wow.. what a remarkably bad experience. not a good look.
step 1 - I located the 1-way flight my in-laws had already booked, selected the lowest fare, inputted all my daughter's information (she is a minor), link the trip to my in-laws using their confirmation number since my daughter is a minor, input my CC info, and hit purchase. total time = MAX 4-5 minutes
step 1 result: ERROR, PLEASE CALL SWA. I'm thinking this has something to do with my daughter and in-laws ticket linking.
step 2 (5:51p PST) - call SWA. I am told there are large wait times and ask if I want a call back. uh, YES!
step 3 - I screenshot the entire check out page with selected fare, total cost, all my data, entered, etc. for reference.
step 4 (6:35p PST) - Approx. 45 min later I receive the automated call from SWA. I am told to wait for an agent.
step 5 (7:07p PST) - Approx. 35 min after receiving the call an agent arrives on the phone. I relay her the date, destination, flight number, fare and that the ticket is for minor daughter. She quotes me the lowest fare at a cost 20% higher than when I went to book the ticket. I tell her I screenshot the entire purchase page and the lower fare.
step 6 (7:15p PST) I go back to the same error page, refresh and the fare is now 20% higher. I'm told if I just go ahead and fill out the purchase online it will work now. The issue I experienced is a known issue... I just happened to be buying my ticket right as SWA was changing fares. So they showed me a fare, I went to buy it, but it errored out 5 min. after while in the buying process and made me call in, wait for a call back, then wait for an agent to tell me.. yeah, our fares can change while you are checking out... no courtesy countdown.. no fare hold for 5 min while you input your data.
RESULT.... I bought the 20% higher ticket because I need my daughter on that specific flight, but this process was totally unnecessary. A lot of wasted time and acknowledgement of a shady system.
SOLUTION...
Implement a fare hold while people are checking out. Give people 3-4 min to get their data inputted before you change fares. I'd rather race against a clock then been opaquely told there is an error when really you just changed the fare beneath me.
When SWA calls customers back have an agent ready. Customers shouldn't have to wait for 35 min AFTER being called back for an agent to get on the line.
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