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Flight sold out or MAX8 issue?

mmoncrieff
Explorer C

My flight on 4/3 from BWI to SAN is showing sold out across all 3 categories of service. The same flight is showing sold out across the board for the whole week. It’s a Wednesday evening flight that showed no signs of being sold out a few weeks ago. It wasn’t until the MAX8 grounding that this happened. Is this a sign that the flight is going to be canceled? Have they zero’ed out the flight so no one can book until they make a decision on if they have an aircraft to use? Hoping to be proactive and solve any problems ahead of time. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks! 

8 REPLIES 8

Re: Flight sold out or MAX8 issue?

dfwskier
Aviator A

SW operates two kinds of planes: 737-700s that seat 143 and 737-800s that seat 175. SInce SW is substituting those planes for MAX8s it could be that the airline is unwilling to sell more than 143 seats on a flight that may only have a plane seating 143 on that flight until it knows what kind of plane it will use..

 

That being said, SW is cancelling flights due to the grounding. I've heard that it is about 130 flights a day out of the 4000 that are scheduled. It appears that the airline makes the cancellation decision about 5 days in advance. 

 

Perhaps that is true as I had a 3/30 flight cancelled on 3/25.

Re: Flight sold out or MAX8 issue?

rissag
Explorer C

Try getting notice 2 days in advance AND missing a 7 day cruise BECAUSE THEY SWITCHED MY PLANE TO ANOTHER DESTINATION....BUT!!!!! I was sent a letter informing me it was mechanical failure on MARCH 15!  BUT!!!!! MARCH 26 I received a letter informing me it was maintenance!!!!! AND the insurance I purchased will only cover weather related plane issues!

AND WHEN ALL THIS STARTED I POSTED A BLOG ON THIS SITE CONCERNING THE MEMO THAT WAS ON MY SOUTHWEST ACCOUNT ON THE DAY OF THE GROUNDING OF THE PLANES.  IT IS NOT THERE ANYMORE AND I WAS TOLD BY HEADQUARTERS THAT THEY CANNOT SEND ME A COPY OF IT.  

HOLD ON....IT GETS BETTER!  My blog asked if anyone had saved a copy of that memo...it was a full page reddish pink background memo....MY BLOG WAS NEVER POSTED!!!!!

 

Re: Flight sold out or MAX8 issue?

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

You should be able to use the various resources to find out what your flight is scheduled to use for aircraft.

 

An alternate idea is that a MAX on your route could be cancelled and some portion of those 175 passengers rebooked on your otherwise normally partially full flight.

 

 

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.

Re: Flight sold out or MAX8 issue?

chgoflyer
Aviator A

@mmoncrieff wrote:

My flight on 4/3 from BWI to SAN is showing sold out across all 3 categories of service. The same flight is showing sold out across the board for the whole week. It’s a Wednesday evening flight that showed no signs of being sold out a few weeks ago. It wasn’t until the MAX8 grounding that this happened. Is this a sign that the flight is going to be canceled? Have they zero’ed out the flight so no one can book until they make a decision on if they have an aircraft to use? Hoping to be proactive and solve any problems ahead of time. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks! 


 

 

Yes, that's basically what is happening. Southwest, immediately after the grounding, "zeroed out" upcoming flights originally scheduled to be on MAX aircraft. Currently, it's been reported that they are cancelling affected flights about 5 days prior to departure. Not all MAX flights will actually be cancelled, however, and some non-MAX flights will be, as Southwest's operations people shift planes around, attempting to keep disruptions limited. The best advice is to check your flight status as departure nears. If cancelled, you can rebook on another flight to the same destination within 14 days (standard reacommodation policy) for no extra cost.

 

Hope this helps!

Re: Flight sold out or MAX8 issue?

mmoncrieff
Explorer C

Thanks for all the replies, everyone’s has been very helpful! 

Re: Flight sold out or MAX8 issue?

mmoncrieff
Explorer C

Looks like they are indeed canceling that flight each day and its happening 5 days in advance. I went ahead and switched flights to be on the safe side even though it cost me ~8k more in points. Tomorrow is 5 days out so I will know for sure if the original flight is canceled. If that is the case, what are the odds that Southwest will give me the extra points back? TIA

Re: Flight sold out or MAX8 issue?

dfwskier
Aviator A

@mmoncrieff wrote:

Looks like they are indeed canceling that flight each day and its happening 5 days in advance. I went ahead and switched flights to be on the safe side even though it cost me ~8k more in points. Tomorrow is 5 days out so I will know for sure if the original flight is canceled. If that is the case, what are the odds that Southwest will give me the extra points back? TIA


I'd guess the odds are pretty poor. Why? Becasue you made the change voluntarily on your own.

 

 If you'd been on a flight that was cancelled, you would have been allowed to take any seat avaiable on your routing over the next two weeks - at no additinal cost.

Re: Flight sold out or MAX8 issue?

chgoflyer
Aviator A

@dfwskier wrote:

@mmoncrieff wrote:

Looks like they are indeed canceling that flight each day and its happening 5 days in advance. I went ahead and switched flights to be on the safe side even though it cost me ~8k more in points. Tomorrow is 5 days out so I will know for sure if the original flight is canceled. If that is the case, what are the odds that Southwest will give me the extra points back? TIA


I'd guess the odds are pretty poor. Why? Becasue you made the change voluntarily on your own.

 

 If you'd been on a flight that was cancelled, you would have been allowed to take any seat avaiable on your routing over the next two weeks - at no additinal cost.


 

Southwest won't refund the points difference.

 

Unfortunately, that's the price you pay to have better selection (prior to being among many looking to rebook).

 

Sometimes, depending on time restraints on your travel, that's the right decision.