead of the scammers. I think that's not going to be feasible, too many business people need to change last minute.   I'm not sure the issue about buying a ticket, which is refundable by law for 24 hours, is that big - you can ask for a gate pass after all if you needed one. So there may be some subset of people that do this that don't technically need one...the airline is probably just as happy that someone might do it and forget to cancel, or accidentally choose travel funds instead of a refund.   There was an article I saw that someone was doing this same thing for international lounge access - since the airline was incurring expenses in that case they put a stop to it. (Not Southwest, I forget which airline it was.)   I do expect that Southwest might have someone that looks at tickets that are bought last minute and cancelled, they wouldn't want someone habitually tying up seats but I would expect you could do this on an infrequent basis.  ... View more

@bec102896 wrote: You should always arrive at the airport as if your flight is on time because there are times such as in your case where the flight goes back on time after a delay was announced. maybe they found another plane or a crew or the plane was fixed earlier than expected many different things could have happened which is why it's always best to show up as if your flight is on time especially in Orlando where they have extra crews or planes.   glad you showed up on time and the flight didn't end up being delayed.    Blake  Sometimes if I'm running behind a delay may be something that eases my mind a little, but I agree that if you were already mobilized, just keep going as if the flight were on time.   The other thing to check is if the flight is a continuing flight number then you can track the plane through the prior destinations. This may be one exception where you can see the chain of flights delayed for more than an hour, you are pretty reliably going to be delayed an hour.   Delays for other reasons can come and go though. I've also had to scramble after being at a different part of the airport and finding out that my flight was moved back up.   ... View more

Fly early if you can, regardless of airline. I think Southwest (and others) tend to take a hit as the day goes on. ... View more

@PatinTennessee wrote: Can I show verification document (driver's license or passport) to a SWA attendant when I'm traveling to Denver on another airline so that I may board online when returning  on SWA flight a week later?  The by-mail verification process seems slow and cumbersome.  I wish to check in early and get an early boarding status.  This makes sense that you would be able to do this, but I'm not sure. If no answer turns up here, do you have access to ask Southwest officially on Twitter (@SouthwestAir) or Facebook? ... View more

I had ocassionally gotten this error on my iPhone 6 also. I think there is some bug when you have wifi on but trying to connect to a network that requires credentials, the app doesn't go back to cellular data automatically if you haven't authorized the wifi yet. ... View more

@chgoflyer wrote: This is not a customer service channel -- it's a customer-to-customer forum. If you need Southwest customer service, you'll need to contact them directly. I assume you're unable to access the website (access is blocked for those outside the US), so I recommend you direct message them on Twitter.   Two and a half hours is most likely not enough time for what you need to do. Assuming your international flight is on time, you'll need at least an hour for customs at O'Hare, then you'll need to get to Midway, which can take 45 minutes on a good day and well over an hour on a bad one. Then you'll need to check your bags with Southwest at Midway, at least 45 minutes prior to departure. If everything goes perfectly you'll be fine. But I'd give the chances of everything going perfectly low odds. Your international flight's arrival could be delayed, bags and customs could have a long wait, there could be an accident or lots of traffic between the airports.   I'd highly recommend that you consider rebooking your Southwest flight for the following day. While Southwest doesn't charge a change fee, you will likely need to pay the fare difference. You'll also need to book a hotel for the evening, but there are many relatively inexpensive ones near Midway. As another Chicagoan I would consider this to be pretty risky as well, there are several places in the chain of events that may take longer than expected. If all goes well you will make it, but either your inbound Asiana flight's timliness, customs, or traffic may all sabotage you.   I would at least have a backup plan in place to re-book your Southwest flight (don't no-show!) and stay near Midway to travel the next morning. Also whatever contingency is needed for your lodging in Orlando.     ... View more

@RonRN18 wrote: I have not used Southwest for finding car rental but thought about it due to getting Rapid Rewards points for an expense I already plan on paying. My problem is all of their partners are listing only weekly rates instead of daily and my trip is only 5 days; I'm being charged for 2 days I will not be needing the car. I can easily find cheaper rates from the same company elsewhere by paying daily instead of weekly, but it doesn't seem like the Southwest website is giving me the choice. That's normal that car rentals offer a "weekly" rate for trips that long even if you don't use it every day of seven day period. Try shortening your car rental request to compare the daily rates vs the weekly rate over five days and it may still look good.     ... View more

@chgoflyer wrote: I haven't done it myself, but my understanding is that recent changes to the booking system have eliminated the need to cancel the companion's ticket prior to a refare of the same flight. That would be nice. I dind't try it when I recently changed flights doing it "the old way" but will see if it works at the next opportunity.   ... View more

@tmarshall wrote: my child is 2 years old, Do I have to buy a ticket for her? help me please You can also buy WGA tickets for your child, but these are the standard non-refundable ticket in case you want to evaluate cost and flexibility of WGA vs child fare. ... View more

Just curious @cspinelli - you hadn't been purchasing the wifi before earning A-list preferred?   Sorry that this surprised you. I've adjusted my own workflow not to rely on any VPN items, usually bringing a USB drive with most of what I need, buying wifi for light-duty work-related browsing and email.   VPN capability sure would be nice!     ... View more

@TrophyWife wrote: When I book Companion Pass, the TSA precheck number no longer auto populates.....any fixes planned for this? I was just looking at this yesterday, I wanted to double check that my wife had KTN entered in her profile, otherwise I'm not sure. I couldn't find any place to enter her KTN in my own profile.     ... View more

@bullman63 wrote: Got onto a plane that was only carrying about 30 passengers and was told by an attendant that we couldn’t sit in the last three rows due to weight distribution. Is this a Southwest policy?  Because in the same situation on at least two occasions this was NOT what was done.  I think they do need to keep all passengers in front of the FA, and with so few people on the flights the FA may sit in the rear rows instead of the jump seats.   Balancing the weight would also depend on checked bags and on cargo that may be flying, so it isn't unreasonable that situations would vary between flights if the captain had a preference to keep people up front for some reason. ... View more

@chgoflyer wrote: Sorry you failed to qualify. It only takes 25 one-way paid flights to qualify for A-List. Sounds like you are including flights booked with points? Unfortunately those do not qualify. Many people who find themselves very close near the end of the year will do what is called a segment run, taking short cheap trips just to qualify. You might want to consider that, along with making sure you completely understand the terms and conditions, if you want to try for status again. Good luck! For instance if you are in Chicago it is quite easy and cheap to get to MSP and come right back.   Also I would look at some of those trips where you used points and choose one to purchase instead, or if you are looking to qualify on points instead of flights then consider a strategic upgrade of a flight to BS for 12x points if you'd be purchasing a high-cost WGA fare sometime during the year.   Edit: Also MSP has a few restaurants and Surdyk's wine bar, so pleasant and not crowded to wait. Also easy light rail trip to the Mall, no sales tax on clothing.   CVG is a new route with cheap flights for me, St. Louis also cheap and frequent although not as pleasant in the terminal. If you were east coast maybe BWI and make a trip to O'Brycki's in the airport.         ... View more

@bec102896 wrote: On a points booking the security fee is refundable as long as you have not made a change to the reservation prior to canceling the trip. If you did make a change to the reservation then as @DancingDavidE said the funds would be held under the confirmation number for the person who was going to be flying. The points will be returned to the account in which they came from.    Hope this helps Blake  Thanks @bec102896 I kind of remember this now - in that case make sure when it comes up that you click the right option for refund, as the website will offer travel funds as an option as well. ... View more

Yes, the points will be returned to your account without any other restriction.   The fees will be saved under the confirmation number as travel funds. ($5.60 for domestic one-way.) ... View more

@chgoflyer wrote: Gate agents have discretion in this area. But IMHO, unless you are an A-LIster, it's gotten harder since the introduction of that benefit to get standby on Southwest without paying the fare difference. One notable exception is if your originally scheduled flight is showing a delay. (And, that threshold used to be 30 minutes, but I'm finding 30 minute delays are so common now that you need an hour or so delay to be allowed standby on an earlier flight).   Whether this is a result of the new policy granting the benefit to A-Listers, or because flights are often completely full these days I'm not sure. I'm usually immediately asked if I am an A-Lister (or bought a BS or AT ticket), or told that the flight is full.   That's a good point @chgoflyer, I was A-list before when I did this, now that the benefit is formalized for A-list they may not offer it as frequently to non-A-list.   They have also accepted companion for the change although my companion is not A-list, and according to the new policy they don't have to do that. One key point is if the flight is not full, then in practice I would just re-add the companion after being confirmed, so as long as I didn't have to wait until the plane was boarded to find out standby status it would be equivalent.    If the standby list wasn't going to be cleared until the last minute though, I don't know if the gate agent can give the leeway.     ... View more

@bgubs14 wrote: Yeah sometimes this happens to me!  Usually Business Select goes frist(a1-a15) , then A-List and Early Bird Check in who are both checked in 36 hours before departure.  Additionally the anytimes fares are above the early bird check-in if its a wanna get away fare. So it usually depends on the flight! I think this part was working for the OP, the problem was that the rear door was also used for boarding and people towards the front of the line got stuck behind the pre-boarders while later numbered people went to the back and worked their way forward grabbing some of the good seats.   I saw this in action at Burbank, but I guess some gates at FLL also board through both doors.     ... View more

@allinonehdkkn wrote: I have just received my credit card.  I was qualified for 50,000 for CP plus the amount that I've spent.  The total I have now is about 55,000 CP on my account.  If I am not reaching to 110,000 CP for a CP. 1. Will I lose those CP that I've earned from now until December 31, 2018?  2. Then will those points will be in my account to redeem instead? 3.  If I purchase a flight, will I receive points toward my CP? 4.  If I purchase a flight for my family of 3, will I receive CP from the other two passengers? Thank you! You keep the points for redemption towards flights (as long as you have qualifying activity every 24 months). Earning is completely separate from redeeming - you can redeem the 55,000 points now, it doesn't affect your CP tier qualifying other than the fact that you won't be earning points on flights that you redeem - so my recommendation is to earn points this year until you hit 110,000, then start redeeming.   However your tier qualifying status resets - everyone's does - with the calendar year. So if you don't make it to 110,000 points by December 31st, the tier qualifying total goes back to zero.   @allinonehdkkn wrote:   3.  If I purchase a flight, will I receive points toward my CP? 4.  If I purchase a flight for my family of 3, will I receive CP from the other two passengers? Thank you! 3 - yes 4 - no, the flights are per individual. You will get points from the purchase price if htat's on the Southwest Visa, and it is an extra 1x for purchases on Southwest, but not the 6x points from flying as a Wanna Get Away fare which goes to the passenger. You could redeem points for the other two people, and buy your own ticket with cash to keep earning CP points. (You'd only miss out on the 2x points for their purchase price.)     ... View more

There is a benefit for A-list to have same-day standby without a charge - if that applies then yes.   If not, you can still ask. They are likely to charge the difference in fare if the earlier flight is full, in that case the demand is there for the stadby spots or people might decide to purchase high-fare tickets at the last minute.   I have had "no charge" standby in the past, often when neither flight was particularly full and you are just moving up one flight earlier to your destination, later in the day, etc. ... View more

I did just fly to FLL and had deplaning from the rear of the plane in some gates, I wasn't sure if boarding would also take place from both sides. (It wasn't at one of the newer gates on my return flight.)   I'm sorry to hear your bad experience. The locals are definitely able to game the system in those two locations where there is boarding from both front and rear.   I think you could call customer service and explain the situation and see if they can do anything, although it may not be likely.  ... View more

@Sleepypino wrote: What is the policy as far as changing flights due to death in the family?  I had to change the date of my return flight a day later due to family death.  I was charged the difference of cost of flights. Is there a chance to get refunded the money since it was a death in the family and I have the appropriate documentation? Sorry to hear that @Sleepypino   You'd have to call and ask for an exception, the current policy doesn't include any bereavement or emergency fares.   I don't know if they might offer on a case-by-case basis although it is probably incrementally harder to get a refund if you already rebooked.   https://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/bereavement/ ... View more

@bmwfarms wrote: We bought the early bird to get good seats but they let the other groups on in the back of the plane before we got on. We was held up because of the wheel chairs which was understandable but the B and C group should of been held up also, we could get the seat we paid for but ended up sitting in the back of plane. This was a waste of time and money. Were you flying from Burbank? I have heard to use the rear entry door there with pre-boards coming in the front entry.     ... View more

@TheMiddleSeat wrote: @samspade, not really sure what ongoing glitch you are referring to as this thread was related to a one time event that lasted for a few days. A couple questions for you... did make the reservation more than 36 hours prior to scheduled departure? And did the A-List indication show up on your boarding?   ... Some flights, especially inter-California, are popular with commuters and business travelers who are all A-List. Additionally, Southwest has been offering more ways to earn A-List through various promotions and as a result I think you'll find more flights where A-List passengers are assigned B boarding positions. As you were informed, you can always board at the A61 position.    --TheMiddleSeat   If it is actually that many A-list members in front of him that he got a B-number, then all those same B-number A-listers will be squeezing in at A61 for the same net effect anyway.   I do think it is worth a reminder that any last-minute bookings under the 36-hour timeframe won't have the automatic assignment.   Otherwise I suspect an issue with the rapid rewards account information being applied to the booking. Are you getting your credit for that recent flights @samspade? ... View more

@wbowne wrote: How do I add my KTN for a reservation that has already been made?  The KTN was not in my profile at the time the reservaion was made. Call, or use this link: https://www.southwest.com/flight/addSecureInfoEntry.html   Note to @mowkazati, this functionality is new with the revamped website, I don't believe you could do this earlier this year.     ... View more

@Rhrconstruction wrote: Been flying for years and since gas prices increased SW has bragged about 2 bags free but neglect to tell you that you won't be assigned a seat and it will be a circus rush starting 24 HRS before flight to hopefully get a decent place. Horrible policy since I see through the smoke and mirrors!!  You can get a better pkacement on seating if you pay. What's the difference in paying for bags and paying for a place in line?  Basically nothing!!  All a money grab by the airlines but at least the others tell you up front. I'm a business person so I have no problem with any of this except I wasn't told up front by airlines of policy and seems a little shady. Maybe when you advertise bags free there should be a disclosure that you won't be assigned a seat, you have to check in 24hrs ahead, and if traveling in a pair and want to guarantee a seat together you will need to pay additional fee and could possibly cost more than bag fee.... I don't think they are shady about it, the "open seating" is fairly well advertised. I'm certain that I've saved a ton of money with baggage fees and change fees by flying Southwest the past ten years, vs the competition. (Besides cheaper parking at Midway compared to O'Hare...) ... View more

@cindyhardway wrote: Im so irritated with southwest airlines.  Im stuck in chicago going to cols, ohio 4-28-18 my flight was supposed to depart over an hour ago. I cant get an answer from anyone of your employees as to how or why im still here. I Too late for this flight, but sometimes you can ask or otherwise figure out where the plane is supposed to be coming from and track it that way, which will at least give you can idea when it is scheduled to arrive or information about a prior delay.   Sorry that you are irritated. Hopefully you arrived okay and you don't get a delay next time. ... View more

@lucas43100 wrote: We have flown with our kids 3 & 5 numerous times and have always lugged our car seats to the gate which can make airport navigation a challenge and stressful start to a vacation. We are considering checking our car seats at the curb. Is it possible to check them in a box with padding for the flight? Looking for ways to simplify and make the experience easier without compromising the safety of the car seats. We have been using the blue Southwest bags for car seat and strollers (available for purchae, $15 or so). You could probably get two car seats into one blue bag. The bag will protect from scuffing, but not extreme damage.   I'm not sure about the box idea. You might have to demonstrate that the box is full of car seats if you would otherwise be sending through more packaged or any that exceed the size and weight allowances. i.e. Southwest would need to be sure that someone didn't walk up with a huge oversize and overweight box and say that it was full of car seats but actually it was full of bricks.   If you have the original boxes from the store that would probably be a great way to do it however. ... View more