Southwest Airlines Community

I’ve been on countless Southwest flights and I’ve never seen any “scammers” as you so mention. The simple truth is you don’t know what’s going on with every person just by a glance. They could have legitimate reasons to need to be on aircraft early.    If you are so concerned with getting a good seat, then make sure to check in exactly 24 hours before your flight. Still not satisfied? Buy early bird check-in so you get a good boarding spot. Or convince your company to purchase business select fares. ... View more

While it sucks to have to deal with delays, they can happen and for a variety of reasons. It’s almost impossible to predict.    That being said, in the future try to book your flights so you allow yourself or your son more time to make a gathering. When you book a flight so close to an event like that, you open yourself up to missing it due to unforeseen delays.    And let’s cool it on the “held hostage” nonsense. Airlines are trying to make sure that they get you to your destination safely above all else. The nature of most delays is on the side of caution. Airlines aren’t out to get you or your family. ... View more

A lot to take in there.    1) Sorry your flights got cancelled. That’s never fun, no matter the cause.    2) Not sure why you promoted to your buddies that a Southwest flight would never get cancelled for maintenance reasons. That can happy to any airline or any plane, regardless of the carrier. Most of the time, cancellations will be mandated by the FAA based on the work being done, so this isn’t something that can airline-specific.    3) Not sure that going scorched-earth on an airline because you were inconvenienced is the best way to direct your efforts. By your logic, every time you have a flight cancelled or delayed you are going cold turkey on said airline. Eventually, you are going to run out of airlines to fly.   4) Most people fly airlines based on either loyalty (frequent flier programs) or the fact that they have the cheapest fare, with a majority being the latter. People care about saving money and my guess is as long as Southwest has cheap flights and no bag fees, folks are going to keep flying regardless. Hence why I wouldn’t waste your time and effort trying to drum up a phony boycott.  ... View more

I haven’t heard anything on that front, but with Southwest really expanding into the international market around Central America and the Caribbean, this seems like a logical destination. I wouldn’t be surprised if they offered flights from Houston or somewhere in Florida (FLL/MCO) to St. Maarten.    Hopefully it happens! ... View more

If your flight is cancelled and you are at home, usually you’ll get either text/email/call alerts based on your preferences. There is usually a link to go online and rebook yourself, which is the easiest way to find a new flight. You also won’t have to go to the airport. If there aren’t any acceptable flights, try researching other nearby airports to see if you can get a flight out of there. While you might not be able to book it online without fees, you can call the reservations line and they’ll likely waive any change/fare differences to accommodate you.   If you are already at the airport, it’s probably best to go and talk with customer service face to face. They can usually offer the most help looking up alternative options or flights out of nearby airports. If you checked a bag and are in the terminal, you’ll want to work out where you need to go to retrieve it too.    Calling reservations over the phone is an option too, but you can expect longer waits if there are a lot of cancellations. That’s why I prefer the above options to just calling them directly. Plus if you can scope out what is available online, you can have a better idea of what your options are before you talk to someone.  ... View more

I’ll be blunt here. No airline will pay for accommodations for weather delays. If a flight Is cancelled for weather reasons, then the airline is no longer at fault, since like you, they don’t control the weather. That doesn’t mean the weather at your departure airport has to be bad, it could be at the destination or affecting previous segment en route to your departure city. If your plane can’t get off the ground to get to you, then it ain’t comin’!   Now if this cancellation was due to a fault of the airline, then you could expect to receive accommodations/food vouchers until your next flight. Otherwise they’ll just rebook you and waive fees associated with a change. They will likely also waive any differences in fare too.   If you are ever stuck in a city due to a weather cancellation, try looking up “distressed passenger rates” or asking if a local airport hotel has those available. I’ve been stuck due to weather before and sometimes you can get discounted room rates for folks just needing somewhere to crash for an evening. In the event that’s not available, try broadening your search for hotels out of the immediate airport area. In a city like Dallas or Houston, there are a ton of hotels to choose from. You can probably find something more affordable that’s an Uber ride away and closer to better food options/things to do.   Sorry your wife and son had to deal with this. Hopefully they enjoyed their college visit at A&M. Unfortunately it’s something that happens a lot with air travel. ... View more

I’m sorry, but I don’t understand the point of this post. Apologies you had some delays, but you made your connection and got where you intended to on time. Doesn’t sound like a nightmare to me.    As for the delay itself, it sounds like there was either maintenance performed (which requires a lot of paperwork per FAA regulations) or there was some sort of issue with their computer system at San Jose/elsewhere that delayed boarding/check-in. Again, that’s not ideal... but hardly a nightmare. It happens from time to time with any airline.   Not sure why you are mad that your flight crew decided to grab a to-go meal during turnaround. Would you rather have had a hungry/angry crew who may have already flown a few segments that day? Why didn’t you grab something quick to eat while your flight was delayed? Remember that pilots and crew are humans too. These are the people flying the plane!    Lastly, I don’t think your trip was “ruined”. You had a delay that caused some inconvenience, but at the end of the day you got where you needed to go. Sure, communication could have been better. But if you are going to go cold turkey on Southwest and switch airlines over this, you are going to find yourself encountering a lot of similar issues. Trust me, I’ve seen it.        ... View more