Southwest Airlines Community

You can find all the details regarding traveling with an ESA here: https://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/unique-travel-needs/customers-with-disabilities-pol.html   To answer your specific question, this was on that same page: "Customers are not required to transport fully trained service animals or emotional support animals in pet carriers." ... View more

Assuming he is flying domestic, within the United States, no paperwork or documentation of age is needed.  Southwest and TSA may ask him his name if he is able to say it, and then they will look to see if it matches what is on his ticket.  He can earn Rapid Rewards points so it wouldn't hurt to get an account for him and add his RR# to the reservation.  You can also request credit for the flight after it is completed if you don't add the RR# before the flight. ... View more

@mikelytlewrote: What if we lost track of the confirmation numbers? There is more than one flight.   Unlike some other carriers, Southwest doesn't offer a "credit bank" function, or any other way of keeping track of all credits in a passengers account.   Southwest requires passengers to track their own credits manually.   In the past, you could call and have them research credits by referencing the credit card used to make a purchase, but they've eliminated that option.   Currently, the booking notification advises:   Applying Travel Funds: In the event your travel plans change and you need to apply travel funds to future trips, please make note of your confirmation number. Customers calling Southwest to request a refund or to research travel funds for a specific ticket must provide their confirmation number, ticket number or flight information (date, origin and destination). ... View more

Technically, that's one too many items, you should check the suitcase. But, if it's a smaller carry-on suitcase you can probably get away with carrying it on.  ... View more

I'm confused, can you be more specific about what you're referring to? ... View more

I use Costco a lot - very competive and easy cancellation.   ... View more

This isn't a Southwest customer service channel -- it's a customer-to-customer info sharing platform. Your best bet for a reply from Southwest would be to contact Customer Relations directly.   As I mentioned in your other post, what you were told (or -- more likely, what you thought you heard) doesn't change Southwest policy.   You can't make the reservation before expiration and travel after expiration because, as the travel funds email confirmation states, all travel must be completed prior to expiration.   As I mentioned in your other post, what "can be done" is for you to request the reissue of travel funds as a voucher, minus a $100 fee per ticket. Good luck. ... View more

@TheMiddleSeatwrote: Southwest has never fully disclosed their boarding priority policies, but based on lots discussions people do seem to think within the A-List status group, A-List Preferred goes first and within that group, people that have purchased Business Select fares have priority, then Anytime fares, then Wanna Getaway. The same breakdown occurs within the regular A-List group after Preferred. It's a guessing game how it's prioritized within each fare class, but purchase date or overall money spent might be a factor. It's highly doubtful that just being a Companion Pass holder factors in as it's fairly easy to get CP without even flying. Also, while companions are not officially included in the A-List standby policy, agents do seem to make exceptions and allow them to travel standby which leads to thinking that the standby priority can also be controlled or adjusted by the agent. The old idea of being nice and smiling is probably still a very big factor. One clarification that it is a two-step process where the flexibile tickets Business Select and Anytime would get first chance if seats were open to change immediately, only going on standby list if no seats were currently open.   Then for the standby list as described.   CP won't be a factor, and according to the terms the companion actually isn't included in same-day standby perk for A-listers. If there was an empty spot, you could get it anyway as companion with the new booking as long as you cleared before boarding. My limited experience is that they have tried to accomodate where possible, especially if there were plenty of seats open.     ... View more

I suppose not being able to board at your assigned position after paying the extra fee for EarlyBird Check-In is no worse than when people who haven't bought it/paid the extra fee jump ahead of you in line (because Southwest reissues the positions of those checked in who cancel prior to flight).   I think it's wise to fully understand what your $15 guarantees you (auto check in) and what it does not (much of anything else, including consecutive positions for all members of a group).   Last year, Southwest earned nearly $400 million on EarlyBird Check-In fees alone, so clearly some passengers find it worth the cost. 😉 ... View more

All the flights from MDW to CUN, starting March 8th through April 6th (spring break) have note subject to government approval. We got our tickets in August and there was no note like this, called SW they said it is just a disclaimer and most likely everything will be good, now we are week away from our trip and Im kind of worried... ... View more

Thanks @LindseyD, I will do that.  I haven't received the CP points for that rental. ... View more

I think one more clarification - the flight credit for OP when canceling can't be used to purchase the girlfriend's ticket, OP would would have to use the credit on his own for a different flight before the expiration.   Unofficially there is rumor that you can call Southwest and have an expired credit issued as a voucher for a fee, which might be $100 but subject to change. If OP is in it for $400 and won't be able to use the credit, then it may be worth trying to do this, although it isn't guaranteed to get $300+ of vouchers out of the deal.   However in each case you'll still have to pay cash or points for girlfriend's ticket before she can add you as companion for the flight. Make sure she has you named as designated companion in her RR account also before canceling anything.     ... View more

Unfortunately, the new system (which actually caused more issues than it fixed -- see non-refundable "refundable" fares) didn't fix the limitation on no more than three boarding passes. 😞   Two boarding passes at one time have never been a problem.     @bec102896wrote: I know they got a new system back last year I have had success with 2 one ways getting boarding passes at the same time. Either way that's also why I recommend EB check in which will help you avoid the C group unless a ton of others on the flight buy EB as well    ... View more

FYI: Chase hasn't send drink coupons to cardholders as a matter of policy for well over a year now. ... View more

To expand, yes if not a points booking, -- the flyer always earns the points for flying, regardless of who purchased the ticket. ... View more

Next week the schedule opens up until November 3rd so you're probably two months from being able to book end of December flights.   You can check here for updates: https://www.southwest.com/air/flight-schedules/index.html ... View more

Why? ... View more

Your plan works.  Here are a few thoughts....   -Be careful buying points.  Depending on how many points you need to buy and what the cost is, you could easily spend close to what it would be to purchase the ticket with cash.  Maybe you use points for all but one ticket and then cash for the last ticket.  See the next note for more on this.   -I suggest booking one way flights.  While this adds to the number of transactions you'll have to make, it also allows you to easily rebook flights should the price go down.  If the price drops you can get a refund for the number of points it decreased.  Also, if you're short a few points, now you can perhaps use points for all but one one-way ticket and cash for the remaining one-way.  Or maybe you have enough points for 6 one-ways (RT for 3 people), puchase a few points for a 7th one-way, and pay cash for the 8th one-way.   -There is no risk in booking flights over multiple orders when purchasing with points.  If at anytime you change your mind or run into a snag you can cancel all the purchases and get a full refund of the points used.  You cannot get a refund for any points you've purchased so that is some risk.   -Calling wouldn't make things any easier, they would split the order as you stated in your original message.  Personally, I like to see what I'm booking on the screen versus trying to understand what is being said over the phone.   Hopefully that helps.  Let me know if I've confused you with the one-way discussion.  Info about the number of points in the accounts and number of points required for the flights might help. ... View more

Cancelling a flight and rebooking to take advantage of a promotion is pretty standard procedure, and there is no regulation against it.   I've never seen anything ever mentioned in any Southwest disclosure about not "gaming the system." ... View more

@toni_hakimwrote: I purchased 2 tickets from SWA and at the last minute I had an emergency that I could not fly, so I called the reservation desk and cancelled my trip, unbeknown to me the customer service representative failed to cancel my tickets, when I called back to book my flight I was told thst the funds were applied to my unused tickets and therefore they will not refund my money. The worst part was that the customer rep asked me to prrove that i called to cancel Both the booking and cancellation were by phone, and are you a Rapid Rewards member? ... View more

Agreed. I have had to do that before and it's no big deal. Just do it before you get your boarding pass, because then it becomes a bigger deal. 🙂 ... View more

FYI, alcoholic drinks are now all $5 (beer, wine or liquor), but rumor is that the prices will increase by $1 to $2 on March 1, and use a tiered structure of $6 or $7, depending on the drink. 😞    On the upside, this makes the drink coupons you have more valuable. 😉 ... View more

Yes, unfortunately the Getaway Finder Map disappeared several months ago.  ... View more

Only the person who actually flies can earn RR points from a flight from a flight. You can create an account for your daughter so she can start accruing points.  ... View more

Nothing has been announced and there's no schedule to make the announcement.  Most likely flights will begin in 2019. ... View more

Check out this post for an explanation of why it's sometimes not possible to book international flights from smaller markets such as Tulsa.   https://www.southwestaircommunity.com/t5/International-Travel/Flights-from-Punta-Cana/m-p/64759/highlight/true#M504   While it doesn't "fix" the problem, at least there's an explanation.  ... View more

All travel must be completed by the expiration date!  If you purchased a flight and had to cancel, the expiration date is not the flight date but the date you purchased the ticket.  ... View more

Travel must be completed by! ... View more

I don't think it's exactly what you're looking for, but you can see all flights between the two cities during an entire week on one screen if you search at https://www.southwest.com/air/flight-schedules/index.html   I think this search, the standard booking screen search, and the low fare calendar are your only options unless you have access to a corporate travel system like Concur which (last time I looked) does allow you to search Southwest flights.  ... View more