I've been checking diligently for almost 2 months now for 5 r/t tickets in mid-May. I was completely mystified by the lack of reservations beyond 5/10. With each day and week, I grew more curious. The lack of easily accessible information baffled me and I resorted to finally googling "why can't I reserve a southwest seat past 5/10?" Lo and behold - here is the blog. Finally - some answers!
Representing perhaps thousands and thousands that do not know this blog exists and have no idea that there even is such thing as a scheduling window with SWA, please allow me to offer the novice perspective.
I had honestly started to think that SWA was going through some massive change, merger or acquisition. I'm not upset, I'm not freaking out but I am disappointed. It's just plain unsettling to have unfinished business. It's disconcerting to not have all of your reservations in order. I fully understand that I can cancel my hotel plans if the flights don't pan out, but what about those river rafting trips I've booked, the train tour from Williams to the south rim of the Grand Canyon or the jeep tour of Sedona? Here's the bottom line - people like it when all of their plans are done, booked, finalized, paid for, whatever. This is the only unfinished item in a 2 week itinerary and while I'm feeling better now, I can't say the same for "Grandma" who's traveling with us. She's freaking out! You have lost business. You know that and you'll survive. No doubt. But the really disturbing part is that the consumers left without understanding what you were thinking. "Grandma" had a 2/1 deadline in her mind - that was as far out as she would go without having a complete melt-down at the lack of tickets. I don't think she's unusual in that respect, nor am I for wondering what the heck was going on at SWA?
Perhaps the posters that have commented that people should just "chill" or "fly someone else" really have something constructive to offer. If your plans need to be well buttoned up months in advance, then maybe SWA isn't the right airline for you. That's sad, though. And disappointing. And avoidable. Information is power - maybe a link prominently displayed on the reservations page that offers an explanation (and maybe an apology) wouldn't be such a bad idea. It might even help the novice customer know that you're not going out of business, or merging or suffering from some crazy conspiracy to virally market your summer schedule...
Patience is a virtue and I now know that the schedule IS coming. It would have been nice to know some of this two months ago by selecting a "Want to book after May 10?" link.
By the way - the reference to an apology isn't for the schedule being 90 days out, or whatever number of days it will finally be. It's for not managing your customer's expectations and leaving people to draw their own conclusions.
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