Southwest Airlines Community

Definitely a difficult situation.  TSA has stated they will not accept an ID with a hole punch in it and it sounds like you've already voided her passport so unless you happen to have a Global Entry card or a military ID you might not have an acceptable ID.   I see two options, neither is ideal: If you cancel her reservation, that "in theory" opens up a seat on the flight which you can then book under her new name.  The problem with this plan is there is no guarantee the seat opens up right away or at all.  Depending on the route, often seats will open up around the T-24 time or less when people change their minds or catch an earlier flight.  It's very last minute, but you might be able to get her booked then.  If you have a day or two before the flight I suggest you keep her reservation for now and continuously check the flight to see if space opens up.  If it does cancel her reservation and rebook it immediately.      Tell the TSA you "forgot" your ID and tell them your name is as it is on the ticket.  Yes, it's very possible to fly without an ID, you just get asked more questions than usual and might get extra screening.  It's possible they check the name in some database and possible, although highly unlikely, it comes back as having been changed then that leads to a bunch of other questions and possibility of not getting on the flight.   Like I said, neither is ideal.  Perhaps someone else has some better ideas?   Regarding the number of times you are allowed to change the name.  I don’t have an answer, but wondering if it really matters.  Do you think you would change your companion three more times before the end of the year?  I know some people develop elaborate plans to get a variety of companions for a variety of reasons, but I’m going to make a wild guess that your new bride might be your companion for a little while, at least a couple months? ... View more

Yes, you can use your points to book flights for anyone.  While logged into your account, select the flight and then put the name of the person who is going to travel in the "Who's Flying?" section of the checkout.  Make sure the name you submit matches the name on the traveler's ID. ... View more

Works everytime for me and my family. Initially I had a problem because my middle name wasn't in my RR account, but that was cleared up with one phone call. From reading other people's reports, problems are usually related to the name or birthday not matching between the flyer's RR account and info flyer gave TSA. I'm assuming you have a KTN and aren't relying on getting PreCheck randomly? You've also done the basic check that the KTN listed in your RR account is correct?  ... View more

Yes, Southwest does occasionally offer challenges, sometimes for A-List, sometimes for a Companion Pass.  They are usually very narrowly focused on specific markets, destinations, or a group of flyers that don't have any obvious similarities. I personally wouldn't count on getting a promotional offer before the end of the year so if you you're short a few flights start making plans to get a few extra in before the year is over. BTW, the offers come via email and are also listed in your account online under the Promotions section.  ... View more

@zone How so? Can you please provide more specifics? When did you check in? What position did you get?   I think people overlook one of the main benefits of EBCI, that you don't have to worry about checking in. If you are able to check in 24 hours prior it certainly isn't as attractive as it is in situations where check-in at T-24 is not possible or desired (while on vacation, early morning, while on another flight, etc).  ... View more

The short, normal answer is no, if you miss the first leg of a reservation the entire reservation gets canceled.   BUT, because of the travel advisory that allows you to make changes to flights departing or arriving in FLL and TPA you should be able to drop the first leg of the trip from the reservation, changing the reservation to just TPA-BWI. All flights are sold out, but since you already have a seat reserved I would think a phone agent could drop the FLL-TPA flight without affecting your TPA-BWI flight. (That's how I would phrase the request, cancel the first leg without modifying the second.) You just wouldn't be able to adjust the schedule because there's no availability. Prepare for long hold times if you do decide to call.  ... View more

You didn't post details about your flight so it's impossible to determine if the weather advisory applies to you. If it did, you would be able to modify your travel plans for free.   Details here: https://www.southwest.com/html/advisories/swa_travel_advisory_2017841504542489393.html ... View more

I think overall, all your "issues" are common to any commercial airline out there and secondly, it's not surprising that TSA continues to be difficult and inconsistent. If you really can fly private then you should, it's just not an option for most people and I'll take flying over driving most places despite some of the annoying parts of air travel   ... View more

It depends on how long the layover is. Typically through passengers (those continuing on) are asked to remain seated at the end of the flight so flight attendants can count them. Then they start boarding the next flight as soon as the first flight's passengers get off and the throughs are counted. In this situation you would not be able to deplane. If the layover is longer then you should be able to get off briefly. The one bonus of staying on the plane is you can have your choice of seats for the second leg.  ... View more

The points will post at the end of the billing cycle (statement date) when you hit the minimum spending threshold. If your 3rd month billing cycle ends after January 1st and that's the billing cycle in which you hit the minimum spend threshold, then the bonus points should hit in 2018. If the billing cycle ends in 2017 and the points happen to post in 2017 there's no modifying it.  Lots of unknowns and ifs there. Good luck if I decide to give it a shot.  ... View more

Based on on this info from https://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/faqs.html?topic=group_travel I would say any group discount is probably not better than Wanna Get Away fares. It sounds like they focus more on flexibility with names and scheduling than pricing.    southwest.com fares and Group fares differ in many ways, and each offers its own unique benefits. The best option for you is determined on your travel needs. southwest.com fares are often only available online and usually have limited quantities available. There may not be enough seats at the online price for your whole group. southwest.com fares tend to work best for small parties that don't need much flexibility in their travel plans. Group fares work best for parties of ten or more who may require flexibility with name changes and payments.     I would say any group discount is probably not the better than Wanna Get Away fares.    More discussion about group travel can be found here: https://www.southwestaircommunity.com/t5/General-Travel-Policies/College-Golf-Team-Reservations/m-p/58825/highlight/true#M2074 ... View more

Back in February several folks confirmed the points earned from hotel bookings on southwest.com do count towards Companion Pass, even the ones with the larger bonuses. I don't have any personal experiences yet.  ... View more

You can always change your flight to an earlier one, you just need to pay the difference in fare. That's exactly what any Southwest agent will tell you. You can do that anytime online or on the phone. If you're A List you can standby on any earlier flight for free.    ... View more

Liquids in containers 3.4oz or smaller can go in your carry on. All your containers need to be able to fit in a quart size ziploc bag so you can only take a few.  Here's more details from TSA: https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/liquids-rule ... View more

@sb2119 Just because Southwest's timeline of "working on it" doesn't meet your expectations does not mean anyone is lying.  I get that you REALLY like this feature, it sucks that it doesn't work.  If you've given up hope and are convinced no one at SW cares then that's fine, move on and perhaps some day you'll be pleasantly surprised to see it works. ... View more

You can cancel a flight up to 10 minutes prior to departure and retain credit (some exceptions for points bookings and non-WGA fares). The key is that you need to use the credit (complete travel) within one year of the initial purchase.  ... View more

The positive news is your reservation is still active so perhaps there is a plan to get you to Charleston. Seems like things are really day by day so it's hard to say what will be happening on Friday when you're scheduled to fly (if I did my math correctly).   Today, the plane from flight 31 went to Dallas and then changed flight numbers with a different plane resuming flight 31 in Charleston. That's not a good sign for you, but again, who knows what will happen. Good luck!  ... View more

Sadly Southwest has officially killed the map. Definitely much more time consuming now to search for destinations based on price.  ... View more

@cindygailmc The problem is that flights from LBB get into FLL too late to catch the flights to PUJ and the same for the return. While Southwest can technically get you from LBB to PUJ you would need to book four flights, LBB-FLL, stay overnight in FLL, FLL-PUJ, and then repeat in reverse to go home.    I imagine the same is true for any other city that offers non stop flights to PUJ, serving as a connecting point for LBB-PUJ.   It would be nice if Southwest's booking system accepted overnight layovers, but it's not going to happen any time soon.  ... View more

While I don't have definitive information, FlightAware does list the non-Houston portions of flight #31 as scheduled (not cancelled).  As the plane would most likely be needed in CHS to continue on to BWI later in the day it's not completly unreasonable to think it would go DAL-CHS, bypassing HOU.  The other posibility is a different plane is swapped in at CHS to complete flight #31.  But, on the positive side, I had also seen someone else in another post somewhere online mentioning Southwest was bypassing HOU.  So, not definitive, but a positive sign that you might actually be able to get to CHS on an unexpected non-stop flight.   Do you still have a non-cancelled reservation/boarding pass?  All good signs if you do.  Reply back and let us know what happens. ... View more

@dpat If you'd like some help you'll need to say where you're departing from and what months you want to travel.  ... View more

My interpretation of that was some amount far more than one would need for a day or two of traveling, think multiple large bottles, perhaps a case. You showing up with one bottle shouldn't be a problem. TSA and I don't always see things the same way though so no guarantees.  ... View more

Take a look at TSA's guidelines, particularly the section "Formula, Breast Milk, and Juice"   https://www.tsa.gov/travel/special-procedures/traveling-children ... View more

Assuming you booked the trip in a single reservation (SAN-STL) and not as two separate reservations (SAN-LAS and LAS-STL), Southwest will see that you are connecting and may hold the LAS-STL flight for you depending on how late you are. While a delay may or may not be Southwest's fault (lots of possible reasons for a delay), Southwest will not compensate you. There are occasional stories about customers finding a very nice agent who may offer a small travel voucher, but it's not likely. If you see your SAN flight is delayed, immediately start asking agents at the airport if there are alternatives to get you to STL, don't wait until the last minute to do this. On some days there's a 4:10 flight SAN-PHX that offers a connection to STL so if you spot the delay early enough perhaps you can take that routing. Be proactive and know your options.  ... View more