Southwest Airlines Community

The routes their computer system comes up with are comical.  This might be a good $9.69 investment by Southwest's IT Department.     ... View more

Well dfwskier, if I am going to say negative things about you on this page, it is only right that I say positive things as well when due.  Good post!  Agree with your sentiments on the stock.  Right now, it's a good investment depending on time horizons and strategies, but might not be the best time to buy.      But then again, if I were that smart about the stock market, I would not still be working in a job where I have to fly Southwest 3-4 times a month so I can pay for two college tuitions! ... View more

Do you know is the cut-back on dividends a provision of the bail-out or just an internal decision for cash flow reasons in light of the impact of Covid?   Either way, the potential growth in the stock is where the real return on the investment will most likely be if people can be in it for the long haul as you indicated. ... View more

  I guess we define "compensated" differently.   Clearly there is motivation for some people to not acknowledge imperfections by Southwest, and they do so very blatantly.   The perks must be good and maybe they are even better if you shame people and mock valid complaints.     ... View more

Thanks for the info apm.  Impressive you are going through all this work, and I enjoyed reading all of the truths you have posted.   Great work on exposing these disappointing facts!   As I mentioned to "dfwskier" and "Middle Seat" last week, I find their posts very entertaining.   It is shameful how these compensated "homies" for Southwest take a total black & white stance on issues and, in their minds, Southwest can do wrong.   They appear to have totally lost sight of the facts that people just want to pay money and get on a flight, and most people are not experts (nor do they care to be) of all the nuances of Southwest's website and experts on all the rules and laws of Southwest and airline travel in general that may or may not help them.    They hide behind curt posts with language such as "you can just change your flight!" or "I am done talking with you!".   And then as I did, if you ask them a simple yes or no question, they do not reply because no matter how they answer it, they would be forced to acknowledge either their airline or one of its employees may have been wrong or, at a minimum, displayed poor judgment.  Pathetic.   They clearly display a pattern of never going on record of saying anything negative about their airline, or even an imperfection.   What's worse is that these "Top Contributors" apparently have license from Southwest to belittle people who post legitimate criticisms about Southwest on this site and these Top Contributors can insinuate untruths about people.   And many of these people they belittle are loyal, long standing customers.   In my case, per my company's records, Southwest has gotten over $290,000 of money for plane tickets in the last 18 years just for my own travel.  And on top of this, there are tens of thousands of more dollars they have gotten from me for my personal non-work travel as well as that for my wife & kids that I book on my own.   To be honest, I do not see myself reaching out to politicians or other third parties to bring light to the terrible treatment Southwest has recently been displaying (and I say "recently", because as I posted last week, in fairness, this airline by and large was fantastic up until 2019).  I am in the camp that thinks these efforts run a high chance of having a minimal impact, and I don't want to waste my time.  However, even before I posted my complaints last week, my company (which employees about 10,000 in the US, many of which are road warriors, and has a dedicated Travel Dept) had already taken measures months ago to reduce our business with Southwest because of the bad service.   When our Southwest account rep heard of this, he condescendingly complained to our Travel reps and minimized the many complaints our company has had with them.  Sound familiar?   The account reps must get the same training as dfwskier and Middle Seat - admit no wrong and talk down to customers.   And the post thread I started last week voicing some legitimate complaints about Southwest and the less-than-classy responses by dfwskier and Middle Seat have all been forwarded to my company's Travel Dept and have gotten a lot of attention that will further garner the type of impact you are striving for.     In addition, an acquaintance of mine works for Southwest and she told me she has heard that Gary Kelly reads the private messages that are sent to him via this community.   While I struggle to believe that, particularly in today's environment, I did forward the thread I started last week and asked that he respond to me as I would like to know his thoughts.     Keep looking out for us regular folks apm!   You strike me as a very good person.   Thanks, Austin Riley       ... View more

You are so wrong it is ridiculous.   You do not even know me and you take the liberty of making personal attacks on me on a public forum.  Bitterness is not in my make-up over issues like this.  Life is too short and there are much bigger & meaningful issues in this world.  But sometimes issues need to be exposed and vented about on principle.  I am a middle aged man, and this is the first time I ever posted on a blog, forum, or whatever you call this thing,  because after 12 months of sub-par service I thought this was a good outlet and resource - not a place where criticisms of Southwest are mocked and not taken seriously by people who represent the airline and get perks from them for doing it.   I will continue to fly SWA as they usually get me to where I need to go and the RR program, Companion Pass and other perks are usually very good.   They have had a rough last 12 months and they are putting too much of their burdens on their customers.   I have plenty of reliable friends and contacts (including Travel agents) who share this opinion.  It is shameful that you and your friend Middle Seat do not even budge and admit the validity of any of my complaints and the many others I see have been posted.   The two of you obviously enjoy taking personal shots at loyal Southwest customers.  This is pretty pathetic since you are compensated representatives of the airline - albeit in perks - you are compensated!   So, you are obviously not motivated to show objectivity.   And again, you avoid the issue - you refuse to acknowledge that some of these replacement itineraries are so ludicrous that they should never even be options compared to what is available.  You defend the wonderful computer algorithm and hide behind "you can change it".   Yeah, but a valued customer should not have to be put in a position that they are stuck with such a ludicrous itinerary that they have no choice but to change it.  That is the point.   Particularly since the change cannot be made easily and quickly as you suggest.   So answer me this - same question as I have for Middle Seat - are you in disagreement with the Southwest employee I referenced?   She was clearly on my side on the issue I helped with, acknowledged the issue was absurd and offered a full cash refund even though it was a Wanna Get Away fare.   And one other question - what is the basis for questioning my honesty?   If you have any way of suggesting that I prove some of the stuff I am posting about is true, I welcome your input and will post such evidence if possible.   Have a wonderful day dfwskier.   ... View more

So, you are disagreeing with the Southwest employee I talked to on the phone as referenced in my last post?  Or are you questioning my honesty like dfwskier?   You guys are a great source of entertainment. ... View more

Oh, and as I previously noted, the Southwest employee I eventually talked to who rectified that Washington DC/Baltimore fiasco of a situation even acknowledged it was absurd!!!   And she is on their payroll!!   So, the company you love so much is acknowledging the ridiculousness.   You can do it too dfwskier, it's okay!  Or will you lose a perk? ... View more

Sorry dfwskier,  you are the one ignoring facts.  You are expecting people to tolerate ridiculousness.  I've got a bunch of private messages and many people all over the country I know following this thread that make me very comfortable that your mindset, as well as Mr. MiddleSeat's, are absurd!      And you have yet to answer my question - why is it irrational for a person to be even a smidge frustrated by an automatic rebooking of an itinerary that again, had me flying to Washington DC at one airport, but my connecting flight was at another airport in Baltimore 37 miles away.  And I found out about this only by looking at my Rapid Rewards account.  There was no e-mail from Southwest.  Yeah, I know I change it, but to even get to that point is ridiculous.  What if I were not a Rapid Rewards member and had to find out about this when I showed up at the airport.   And the website would not allow me to re-book on-line.  That whole situation is RIDICULOUS, regardless of a pandemic! And this exact situation happened to two different itineraries.      In addition, I have been re-booked automatically on other absurd itineraries about a dozen times in the last year by that wonderful software that is accurate 99.9%+ of the time per you.  But according to you, eh, I should just accept it because, poor Southwest, which made $2.3 Billion in net income last year, has to deal with their MAX-8's being grounded.   Let's be a little realistic here dude.  I know you love Southwest, but give me a break.   If you would concede even a small portion of my gripes as legitimate, people outside of your circle of supporters in this community might actually take you seriously.   But no, in typical Southwest fashion, you carry that "Southwest does no wrong" attitude.   I will give you this - you are earning the perks they give you.  Does your "Top Contributor" status exempt you from itineraries where you have to find your own way between two airports that are across town from each other to catch a connecting flight?  If so, maybe I'll try out for that!  ... View more

Apparently I need to clarify - I am not blaming Southwest for the MAX-8 situation or Covid-19.  Obviously those were out of their control.  I was voicing my frustration with how they have handled the impacts of those situations with customers, and the fact that I share the opinion of many, which is that the airline is not as good in a lot of respects than it was before the AirTran acquisition many years ago, they take customer loyalty for granted and their customer service was extremely better five years ago than it is now.   And for those people who think I am being irrational, again, please help me understand why I should be okay being changed to an itinerary where I would have to fly to one airport in Washington DC and then somehow (I don't know - bus, train, Uber?) get over to Baltimore Airport to catch a connecting flight.  That is a ridiculous way to treat a one-time customer, let alone a loyal A-List Preferred customer.  And even the Southwest employee on the phone who took care of the situation was at a total loss as to how that itinerary could have possibly been booked and was extremely apologetic.   She had no suggestions as to how I was to get from Washington DC to Baltimore.   And again, this exact itinerary change happened on two separate occasions and could not be rectified on-line.  When I tried on-line (as often happens), I got a screen that said I had to call, so ultimately it took over an hour with wait time.   As noted yesterday this is just one example of a litany of bad experiences I have incurred going back to summer of 2019.   For the prior 18 years before that, I was one of Southwest biggest fans.   Perhaps my experiences are on the extreme end of bad luck, but they are real and in many people's opinion, uncalled for.   For people to suggest I am being irrational or a "know it all" is ridiculous.    Apparently you have had much better luck than I have had with them lately.   I hope it continues. ... View more

Disappointed to read your comments guys.   We obviously do not walk in similar circles, but many of the road warriors I know and the in-house Travel Agents in my large company have the same views about Southwest as I do - used to be a great airline, has been going downhill for years, botched the MAX-8 situation from a customer relations standpoint and takes customer loyalty for granted.   Trust me, as a former investor in the company, former huge fan and still a frequent flyer, I hate seeing it.   My comments do not come from an ignorant place - I'm a perennial A-List Preferred member and have flown SWA an average of probably 60-75 times/year since 2001,   And yeah, I am guessing this might be paltry compared to some people posting on this site.  This said, I do not claim to be a "know it all" about all the minutia about running an airline and its computer algorithms.      I do not disagree that one could be expected to be tolerant of inconveniences that I have exemplified in previous posts.  But perhaps if they were isolated or even rare.  However, this is a pattern that has happened multiple times, even well before Covid-19.   How you guys are seeing my viewpoint as irrational is mind-boggling.   Help me understand why you think I should be okay with an itinerary in which to get from Kansas City to Boston I have to fly to Reagan National and then find my way to Baltimore Airport to catch a connecting flight to Boston - even if an isolated instance.    And this happened twice to me!!!   And could not be fixed on-line in either case.   And again, there are many more instances like this (e.g. flying through Texas & Tennessee to get to Boston instead of putting me on a one-stop connection through St. Louis or Chicago).   It has been a litany of stuff like this in the last year, so I am not buying that the algorithm works 99% of the time.   I am have probably been on the phone with Southwest more in the last year unwinding stuff than I have been on the phone with them in the previous 20 years combined.  And quite honestly, Southwest should go the extra mile to try to make sure these instances do not happen to their A-List Preferred members.   And beyond, ridiculously botched itineraries, there are too many other instances happening of poor customer service over recent years.   When you stack-rank them, Southwest is probably still the best airline in the U.S., but unfortunately in a lot of respects they have fallen in line with the rest and have lost what made them stand head & shoulders above the rest.   Keeping fighting the fight guys!  I hope Southwest gets back to what it once was!   ... View more

Sorry, I don’t need to remember anything you suggest.  If I can go on-line & book a more logical itinerary instead of one that no one in their right mind would ever book, but an automated program would book, then the programmer you referenced should be fired!     How in the world can you defend that situation?   And I wish I could just ”simply” change things as you suggest, but oftentimes when I attempt to change itineraries on-line, I get an error message saying that I need to call to change the itinerary.  And that is no longer a two-minute process over the phone as it used to be. ... View more

Thanks Blake.  I was/am up to speed on all the relatively easy and free ways to change the impacted itineraries.    However, a non-stop itinerary from KC to Boston should not have been changed automatically by Southwest to one that went from KC to San Antonio, making a plane change, flying to Nashville, making another plane and then getting into Boston with overall travel time of around 10 years, when there were numerous options available such as flying from KC to St. Louis and making a connection there instead to Boston with overall travel time under five hours.      It is situations like these I have had to deal with numerous times over the last year and that are hard to comprehend.  Terrible service by Southwest regardless of COVID-19.    A 4-year old on a lap top could have made a better choice with the itinerary change.    I literally just got off the phone with a Southwest agent who changed a crazy automatically-generated new itinerary such as this one for me to a more reasonable one, and she herself was at a loss as to how that initial change could happen.  Not good.      In fairness, the lady I just spoke to on the phone was very nice. ... View more