@dfwskier wrote: @rich1954 wrote: Seems like a no brainer to me, my question is -----I just paid my $99 annual fee, so do I have to now pay $149 again right away or pay it when my anniversary date rolls around again next year. I suspect that Chase would let you simply upgrade to the new card and pay the extra $50 But doing do would not get you any of the sign-up bonus points. In order to get the new card and the bonuses, you'd need to 1) wait 2 years from the time you last received Chase Southwest sign-up bonus points, and 2) cancel your existing personal Southwest card(s) before applying. Some people are receiving offers to upgrade to the new card (pay the additional annual fee difference, receive 5,000 bonus points).
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@Haipham2017 wrote: "If you split the first flight into 2 reservations (BOS-BWI and BWI-LAX) it could possibly be cheaper AND allow you to add the companion to the second half. In this case you could also factor in the cost of the flight for the companion to see if it’s cheaper booking separately and adding a companion or booking one reservation for you and also purchasing a flight BWI-LAX for the companion" I think you can't book 2 tickets on the same day, SW system will cancel your reservation In this scenario you'd be fine, as the flights are sequential. People do this all the time. You could not, however, book something like a BOS-BWI and also a BOS-LAX on the same day.
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07-18-2018
02:51 PM
07-18-2018
02:51 PM
@LizaB wrote: Yes, I agree with others. Short flights or bad flying conditions can make it difficult to use tickets. There should be a way to renew. Or really, why do they have to expire? Here's why: For many, many years Southwest issued drink coupons with no expiration date. And at a greater frequency than they do now. It wasn't uncommon for someone to acquire over time a huge stack of them. Eventually, Southwest's accountants began getting nervious, as unredeemed drink coupons were being carried as a liability on their financials. So Southwest decided to unilaterally "expire" at a future date all existing coupons that were printed without an expiration. This, unsuprisingly, angered many long-time customers. Lawsuits were filed, but since most consumer protections are under state law, not federal, they were denied. (The federal Airline Deregulation Act pre-empts state laws that purport to regulate airline "prices, routes, or services.") One related lawsuit was successful. It concerned only those drink coupons Business Select passengers receive with their fare, but even so, Southwest eventually paid an out-of-court settlement of over $29 million in lawyer's fees and replacement coupons. Printing an expiration date on each coupon allows them to now "expire" the liability using a rolling monthly method, and most importantly avoid another situation like the mess I described above. 😉
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07-18-2018
02:24 PM
07-18-2018
02:24 PM
Absolutely. Vouchers can be used by anyone, unlike Travel Funds which are locked in the name of the original passenger. Be aware though that vouchers only cover the airfare portion, not any taxes or fees, which will have to be paid separately, with a credit card or travel funds.
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07-18-2018
02:21 PM
07-18-2018
02:21 PM
The Group Travel program offers some real benefits for groups larger than 10 people, but at a significant trade off compared with non-group travel. Benefits: Flexible payments, name changes on tickets up to 72 hours prior to departure, a consistent, possibly discounted fare for all members of the group, a free round trip ticket for every 30 members. Negatives: No RR points, no cancellations/travel funds, no EarlyBird Check-In, very long hold times for Group Travel department.
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My advice: If the flight was just purchased yesterday, and the fare shown online now is the same as when purchased, just cancel, request a full refund, and rebook with the correct name. Southwest (by law) allows cancellation with full refund within 24 hours of booking. If it's too late, or if the fare has increased, or if EarlyBird Check-In was added to the itinerary, I second the advice above. Just be prepared to be patient, and HUTA (hang up, try again) if you reach a rep that is unable to help you. Good luck.
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07-18-2018
02:04 PM
07-18-2018
02:04 PM
@jackiereed6 wrote: Could you rebook your flight with residual travel funds and instead of cancelling it, just change the flight and pay fare differences for the dates needed? Ex: I have to rebook my flight before 8/22/18, but I need to fly 8/24/18-8/26/18. If I book a flight that is before 8/22, can I then change my flight to the later dates and pay the fare difference? Not cancel it, but just change it. Will they say I can't because the funds expire, even thought I booked the dates to fly before it expired? I just hate that the funds would expire literally days before I need to use them. I don't fly much, so it's a shame. From what I have seen on here, SW doesn't seem to budge on extending, also, paying $100 to extend would literally defeat the purpose of extending since that's more than half the cost of the flight cost. (Hopefully that made sense?) That does make sense, but unfortunately the answer is no. The system won't let you book (or change to) any flight that takes place after your funds will be expired.
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The latest schedule opening announcement is always under Travel Tools on the Southwest website. (Unfortunately, you now have to search for it -- the direct link is no longer on the main page.) We are currently accepting air reservations through March 6, 2019. On August 16, 2018 we will open our schedule for sale through April 7, 2019. This date is subject to change! Please check back frequently.
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07-16-2018
11:43 AM
07-16-2018
11:43 AM
Unfortunately, Southwest does not publish a customer service email address. You can contact them electronically using the web form on the website, but you won't be able to respond to any reply you receive. These days, your best option is to reach out via direct message on Twitter. Alternately, you may want to consider sending them a letter via snail mail, however a reply can take over 30 days.
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@Clairel wrote:
This is all new to me - I’m in the UK and we have family one-way US domestic flights booked next month, the cheapest fare (wanna get away)
The price has dropped by about $30 each. Do I need to be a reward club member to claim the credit?
Could I use the credit towards early bird?
i won’t be flying Southwest for another 12 months so would not be able to use it otherwise.
thanks!
You don't need to be a Rapid Rewards member to get the price adjustment. You can even do it yourself -- just go online and use the "change flight" function to rebook the same flights at the new lower price. The fare difference will be held as Travel Funds under the confirmation number of the original itinerary. That said -- these funds can only be applied towards new travel (not EarlyBird Check-In or any other ancillary fee), and for the original passenger(s) only, and are good for one year from the date you originally booked the flight -- meaning it might not be worth rebooking in your case.
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@rtbarron wrote: If I'm understanding you correctly, you were given a flight voucher as compensation for being denied boarding on an oversold flight. You used the voucher plus cash to purchase another ticket, but had to cancel that ticket due to circumstances not within your control. Now Southwest is telling you that you've lost the value of the voucher and the cash since the voucher expired. Is this correct? If so, something is missing here. Even if the voucher expired, wouldn't the travel funds for the cash portion still be available for a year from purchase of the new ticket @ChiFlyer? When did you receive the voucher? When did you purchase the new ticket with the voucher and cash? When did you cancel the new ticket? Actually, no -- if your understanding is correct, then everything expired when the Voucher did. Any time you use a Voucher or Travel Funds to book a flight, that new flight takes on the oldest expiration of the Voucher or Travel Funds. This includes any new money. To the OP, I'd recommend reaching out to Customer Relations (via Twitter for the quickest response), to see if they can make any sort of exception here. (I suspect not, but it's worth a try.) Good luck!
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07-14-2018
08:31 PM
07-14-2018
08:31 PM
Are you traveling with a trained service animal, or an emotional support animal? The requirements for transporting each type of animal are different. Documentation is not required for trained service animals, but at check-in the agent will ask some factfinding questions to determine if your animal qualifies. The requirements for travel with an emotional support animal are very specific: Current documentation (not more than one year old) on letterhead from a mental health professional or medical doctor who is treating the Customer's mental health-related disability stating: The Passenger has a mental or emotional disability recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fourth Edition (DSM IV) The Passenger needs the emotional support or psychiatric service animal as an accommodation for air travel and/or for activity at the passenger's destination The individual providing the assessment is a licensed mental health professional or medical doctor, and the Passenger is under his or her professional care AND The date and type of mental health professional's or medical doctor's license and the state or other jurisdiction in which it was issued Complete details are available on the Southwest website: Customers with Disabilities > Trained service and emotional support animals (Click on Assistance Animals in the left-hand column.)
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07-13-2018
02:18 PM
07-13-2018
02:18 PM
It's actually a bit easier than that. No need to log in. You just need the confirmation number and passenger name. On the Southwest website's main page, choose "Change/Cancel" and input the info. Also, be aware that -- while it's always a good idea to cancel any flight you're not going to need -- Points bookings are exempt from the "no-show" policy. If you forget to cancel but then miss the flight, your itinerary will be canceled automatically and the points refunded to your RR account. The fees will be held as Travel Funds under the confirmation number. (If you cancel in advance, you can select "request a refund," to have them returned to the original payment method.)
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07-11-2018
02:22 PM
07-11-2018
02:22 PM
@viveks2 wrote: Mobile boarding pass should be available for family, it is inconvenient and consumes more time to get a boarding pass from an airport. Southwest should take this feedback and put enhancement request to their Developers to get Family Mobile Boarding pass. They are. 😉 As of a few weeks ago, mobile boarding passes are available for those on multi-passenger itineraries. Be aware though that you'll need the latest version of the app, and each passenger will need a RR account in order to get their own mobile BP. A work-around for "families" would be for the parent to sign in individually for each child and get their BP, then save it to the parent's device.
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https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2018/07/09/southwest-airlines-ditching-peanuts/ Sorry, I thought everyone had heard the news.
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07-09-2018
11:24 PM
07-09-2018
11:24 PM
@dfwskier wrote: @trekkienor wrote: This is a big issue for people who want to fly with Southwest who live outside North America. I really don't understand this. I live in Norway. I can access this website (Southwest Air Community) and I can access their Southwest Vacations website. But when I try to access the offical Southwest Airline website, access is denied. How can we get SW to understand that this is a big problem and that they need to fix it before they lose customers_ Any ideas? It appears that the Southwest website is availble in some, but not all countries. I don't understand the some yes, some no situation. Available: India Australia Germany U.K. Italy Poland Not available Greece Netherlands Switzerland Sweden Hong Kong Singapore Those are the countries that I can easily check with... I wouldn't trust that. My friends in the UK tell me the site is unavailable for them.
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07-09-2018
11:20 PM
07-09-2018
11:20 PM
Be aware that you also choose if your ticket remains refundable or not. "Fully refundable" fares on Southwest become non-refundable if you make any change to the itinerary at any time. Never change, always cancel and rebook any "refundable" fares, in order to keep them refundable.
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07-09-2018
11:11 PM
07-09-2018
11:11 PM
The end of an era. Southwest will stop serving peanuts, but I doubt they'll begin serving almonds. My best guess is that it will be just pretzels on most flights going forward.
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Sadly, I have to agree. 😞 I've been forced to use other carriers more and more these days, due to relatively large fare differences. The days of assuming that Southwest had the lowest (or at least competitive) fares in any given market are no more. When I can control it I still fly Southwest -- for personal travel, for example. But when I'm flying on a client's dime I simply can't justify the extra expense. (When I do the bookings myself. When flights are booked for me I don't even have any say, and Southwest loses on the fare proposition more often than not these days -- even factoring in bag fees.) I remember when Southwest was a low-fare leader. IMHO, these days they're more aligned fare-wise with the legacy carriers. It's unfortunate.
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07-09-2018
05:15 PM
07-09-2018
05:15 PM
As mentioned: Yes, as long as you make no changes to the itinerary at any time. This cannot be stressed enough. "Fully refundable" fares become non-refundable if you make any change at all. This includes things like upgrading an Anytime fare to Business Select, or changing things like the departure time or day. Always cancel and rebook any "refundable" fares.
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07-09-2018
12:30 AM
07-09-2018
12:30 AM
If you pay the pet fee and the animal travels as a pet, unfortunately they must stay in the carrier. And Southwest doesn't accept service animals in training (to travel as service animals). That said, since you'll also have a fully-trained service animal with you, I suspect the flight crew, if you explain the situation, will be sympathetic and allow you to have the "pet" out of their carrier. Something to keep in mind is that passengers with pets can't sit in the front (bulkhead) row, or the exit row. Good luck, and please come back and let us know how it all works out for you! Cats and dogs must remain in the carrier (including head and tail) and the carrier must be stowed under the seat in front of the Customer (owner) for the entire duration of the flight.
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@twolegsbad wrote: One year later and the SW air tech team has still not made this possible. Need to get working faster on this app This actually is now possible (actually, it has been for a couple of weeks). You'll need the latest version of the app. Are mobile boarding passes available for multiple passenger reservations? A logged in user who is on a multiple passenger reservation who is eligible can obtain their own mobile boarding pass within the Southwest app or on the Southwest mobile website. Non-logged in users on a multiple passenger reservation will need to visit a kiosk or print their passes on a desktop computer.
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While what the FAQ states is technically possible, I have been told by Customer Relations that any change within 36 hours of departure causes the loss of the assigned boarding position as well as automatic check in.
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Southwest Vacations doesn't accept LUV vouchers, but as you've noted, it's possible to book "dummy" flights on Southwest and then cancel, and use the resultant Travel Funds towards the airfare portion of your Southwest Vacations booking. Southwest Vacations (which is actually Mark Travel, a completely separate company from Southwest Airlines) only recently started accepting Southwest travel funds, so you might want to check with them regarding any limitations or conditions. Also, keep in mind that when you apply the vouchers the new reservation (and those funds once you cancel) will take on the expiration of the vouchers (all travel must be completed by that date), and also that the travel funds will be only usable by the passengers named in the "dummy" booking you make. If you were given the vouchers and credit a year ago, it may be approaching expiration quickly (or are already expired). Good luck.
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07-04-2018
05:42 PM
07-04-2018
05:42 PM
Re: A-List Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs): 1) Butt in seat (flying) 2) Rapid Rewards Premier Card (only): 1,500 tier qualifying points toward A-List and A-List Preferred status for every $10,000 spent, up to $100,000. No multipliers, no bonuses. As to Companion Pass Qualifying Points, all partner base points count, bonus points do not (with the exception of the Rapid Rewards Visa (any card), and (currently) Southwest Hotels bookings made through the Southwest website: all points including bonus count.
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07-03-2018
06:31 PM
07-03-2018
06:31 PM
@Jordychase wrote: This actually came about because of a Chicago lawer who personally sued southwest over expired coupons https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/2301140 I'm not sure to which comment you're replying... but FYI, the replacement drink coupons issued in result of the class action were sent in April, 2017 and all expired on May 1, 2018.
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@elijahbrantley wrote: And if you aren’t able to track down any email confirmations, call SW, and they will be able to help you find it. Be aware that, unlike in the past when reps could search using the credit card number you used to book, it's now more difficult to get a lost confirmation number via a phone rep. EDITED TO ADD: I just noticed the new wording now being used in email confirmations (below, replaces what I posted above). Apparently Southwest really does not want to look up a lost confirmation number for you. This makes it very clear that it's 100% on the customer to keep track of all their confirmation numbers (and any funds associated with them).
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07-03-2018
06:20 PM
07-03-2018
06:20 PM
Free same-day standby will be provided for A-List and A-List Preferred Members traveling prior to the original scheduled departure, between the same city pairs, on the original date of travel, where a seat is available. This perk is also available to those on Anytime or Business Select fares. Additionally, if your flight is showing a significant delay (reportedly now at the discretion of the gate agent -- anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour minimum) you may be able to utilize standby. All others are asked to upgrade to the then-current full-fare. Prior to the A-List perk, it was much easier to get an agent to give you standby. These days, it's very much by-the-book.
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Actually, if your UM is traveling together with a YT age 12 or over, they're not actually a UM anymore. You can't pay the UM fee or receive any UM service (unless you book them separately from the YT, in which case you'll need to pay the UM fee and do as suggested above.) If you're fine with them traveling together and the UM not receiving UM service, then the YT terms will apply. Lots of info here: Young Travelers
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07-03-2018
06:00 PM
07-03-2018
06:00 PM
Mobile boarding passes for those on multiple-passenger itineraries are a new feature recently added to the Southwest app. I'm not positive how it works, but I believe she would need to have the app on her phone, and be logged in using her Rapid rewards account info. Then she would see her mobile boarding pass there. You say you booked under your RR number... does she have one? She'll need that in order to utilize her own mobile boarding pass (and also earn RR points for the trip). If not, you'll need to print her boarding pass manually, either online from a computer or at the airport kiosk.
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