Southwest Airlines Community

@Fcabral52 wrote: is the airlines requiring special travel ID at the moment. I have AZ drivers license and military ID.   would I have any problems getting my mobility scooter on the plane; also, do I require certain batteries for my scooter. Greetings!   Military ID is a federal ID and complies with REAL ID requirements for air travel. You should be good to go. Standard, non REAL ID driver's licenses with the "Federal Limits Apply" statement are valid for TSA identification until May 7, 2025 as of this writing. US Passports and Passport Cards are also REAL ID compliant. Same with Trusted Traveler Cards (Global Entry). If you have these, you should be good to go too.   Regarding your scooter, here is a helpful official guide that should help: https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/article/Manual-wheelchairs-and-mobility-aids?clk=HC_SSR_1252_ManualWheelchairs   The article describes how it will be transported and describes how the batteries are to be handled.       ... View more

@ktsloan6 wrote: There used to be an nonstop evening flight to Oakland from Eugene, OR. There still is a returning evening flight from OAK to EUG, but the only nonstop flight now is at 5 or 6 am. All the other flights  go through Denver or Las Vegas. The original  nonstop takes only an hour and a half, whereas those going through DEN or LAS take hours and hours! I would like to know why the evening flight from EUG was taken off the schedule, and respectfully request it be reinstated again. I am a senior, and getting to a flight at 5 or 6 in the morning is not really a viable option for me. I love SWA and don't want to have to fly another airline. Please bring back our evening flight to OAK! Thank you. Greetings!   We as fellow travelers understand your frustration. Note that Southwest's fleet comprises of Boeing 737's. Unfortunately, some issues related to Boeing this year (you may have heard some of the stories on the news including the Alaska Airlines door plug story) have delayed shipment of new SW Boeing planes that were to replace the fleets that were scheduled to be retired. I assume that all eyes are on Boeing now to ensure the newly manufactured planes are thoroughly checked before they get certified to go into operation; that is for everybody's saftey. As a result, that has led to some flights being suspended until the planes can be delivered to service the routes. I assume some flights along the OAK-EUG corridor have been affected too.   It doesn't hurt to let Southwest Customer Service know of your request so that they can consider reinstating the evening non-stop run once the supply chain issue of the 737's is resolved. As this message board is a customer-to-customer forum, your request may not be directly read or processed by the appropriate staff; I would email or send a DM request via Twitter/X: https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/email-us   Hope this helps.   ... View more

@SoCalFlyer97 wrote: Greetings Community Southwest-     The booking was for a Friday and Saturday night stay during Mother's Day weekend at an independent inn dubbed the Ontario Airport Hotel. This place is a former full-service Hilton property complete with a 10-story mid-rise tower, its own restaurant, small convenience shop, meeting halls, and banquet rooms.      During my stay at the Ontario Airport hotel, I saw a one of the Southwest "One's" fly over the property while I was hanging out at the pool:     Before anyone asks, the answer is "no". I did not bring my cell phone with me into the spa to do plane spotting. I was sitting at one of the tables. Anyway, it took me a while, but I was finally able to track this bird down later on FlightRadar24 to confirm the livery, plane number, and its routing.    The plane that flew over my hotel last weekend was SWA Flight 2641 from MCI making its descent--not into ONT for it was far too high, but into LAX. It was plane number N8655D, the New Mexico One!   One thing I learned during my stay at this hotel having noticing the "parade" of airplanes passing over at just over 10k' over the pool was the airspace just south of ONT is along the primary descending flight path for planes originating from the east headed to LAX. That meant, I was able to see and track down arriving LAX flights. Some of the other flights that I saw when I did my research later originated from as far as London. Others from the DC area and NY via the legacy carriers, as well as a number of other Southwest short-hauls from LAS and DEN.   ... View more

@m1kenavarro wrote: Hi, this is my first time flying through Southwest. I will be with my family of 6. We have 3 adults, an 11 year old, and 2 and 4 year old babies. From what I seen about Southwest policy, are we all able to board together at once and is it true after A group boards we will be able to? Thanks for the help 🙂 Greetings and welcome to the LUV Airline!   Here's SW's policy on Family Boarding: https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/article/boarding-process   Up to two adults traveling with a child six years old or younger may board during Family Boarding, which occurs after the “A” group has boarded and before the “B” group begins boarding. There should be enough open seats to enable the child to sit next to at least one accompanying adult. That means by rule, your 2 and 4 year old's with their accompanying adults will be able to utilize the Family Boarding perk and have an accompanying adult sitting with them regardless of your assigned boarding position. I would have 2 of the 3 adults from your party utilize the perk. For the 11 year-old and the 3rd adult, here's the policy:   If you are traveling with a child age seven to 13 years old: If you need and request assistance, Southwest will reasonably endeavor to seat a child next to one accompanying passenger (14 and older) to the extent practicable and at no additional cost. Families can speak to Gate Agents or Flight Attendants to request assistance.   With that, on travel day, I would speak to a SW agent at the gate and see if they can accommodate you should your group end up with a deep-in-the-B or C position. That will help assure the 11 year old has a paying adult sitting next to them.   This forum is customer-to-customer and lots of frequent SW travelers utilize this board who may also be able to provide you with additional tips based on your needs. Being your first trip aboard Southwest, feel free to post any other general questions you may have of using Southwest Airlines to the community. ... View more

@JenKay2001 wrote: I have a disability (I have been diagnosed by a neurologist and am on medication for it, NOT made up) which makes it impossible for me to stand unsupported or even walk very slowly without debilitating leg tremors (that will cause back spasms if I'm forced to try to stand longer than my body will allow). Walking at a normal pace, I appear normal.   I preboard simply because I am physically incapable of standing in the boarding line or shuffling slowly with the boarding crowd down the jetway and being forced to wait in the plane as people get to their seat/get things arranged- so I do technically need assistance boarding the aircraft. The gate agents are great and understanding about this, but man oh man some of the things I've read here are scary!   Seeing all this hate about people who everyone thinks "look normal" preboarding just heightens my anxiety, which is already extremely high when I am in a situation where there are lines for food, bathrooms, etc to be negotiated. I really wish people would understand that a disability may mot be visible and still be very real.  Hola! I would not worry about what other people think about this subject. If you believe you qualify (and it appears based on what you describe that you do qualify), I would use the benefit.   I fly frequently and have not once seen any negativity regarding pre-boarding in the gate area, even when it looks like those pre-boarding have no visible signs of disability; the fact is, I have no clue of their internal medical conditions and it is none of my business. Thankfully, what you read on this board on this subject generally does not reflect the mood of the airport.   Yes, there's widespread debate and different opinions on this subject on this message board especially if it involves flights with a high pre-board count and/or people with no visible signs of disability. But don't let it influence your decision to request pre-boarding.    The fact is based on your needs, you are legally entitled to make use of the pre-board benefit, period. Thus on travel day, no need to worry. Just give yourself extra time to go to the check-in or gate counter to request your PRBD boarding pass, let the agent know when they do the short interview with you of your disability, and they should grant your pre-board status. You can also add a note about your disability on reservation which should further help facilitate the interview process.   Hope this helps!   More info: https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/article/preboarding ... View more

@gbarbeeyow wrote: I was actually just trying to use PayPal's resolution center, though it also keeps giving me error screens, so I've had to use their AI chat bot to send an email to a rep (ridiculous). I will send the Southwest one, too. In all honesty, though, I don't expect either side will do anything. This issue has been documented going back to 2015, and not a single person online has said that they have found a resolution. If the issue is with PayPal, they might have incentive to fix it, but Southwest has no incentive, since everyone just gives up and books using a different monetary method. One of the reasons I made my post was hoping that someone had found a resolution and just not posted about it. The other reason is that I want this public documentation for the next unfortunate person googling this issue. The most easily findable, public posts about it from those affected, the better. Thanks! Based on my experience, customer service staff are usually focused on ensuring the immediate travel needs are resolved which likely why they'll respond with workaround solutions on payments. Most travelers are okay with using the alternative method and move on which is why I think this subject has been drifting in circles for so long for those who still run into this error.   As mentioned, when they respond to your emails, make sure they actually answer and not dodge this question: "What needs to be done to my account so that I can use PayPal to purchase Southwest flights going forward?"...Emphasis on going forward. Hopefully that will prompt the service reps from both entities to escalate the request so that the right staff can look deeper into your accounts to search for any settings, glitches, incompatibilities, or bugs that could be triggering the error.   If they advise you to try another machine or network, make it clear that you tried that. If they still give you a workaround (i.e. Pay with different method), make it clear that the question is about Paying w/ PayPal going forward and restate that point so they'll be better prompted to escalate this to the proper staff.  ... View more

@gbarbeeyow wrote: Why is there still an issue when trying to book through PayPal? It's been ongoing for close to a decade now. It had been a couple of years since I'd last tried using PayPal, so I tried again this morning, thinking the issue must have been resolved by now, but still I received the error: PayPal receives the request, and so it's now listed as pending on my account, but the reservation itself never goes through. In my experience, calling does nothing because the customer service representatives don't know what to do about it. (If you're going to comment on this suggesting it's an internet connection error, just stop right now. It's not. I've tried it on different computers, different connections, my phone on data. If you're going to comment that well, you were able to make a purchase using PayPal, so surely there isn't an issue, go ahead and stop right now, too. It's clearly an issue that only affects some people.) Greetings:   Unfortunately, this issue has been a frequent topic of discussion on this board. Many people are able to utilize the PayPal option without any trouble; others run into errors constantly when attempting to process transactions between SW and PayPal.    This forum is customer-to-customer and we as fellow travelers cannot research or diagnose this issue here. For this reservation, I would for sure use an alternative payment source so that your booking and confirmation are all set. The pending PayPal payment from your last attempt should time out and self-void itself after a few days and be credited back to your account.    However since you appear to be consistently impacted by this, I would still send your letter in an email to Southwest Customer Service and via the PayPal Resolution Center respectively:   https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/email-us https://www.paypal.com/disputes/dashboard/   Just like how you wrote your post to this board, make sure the focus of your question is "what needs to be done to my account so that I can use PayPal to purchase Southwest flights going forward?".  Mention clearly that you already tried to complete the transaction on different machines and networks and provide them with the error codes. The "bug" causing this error may be from either SW or something with your either your SW Rapid Rewards or PayPal account; thus try reaching out to both. ... View more

@chris628677 wrote: i have a flight coming up and i was wondering if i would be able to bring my wheeled luggage, a backpack, and a lunch box on the flight with me without paying any extra fees? Greetings!   The answer to your question is 'Yes' as Southwest allows you to check up to two bags for free in addition to your carry-on items. However, keep in mind the size/weight limitations linked below and that the FAA rule is two items per passenger for carry-on: One Carry-On Luggage plus one Personal Item can be carried on.    Carry-On Size limits: https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/article/carryon-baggage-policy   To travel with your three items, you can either combine/stow the lunch box in either the backpack or the luggage so you can carry-on everything. If you cannot combine these or if the wheeled luggage exceeds the carry-on bag size limits, you can check the wheeled luggage and bring your backpack and the lunch box as your two items at no additional cost. As mentioned, just make sure your luggage is within the limits so you avoid paying the excess size or weight fees.   Checked Bag Size/Weight Limits: https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/article/checked-baggage-policy   Hope this helps! ... View more

@Artanis wrote:   Did the hotel free breakfast have a waffle maker?                           I didn't see a waffle maker at the Dynasty. Not sure whether or not they serve waffles at all or only on certain days of the week. On the morning of stay there, Sausage and Scrambled Eggs was the free meal which was served from the warmers.   I think both of the Fairfields and the Holiday Inn on this series served pre-prepped soft waffles on certain days of the week from one of the warmers too; I didn't see waffle makers. The Residence Inn stay was the location that I noticed had a waffle maker. The Azure stay had hot breakfast but I had to check out before the dining room opened; likely same scenario as I didn't see a waffle maker from a prior stay. No breakfast included at the Apache.  ... View more

@bec102896 wrote: So tonight I went to check in for my flight and I noticed this nice little option to view where your flight is coming from on the app.  now hopefully the next feature will be delay information similar to what United has ex. Your flight is late because your inbound plane had a maintenance problem that needed to be addressed  Nice 😊. I have few flights lined up later this month. I'll explore the app and look for this feature. I've always used FlightRadar24 and FlightAware to track down late planes but having this feature built right into the SW app would be very handy as not every traveler knows how to use the third-party tracking tools.   ... View more

@tgsa01 wrote: Will arrive from Tokyo on ANA at O'Hare early next month and need to check in my suitcases on Southwest for Tampa. Is there a Southwest check in area straight after Immigration and Customs? Cannot do bag drop off as two separate tickets.  Greetings:   ORD's official website has some helpful information on international arrivals and it appears the answer to your questions is 'no'.   https://www.flychicago.com/ohare/myflight/international/pages/default.aspx   According to their website, once you have arrived at ORD from Tokyo gone through the CBP Border Inspection Station (or if the flight has been pre-cleared and you claim your baggage in the terminal's domestic baggage claim area), passengers not flying with United Airlines or American Airlines for their connecting flight will need to take their luggage with them upon exiting the International Terminal 5 and recheck it with their airline in advance of their domestic connection.   In your case, it appears that you'll need to bring your bags when you leave the International Terminal, go to the Southwest Terminal, and stop at the Southwest Check-In counter to re-check before continuing.    Travel Tip: If your international leg is not pre-cleared and if you don't have Global Entry and concerned the border wait at ORD may be long, I would explore Mobile Passport Control and see if you're eligible to enroll in that as ORD participates in this program; that will help speed up the process through CBP: https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/mobile-passport-control   ... View more

Greetings Everybody!     Well, SoCalFlyer97 has come to the final hotel of this long lodging marathon month, all booked through Southwest Hotels. I don't recall ever before in my personal traveling history of sleeping at seven different lodging places for eleven nights total all within a 30 day window which started during the first week of April and ended last weekend:   Holiday Inn Corona, 1 night Fairfield Inn Norco, 3 nights Residence Inn Corona, 1 night Hotel Apache Las Vegas, 1 night Azure Hotel Ontario, 1 night Fairfield Inn Tehachapi, 3 nights Dynasty Suites Redlands, 1 night   I think this one is for my personal record books. Anyway, as mentioned in the list above, the final destination to wrap up this 30-day line up of travel is Redlands CA. Before I made my way to the hotel, I needed stop over at a place that had a public Wi-Fi signal and I figured one the public libraries would do the trick. I got an unplanned surprise.   So I punch in my GPS the location of the nearest library in Redlands near the hotel and I get routed to this place:   I thought for a moment, "This can't be the right place" but sure enough, there I was in front of the A.K. Smiley Public Library which was built and established exactly 130 years ago from this year of 2024.     The interior design preserved the 1800's décor with the wooden framed doors, black and gold lettering on the interior windows, and wooden bookshelves. Combine that with today's amenities like Wi-Fi and you've got a historic place fully alive.     After I finished my work, I absolutely felt I should take a look around and tour this place.   To do some remote work inside of an 1800's historic library was an unexpected surprise.   One can reach Redlands from ONT airport either via a car rental or a $35-40 rideshare hail. Or if you have time spare and can time the train departures, SoCal's regional rail provider Metrolink also links the ONT area to Redlands via public transit feeder bus. Train ride with the transfers would take about 60-90 minutes.   Off to the inn.     Southwest Hotels had a very high rated, independent drive up motel listed and when I took a look at the reviews and pictures, this little place actually appeared to be a nice destination spot, even though it emulated a motel. Whenever I book hotel rooms and a drive-up motel deal shows up, I take a thorough look before booking because unlike traditional hotels, there's no hallway or lobby in between the parking lot and the rooms.   But I figured after reading through the organic reviews that this little inn is worth a try, at least for one night. Here's how costing compared (taxes and fees included):   Dynasty Suites Redlands, 1 night SW Hotels, RocketMiles: $134.36, +1,000 Points Plus Property Trivago Lowest Price: $136.76 Booking Direct: $120.12   The $14.64 mark-up from booking direct in return for the 1,000 Companion Pass Qualifying points was a fair-and-square tradeoff in my opinion. With the high ratings and advertised amenities, let's try this place out.     I arrived shortly after the 3pm scheduled check-in time. No problems whatsoever with the Southwest Hotels/Booking.com reservation. Incidentals deposit was $100, parking free which was enforced with a printed paper dashboard permit.   What I noticed right away was a simple yet relaxed, garden-like ambience. Wall vines gave the building exterior life and drew attention away from the center parking lot. During the daytime hours, the motel would play soft classical music along the corridors...soft enough where it would not be heard inside of the rooms. The place had security cameras all over the place as I saw zero trouble overnight.     The pool and spa area was very well maintained and also featured dual sauna cubes. Next to the pool was a decorative gazebo adjacent to a putting green.   And yes, this little motel offered not only hot free breakfast, but had real dishware and utensils.   The Room:         Travel Tip: 3rd Party Booking sites are really good of listing independent hotels, many of which can provide for an uncanny and unique travel experience. Take the time to read through the reviews and ratings to assure you're getting a great deal. It may be worth it to try something new. I always opt for the Free Cancelation option as my "travel insurance" in case I need to make a change or reprice the booking.     Well, that's it...that wraps it up for this marathon hotel series in 30 days, but SoCalFlyer97 has a couple of more Southwest trips and at least one other SW Hotels reservation lined up for the rest of May.   I do appreciate and thank everybody for reading my trip and hotel experiences that was made possible through Southwest and the participating hotels. Talk to you next time! ... View more

@Lisahunt1231 wrote: Hello! We are flying out of Orlando tomorrow and are not checking luggage to save time...but I just got an email saying to checkin at ticket counter.  Can we check in with the agents at the gate? We have nonstop flight to Jamaica. Thank you! Hola! By rule, the passport books of your party must be verified by a Customer Service Agent or scanned at an automated kiosk at the landside check-in ticket counter on the day of travel before a physical or digital boarding pass is issued.    https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/article/Is-certain-passport-information-required-prior-to-international-travel   Jamaica also requires completion of a predeparture entry form. Not sure if this needs to be verified at the Check-In Counter also prior to the issuance boarding passes. https://www.southwest.com/international/required-travel-documents/   Hope this helps. ... View more

@zahero90 wrote: hey everyone ,    we are working through Virtual desktop environment and most of functions such as tracking or schedule search not working inside this environment.   on physical machine seems ok but keep switching to get data is not what we expected.   do you have any blockage on Azure virtual desktop solutions?    this is the error we are getting    "This feature is currently not available. Please try again. If the error continues, please call our Cargo Customer Care Center at 1 (800) 533-1222." Hola!   Thanks for sharing this. However, this community forum is customer-to-customer and IT-related issues related to SW Cargo will likely not get processed here. I would call the SW Cargo number listed on the error for assistance for any cargo transactions.   To address your question regarding a possible software conflict with your virtual desktop system, I would send an email directly to Southwest Cargo Customer Service and they should be able to relay your message to their IT department: https://www.swacargo.com/swacargo_com_ui/contact   ... View more

@ramiller92 wrote: I have a flight that is delayed by over an hour and will mean that I will miss my connection flight and will have to rebook on the next one for almost 6 hours later.   Not only did I pay for Early bird check in for the original connection but I also upgraded my boarding position. Will this be reflected on the new connecting flight? What do I do? Greetings!   By rule, EBCI transfers to a changed flight only if the new flight departs more than 25 hours from the time of the change. Upgraded Boarding does not transfer. Also by rule, these are not refundable but the delay appears to be beyond your control which means the refund rule could have an exception in your case.   Assuming you're currently at the layover airport now; I would go to a Southwest Customer Service Agent at any Southwest Gate airside or at the landside Check-In counter and describe that your original booking had these upgrades attached to your connecting flight which could not be used due to the delay and resulting missed connection.    They should be able to grant you an exception to the no-refund policy and issue a refund for both; however the refund would need to be requested. When you request your refund, describe clearly that you were not able to use these benefits due a missed connection from a delay. After they process the refund, I would also ask the rep if there's any remaining A1-15 spots available for your newly booked flight; if so, you should be able to re-purchase the Upgraded Boarding perk directly from the rep. Note that the refund will take a few days to post.   If you get this reply but are not at the airport and have no access to a SW Rep, I would give SW Customer Service a call. https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/article/More-phone-numbers-contact-options ... View more

@SoCalFlyer97 wrote:   The Tropicana has a vintage stained glass ceiling spanning a large section of its casino. ... As lots of people are petitioning, I hope the building inspectors and workers can find a safe way to move and salvage this piece of Las Vegas history. I think they can and can speculate that's the reason why the workers were in this area looking at the back-end of this stained glass window piece, but I'm not an engineer and I can't state whether or not they will be able to save this feature. I hope they do.   Great news @DancingDavidE , @StAugustine and everybody:   Back when I prepped this trip report, I was among the countless number of people hoping that the historic Tropicana's vintage stain glass ceiling would be kept given its rich history. I just found out today this art piece will be saved 😊.     According to a local media report published yesterday, Airk Knowles, Vice President and General Manager of the Tropicana confirmed to KSNV 3 News LV channel that a company came into the hotel, safely de-installed and crated the entire window piece for storage with no damage. It's not going to be torn down. https://news3lv.com/news/local/tropicanas-iconic-stained-glass-ceiling-removed-amidst-baseball-stadium-preparations   That's all we know for now. Where the stained glass ceiling ends up remains to be speculation, but what is not speculation is that it got saved from total demolition. Most likely, we'll get to see it again somewhere. Where exactly? A museum? Another Vegas hotel? New A's baseball stadium? The SW Terminal Concourse at LAS?--okay, that last one is wishful thinking...   We'll have to wait and see.      Regarding the hotel's celebrity restaurant, still haven't found any confirmed updates or reports as of yet of whether the Public House restaurant will reopen elsewhere in Vegas which I think would do well because the food and ambience was great with decent prices.  ... View more

@RachelE wrote: So I had another passenger’s soda spilled onto my Mac book laptop computer by the flight attendant and I was told that the airline is not responsible for a passenger’s carry on belongings. See the response I got below:    “I can certainly understand your lingering concerns and sentiments behind this situation. Nonetheless, we truly do rely on a mutual responsibility from our Customers to ensure that they are aware of the agreed Contract of Carriage which ultimately mentions that we as the airline are not responsible for carryon items.” Hello!   It appears that you had already reached out to Customer Relations on this and they responded. As this forum is a customer-to-customer message board, this issue unfortunately won't likely be resolved here.   If you believe and witnessed any possible negligence of the Flight Attendant when your fellow passenger's soft drink was being served, try reaching out to Customer Relations again but describe the suspected negligence in better detail. I don't think this will qualify for any damage claim compensation whatsoever under SW's Carriage policy but I would try reaching out again if you saw and believe there was negligence.  ... View more

@manilowmaniak wrote: I am not some rookie here😁.  There is nothing normal about a fare dropping over $100.  I'll gladly accept it but you cannot fly from the West Coast to the East Coast in August for $148.  Just curious what's behind the drastic drop.   As @dfwskier mentioned, it's typically based on the market but sales can also influence the pricing too.   For example, later this summer toward the end of June, I have a return non-stop flight booked from AUS to LAX. Originally paid $189 for WGA when I booked in February. Price later dropped to $160 and I rebooked. During a "Low as $39 Sale" that took place during the first week of April, the fare dropped to $120 which I assume was in conjunction with the low fare sale. I locked in the $120 fare.   I checked WGA pricing just now for this flight and it is currently pricing at $255 (w/ a red "3 left" marker). That tells me the flight is filling up with the $135 difference in fare to what I paid for despite the fact that the departure is still more than a month out. The aircraft is a 737-8H4.   The route's late night non-stop departure at 8:40pm is currently pricing at $145 with a few connecting flight options throughout the day pricing at $154. ... View more

SoCalFlyer97's April marathon of hotel stays winds down with his last two stays for the month.     Next stop was in Tehachapi CA, home to the Tehachapi Rail Loop, rich history, numerous unique restaurants, and a stopover destination in between the San Joaquin Valley and the Mojave Desert. It involved a road trip from SoCal with no flying. However on this forum, I've read numerous customer requests to bring the LUV airline into BFL which Tehachapi would feed directly into. For now, the journey there would be on the ground.      However, SW would still play a role. My trip was a 3-night stay at the Fairfield Inn booked through Southwest Hotels. Regarding pricing, I was absolutely brilliant and decided to misplace my notes that documented the cost comparisons between SW Hotels, Rocket Miles, and the various hotel booking sites versus booking direct for this property. Thus, I don't have any source costing data to share on this stay other than what I paid for for through SW Hotels.     Nevertheless, I believe the SW Hotels' deal I got was good. For this trip, I also needed to purchase an upgrade to a suite for accommodation needs. Being a weekend at this California historic and roadside stopover destination, the amount paid was $562 total after taxes and fees.     However, the Points Plus payout offered a generous 6,000 points for the stay. Long story short, SW Hotels fulfilled the booking process as promised, hotel staff located my reservation, assigned me a suite as purchased, and John Willard Marriott delivered on hospitality.   Throughout my hotel stays, I always take pictures of the room upon arrival not only to photo-document the hotel experience, but to proactively look for and identify any existing damage or defects.     This would include looking for any broken fixtures, cracked floor tiles, linen stains, signs of smoking, or dents. This would serve as evidence that the defects were present prior to check-in as pre-existing. Once the defects are documented, I'll alert these to the front desk staff.     Travel Tip: Much like inspecting a rental car at the airport, be sure to inspect the room--both the bedroom area and the bathroom and document all existing damage if found.   No defects were found during my stay at the Fairfield but some other places where I stayed had visible problems that required me to document and report pre-existing damages. Here are a few:   A cracked TV stand during a stay in Riverside.   This door stopper has seen better days.   And some kind of accident occurred in this motel's bathroom. I always assume the hotel overlooks damage caused from previous guest or workers. Photo documenting these as evidence on arrival and reporting these to the front desk immediately have helped assure me to not be mis-charged for these defects upon checkout. This is a "travel insurance" that SoCalFlyer97 subscribes to.   Last hotel stay for the series takes place in Redlands at an independent drive-up motel with loads of boutique extras often found at traditional hotels. Plus, SoCalFlyer97 gets a little surprise when he needed to go to the local library prior to check-in time to use the WiFi.   Stay tuned. ... View more

@jcusackjr wrote: Costco has the SW airlines gift cards on sale again, $449.99 for  $500 gift card!  @jcusackjr  Thanks for the tip!     I checked it out and my Costco also showed an additional $20-off e-delivery on top of the $50-off deal for today. That added up to 14%-off my next $500 worth of Southwest flights in addition to any Southwest %-off or low-fare promos.   SOLD!   Travel Tip: Most Gift Cards are delivered within 1-2 hours of purchase but could take up to 24-48 hours of processing time for the e-delivery. Keep those redemption codes in a safe place so nobody else uses them. I store these and any flight credit confirmation codes securely in a password manager. ... View more

Greetings everybody!     SoCalFlyer97's April '24 hotel lineup made its next stop last week with a Southwest flight from SAN to LAS, a stay at Vegas' 'haunted' Apache Hotel, followed by a stay at a Wyndham property near ONT. Flight was booked during a local "Hightail it outta town" sale--$39 each way.   On departure day, my ground transport ride passed by SAN's New T1 construction site which is coming along nicely:       The departing flight was aboard Plane #N7735A, a 737-700, was on time, about 95% full, with 3 pre-boards.     During the TSA screening, PreCheck's metal detector prompted a random inspection of my shoes which turned out to be a simple process; the agent simply had me remove those and run them through the x-ray machine. It was random because, my shoes have no metal and I've worn the same pair aboard numerous flights.   Passing by the threshold that separates two contrasting climates: SoCal's under the clouds at about 65-70 degrees. The heat of the desert at LAS where the sun shines...around 85-90 degrees.     Once at LAS, I took care of what I needed to do and headed over to downtown. Before I checked into the Apache, I went over to the block directly north of the Fremont Street Experience, in front of a lesser-known Vegas hotel to get a view of a place that I saw on numerous occasions on my Super Nintendo Entertainment System:     Back in the 1990's, the game Vegas Stakes featured a fictional hotel called the Golden Paradise which had an exterior that I later learned was based on the Sam Boyd's California Hotel in real life:   I have to admit that back when I was kid playing this game, I always thought that the video game's rendition of the Golden Paradise was based from the Golden Nugget but it's actually based from the lesser-known California Hotel.   Time to head over to Apache.     The hotel's so-called 'happy haunts' may have very well been playing around with Apache's hotel listing the last few weeks on both SW Hotels and Booking.com...or maybe not.   One week prior to the stay, I attempted to do a routine price check and I found that the hotel was not listed on either site. In fact, the Booking.com page for the Apache returned the error "This property isn’t taking reservations on our site right now. But don’t worry, you can find tons of other nearby properties right here."   My first thought was hotel was sold out, but that was debunked after I noticed prices elsewhere on the booking portal market showed plenty of availability. I called up the Apache to make sure my reservation was still on their computers, and it was...All good there.   After I got off the phone with them, I was glad the room reservation was still a go but was really confused. It appeared that something happened between the hotel and Booking.com; thus I checked Apache's sister hotel, the Four Queens on both Southwest Hotels and Booking.com...not there with the same error message! I think Apache's 'haunted spirits' were up to something. Not really...It turned out that none of TLC Casino Enterprises' hotels were showing up on Booking.com and their affiliates but were showing up on the other portals. Thus, I think there was an issue between the two groups regarding new reservations.     Anyway to make a long story short, my original Southwest Hotels booking with the Apache was just about as low as it was going to get, reservation was not impacted, check in went smoothly, $100 incidentals hold, no resort fee, and there were no signs of any ghostly activity during my entire stay. I did let the front desk clerk know that none of TLC Casino Enterprises' hotels were showing up on Booking.com or Southwest Hotels when I arrived; hopefully they get this resolved real soon because one can often find good deals in Old Vegas for generous points. Paid $58 total for the room after all taxes/fees in return for 500 points; to compare, booking direct was $59; lowest total rate on Trivago was $58.   Just be sure to bring some earplugs or utilize some white noise to filter out the Fremont Street partygoing from below.     Return flight to SAN the next morning where it was 30 degrees cooler was scheduled to depart LAS on time at 9am.   It was aboard plane #N919WN, a 737-700, left the gate on time, about 70% full, with 5 pre-boards. Plane was held on the tarmac for about 20 minutes due to plane congestion at SAN (Air Traffic originally quoted a 40 minute wait and passengers were allowed to get up but cheered after learning the wait was going to be much shorter than anticipated). Flight also recovered most of the lost time thanks to a straight and direct route.     Later that evening after I completed my day's duties, I head over to the Wyndham Azure Hotel near ONT, a former Ayres Suite property. This served as a halfway stop in between my hometown and my destination for tomorrow further up north. Nothing eventful happened here and Southwest Hotels did what it promised to do.       Paid $106 total for the stay in return for 600 points, booking direct was $100 with loyalty, and Trivago's lowest price posted at $125.   By the way, vintage elevator fans will like the Azure. The lifts have vintage fixtures and elevator chimes that actually ding with real bells.   Next up: A 3-night stay at a Marriott property in Tehachapi followed by a single night stay in Redlands CA to wrap up this series.   Stay tuned! ... View more

@bballflyer wrote: Looks like SW is starting to roll out the points plus cash option to a limited number of people.  The initial exchange for points does not look appealing and wonder what the purpose of it even is except to maybe provide an option for infrequent travelers who have very limited points a way to use them.  I hope that the exchange isn't what will be reflected when using full points to book a flight.  Thanks for the update. I'll have to check out the options for my routes once they're available.  ... View more

@ckillham85 wrote: It has come to my attention that MotoArt has made and Southwest has finally released the collectible Herb luggage tag to its employees. I’m a hue fan of Southwest and Collector of PlaneTags. If anyone happened across any would they be willing to help me purchase a few? Greetings!   Not sure whether the tags you describe are exclusive for SW employees only or will be for sale for the general public later. I would reach out to the manufacturer of the PlaneTags: https://planetags.com/pages/contact   I would also ask them "Where to buy" too if they don't offer this style for sale directly from their website.   Best wishes in your search! ... View more

@rubyredvette wrote: Diane on Flight # 5043 was Great. She made sure my wife got back to her seat during some turbulence and made her feel very comfortable and cared that she was safe. Great story!   Would return a kind favor for Diane. As this forum is customer-to-customer, your compliment may not reach her department. Would you forward your comments directly to SW Customer Relations:   https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/email-us Click on "Compliment", "Inflight Experience"   This should help ensure your letter gets processed. Thanks for sharing it though. LUV hearing positive stories from my fellow travelers.    ... View more

@dfwskier wrote: Looks like th commerial side of the field has minimal damage. The general aviation side did not fare as well.   https://twitter.com/Omaha_SarpyWX/status/1783996715449590231 Saw the pictures just now. Prayers to all those impacted. Great to hear that there was no serious impact on the public/commercial side.   Be safe! ... View more