Southwest Airlines Community

@Aztraveler wrote: It states that preboarding and family boarding occurs After "A" boarding. @Aztraveler I don't think that is correct.  Preboarding starts first (think of someone who needs a specific seat and/or needs assistance to board) followed by general boarding, to include the situation and sequence you mentioned.   Here is the Southwest wording (with sources):   "Preboarding" "Preboarding is available for Customers who have a specific seating need to accommodate their disability and/or need assistance in boarding the aircraft or stowing an assistive device." (source: https://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/unique-travel-needs/customers-with-disabilities-pol.html)   The next sentence is potentially confusing but it is a separate thought and references general boarding: "If a Customer with a disability simply needs a little extra time to board, we will permit the Customer to board before Family Boarding, between the “A” and “B” groups. Those Customers who need extra time to board will receive a new boarding pass with an extra time designation. The designation serves as notification to our Operations (boarding) Agent that the Customer should be permitted to board before Family Boarding." (from the same source page)   A separate page provides additional detail for General Boarding: "General boarding starts with Business Select customers, who are guaranteed positions at the front of the A Group, followed by Rapid Rewards tier Members and the remaining Customers in the A Group, two adults with children age six and under, then groups B and C." (source: https://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/airport-experience/index-pol.html)     ... View more

@vamarcp wrote:   So my follow up question is: Does SWA automatically rebook passenger A's cancelled MAX8 flight (to be passenger B's flight in my above example) using the same res/confirm# ? Or does SWA only inform passenger A that his/her flight is cancelled automatically and allows passenger A (i.e. "Offers the opportunity to make changes") to rebook to another flight at his/her convenience at no cost (again, to passenger B's flight in my example), assuming all this happens well in advance of 36 hours from the flight date/time? @vamarcp I had a non MAX 8 flight reservation that was automatically changed and I was also given the opportunity to make another change to something that I preferred.  Everything stayed on the same, original reservation number. ... View more

@Sonokeena wrote: The women then called the fight attendant who justified her actions saying it was allowed to hold seats. This comment caught my eye becasue the Southwest policy is that there is not a policy so I'm surprised the flight attendant got involved.  Many of the other seat saving threads voice disbelief that the flight attendant did not get involved when they asked for flight attendant intervention.   It's also strange that the person saving the seat sat in the middle and saved the window seat rather than sitting in the window and saving the middle seat.  Strange because I think most people, like you, would go for an open window seat before going for an open middle seat. ... View more

@Trvlfunz-random wrote: I really do understand combining results in a singular, earlier expiration date.  I don’t like it. This is a total "thinking out loud" comment, but I'm wondering if technical accounting rules aren't in part driving the Southwest policy.   Basically when you buy your ticket Southwest has cash in hand and records an offsetting short-term liability (they owe you travel).  Less than a year = short-term, more than a year = long-term.  Short-term and long-term liabilities typically have different accounting requirements (think in terms of reviews, financial audit, etc.) so this policy makes sure that everything stays short-term, which probably makes things a little easier for the accounting folks. ... View more

@leah1805 I personally love to fly but that isn't going to do much for your daughter!  A couple of thoughts/third party references:   I did a search for "flying safety" and this article, titled "How safe is commercial flight" is the first one that appears in the search results. Southwest pilots are experienced with years of flight experience.  This may not be the best example as it involves an aircraft in distress, but if you click over to this YouTube link you can listen to the calm demeanor of the Southwest Captain, Tammie Jo Shults, as she works to get her damaged aircraft back on the ground.  Note that you may want to stop listening at the 2:40 point or so.  This Southwest blog post, for International Women's Day, also highlights Tammie Jo, to include her background and experience as a Navy pilot. If you want to listen to normal aircraft operations you can listen to air traffic controllers and aircraft talking to each other live over at LiveATC.net.  It's very fast paced but it's all very coordinated. You will probably get several responses from other active members of the community here, hopefully one of us is able to provide some ideas that help! ... View more

@MarkHursh what is the best way for customers to get help with and/or to troubleshoot issues like this? ... View more

...and here is the source reference, it's in text on the "Check Flight Schedules" page:   https://www.southwest.com/air/flight-schedules/index.html ... View more

@milesmr any chance you are able to share one of the originating cities for your return to MSP and month of travel?  My starting point is usually the Low Fare Calendar as it will show availability for the entire month.   With a little more non-personally identifying information the community here may be able to help you sleauth a bit. ... View more

That is strange, it is not showing any gift cards available for me either. You may want to try again tomorrow or send a note to Southwest to inquire. The option is still prominently displayed as an option on the site so I am guessing there is a technical issue. ... View more

@APATNAUDE wrote: Now if the tablet is in a full enclosed case similar to an otter box... will they remove it to view the serial number? I would hope so but don't know... ... View more

@alessandrodicio you may have better luck or a faster response on a pilot career discussion forum.   Good luck! ... View more

@ctosteve I'm thinking out loud here.  You may have better luck on a third party site like LinkedIn.  I did a search (this link has my search terms using the DuckDuckGo search engine) and within a few clicks found at least two folks at Southwest involved in veteran recruiting.   You may also want to check to see if any of your military veteran contacts already work at Southwest (I'm a Navy veteran and, off the top of my head, know two veterans with whom I served...I'm guessing I could find more if I looked).  If so it may be better to start the conversation with those you know and they could help guide you.  If not then you could also use LinkedIn to find another veteran at Southwest with jobs of interest and try connecting with them.   Good luck! ... View more

@emcadam2 a resource for you this morning if you're interested.  You can check the real-time status of your friend's flight from ATL to BWI using Flight Aware here.  It looks like the plane for her flight is almost to Atlanta (click on the link at the top of the page that states, "Where is my plane now?") ... View more

@Megatom do you have a description of the image you posted?  It won't show up for others here until it's approved. ... View more

One of my favorite things in the world is getting ready to board a plane. I know others don't share that feeling but for me it's an absolute feeling of adventure and freedom, especially when it's with a companion. Have fun tomorrow  ... View more

@chgoflyer wrote: I've found it prudent to frequently proactively check flight status, and to use sources such as FlightAware, Flight Tracker and Google since the Southwest website is also often not updated with the latest info. +1 for FlightAware.  One of my favorite features on the site is to pull up the flight you're tracking, then click "Where is my plane now?" (it's almost at the top of the page).  When you click it will bring up the location of your inbound aircraft and show how early or late that flight is running! ... View more

@DancingDavidE two threads in a row where we replied at the same time! ... View more

@DancingDavidE wrote: Excess points will go back to the account holder's RR total - hopefully what you actually did was have the family member book your ticket instead of transferring the points which takes a hefty toll. If not, do it that way next time to save the total number of points. I didn't catch this in the original post until I went back to re-read after I saw the post from @DancingDavidE (we were replying at the same time!)  Yes, hopefully your family member booked the ticket for you rather than transferring points to your account.  My first reply assumed that they booked on your behalf. ... View more

@micqueli wrote: I'm booked for 3 upcoming flights over a 3 week period. The first 2 were paid by card, the 3rd via a family member's transferred Rapid Rewards points. I might need to change all 3 flights to later in the year.   If the later flights are less expensive, how will the 2 different payment methods be credited (card and another person's Rapid Rewards points)? Credit card purchase:  For the difference in cash fare you will receive travel funds that need to be used (i.e. flights completed) by the original traveler (you) within one year of the original purchase date for the original tickets.   Rapid Rewards points purchase: The difference in points will be credited back to the family member's Rapid Rewards account.   Good problem to have if that's how it turns out for you.  Good luck! ... View more

@Sticks11 quick question: are you able to share the general, non personal, circumstances of the reason travel funds were issued? i.e. was the trip cancelled by Southwest due to a schedule change or was it for something else?  If cancelled then you may have more options than a voucher -- ohter passengers here should be able to share options and experience, if any. ... View more

...replying to add the source link to the Southwest Carryon Baggage Policy page.   Safe travels! ... View more

If you're curious to see some of the historical posts from Bill, a retired member of the Southwest Network Planning Team, click over to his profile and the discussions he participated in, here (51,155 Loves Received!)  If you have some time, click through his posts, they are fascinating to read if you're in to this kind of stuff.   He regularly provided insight to schedule changes, see this 2018 link here as an example, it includes this quote, "And to accommodate March’s Spring Break traffic surge, we’re continuing to seasonally tweak markets and frequencies, adding a few new ones, bringing many back, and ending a few."   Another post, here, from 2016 includes a short side note about ending nonstop service between Atlanta and Okalhoma City.  Note that the post (and other posts) also includes a link to a .pdf view of the spreadsheet summarizing changes.   I think Bill's posts are more than any other airline, maybe even Southwest now, will publicly provide about thy why and how of their schedule changes. ... View more