Southwest Airlines Community

I'm copying my reply here from a similar question posted. You're not alone. I'm sorry that you won't get support from the experts here.  But we lowly peons need to keep chiming in together about this issue! My original comment: The wifi is just plain bad.  Really bad.  Terrible.  Worst ever in YEARS and that is saying something because it's been kind of BAD for a LONG time.  Also adding to the comedic irony here is that on May 11, SWA announced its concerted effort to "upgrade its equipment"...."providing a significant improvement to speed and bandwidth up to 10 times the current hardware on board". Just reading this quote from the May release just makes me laugh out loud. Wifi was always bad but seriously now is egregiously offensive.  I'd LUV for someone in the know to enlighten us to what is *actually* happening.  If it's anyone nay-saying the issue,  I'm calling your bluff here.   I'm A List preferred,  LUV SWA, but seriously something is amiss here.  As to your specific question... I'm not sure.  I travel several times a month.  Rarely in the past 6 months has there been a straight up good wifi situation.  It's been "glitchy", "reset", and yes I've just purchased it when the A list preferred free benefit didn't seem to work.  I think I'm at about 60% success (in getting ANY wifi- free or for purchase) in these 6 months  prior.  SWA how I LUV you... but you're not making it easy right now! 🤣 ... View more

The wifi is just plain bad.  Really bad.  Terrible.  Worst ever in YEARS and that is saying something because it's been kind of BAD for a LONG time.  Also adding to the comedic irony here is that on May 11, SWA announced its concerted effort to "upgrade its equipment"...."providing a significant improvement to speed and bandwidth up to 10 times the current hardware on board". Just reading this quote from the May release just makes me laugh out loud. Wifi was always bad but seriously now is egregiously offensive.  I'd LUV for someone in the know to enlighten us to what is *actually* happening.  If it's anyone nay-saying the issue,  I'm calling your bluff here.   I'm A List preferred,  LUV SWA, but seriously something is amiss here.  As to your specific question... I'm not sure.  I travel several times a month.  Rarely in the past 6 months has there been a straight up good wifi situation.  It's been "glitchy", "reset", and yes I've just purchased it when the A list preferred free benefit didn't seem to work.  I will be more attentive to your issue now.  If I actually get *any* wifi to work.  I think I'm at about 60% success in these 6 months  prior.  SWA how I LUV you... but you're not making it easy right now! 🤣 ... View more

Also, it's fairly common for flight attendants to not ever ask for the drink coupon. So many fliers make it a practice to not offer the coupon until its requested 😀 ... View more

@ceva156 wrote: Hi everybody, First time flying in my life was wondering what the process is like and mostly with Southwest Airlines? What exactly should I know and what’s the process like? For my carry on I’m looking at an Amazon essentials 21inch travel suitcase It’s measurements are 14.5W x 22L x 10T. Will that pass the requirements? And anyone have a good personal bag carry on recommendations? Any other advice or tips anyone has will be much appreciated thanks! @ceva156 wrote: Hi everybody, First time flying in my life was wondering what the process is like and mostly with Southwest Airlines? What exactly should I know and what’s the process like? For my carry on I’m looking at an Amazon essentials 21inch travel suitcase It’s measurements are 14.5W x 22L x 10T. Will that pass the requirements? And anyone have a good personal bag carry on recommendations? Any other advice or tips anyone has will be much appreciated thanks! Welcome to Southwest! I hope you feel all the LUV they have to offer on your first flying adventure! For a "personal item" sized bag,  I recommend something with what is called a "trolley sleeve" which is an opening on the outside of the bag which allows it to slide over the handle of your rolling suitcase. It will sit securely on your luggage as you travel through the airport.  I have had this one for 5 years with LOTS of travel.  Still looks great!  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DM3NHR4/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_EV3S20BP9P3CZW6PPKAR?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1   My teen daughter has a backpack style bag with a trolley sleeve: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097TQHMBL/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_A0KEVN5JVSBX6Y8634N4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 Happy travels! ... View more

I gave one out this last weekend too. Fantastic, personable FA, Mark, who was just too good to pass up with at least a hopeful effort that the Kick Tail token in my carry on bag still carried any value. I will likely still send in a message to SWA because he was just that good. It just felt funny handing over a Kick Tail ticket that seemed archaic and maybe not actually valuable.  ... View more

@Benhill384 - I, too, had my luggage lost in Denver. Same thing- it got scanned in at destination but never made it to the carousel.  I am in the claim process too. Don't listen to anyone here or try to get advice. No one here has it for this kind of issue because they haven't had your experience.  But, you are the second poster (the previous one was also in DEN, btw!) in the last few weeks with the same issue. And my incident was Jan 10. So, it's definitely a problem in Denver.  But one thing to take note of is that it's Not a Southwest issue if your bag ARRIVED in Denver. It's a Denver Airport issue (or whatever the appropriate term is for the services on the ground handling bags in Denver). Your claim (and mine) isn't even with Southwest. It's an insurance claim with the transportation department at DEN, if i am not mistaken.   I am sorry that everyone here is so trite about your missing things and the value of them. There are a lot of whiny, fake posters here so maybe everyone is jaded. Sorry.  You are right, it is $3800 valuation for lost luggage items. And it is such an unbelievable headache to itemize and value everything!! I was on my way to my son's wedding (!!!).  I wasn't carrying seriously valuable items except a new dress and somewhat expensive wine. Both I had receipts for but after that: my favorite EVERYTHING: sandals, dresses, jeans, pantsuit, sweaters, blouses, cosmetics, toiletries... No one brings the stuff they hate on an important trip! It's all gone. I don't have receipts for it. Who keeps that for several years??  It took me probably 30 hours to piece together the claim. And, with nothing terribly valuable, I could still account for about around $2k in loss in that one bag - including the new(ish) bag I used once pre-pandemic. No, I didn't save that $200 receipt from 2019. Dumb me, I guess.  @TheMiddleSeat, @dfwskier , @CupCrusher40  Give this guy a break. You just have no idea how painfully frustrating this situation is. No idea. I do. Give him a break. Sometimes people truly have really bad SWA experiences and they come here to vent or get advice. Just give 'em a break.  ... View more

I don't know about the flight change issue and if work would be notified.  But, as far as adding your companion to just the return- yes! You will probably have to call SWA to do that for just one direction of the ticket if the ticket was booked as a round trip. But it's easy,  quick, and totally doable. If the flight out and the return are booked as separate trips, it's super quick and easy to just choose the "add companion" option to the ticket from the app. Good luck and enjoy your extended business trip away- with your hopefully free companion. Such a great SWA benefit to have! ... View more

This info is in the FAQs for A list benefits: In addition, you and all Passengers included on your reservation will receive priority boarding which means Southwest will automatically reserve a boarding position 36 hours prior to the flight. You and Passengers on your reservation will still need to check in within 24 hours of scheduled departure to retrieve your boarding passes. Some restrictions apply. These restrictions include, but are not limited to, your reservation must be booked 36 hours prior to scheduled departure, and on Group Travel itineraries, priority boarding will only apply to A-List and A-List Preferred Members. It doesn't have a caveat about a BS purchase affecting your companion's ticket though.  ... View more

I'm sorry this happened to you.  It's likely that very few here, if any,  know what it's like to lose everything on your way to a very special event. Well, I hear you! I was in the same boat Jan 10th in Denver when my luggage was lost and never recovered.  I was on my way to my son's wedding! It's sickening when you're standing there in the middle of the airport with only the clothes on your person. I'm in the claim process too now.  And your story has me really worried! I, too, didn't have receipts for clothing I bought a year ago or even months ago.   I was less than impressed with SWA's assistance for sure.  I'm also finding it interesting that we both had this happen in Denver. Thanks for sharing.  I'll be praying that you get some positive resolution.  ... View more

@bwallet- thanks for posting this.  I'm just now reading it and it's a good reminder for all of us.  I stored these with my drink tickets and just re-discovered them.  I was just reminding myself to make the effort to use them (the kick tail awards, not just the drink tickets LOL) .  Yes, hoping SWA will send more out. ... View more

@gsking- regarding same day standby,  your companion doesn't get that benefit if you choose to use it while traveling using CP. ... View more

I have to agree with bwallet. It's a little frustrating. No offense to the moderators - I am sure your job is time consuming with all of the posts that come up here.  I just don't want to comment on anything now because I look like I'm not paying attention here when my post or comment just repeats someone else's point because my note comes out super delayed.  There are plenty of experts here so I'm sure you don't really need my two cents.  But I find it nice to see other less frequent commentors here too 🙂 Thank you, moderators. Not trying to complain....just chiming in from my perspective. ... View more

Oddly I posted this days ago and it never showed up. I ended up finding that post you mention and even commented there.  My comment there also was MIA for several days.  Weird! ... View more

This is all very interesting speculation.    I am very curious to see where SWA is going with this. My guess is that it won't be something as simple as providing another free bag.  Two free bags is already far above competitors.    After reading these ideas here I am thinking something more along the line of a ticket that included Early Bird Check In. That's probably the one defining line that they have with other airlines and the most stress inducing issue for infrequent SWA travelers.   And/or something that involves reimbursement of original form of payment instead of being reimbursed in travel funds.  ... View more

@GirlMommy123 I hear ya! This has been continuously coming up on this forum for several months. I am echoing your issue here!  Hoping that SWA will sit up and take notice that their frequent travelers are wearying of this wifi issue. SWA has been - for years! - notoriously poor in their wifi service but in these past 3 or 4 months they have brought their low standard to an all time low.  I hope more frequent travelers will speak up with their frustrations with this issue. ... View more

This is such an interesting detail! I am so glad that this was clarified.  I have tried to talk several friends into a SWA cc because these end of the year offers have been too good to pass up. Only on one occasion did I actually send the referral link.  That friend decided against it  because she didn't fly frequently enough for the opportunity cost against her other cc to be a benefit.  But, I am so thankful now. I had no idea that the link that I sent her would lead her to a lesser offer than I was talking up.  I did convince my brother and one of my sons, though. But never sent them a link because, honestly, in sending the link to my friend it felt so self serving and insincere.   I have really appreciated the benefit of CP that was first afforded to me through the cc point bonus and I try to convey the benefit of CP or even the value of 80k or 100k point bonus emphatically to others and that all loses a little of it's glitter when you ask them to work out a little kick back for you if they do go through with the cc application. Again, that is all made worse if my referral for them makes them ineligible for the phenomenal offers that are popping up out there at the end of the year. Yikes.  ... View more

I sure wish there were something beyond the free wifi benefit.  The wifi is superbly terrible on SWA. I am finally achieving A list preferred. But, I have the free wifi with my credit card.  In all honesty, I will earn A list preferred with the "boost" that was given this year.  I am not feeling excited about the "free" wifi that is fairly non existant or pitiful to begin with 😕 Still love SWA  - but free wifi is definitely not what's keeping me here LOL   ... View more

Yes, that's true. You pay for the upgrade. But that payment is credited to you in your next statement.   ... View more

Yes, agreed, MAYBE 50% successful.  Worse than usual.  The "usual" was spotty but these days I have been on several flights with no wifi at all    ... View more

Yes, technically speaking, no need to upgrade your wife, too. Saving a seat for her would potentially be the best plan .  Just keeping in mind that there are a few folks that bristle at the whole seat saving thing.  Be kind and don't save the exit row and you should be okay ; ) ... View more

I just flew with my granddaughter a few weeks ago on another airline and we had a collapsible wagon and the crew happily took it at the jetway which is what my daughter in law assured me would happen as she has flown several times with it.  I was really worried right up until that moment that we boarded.  The attendant at the counter wasn't quite sure either when we checked our bags.  But, they were more than accommodating at the gate.  I am sure that will be the same here. I find SWA to be very accommodating for these kinds of things. Have you seen some of the stuff that gets gate checked?? LOL I think you will have no trouble.  ... View more

@david0 I was caught in that mess on the 15th and have similarly been surprised that SWA hasn't reached out in some way. I get that it was beyond their control. I did encounter great employees along the way though who were really doing their best to serve passengers the best they could. I boarded a plan in San Jose where the gate attendant had to manually write down - with pen and paper! - names of people boarding and destination cities.  It was insane. Ended up being a ridiculously LONG day with delays and I missed a bunch of stuff at my destination. Super inconvenient but not nearly as bad as many nightmare tales I was hearing from other passengers on other flights.  I am beyond surprised that there has been no statement from Southwest to passengers affected.   Three weeks ago my daughter (who was also on this ill fated trip with me on the 15th) was on a flight out of Denver that had been delayed an hour and half, then hit a bird in takeoff, had to be redirected back to Denver, boarded another plane and eventually got home nearly 4 hours later than anticipated (2 am!). She received an email the next day with an apology and promise of a LUV voucher.     SO, this is really weird to be so many days beyond the tragic outage on the 14th/15th and still hear nothing.    Didn't mean to hijack the thread here just wanted to say to David0 "I hear ya!" ... View more

I'm sorry that you had a bad experience. I actually like the way that Southwest handles boarding and, for the other perks of flying SWA (free checked bags being one of them), I think it's an airline worth sticking with especially for a family.  So, perhaps if you expound a little bit about your situation some of the helpful contributors here on this forum can guide you to a better experience next time.  My first question is why were you all boarding separately? Or maybe you were boarding together but you had a late boarding position?  Hope you get some good help here and don't give up on SWA. ... View more

I think this is good clarification about the "checking in/getting your boarding position" vs. the "checking in/getting your boarding pass" .  I am sure a lot of people will find this info helpful.    I also think it's an interesting point here that SWA could potentially offer a notification to EBCI customers in the same way that A list gets notified.  I have never used the EBCI option, but for those who do and pay that extra bit of money, it would be a great feature and probably  would smooth out some of those concerns that EBCI customers have.  ... View more

@thelostbag  I hope your bag gets returned! That's sad and frustrating when it happens. I have had a bag lost by SWA, but returned to us within 24 hours.  But, since you also asked about lost items inflight I thought I would also add that I haven't been as succesful in those cases.  We are 0 for 2 on our lost items on SWA flights, unfortunately.  We left my daughter's super cute handmade unicorn gloves in a seatback pocket; filed a report immediately; and kindly got regular updates from SWA for 6 months saying that the item could not be found. Similar story for a jewelry bag that somehow was misplaced/lost/(taken??) from a roller bag. For items lost inflight, I've pretty much given up hope that those items get returned. I am though, like you, curious to know if other passengers have had success.  Hoping you get your bag back! ... View more

It's been a long day for me so maybe I shouldn't be posting something at the end of the day, but in reading the replies to this post I can't help but chime in. Southwest is sort of known for bad wifi. Be a naysayer all you want, but, ultimately, they really are kind of known for poor wifi.  So much so that I have read frequent posts in various places throughout social media that SWA travelers who are are A list don't  feel the need to strive for the perk of A list preferred in order to get free wifi. Google "Is Southwest wifi worth it?" You will find lots of fun comments 🙂 I have the SWA business credit card that compensates for wifi so I use it faithfully every trip I take, but frequently, like today, it was very spotty. I didn't have a lot to be accomplished, thankfully.  But, yes, wifi is an issue on SWA. Will it stop me from flying SWA? NO. Never. I love SWA. I just know that when I board wifi really is a toss up.  ... View more

I had actually wondered about this too. I have a CP and had a similar misunderstanding of this policy.  Thanks for the clarification! ... View more