Southwest Airlines Community

She was right. Southwest allows seat saving, by "not having a policy for or against it."   You are also free to take a saved seat from someone, should you want. Southwest says they expect passengers to "work it out among themselves."   Southwest doesn't care that there are passenger altercations over saved seats aboard their planes. In fact, they encourage them. ... View more

@wc-itover wrote: I'm not for assigned seats but I think SWA needs to have a clearer seating policy. If it's open seating, then how many seats can a passenger save?  I agree.   Unfortunately, since Southwest has stated repeatedly that they have no intention of changing their "non-policy" seat saving policy, passengers are free to save as many seats as they can get away with.   Southwest specifically states that they expect passengers to "work it out among themselves," so it's clear that they place the responsibility for dealing with the issues created by their system on the passenger.   Ultimately, the system -- without some actual guidelines -- is destined to fail.   Meaning assigned seating is inevitable. 😞 ... View more

Wanna Get Away fares are non-refundable. If you cancel, you'll receive Travel Funds, good for one year from the date you bought the flight (all travel must be completed by then), for the originally ticketed passenger(s) only.   Business Select and Anytime fares are fully-refundable (as long as you make no changes to the itinerary at any time before cancelling). ... View more

You won't need to show any paperwork for the pet to Southwest. You'll just need to call and have the pet reservation added, pay the $95 fee (one-way), and then check in at the airport counter, where they will verify the pet fits in the carrier and it's small enough to fit under the seat.   https://www.southwest.com/pets/ ... View more

Travel Funds can only be used by the original passenger.   A good way of protecting yourself when booking flights for others is to use points. That way, if you have to cancel, the points aren't linked to that passenger -- they just go back into your account.     ... View more

Seniors don't automatically get any preboarding benefit due to their age.   Preboarding is available for those disabled passengers who 1) have a specific seating need to accommodate their disability, or 2) need assistance in boarding the aircraft. Preboarding is also offered to those traveling with assistance and emotional support animals. If a passenger with a disability needs extra time to board, they are allowed to board with Family Boarding, between the “A” and “B” groups.  ... View more

Seat saving is intrinsically unfair in an "open seating" system -- especially to those who have bought BS or EBCI or who have status. And it's getting worse. But as long as Southwest refuses to do anything about it, there's not much customers can do.   Except vote with their wallet of course.   I just don't understand the anger. There are so many more things going on in the world right now that deserve attention. But to each their own I suppose. ... View more

Verify that you didn't receive it by looking at your boarding pass -- if you did receive it, it will say EarlyBird Check-In on it.   If you didn't (which sadly does often happen -- the infamous Southwest "glitch") your best bet is to reach out via Twitter. Alternately, you can call Customer Relations at 1-855-234-4654, but the hold times are often very, very long (1+ hour or more).   Good luck! ... View more

Yikes.   How is it possible that you don't understand what "no policy for or against" means?   I have to laugh at all of this anger over Southwest's non-policy.   As I've stated before, the only ultimate solution to these issues caused by the non policy and pre-boarding abuse is the implementation of assigned seating.   Keep complaining and that's what will happen. ... View more

No, you can only use funds towards air travel (base fare + fees and taxes) for the same passanger(s) as originally ticketed.   Southwest does not extend funds.   Once expired, you can contact Customer Relations and ask that they be reissued as vouchers, minus a $100 fee each. These requests are granted on a case-by-case basis. ... View more

The Android rating for for all versions, the Apple one is for just the latest version. It appears the latest version has many significant bugs. ... View more

@spacecoastbill wrote: Seeing as their non policy is that there is "no policy for or against" saving seats, telling someone that the policy says a person can save as many seats as they like is a lie. No, it's not.   No policy against saving seats means you can save seats.   Since there are no qualifiers on that statement -- limiting the number or position of the seats which can be saved, for example -- no policy against saving seats means you can save as many seats as you like. ... View more

Sure it is. 1-1/2 star rating and all.   https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/southwest-airlines/id344542975?mt=8   ... View more

@spacecoastbill wrote: The FA who told a passenger that a person could save as many seats as they wanted to should absolutely be disciplined.   It isnt a power struggle.   Wrong. according to Southwest's "non-policy," she was correct.     "Work it out among themselves" is absolutely a power struggle.     ... View more

Sadly, Southwest does allow seat saving. They say they have no official policy "for or against it."       ... View more

@spacecoastbill wrote: Barbara on flight #3902 is not telling you the truth and needs to be disciplined.     Wrong.   Southwest allows seat saving.   ... View more

Southwest has posted multiple times before that they have no policy for or against seats saving, that they understand passengers may want to save a seat for friends or family, and that they expect passengers to work it out among themselves.   One suspects that's your answer. ... View more

Southwest only allows cats and small dogs. You can't bring your sugar glider. ... View more

Base points from hotel stays booked through Rocketmiles do count towards Companion Pass. Bonus points do not. ... View more

I'm not confident that Southwest, never known for having robust IT, will be able to make any adjustments to the system that automatically cancels what it sees as duplicate reservations.   Please come back and let us know if you book these again in the future and continue to have any issues. ... View more

At least, since you paid for EarlyBird, you boarding position should be reserved. In theory. 😉   Please come back after you travel and let us know how it works out. ... View more

Southwest has never been known for having good IT systems. 😉 They are still working out the multitude of bugs/issues/errors caused by the conversion, but one hopes that at some point they would address this issue as well. One isn't overly optimistic, since they don't seem to view it as a problem.   They would likely not implement your suggestion, as it would have the effect of making later bookings less attractive, and possibly reducing sales. ... View more

Chase stopped sending them in 2015. They've started now sending some on "milestone anniversaries," but these are very limited.   Southwest still sends 4 coupons after the completion of 10 one-way paid flights (not points bookings). ... View more

Unfortunately, yes -- it's likely. See more info here:   https://www.southwestaircommunity.com/t5/General-Travel-Policies/Two-confirmation-numbers-on-same-day-One-got-cancelled/m-p/57295#M1773   The best way to try to avoid this is to book one-way flights, but even that may not stop the system from cancelling one of them. 😞     ... View more

They just keep saying that it's an issue they are working on. Clearly, that's not actually true. It's been literally years now with no resolution. The most inept IT department in the world doesn't;t take multiple years to fix something.   You can try using a proxy server or VPN (google for more info) or the app, which sometimes works.   Sadly, I think Southwest simply doesn't put a priority on your business, and the correct course of action is to give your money to the carriers who do. ... View more

Are you traveling on a Senior or Military fare by chance? Those have to be verified at the counter.   Otherwise, Southwest doesn't allow the last few boarding passes for any particular flight to be given out online, you have to get them at the airport. Are you checking in relatively late, compared to t-24 hours from departure?   Lastly, people seem to be reporting getting this message more lately, which could indicate a glitch due to the new reservation system.   Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do except get to the airport as early as possible and get your boarding pass then. If you get a very bad boarding position, and that matters to you, you can pay $30 or $40 at the gate to upgrade to A1-15, if available. ... View more

Note three things:   1) The above only applies when Southwest cancels the flight, which means it's likely not applicable in this case (if the OP cancelled the flight themselves).   2) In practice, refunds (even for carrier-cancelled flights) often take much longer than the terms stated in the Contract of Carriage. This is a common complaint.   Unfortunately, the customer doesn't have much recourse. Complaints to Southwest may garner a small voucher for the inconvenience, but that's becoming increasingly less common. Additionally, a complaint can be made to the DOT, which could lead to fines against the carrier and/or compensation.   https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/file-consumer-complaint   3) Currently, hold times for Customer Relations are quite long, often well over an hour. ... View more

Unfortunately, Southwest allows this. They say "they have no policy for or against seat saving." So, while claiming it's "open seating," they also allow people to save seats. They ask that passengers "work it out among themselves." This means that while someone is allowed to save a seat, someone else is allowed to take that seat from them should they wish.   In practice, the rudest person wins.   Southwest has stated repeatedly that they have no intention of changing anything regarding their boarding system.     ... View more