Southwest Airlines Community

@James2482 , i have had that same issue, (though it has been a while for me — for which I am grateful).     Sometimes, it is more than one party trying for the same few seats. options are calling (but right now, that wait may be long too) but if someone bought them up, customer service cannot help that. But they have gotten me past random error message so blocking the purchase when the seats were widely available.   Sorry that this happened to you.  I believe that you will have better luck with the website in the future (based on my experience but I can’t point to anything specific that changed). ... View more

@weycosteve , I am sorry that this happened to you.  There are many reasons for flight schedule disruptions, and as a travel warrior, I feel as if I have experienced almost all of them (on every airline).   Weather, computers, attendants accidentally deploying the emergency slide, crew with too many hours of flight time so cannot take off, and even an attack at the arrival airport TSA checkpoint that required us to be held out on the tarmac for hours.  I have had more two hour hotel nights than I ever wanted as well.  ( I call them “shotel” nights because they are really for the shower and not the sleep.  Fortunately I can catch some zzzz’s on a plane when I finally get on one, but only because I had so many chances to try and learn.)   I agree that at times, travel (or trying to travel) can be a bad experience.  I hope you will give Southwest another chance.  I have flown them all, and the potential for delays is there for every airline.  I find the Southwest policies regarding open seating, two bags free and no change fees to be the best option for the majority of my flights.  Like you, I have had some bad experiences with them, but not as many on Southwest as some of the others, especially for domestic flights.  You may have heard a lot of rumors while waiting because I have experienced that waiting crowd crescendo before as well, and I doubt all of what you heard is true.   I would suggest a letter to customer service relating your experience as the best option to try for a refund or a voucher.  No guarantees, but I have had some results with that approach.  I wish you safe travels in the future, and I wish that your experience had been an on-time no-complications flight.     ... View more

I am sorry to hear about your loss.  Hopefully SWA customer service will make the refund situation easy.  Please keep in mind that wait time may be longer than normal right now.  I do not want that to add to your stress, so call when you have some time to spare, and use speaker phone if you can during the wait. ... View more

@AN90, even though no one cannot guarantee your safety, I can say that I have been in the Southwest planes at least twice a week for many years, and I continue to feel that the company’s employees put safety first and I plan to be flying in the Southwest fleet for many years to come.  I believe the adage about “flying is safer than driving.”   Fun and safe travels to you, however you decide to go. ... View more

@aimeec,  sorry that it did not work the way you expected.  Did you think about buying two one-way tickets instead of a round trip?  One with voucher, one with points?   I have a boat load of travel funds, and figured out that I could use more of them booking tickets that way.  Keep in mind that even using points, there will still be money due for the taxes and fees (typically $5.60 each direction). ... View more

@DancingDavidE, yes, that was @kpechal’s plan - convert Amazon gift card to Southwest gift card (to buy their own ticket), and I thought it was pretty clever.  Gift cards often never get used, and @kpechal figured they could use the gift card to get what they wanted (especially if they did not have the cash to get one elsewhere).  To me, an Amazon gift card should be able to be used for anything sold through their website, so why not a Southwest Gift Card to use on a fun adventure?  Especially if the Amazon computer website allowed the order to be placed?     Gift cards are like unused travel funds for a cancelled flight.  If the recipient doesn’t keep up with it and use it before expiration, the business issuing the card has that much more cash to use in the business.  (There is some discussion about escheat/unclaimed property laws that I could insert here, but I will spare everyone.)   That is why I try to stick to the giving of rectangular green gift cards (i.e. cash) when I am not sure what to give.  The person can use it for anything they want.  @kpechal, if a Southwest travel adventure is on the list of “wish I had,” then, I am sure that  @DancingDavidE and I both hope you get to go.     ... View more

@kpechal, sorry to hear about this.  I have not had that situation and I hope the card arrives soon.     ... View more

@ujagada,  sorry to hear about your experience. I don’t really have an explanation and I haven’t used the callback feature today.   i have used it in the past without any problems, so maybe it is the winter weather overload as @dfwskier suggests.     I hope that your question/issue got resolved and wish that I could be more help today.  The callback feature has worked in the past. ... View more

@tenminutemile, I agree that is frustrating, and hopefully you can access the confirmation number within the original email.  The airline doesn’t charge change fees, but they require their customers to keep up with the confirmation numbers.     Although calling them will not get any information, the computer system must track them because I have been rejected by accidentally using the same confirmation and recieved an error message that said there were no funds left under that confirmation number.   **bleep** luck and smooth travels. ... View more

@desnda93,  @DancingDavidE has the best advice.  Consolidate two things into one, and then you will have the one carry item and the one personal item.  Once on the plane, you can quickly remove your purse from your bag before you put it in the overhead bin.     Ironically, you have to get on with two but can exit with three, so as long as you can combine down to two before getting on, you should not have a problem.  It might be good to check the measurements of your makeup bag to ensure that it will count as a personal item.     I hope that is helpful.  Keep in mind that if you have a connection, you will have to “re-consolidate” before boarding the second plane.  Fortunately, it is unlikely that you will have to go through security screening again, but not a guarantee because it depends upon the airport and flights.     Good travels!   ... View more

As @bec102896 said, there are dates where the WGA fares sell out within minutes of the schedule opening....Super Bowl, Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest...these are events that happen or have happened in New Orleans that can interfere with my Business travel.   If you go to Southwest.com and click on “Flight” at the top, one of the drop-down choices is “Flight Schedules.”  Clicking on that option tells you what current date the airline is accepting reservations through and when the next set of schedule dates open.  Right now, reservations are being accepted through Aug 5th and around Feb 7th, the dates will be opened through Labor Day.  So, more than likely, people looking to book WGA fares for Labor Day will start logging in around midnight or 1am on Feb 7th to get the lowest fares.   so generally, SWA opens schedules about 6 months in advance but it varies.   I am not sure if MKE or SJU have any events around those dates but Puerto Rico flights are probably still full due to contractors helping with re-building as well as spring break.     SWA sets aside a certain number of seats for WGAs, Anytimes and Business Select, so that is why the WGAs are probably gone.  Generally the WGA fares are the first to sell out.   Some people say that searching constantly for certain dates and locations tells airline reservation systems that you are really interested, so the system automatically starts offering you only the higher priced fares.  I have not experienced that with SWA, but I have seen it on another airline.  If you suspect that, you might try looking on a different computer, but like @bec102896 suggests, spring break may just be filling the seats.    Hopefully this info helps you in booking for future travels. ... View more

@Jojeff,  There are some flights that are used as commuting flights, so even as an A-Lister, I would get Bs at times.  A flight might be full of A-Listers (and at times, there might be over 45 on the same flight).   as @chgoflyer mentioned, you can always board when they call for family and A-Listers who have not yet boarded. So basically, you can be A-61 versus B-1.  Sometimes if I have a B boarding pass, I even line up behind A-60 rather than standing in the family boarding area. The advantage there is picking a potentially quieter spot on the plane. (Orlando FL is the typical airport where I do that because family boarding area can be crowded.  I am still in line at the spot at which I am supposed to board, so gate agents have not yet complained though I have had to wait until they make the announcement.)   Safe and fun travels in the future to you. ... View more

@TiaM85, you are not alone with fear.  As a frequent flyer now but a nervous when I started, I tried to remember (1) how many flights full of passengers come and go through our skies every day.  Surely these folks would not do this if it were terribly risky.  (2) I also tried to remember how nervous I was when I started driving, but those worries eased off after more experience with it.  Finally, distraction, not only for you, but your child.  Hopefully, this will be the first of many safe flying experiences and it may become routine for you.     As @dfwskier said, let the gate agent and  flight attendants know.  I have only seen it once, but I was on a flight with a fearful passenger and the plane pulled out, then pulled back in and he got off.  There were some callous and uncaring passengers making comments but the crew handled it well.   I believe that you can do it.  Plan lots of things like sticker books and coloring books that you can do with your child on the flight.  Take long walks in the terminal before boarding time to physically work off the nervousness, and deep controlled breaths while on the plane can help.  Go get ‘em and help your child see the world from an angle that she has never before experienced.  Look for swimming pools as they are usually recognizable to children. ... View more

@sonya37r, I am sorry to hear about the loss of your family member, and I hope you all can get to the funeral.     While not an employee of Southwest Airlines, I remember when bereavement fares were offered, but it has been quite a long while.  I called about them in 1993, and was told then that they were no longer being offered.  It was a heart-breaking answer on top of the death of my mother, because I did not have much money or flying time back then.  But my husband and I took out a loan and paid the fare so that we went and could spread out the cost and pay it over time.   I suspect these fares were removed because people seemed to be taking unfair advantage of the fare rates.  If you read these discussion boards, you can see lots of comments about pre-boarding and emotional support pets.  It seems that many people unfairly claim privileges to achieve some cost savings, and the airlines may have found that the way to avoid the issue was simply taking it away.     Unfortunately, that answer does not help your situation.  I am sorry that you have to deal with travel complexities at such a tough time, on top of the loss of a family member.     Again, this is my personal reply on a customer to customer forum, and it does not represent any official response from the airline.  I am sorry for the loss of your mother-in-law, and I hope that you all can find your way there. ... View more

What a legacy he left with Southwest Airlines.  Rest In Peace and my thoughts are with his family. ... View more

What a great story!  Thanks for sharing and tell your co-workers thank you from me for the teamwork in the healthcare setting which is so crucial to both the health of patients and providers.   congratulations!  Your future looks sky-high.  He sounds like a great gentleman to plan your future with. ... View more

Sorry to hear about your travel troubles.  I would suggest writing a letter to customer service explaining what happened; however there is no guarantee that the airline will provide any monetary response for either mechanical or weather related issues.     Regarding mechanical issues, the airline has to operate as safely as possible.  I have also been delayed on an early flight out of a smaller, non-hub airport.  Although grateful not to be on an airplane that did not pass a pre-flight checklist, it is painful to wait while they fly either a new plane or a mechanic and part in from another airport.  No airline that I know of keeps all parts at every airport, and all mechanics cannot fix every issue.  Some have more experience than others.  But I knew it would take a fairly long time and in a smaller airport on the coast, it meant the long wait, so I said to myself that it was better to be on the ground with a problem than in the air with a problem.  The airlines want to keep planes moving but they do not compromise safety which means preflight checks every flight.   going from one coast to the other on Southwest, the low cost, short haul carrier, they do not have a lot of other choices than to send you on different flights with a lot of stops when the long one-way is cancelled.  I know it is not the best choice but the other option might have been wait until the next day (and there may not have been any seats left).  I had a relative who was stranded for a week because their flight to Iceland was cancelled on another airline, so they just had to wait for the next flight.  That airline only had one flight per week.  It can be a potential flight delay vs price trade-off when something goes wrong and gets delayed.   As a person who flies a lot, I can tell you that delays and bad flights happen, but safety has to come first.  If you write into Customer Service explaining what happened, they may choose to reward you with a travel voucher for future travel.  Go to the “contact us” webpage for the address.  I would suggest writing rather than calling because (1) it is a busy time of year and (2) it allows a customer service representative to see that you took the time to put something together because you felt strongly enough about it to write and (3) they have more options than the phone reps.     Some people get upset enough that that they never want to fly a specific airline again, so if you do not want a travel voucher, but want a refund on a non refundable ticket, I suspect you will be out of luck.  The terms and conditions of a nonrefundable ticket are that the traveler will accept mechanical or weather delays.  The pricing structure is not unique to Southwest, and it helps all airlines keep prices low.     I understand your frustration and I am thankful that delays were the worst thing that happened.  Writing into customer service would be my suggestion — outlining flight numbers, cost, confirmation numbers,  locations and dates — as your best chance for some sort of compensation.     Best of luck and I am sorry that you had the problems; although as an experienced traveler, I have experienced it myself and I understand how and why it happened based on the business model of keeping price low and the FAA regulations for passenger fares.  ... View more

You should be able to get them within 24 hours regardless of whether you flown the first flight yet.  I don’t think that the computer knows it is basically a connection; instead, it should treat them like two different one-way flights. But in any case you do not have to exit the secured terminal area.  Just don’t check bags!    Please report back on when you were able to get the boarding passes. ... View more

@RobertGary1,  I had that situation once (before becoming a frequent traveler) and I do not remember getting an email.  A late New Orleans-Houston-Dallas outbound (would have been direct but connecting was only flight available when booked).  Bad (but not terrible) weather delayed the HOU-DAL leg, and I had to be there the next day, so I rented a car and drove one way.  When I showed up at the airport in Dallas a few days later, the return trip had been cancelled, because of the no-show (as @dfwskier mentioned) on the second leg of the first outbound trip.   I was a rookie, had not run into that situation before but it was the terms and conditions of the purchase, so I bought another ticket back at full fare.  It turned the entire trip into one expensive, white knuckle driving, lost sleep adventure, but I made the meeting and learned that I should have talked to the gate agent before leaving HOU or called while on the road because the airline would have split the ticket and left the return flight in place.  Because they did not know that I made to my destination, the computer was programmed to free up the rest of the itinerary.  I understand that airlines make money by selling seats, so my business lesson was learned.     I doubt that the situation happens very often, and I wish that it hadn’t happened to you.  I am glad they got you back because there would be no guarantee on having an available seat.  As @chgoflyer mentioned, you would likely receive something (voucher maybe?) if you wrote in explaining what happened, though technically, the terms and conditions means that they are not required to do it.  I doubt that anyone at the airline thinks of it as an “auto-cancel” so you can use that term, but also mention “no show” as that puts the situation in their lingo.  Southwest is not the only airline with these terms of purchase, but I believe they are the best airline from a passenger focus so will be more likely to try to make it better.     A little historical perspective on how this policy might have gotten started.  After 9/11/2001, the industry became very wary about one way tickets.  They were a guaranteed security pat down in the TSA line, and the pricing scheme for many airlines was that a round trip ticket was often cheaper than just one-way outbound.  Frequent flyers on all airlines started buying round trips to other destinations to get better deals and just getting off at their real destination along the way.  Save time at security and save money too?  Who could resist?  That created the change in terms because people were intentionally buying seats they did not need, and airlines, as a business, needed or wanted, to sell that seat again so they could make more money.  Fortunately, most airlines have switched their pricing strategies to show prices separately for outbound and inbound versus pricing round trips cheaper, and TSA stopped requiring the extra screening for one way passengers.   Hopefully you won’t have that situation again, and hopefully some flyer will read your thread and avoid that situation in their future.  I like your suggestion about sending an email about the return cancellation due to a no-show even though not technically required and even if the money is lost.  If an email is sent, that might not save everyone, but it could be an automatic computer generated feature that might save a few people.  The wording would have to be very carefully crafted so as not to offend though because many cancellations/no-shows are due to medical or personal emergencies when tensions are high, and a canned email saying that the rest of one’s plans were cancelled may seem impersonal and callous, and like the airlines are making a bad situation worse.   I hope you will write in to explain your past situation and that there is some resolution for you.  Hopefully the background information helps you understand how this situation got started.   ... View more

@k10978,  thank you for differentiating that  the cost of traveling with an animal for a disability versus a pet.   Southwest has FAQs on the website.  I put in a link below.   SWA FAQs - ESAs and other   Fortunately I have not had to travel with any animals yet but I have empathy for those that must because there is a lot of disinformation out in the internet.    Thank you for helping a fellow traveler. ... View more

Careers.Southwest.com is the address for applications.  Kelby Tansey posted a write up earlier in 2018 about the website.     Good luck and I hope the process goes well. Keep in mind that the company usually gets many more applicants than jobs available.   You might also want to go back and edit your post to remove your phone and email because this is a public customer to customer forum.  ... View more

Women treated same as men by TSA. One regular bag and one “personal item” such as a purse or backpack.  I have never tested what they would do about a fanny pack, especially one that fit under clothing, but I would think they would count it and if hidden, they would be able to require one to combine it into something else (which would slow the boarding process) and maybe even confiscate it.     I usually try to allow enough room in my suitcase to shove something else in such as a purchase of magazines or bottled water. ... View more

@bw2596, my experience is the same as @bec102896’s .  Same confirmation number will get them through to final destination but not if different confirmation numbers.    And I will add that my motto is “never check bags,” because my plans change, the weather changes, the schedule changes, etc.  So, as a frequent flyer, I learned to pack extremely light and to be ready to change plans at a moment’s notice.     I know now there are times when bags have to be checked though. Have safe and fun travels. ... View more

I am not sure if this is what you mean (because I delete email offers so quickly, regardless of who is offering and what is being offered) but I thought I would mention this feature.  On the Mobile App, choose the menu on the upper left, and there is a selection under flights that is labeled “special offers.”  I do not know if these are generic or specific to the individual since my app settings have me logged in every time.  There are likely other options one can elect in setting on the website.   As I said, I am not sure this is what you are looking for but I hope it is.  I have just always personally tracked when getting close and have taken two flights just for the miles over the years.  Safe travels and I hope you make it to the Companion Pass Level (because it is a nice perk to have).  ... View more

Like @TheMiddleSeat, I would suggest flying.  With the other programs, it can be hard to know when points will post.  The cost of a one day flight that gets you out and back will hopefully be much less than all the money you can save with a companion pass. As @TheMiddleSeat said, the flight has to end within December to post to December.  Good luck! ... View more