Southwest Airlines Community

Edit: the Colleen tribute will be different livery, not the desert theme.   ... View more

@buzzchris wrote: my wife is not an A-list. Doesn't even have a rewards account.  I forgot to mention, this is the second time this has happened within a year. It was explained to me by a SW agent on the phone that this happens when someone with a lower number cancels and the next person to check in on line gets that number. The agent said this is very common.   The words "hit and miss" actually came from the agent on the phone.   That does happen probably once per flight on average I wouldn't be surprised - call it 1% of the time - the scenario is that an A-list member has a flight booked and forgot about it, or else is considering to change their flight. Gets assigned position at the front, notifications go out reminding them, then soon after - but not immediately - cancels or changes their flight.    Then that numbered position is open, so in your case if you checked in exactly at T-24 and also the A-list members were reminded then and one or more cancel/change, then your wife checks in later could in theory get that position.   But there isn't any way to guarantee that, it is unfortunate that it rewards a later check-in.   The problem is the boarding stations all have the fixed 30/60 numbering so they can't just keep adding numbers at the end as you'll get into the D-list or need more than 60 C-spots. (I'm not sure if an -800 or Max aircraft might already go to higher C-numbers if no one buys Business Select then you need a few extra numbers for a full 175.)   If Southwest had a D-list then they could keep adding people to the end without filling in the gaps.       ... View more

@gsking wrote: Yeah, I suspect after leaving the airport, you're out of luck.   My bag came down the conveyer with the handle out and bent.  Why they took it out, I have no idea.  It was hard to get back in, so they left it out and it got trashed.   I turned and saw the baggage CSA standing there.  I made a face and she walked inside and printed me a $200 voucher.    Couldn't have been easier. Sorry about your bag, glad you got a voucher easily. 😬 ... View more

@dfwskier wrote: I’m not sure of the exact procedure, but it seems that if there are only a few open seats available, then they are not assigned to standbys until the hour (or less) before flight time. If there are lots of seats available, then they may be handed out to standbys before then. How much earlier? I dunno. Agreed - they seem to be "saved" for people to make same day changes before the same day standby can have access.   I agree with @dfwskier there seems to be some instances when standby clears earlier, maybe when plenty of spots are open, also if you are in person you have a good chance to get the change made.             ... View more

@CupCrusher40 wrote: 1st off I'd say front half, I wouldn't feel too much more anxious in row 12 vs row 3. Even in the last row you probably will still make the flight, if not your assigned boarding position but it will be mental agony waiting for everyone.     ... View more

@CupCrusher40 wrote: imho same bp for all passengers, through or connection Even as a seasoned traveler I still show the second leg boarding pass sometimes getting on the first flight 😁   It usually doesn't delay too long though while I fumble for the other stack of boarding passes.     ... View more

@dfwskier wrote: The rule for personal cards is no more than one points bonus within 24 months to a RR account..   I do not know if the same rule applies to business cards. I suspect it does as the RR points post to your RR account.  It hadn't occurred to me to get more than one business card 😂   I feel like this may be limited by one card per type per RR account which applies to the personal cards...but not sure, you may need to call and ask, this might be a niche case if you are eligible for more than one business card.     ... View more

@dfwskier wrote: EB only guarantees two things   1) you don;t need to worry about checking in to get your boarding position 2) You will get a better boarding position than everyone that manually checks in   Whether or not you get a good boading position by checking yourself in is a function of 1) Destination -- places like Vegas and Orlando increase your risk 2) Time - spring break and holidays increase your risk 3) How close to EXACTLY 24 hours to boarding you check in -- seconds matter   Can you get a good ( A or low B) boarding position yourself? Sure. Whether you do or not depends on the factors listed in my second paragraph. I'd add #4 that what people think is "good" varies quite a bit as well - are you trying to make sure you don't get a middle seat - yes it will probably do that in most cases. Are you only happy with a window seat? Maybe but you may be towards the back. Only happy with exit row? You'll probably be unhappy unless a middle seat exit row is okay.   So it all depends on what you want it to do. If you just don't want to be bothered to check in right on time, or maybe you are in the middle of a standup routine right then...         ... View more

@buzzchris wrote: It's a hit and miss. I recently had EB on both sides of a rnd trip. I got A44, and A41. I got my EB several months in advance. My wife got the regular 24 hr check in and got A31 and A33.  !!?? And just to clarify your wife isn't A-list?     ... View more

@cconklin1 wrote: crap...1107 Tier Qualifying points short for A List. Guess I am flying somewhere this month...lol Were you planning to get these from the credit card? These they actually don't promise to hit immediately on the closing date either.  https://www.southwest.com/html/rapidrewards/eoy-tier-communication.html   At least you can get the points from flights pretty easy, hopefully you can find something for about a $190 round trip WGA and just get it crossed off.     ... View more

@RandyM wrote: Last year my billing cycle ended December 17th so any points earned December 18-31 did NOT count for 2022 total points earned  because I was told all points have to be have posted with my December billing cycle. That whole calendar year thing isn’t accurate.  It is calendar year for flights, hotels, and other activities but the biggest exception is that spending isn't recognized continually, it's upon your statement.    Here's some more information by type of activity: https://www.southwest.com/html/rapidrewards/eoy-tier-communication.html     ... View more

@mandmore wrote: I've flown on both 700 series and other planes, and yeah, I've noticed that the seats on the 700 series tend to have a bit more padding compared to planes with more rows. It does make for a more comfortable ride, especially on longer flights. You are talking specifically about a Southwest 737-700?   Everything is out the window when you go across airlines, they can choose many factors on their seats.    As @dfwskier pointed out a couple of times Southwest has their own standard and it applies across the fleet. So you might get a 737-700 that's hasn't been refurbished as recently as a newly delivered MAX, if you prefer that seat then definitely try to book -700's on your next trips.   But any -700 would have been refurbished at some point, there aren't any (or very few remaining) original leather seats out there in the fleet, and the airline is actually getting to its first round of recycling/upcycling process on the synthetic seat covers now from the replacement of the last leather seats.   Width can change throughout the airplane - if you had seats towards the very front or far rear they could be a little thinner than seats in the middle of the plane, that is also a variable.   Width and pitch however could vary among airlines if you mean any airline's -700 airplanes then it is their own design, and timing for refurbishments. ... View more

@dvvaidya wrote: Book ticket online.. also called Southwest and even their agent could not do it and mentioned they have to add another letter.  Can it be your initial and then a space?   Also do you already have a rapid rewards account along with PreCheck or another other account that needs to match?   It would have to be consistent with your identification is the main thing, if there is another way to show it as middle name with last initial or something else that might work.    Have you flown other airlines this way?     ... View more

@Mnigma wrote: I fly frequently from St Louis to Chicago for work. Most often a round trip same day. There seems to be a long period between direct flights in the afternoon. If anyone is trying to return after a morning meeting they have a 6 hour delay. Why is there not a 3 or 4 pm flight? Capturing all of the day trippers in the evening?   I'm scanning a few different days in January and that seems like pretty good coverage overall, sorry your appointment ends too early, but not early enough.   Maybe plan on a late lunch at Manny's Deli or something and then come on down for that later afternoon flight.    There are plans for a priority pass lounge in the works which would be great for arriving at the airport early with a wait for your flight but I'm not sure of the timing on that. Hopefully next year.         ... View more

@CupCrusher40 wrote: Enjoy while you can There should still be some 59/69/79/89/99 options but I don't think 39 and 49 are going to be very common in the future.     ... View more

@dvvaidya wrote: Seems Southwest policy is not allowing a single letter last name ! What needs to be done if one has just one letter in their last name?  Are you trying to buy a ticket online? It would help to know what activity you are attempting and getting the error.     ... View more

@aircasey23 wrote: Had the same thing happen to me.  Contacted Rapid Rewards and still waiting to here from them. I asked why don't they have 2 factor authenication and was told it was available.  After searching the website, couldn't find where to enable it.  Called back, this time told it does not exists. I don't believe 2FA is an option.     ... View more

@Munsingerjc wrote: Hey there! A-list is through southwest and not through TSA or the respective airport so unfortunately, the answer would be no. Although, you still get special security lanes in select airports. It depends on the airport you are traveling through, as some have it and some don't. What you want to do is either ask a Southwest Employee at the airport where the "premium passengers" lane is, or just navigate to it yourself! Different airports have different locations of them. My home airport is Denver Intl, and we have a premium passenger lane located on bridge security and south security. So it really just depends on the airport for your special A-List boarding😉 It might also be called "Priority lane" or "Fly By" if it is branded for Southwest.     ... View more

@jdcnosse wrote: I currently have two different flight credits that are transferrable, and they don't have an expiration date, however I've gotten myself into a pinch and was wondering if there's any way I can potentially convert them to something that better suits my needs (and helps someone else out in the process?) If you are asking can you sell them I would suspect it is against the terms, but if you have a family member or close friend you might come up with some reasonable exchange.    I wouldn't post them for sale on marketplace or anything like that. (or this community - no posts for items for sale here)         ... View more

@CupCrusher40 wrote: ty The prices may be updated as often as every half hour but there is a trend for the industry to make updates and respond to each other's pricing in cycles.   This would be in addition to the changes three weeks out when there might be an increase, a week out, and two days out but that varies by route.   But with Southwest it's easy - go ahead and book it and then if the price lowers on a Tuesday you can reprice it for a travel credit.         ... View more

@SarasotaArk wrote: No, unfortunately, I did not report the bag being damaged before I left the airport.  Does that mean that Southwest will do NOTHING to compensate me for damaging my luggage?  That is honestly not an acceptable solution.  please reconsider.  Thank you. We're just customers on here - use the Contact Southwest Customer Service or the luggage form to submit an official request.   One of the common comments though is that you can't wait very long to file a claim as they don't know what's happening after the luggage leaves the airport.   Good luck! ... View more

@Scooter713 wrote: This is indeed an abusive situation, and it is one that has been deteriorating for years. Today was, however, the cherry on the Sunday. After purchasing a business select ticket, I was position A-5. When I boarded the plane there were already 42 passengers ahead of me, including a substantial line of healthy appearing young people who had pre-boarding. It goes without saying that the extra price of the business select ticket bought absolutely nothing other than the typically kind and sympathetic staff on board. While I have really enjoyed the service orientation and tremendous convenience of SW for many years, I will only tolerate this for short hops going forward and will spend the $$ on a reserved seat on another carrier for longer flights. Given the structure of the federal regulation and the willingness of so many people to shamelessly abuse the system, I don’t believe that SW can solve this problem without abandoning open seating.  You may have been on a through flight where people stayed on the plane at the connection. Next time double check that your flight number originates with your flight so there won't be anyone staying on the plane and who are allowed to move around prior to boarding.     ... View more

@hmr9999 wrote: Southwest should make it clear to all travelers, regardless of boarding status, that they get one seat and cannot block center seats with their personal belongings or by laying across two seats. I do hear this announcement on many of the busier flights.      ... View more

@CupCrusher40 wrote: at airport boarding pass much smaller to fit in wallet or purse If you fold it gently the printout will still work as long as the paper isn't worn at the creases.   I usually have a backpack or put it in the outer pocket of carry on luggage which would be fine for most travelers.       ... View more

@NinaWG wrote: Four other adult family members and I are traveling on the same flights to attend a wedding. As a favor to the group, I researched and booked our travel on Southwest, booking all five of us on the same reservation, and now I am the only person listed as the contact person to receive updates from Southwest on the itinerary.   At the time I made the reservation, I was required to give each traveler's name and birthdate and was given the opportunity to add individual Rapid Rewards numbers, TSA Known Traveler ID numbers, indicate any special requests for traveler's assistance, etc., but there was no place to add each individual's cell phone number or email address.   I would really prefer that my fellow travelers would get their own text or email updates on the flights, especially on the day of travel, rather than having to play tour guide for them all. I've been back on the website to access the reservation, and I haven't found anyway to add this information for anyone other than myself.   Does anyone know if it's possible to do this? Yes - I recommend they each use an app such as TripIt for their own travel.    But regarding Southwest, what notifications do you want them to get?   You won't be able to add them for text messages on Southwest, but what you can do is if they each have their own Rapid Rewards accounts they can log into the app on their own and see updates there, as well as push notifications for some activities.   Something like TripIt or App In the Air would be useful though, or several other similar apps.         ... View more

@BHoms wrote: No, I have never purchased BS.  Only WGA fares.    Normally its only myself and my daughter (my companion) so hoping the same day change will be more feasible since its only the 2 of us.  That's a good scenario - at first the agent may balk after all your daughter won't have A-list, but in reality as long as the fight has extra seats all you would be doing is canceling the companion, same day changing yourself, and then re-adding the companion, so they should allow it under that scenario.   Your daughter doesn't need a same day change, just to be re-added after you've made your change.         ... View more

@OliverMiller wrote: Hi everyone! Due to poor weather, my Southwest Airlines flight was canceled last week. It's a little annoying, and I'd like to know how Southwest weather cancellation policy works?. Has anyone else encountered something similar? You mean other than the million people last year? It happens all the time - usually regionally due to weather disruption.    Where are you now and what did you end up doing so far?   If you didn't fly, then you should be able to get a refund. If you are still waiting, then...that's a long time to wait so it doesn't seem like that's your question.     ... View more