Southwest Airlines Community

 be careful on the checked baggage ..   From SW's Contract of Carriage ( any bolding is mine )   Limitations of Liability (1) General. The liability, if any, of the Carrier for loss of, damage to, or delay in the delivery of Checked or carryon Baggage and/or its contents, with the exception of wheelchairs, mobility aids, and assistive devices used by a Qualified Individual with a Disability, is limited to the proven amount of damage or loss, but in no event shall be greater than Three Thousand Eight Hundred and 00/100 dollars ($3,800.00) per fare paying Passenger pursuant to 14 CFR § 254.4 unless the Passenger at time of check-in has declared the value of the baggage to be in excess of Three Thousand Eight Hundred and 00/100 dollars ($3,800.00) (“excess valuation”) and has paid an additional charge of One and 00/100 dollar ($1.00) for each One Hundred and 00/100 dollars ($100.00) of excess valuation. See Paragraph (2) below for excess valuation limitations and Section 8 for information regarding international travel. ...   Excess Valuation. The declared excess valuation for baggage shall not exceed One Thousand Two Hundred Fifty and 00/100 dollars ($1,250.00) above the Three Thousand Eight Hundred and 00/100 dollars ($3,800.00) limitation of Carrier’s the liability established by this Contract of Carriage, for a total maximum declared valuation of Five Thousand Fifty and 00/100 dollars ($5,050.00). Excess valuation coverage is not available for money; jewelry; photographic, video and optical equipment; computers and other electronic equipment; computer software; silverware and china; fragile or perishable items; liquids; precious gems and metals; negotiable instruments; securities; business or personal documents; samples; items intended for sale; paintings, artifacts, and other works of art; antiques; collectors’ items; unique or irreplaceable items; heirlooms; research, experimental, and scholastic items and documents; manuscripts; furs; irreplaceable books or publications; and similar valuables. ... View more

I’m A16 99% of the time and this doesn’t bother me at all because preboards can’t sit in the exit row, my preference. Of course, those exit row seats are also occasionally gone by the time I get on-board by the Biz Select folks, but oh well, I still always get an aisle or window (whatever I feel like that day) up front, which would’ve been pretty unlikely with a last-minute-ish booking on other airlines.    I mean, it is what it is. There is always zero guarantee you will get your absolute singular preferred seat or row anywhere, even when booking with airlines with assigned seating. I’m at peace with it as a Wanna Get Away frequent flier.   THAT ALL SAID, you’ve definitely a right to get cheesed as a Biz Select payer. It is indeed a total farce sometimes. ... View more

Then call the Myrtle Beach airport and report that you heard that someone poured a drink.   I bet that the call out the National Guard. ... View more

@TomDivelbs wrote: Thank you for taking the time to respond. Obviously, I regret using Budget, as they are holding me responsible for a tire I did not damage. Regardless, I like your suggestion of setting up a frequent account with a rental car company. My company arranged this prior to retiring and I always got superior and quick service. I am curious if you have a company or two you feel provide good prices and service? Thanks again. I use Costco rental cars which include Alamo, Avis, Budget, and Enterprise and then I will use Hertz direct.    I get a bigger discount through Costco than I would benefit from the extra points so I don't use the partner programs for rental cars. I probably prioritize them last out of this group for minor issues but I've never had anything like you are describing.   Budget would usually be included among the major brands, so I think you are unfortunately having an unexpected experience with them.    The tire thing is strange, I don't know what the damage was it might have happened while you were driving or its possible they aired it up right before they gave it to you, it would be difficult to know without more information on what the damage was to the tire.    $800+ sounds like a lot though.     ... View more

Flightaware is my go to as well, it provides realtime comfort of mind on the planned plane's arrival or delay etc.. You can even follow Elon Musk's plane if you want😉 ... View more

@DLRB wrote: Our shoes, wool clothing (dress pants and sweaters) silk garments, leather goods, electronics (iPad, hair clippers/razors, CPAP), and textbooks were all damaged.   Has this happened to anyone else? What course of action did you take? Were you satisfied with the results? You are allowed to bring a CPAP machine onboard without counting it as one of your two carry-on items. Throw the iPad in there too next time.       ... View more

You could also book Wanna Get Away Plus fares which allow for the credit to be transferred so if the friend cannot travel the credit can be transferred to you for later use.   --TheMiddleSeat ... View more

Thanks for the suggestions. ... View more

Buy Business select you get the better position buy WGA get worse position so it’s kind of like that. Buy Anytime fare get middle of the pool of boarding passes since it comes with EB check in.  ... View more

If you cancel a reservation with EBCI on it, you will forfeit the EBCI.  There is no refund when you cancel.   --TheMiddleSeat ... View more

@parpitt1 wrote: For vacations I fly on points to Aruba. My direct flight from BWI, when I booked it, equated to about $400.00 per person just 2 weeks ago. Now I bought that tkt. the day they opened sales last summer.  As with almost any fare the closer you book to the planned travel date the higher the fare. Why are there fewer direct flights from BWI to AUA?  Good Question. Both our outbound and return flights were 100% full, not a single empty seat. Safe Travels  Especially with points when you re-price the ticket the points just go back to your account, so you don't have to carry a travel credit. Smart!     ... View more

@PettyIntrigues wrote: I gotta be honest with you, even if pre-board had been half of that, and there wasn’t a separate family boarding, with a high B now you likely would’ve been in the Cs somewhere.    I am on these birds a few times a week, and I have learned that no desired seat is ever guaranteed. I’m A16 pretty much every single time and that’s still often the case.   Your best bet to get a seat (or any type of seat I should say) you desire is to pony for Business Select or even Early Bird. Failing that, there are a lot of other airlines with assigned seating.   (All that said, I’m apt to agree with you and all these threads—it does seem like preboard gets taken advantage of with some minor regularity. It doesn’t bother me personally though as I prefer the exit rows and they can’t sit there, so I usually have few problems grabbing one of those seats.) EBCI is probably not going to solve it as described, that may often be behind the families.     ... View more

You would definitely want to have this confirmed in writing by a Southwest representative prior to purchasing a ticket.  I would also have documentation and correspondence from the Gov't of Jamaica, not just a birth certificate. Since SWA typically requires passengers flying internationally to obtain a paper boarding pass on arrival at the departing airport, this is the stage where a valid passport must be presented, and the boarding pass gets stamped "DOCS OKAY." If you show up with expired travel documents and without some written confirmation from Southwest and the Gov't of your home country you would be setting yourself up for a world of pain and delay. Even then, plan on extra time to obtain the boarding pass because the agent will likely need to get a supervisor involved before issuing a boarding pass.    Good luck and safe travels. ... View more

@floridaguy--no pilot apologies on any on my three flights this year.  In fact, all three flights were only 1/3 full. ... View more

@parpitt1 wrote: I too was just short of the threshold for A-List preferred in 2022, (2 legs or a few thousand points) I just checked and my account now says I have Preferred status thru 2023.  A very much appreciated gesture on SWA's part.  Same here!   I had been hoping to make a last-minute points run and then obviously didn't.         ... View more

You bring up an interesting point.  You sit in the middle, and if someone wants the seat, you move to the aisle or window and say go for it!   Interesting.  I guess you can do that because you are choosing any open seat.  It is kinda like preboarding.  You are required to "self declare" as a person in need, but you must do this on each flight.  That says that the declaration expires at some point after you make the declaration.   So, I guess you can "self declare" as a person in need, get your seat, then withdraw your declaration.  Interesting. ... View more

So true they definitely bent over so many people  ... View more

@kanikabat wrote:     Two agents I spoke to said the link for making the companion fare booking will be sent within 10 days of completing the travel, this would be 11/21/2022.   The third agent said the link would only be sent my 01/4/2023.       This is the weird part - the third agent is correct, you'll get the promotional pass activated in January.    I'm not sure what the other two agents were thinking of, either they didn't understand the question or there is some other mix-up on the call.     ... View more

I 100% agree!   Family boarding is between A and B.   B ppl are early birds who paid.  So what do we get?  The privilege to sit with a kid who didnt pay extra?  ... View more

My suggestion is to always follow the original flight schedule unless the flight is cancelled or you rebook.   Since you were notified of the delayed flight, I am assuming that you have the Southwest APP and I'd encourage you to look at the APP and follow the flight schedule.  Additionally, you should reasonably expect that the flight might not be delayed as far as it was originally thought.     This is a no-win situation for Southwest.  Your suggestion is that once the flight is delayed under no circumstances whatsoever will the flight departure EVER be moved up would dismay others who are sitting there waiting.     My suggestion is to follow the advice above. ... View more

Hello TheMiddleSeat,  Thank you for the links. The strange thing is the SWA app says, "Complete these tasks on the full Southwest site." but there is no link.  I was traveling and did not have access to a desktop.   Sincerely, Hawke  ... View more

I think this is a good feature for people who want to get points. I hear people complaining about them, but nobody is telling you to do ... View more

Definitely use it if you want to.   Perhaps I'm opening a can of worms here but I will say even if only one person on the reservation is A-List I don't see a problem with a family using the priority lane. Nothing has ever been said to me when I've been in this situation so you could give it a try next time you are flying with others.   What's everyone else's thoughts on that? Does everyone using the priority check-in lane need to be A-List?    --TheMiddleSeat ... View more

If you're an AVIS member and designate airline points rather than Avis points I believe it is 600 Rapid Rewards points on SW per rental regardless of the spend with Avis, usually takes about a week or less to drop into the RR account. ... View more

I agree that Southwest needs to get it together and once a gate is assigned, they need to show the FORMER travel destination and route you to the new gate, not just switch destinations.   All of these airports are different and the "announcement" cannot always be heard just outside of the immediate gate area.   for that reason, I suggest you download the Southwest App which will alert you to gate changes.  I would write to the Southwest CEO and demand a full credit for the cost of the flight.   That is their mess to manage, not yours. ... View more

If you sign in to your Rapid Rewards account with a computer you can actually see exactly which "point types" have been counted to your account. The website allows you to "toggle" between all points, tier qualifying points, and Companion pass points. It gives me a better visual understanding. I haven't really been able to do that on the app   Safe travels. ... View more