Southwest Airlines

Not Verified | It would have been nice to know that I actually can't pick up my minor from the gate as promised by Southwest Airlines. After everything closes at Will Roger's you cant go any further then the ticketing area. I specifically called Southwest and asked if I pick her up from the gate and they said yes. They said nothing about if TSA is closing you have to wait outside. This is the first time my little girl has flown alone and I gave her specific Instructions to wait for me at the gate not the front of the airport. A little disappointed that this was not mentioned. I was not the only mom waiting for their minor that was upset by this. I know we all looked through the instructions on how to fly a minor , but when I call to ask a specific question to the airline to make sure I didnt miss anything, nothing was mentioned about TSA closing and possibly not being able to pick up minors from the gate.

✅ Trip Verified | Houston to Denver via Dallas. I've even had better luck flying on United, and that's saying a lot considering United's abysmal reputation! To begin with my stories - Most recent flight, October 2019, Denver back to Houston: Unremarkable flight. Southwest check-in agent in Denver who collected my checked baggage was "mechanically" professional but lacked much in the way of personality. Upon arrival at Houston, baggage was oh, so slow to come out! Second most recent flight, October 2019, Houston via Dallas to Denver: Southwest check-in agent in Houston who collected my checked baggage was "mechanically" professional, again. Gate agents in both Houston and Dallas acted quite bored, honestly. I didn't notice the splotches of dried drink, food chunks and blood (yes, that is correct, blood) surrounding my seat until I sat down, and I had to sit down because I was one of the last people to board the plane. I sent Southwest a scathing review of that flight and got a $75 credit for a future flight for what it's worth. Third most recent flight, May 2019, Austin to Albuquerque then back to Austin: Any Southwest staff I interacted with at either airport couldn't be paid enough, it seems, to even bother to pleasantly interact with staff. That said, I remember the pilot on the first leg, from Austin to Albuquerque, trying to engage the passengers, so good for him! Fourth most recent flight, October 2018, Dallas to Louisville: The man who checked in my baggage at the curb barely said a word or even grunted, and even fairly forcefully threw said baggage onto the carousel even after I had told him that I have fragile items within! No "thank you," no "this is your ticket and go this way to your gate," nothing! Southwest's overall concept of customer service has plummeted over the last decade, and, after October 2019, I'll absolutely no longer fly them unless they are significantly cheaper than any competitor.

Not Verified | St. Louis to Seattle. Our flight was delayed by two hours but as I sat in the waiting gate I witnessed some of the most genuine employees of Southwest. I was sitting in gate E24 near the “help desk” and couldn’t help but overhear the employees talking. Anytime an employee walked by or came up to the help desk they were greeted with a big smile and a hug. They asked everyone how their holiday was, how their family was and just how that person was doing. It was so nice and sincere and you could tell they really cared and everyone got along well. Not only were they kind to each other they were also so kind to every single customer they had even people who were frustrated and not so nice. Usually, employees gather around and talk bad about the really annoying customers but none of them ever did. Everyone seemed to be in a really good mood and it was really nice to see such good, happy employees.

Not Verified | I want to point out how amazing their staff did with all of the 1st communication. 2nd and how much i had faith in them. On December 28th I was supposed to fly out of Denver into Dallas then onto Amarillo, and at that time Denver had just gotten some snow and cold weather, and the first thing they addressed was that I might not be able to get on my second flight to Amarillo because the time frame was to small, being that they would like more than an hour between, I had about 45 minutes in between, and the time just kept getting shorter and shorter. So we rebooked my flight for January 1st - on January 1st, I was about 20 minutes away from missing my flight, maybe less, but I was aware that they said my luggage may or may not be there when I get to my final destination, in Amarillo, because of how short of time there was. But now that my flight is over I do indeed have all of my luggage, I would just like to applaud Denver International airport with the highest standards forbeing so communicative. Thank you for everything that y’all have done on my little journey!

✅ Trip Verified | Detroit to Phoenix. Had the most wonderful experience on my flight home today, with today being a holiday and an early Flight I was not looking forward to traveling especially with a sleepy and grumpy toddler but the flight attendant James made a dreaded experience into a relaxing, stress free and comical adventure. He was upbeat, kind and friendly and engaging with my little one and his humor aboard the flight made me laugh and feel at ease. It’s the little things that makes the difference and he nailed it. The icing on the cake he said goodbye to my daughter and still chatted with her and he got Lucky and she blew him a kiss. Anyone who crosses paths with him is indeed lucky, you will not be disappointed.

✅ Trip Verified | Phoenix to Los Angeles. I had the worse experience with Southwest on Dec 17. Flight was delayed for mechanical issues and I have a disability that requires medication to be taken timely. I checked my meds under the plane since this was the simplest route LAX to PHX. I let the customer service know my meds went to be put under plane they were rude and extremely rude. Told me my meds were at baggage to retrieve and got down there on my scooter and it wasn’t there nor did they even know anything about me getting my meds. Had to go back through security. Sent in a complaint on 12/17/19 someone was supposed to call me within 48 hrs never did. Called them several times and all they say is a special team is working on it. Here it is 12/31/19 and no one not anyone from Southwest has called me. Just sad, disappointed and upset at this.

✅ Trip Verified | Oakland to Denver. Southwest's Oakland desk agents are fantastic, and provided the best experience I've had with an airline. I brought my cat in a carry on that was too big. The agent checking me in tried her best to let me by, but it clearly wouldn't fit. So she quickly snuck in the back and gave me a free Southwest pet carrier. She could have easily followed strict protocol and ruined my and others holiday, but did her best to make sure we'd make our flight. That level of service has made Southwest my number 1 airline.

Not Verified | Southwest really “flew the extra mile” today in terms of demonstrating just how terrible they are at customer service. After a 1.5 hr delay in leaving the West Coast, they informed passengers that they had informed the connecting flights to wait a bit so that passengers could make their connections. We land in the Midwest and I rush to my connection, only to find out that 1) No one had bothered to inform this flight crew that there were delayed passengers rushing to catch this flight; 2) my plane was literally sitting right there, on the other side of the glass, and they refused to let me on because they had already counted the passengers; 3) the next connection was 3.5 hours later - but oh wait that was delayed another 1.5 hrs too. So even though the two flights that I needed to catch were more than 1.5 hours delayed, they couldn’t hold this one for a few minutes. And then, when they gave me a ticket for the last flight of the day, they put me on one of the last groups for seating, and because Southwest doesn’t assign seats then it just means you will have a horrible seat. I pressed and they gave me seating after the first group. Fast forward four hours later on a late Sunday evening after traveling all day, and it looks like a small group of passengers DID get to board before everyone because they were from a connecting flight. So apparently, Southwest does not care at all if it’s one or a few persons being royally screwed by every one of their actions. All the while, the staff who answered my questions responded curtly, seemed annoyed, and one manager simply stared at me and asked what I wanted in deadpan voice after the person at the desk explained the situation. A friendly service reminder to never, ever fly this airline that doesn’t care the least bit for individual customer experiences.

Not Verified | I will never fly with Southwest Airlines again. Our trip was flat out cancelled in March when all of the 737 debacle happened. Not their fault. They kindly gave us an $800 flight credit to use in the next year. We saved it so that we could go and see family over the holidays. I booked it 6 weeks ago, so I could get the times I wanted. Got 2 text messages this morning delaying the flight to Dallas so that we missed our connection to Amarillo. Had to re-book and now we lost a day of time with my family. We had to get a hotel room in Amarillo because we are getting in so late and had to delay our car rental. The customer service lady was extremely rude and really couldn't care less. Oh and to add to it - I refreshed the flight information on the Southwest website. The flight time was changed back to a good time where we could have made the connection, but by the time I called they had already sold all of the seats. I guess we should have risked it and just gone to the airport hoping that something would work out. Southwest offered nothing, not even an apology for the missed time and extra money we had to spend.

✅ Trip Verified | Las Vegas to Rochester via Baltimore. On these two flights, I noticed that the flight attendants were less comedic than on previous Southwest flights. However, they were also kind and accommodating. During the Las Vegas flight, many of us fell asleep shortly after takeoff, and the flight attendants were very much willing to serve us beverages and snacks later on when we requested them. When I ordered a lemon-lime sparkling water with no ice, the flight attendant who served it to me added in a lime wedge and a famous Southwest "heart stirrer." Nice touch! Otherwise, things were the same as during previous flights: the underwhelming shortbread cookies and Fritos for the long flight and the pretzels for the short flight, and inflight entertainment only accessible via personal electronic devices. The flight also arrived approximately on time. All in all a good experience.