06-11-2019
06:18 AM
2 Loves
I continue to be surprised at how many people do not get a Rapid Rewards number on their very first flight. RR points are always good, even if you fly infrequently. Register your kids also. With or without the points the ease of buying tickets online or by phone is worth the small effort.
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I am really sorry that your flight was so hard. I am really sorry that the SWA folks showed no empathy, but they were likely pretty frustrated by delays and cancellations also. Whenever these conditions happen and the system is faced with having to reroute many people, stress is the norm and often that leads to human communication challenges. I have learned (after many delays and cancellations) that when I am calm, professional, friendly and empathetic (none of which reflect what is happening inside me) that I usually get better rebooking results and I get them faster. I hope your shorter trip to Vegas proved to be a great one. Traveler Tip: Always start checking and following the weather in your layover airport and your destination airport several days before your scheduled flight. If it looks really testy, you can take control of your schedule or at lest prepare yourself for the potential disruption.
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05-06-2019
01:23 PM
1 Love
The math is certainly in your favor. Assume you are on a 143 passenger 737-700. On an originating flight (one that was empty when boarding started), there are 24 rows with two window and two aisle seats (except the exit row with two seats has a hybrid window seat). Although many flights have pre-boarders that take a few seats before general boarding begins, there will still be a significant number empties in the 96 seats located on the window or aisle. Since most people traveling alone do not voluntarily choose a middle seat (the front row bulk- head middle seat being an occassional exception), one can consider that middle seats are generally available until the last 48 people on a completely full flight board the aircraft (theoretically), so if you find an aisle or window then you will likely find a center seat next to that aisle or window seat, allowing a couple to sit together. The person with the B-1 boarding pass will likely have to board after a few (maybe a dozen or so) A-List, A-List Preferred, and families with small children, (and sometimes military personnel) which means that that person will be boarding in the 70th to 80th position, so mathmatically there should be 16 to 26 windows and aisle seats available, even if no one chose a middle seat up to that point. So it stands to math that the B-16 boarding pass should be able to find a window or an ailse seat. There are some exceptions to this math approach. That math does not work as well for a connecting flight, because it is difficult to know how many window and aisle seats are being occupied by through passengers. Also, in the morning and afternoon/early evening a lot of A-List passengers that travel frequently may be in the queue headed home from business, and that too will mess with the math. Of course if you are flying on a 737-800 yopur probabilities are greatly improved because that equipment seats 176 passengers. As they say, "Do the math!" Good luck and happy travels. Traveler Tip: It is often a good idea to ask the Gate Attendant or one of the counter attendants how many are scheduled to be on your flight. At least it allows you to know what to expect.
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This one for customer service. To hear about. As an A List preferred I have found that customer service reps listen, and better still are listened to about SWA policies that are not being observed by personnel. Pre boarders should not be allowed to sit on exit rows and A List are, in my experience, boarded before families with children. Sometimes, when equipment is changed on the same fight number, through passengers that had to get off a plane when the equipment is changed are allowed to board before those with boarding passes are called. These passengers are not technical pre/boarders and can sit in any seat, including exit rows if they are otherwise qualified. Traveiers Tip: even if you are an A List passenger, get your boarding pass as early as it is available in order to be higher in the queue for boarding.
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Wow, what a nightmare! I, like you, am often frustrated by waiting to talk to a real person, getting cut off, being transferred to the wrong person and what seems to be a lack of concern (or even worse lack of training) on the other end. I am so sorry that you had to go through this experience and I hope this message will help you and others avoid some of the frustration that is inevitable with some circumstances. I have learned and am convinced that almost every SWA employee wants to serve customers well, but at times the system gets overwhelmed by uncontrollable circumstances such as weather, computer failures or other system failures. Messages like yours have motivated me to research ways to work around problems and to try to understand ways to get things done when the system seems to be fouled up. I have learned at SWA there are a few ways to get a response that are far better than a call when weather or other issues are bogging down the system. One system that seems fail safe, at least for now, is to tweet @Southwestair or use email response about your issue to SWA. Both can be found at this website https://www.southwest.com/contact-us/contact-us.html. The people that respond to the tweets that I have sent have been knowledgable, quick and very helpful. I have found it to save an enormous amount of time instead of waiting on the phone. The email is a slower process in my experience, but it does seem to get me the answers, especially related to refunds and such. Another solution I have used is to wait until the extraordinary issues have cleared up and the phones are not as busy. I have always found clear and concise information is available when times are normal. Not that I always am happy with the answer, but I seem to always get a reliable one. I hope this is helpful to someone that may be frustrated. SWA is trying!
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One thing that I have found good to do is to check in on line or by phone close to 24 hours before departure. It is not necessary to print the boarding pass, but it gives the traveler a chance to check on the status and let's the airline know you are still good to go. Traveler Tip: When you do not have Early Boarding it is especially important to check in by phone or on line as soon as the 24 hour period begins so that your boarding pass is issued at the lowest number possible. You do not have to print it when you check-in but it puts you in the queue.
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Thank you for the update. It is a fantastic feat to have been profitable this last quarter given the challenges. I want to let you know that in all of my encounters with people on your team, both at work and socially, it continues to impress upon me the impact a high quality, well-supported and trained team can have on business success. I rarely meet SWA folks that do not love their job, even when facing challenges from weather, obnoxious customers, equipment problems or crowded airports and long lines of people wanting answers that are completely out of the employee's contro;. Congratulations on having a great team! I was little disapponited that you failed to mention the passing of Herb and what a rallying point his life was. I observed a similar rally with your team as they remembered him.
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04-26-2019
11:50 AM
5 Loves
Based on a lot of experience using WiFi on several different airlines, I have kudos for SWA. The best feature of SWA WiFi is that it is available ffrom entering the aircraft to departure (if it is working, which will be discussed below). On flights that I intend to use WiFi i log in as soon as I am seated. If I do not see the Southwest WiFi spot in my WiFi availability window, then I generally ask if the WiFi is activated. Usually the crew gets it energized, but sometimes the system does not want to cooperate. I have learned that the bandwidth is often stressed during a flight, so everything is slow. On long flights, I just wait for some connections, but I have learned to pay attention to connection times and try to take advantage of those moments when the system is working faster (note, the system is never as fast as my home or office). If I have a large file to send, then I usually wait until later to send it. Also, note that the SWA WiFi is not a secure network, so be careful and save your sensitive communications and files for a secure location. Or use VPN. Pro tips: Write all of your emails and send them from the grounsd and save $8.00, while still getting work done.
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This message is mostly for Business Select passengers that cut things tight in the morning. My normal morning travel days start with 6:00 AM to 6:30 Am flights. I live near my base airport (love Field, Home of SWA) and at that hour I leave home with just enough time to park, get through security and be the first or second to board the aircraft. Recently I had a random alert through security and the extra three minutes of being searched personally put me at the gate 27 minutes before scheduled departure. To my surprise the plane was already being loaded and I had missed my A1 position. I asked why we had boarded precisely at 5:30 AM, given that the plane only had fifty passengers and the process would only take ten minutes at most. The Gate Agent explained (very nicely) that because the flight was a connecting flight at the next stop that the plane was loaded to follow policy and ensure the connection was timely. I think this is a very good policy and now that I know that, I will give up five minutes of sleep to ensure I board in my designated place.
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This old travel;er is grateful to hear this story. I have used Twitter, but Live Chat is a great idea. Used it on a lot of websites, but what a great tool when all else seems to be failing me. This is a super valuable new piece of knowledge for me! Thanks for both of the replies that brought this up.
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04-25-2019
06:09 PM
04-25-2019
06:09 PM
My thought is that there may not be a better place to celebrate Cinco de Mayo for the weekend than San Antonio. The Riverwalk in Spring is always a great time, but on this holiday it is incredible. Visit the Pearl up river, or Fiesta Texas or the Alamo. It promises to be a fantastic weekend!
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04-25-2019
05:11 PM
04-25-2019
05:11 PM
Starting tomorrow EarthX begins at State Fair Park in Dallas. Admission to the weekend event is free. This is an opportunity to discuss, share and learn about the efforts of many to consider the environment, especially in relation to good personal and business practices. Thank you SWA for recognizing the environment's relationship to good business.
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04-25-2019
06:02 AM
2 Loves
That must have been so frustrating. I have found that tweets or Facebook communications get prompt responses when the call centers are jammed. The phones get bogged down a lot of times by bad weather in one region as many are calling to change flights. SWA has been ahead of the game using social media to respond to customers. Even this old guy has found it refreshing. An old boomer!
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I am so sorry to hear about your airport experience. Traveling with kids is often a challenge, especially when Murphy's Law is in play. I am glad you reached out to customer service. My experience is that those folks are special at SWA. I would love to know how they are chosen for that role. I think the best information gained in your experience may be the pre-boarding opportunity. I have found that it takes one big pressure point away in what is almost always a pressure packed time. Prayers for you and your family and happy traveling!
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That is a great idea for plane changes, as long as the 1st flight is on time or the connection is a longer one. It would be disappointing if I barely connected and the early boarding opportunity was lost due to scheduling. May be worth a look though!
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04-15-2019
06:32 AM
04-15-2019
06:32 AM
Southwest.com has an entire link about flying with infants. It specifically states that a birth certificate is required to verify a child's age. My experience is that a call to Customer Service or a tweet to @southwest Air will get you a quick and accurate answer.
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04-13-2019
07:07 AM
04-13-2019
07:07 AM
All good now. Must have been maintenance on the site. Suggest that IT add that to the error possibilities when the error message is displayed!
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04-13-2019
06:50 AM
04-13-2019
06:50 AM
Is the app down for others this morning 4/11/2019 6 AM CDT? Or is it only me?
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04-13-2019
06:49 AM
04-13-2019
06:49 AM
Is the app down for others this morning 4/11/2019 6 AM CDT? Or is it only me?
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04-13-2019
06:34 AM
04-13-2019
06:34 AM
Is anyone else getting an error message on the SWA iOS app. I have logged out, logged in that did not work. Vi deleted the app and reloaded the app and that did not work. Interestingly my last flight on Wednesday afternoon was still active when I first accessed the app. The error first showed up when I tried to reserve a flight.
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Interesting viewpoint. Having been a SWA regular passenger for the life of the company, it is important to recognize that SWA has always been an open seating airline. It would be interesting to consider a different way to provide seating locations, but as I have experienced in the last five years flying weekly or more, the planes are highly occupied and most passengers seem to be OK or even happy on the plane. I would be surprised if the policy changed radically unless many more showed concern by choosing other airlines to make their trips. My experience is that a happy crew is many times more valuable than an assigned seat. And SWA crews are generally happier than some other airlines I experience regularly.
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Just heard on the radio that SWA is number one of voters once more. Congrats!
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I almost always call the international reservations folks a few weeks before a flight to double check my tickets and passport info. That where I usually am able to identify issues to avoid delays at the airport.
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Fear of flying was a challenge for me for a long time. One suggestion may be to sit next to a dead heading crew member so that all of the noises and movement can be explained to you as they occur. There are certain things that seem wired that are just normal operations during a flight. Noises like the lifting and locking of the landing gear, movement of flaps and engine noise changes are just part of the mechanical actions of the plane. The landing approach often starts a long way from the airport in major cities. If you sit next to a pro you can ask questions and better understand the dynamics of the flight. Another nice thing is to open the SW site on your WiFi device and watch your flights progress in real time. That feature is free on board. Also, focus on where you are headed, not how you are getting there. By the way the views are great. Have fun!
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I have had the same problem on SW and other airlines. I have learned that if I wait a bit the system works, I think the small band width to the ground link is limited and can only handle a few connections at a time. I have been flying so long that I remember when airphones (yes we talked to people on the ground on those things) could only connect one caller on the plane at a time.
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03-30-2019
01:14 AM
03-30-2019
01:14 AM
I have an iOS wallet and store boarding passes there. I have now started emailing my boarding pass to me. It survived the flight departure and shows the boarding pass electronically. If you get a strictly by the rules flight attendant this should do the trick, iOS or android
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03-30-2019
01:05 AM
03-30-2019
01:05 AM
On American I discovered that their WiFi works on all of my devices, but not simultaneously. As an AList preferred passenger I have used my phone or IPad simultaneously on my SW fights often. Did you know that you can access Southwest.com without paying any fees. It makes checking on for the next day and checking flights or making reservations easy.
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03-30-2019
01:00 AM
03-30-2019
01:00 AM
In my experience with Southwest, the airline customer service personnel have always listened to me attentively and earnestly. Through the years I have observed that many of my suggestions have been implemented, probably not solely due to my feedback, bet maybe. Let SW know when you have issues. I do not think that we'll thought positive suggestions will fall on deaf ears. By the way, the customer service people you talk to are in the executive wing of the company's HQ. They are taken seriously.
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