Southwest Airlines

Not Verified | I flew round-trip to visit family for Christmas week. On the outbound leg, all the flight attendants were decked out in their fanciest, tackiest holiday finery. We even had the Grinch try to run down the jetway at LaGuardia! Plentiful snacks, and the WiFi worked well enough for the in-flight entertainment (bring your own device for that). I was also able to use the WiFi to track my luggage through the Southwest website. The best part is, unlike other airlines, one can check up to two bags for free (very important when you're bringing NYC goodies to Brooklyn expats). Flights took off on time and arrived on time (the outbound to SMF arrived early, in fact, so early we had to wait for a gate). Ten out of ten, would recommend.

Not Verified | I get it. Weather is beyond technology control. However, SWA was just horrible today. Delay started before we even arrived at the airport. We sat at the gate through at least 4 delays. Not once did SWA made an announcement. Even when we finally started boarding there was no advance notice. When I inquired at the counter the staff said they don’t know and staff at the gate would make an announcement. Gotta love how they deflect and play the “not me” card. Poor communications and poor customer service. SWA, you can do better.

✅ Trip Verified | Never Again. It's "open seating" you can squeeze in somewhere in the middle if you have kids 10 and under. Never heard of this. Far less amenities than any other flight (American, Alaska, United, etc.) No chargers, no food, and the "open seating concept" when families are involved is insane to me. I will never again fly Southwest. I've been hearing their end is near and I can see why.

✅ Trip Verified | They separate you from your companion and also from your luggage, even though customer service indicates that they are supposed to seat you together. Boarding seems like a ranch where the cattle have been released. Also, cabin toilet was very dirty. Do not engage. You will be sorry.

Not Verified | I have a Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card. We also have vouchers because of canceled flights during which they provided no hotels for my stranded wife. Regardless, as I wish to upgrade my seating Southwest refuses to take their own points, can't confirm existence of vouchers, and won't apply vouchers to flight upgrades anyway. I quit using my Southwest card 18 months ago because of how unaccommodating Southwest is. But I have all these remaining points, and I can't give them away. Southwest runs a good flight, but their customer service outside of their flights is not good.

✅ Trip Verified |   Uneventful flight with on time departure and arrival. Usual Southwest no-frill service. Clean aircraft and friendly flight crew. In Flight Entertainment was easy to log on and watch live TV (NFL football). Unusual for this particular aircraft, the overhead cabins were not as large as other 737-800 aircraft,

✅ Trip Verified |   Same plane on both DAL-DCA and DCA-PVD. Aircraft was very clean with the pleasant flight crew providing the usual no frills service. IFE worked flawlessly. There was a good selection of movies and live TV; however, there are no power ports to charge personal devices at the seats (iPhones or iPads). An added bonus on the connecting flight to PVD - I got a whole row to myself which is a rarity nowadays.

✅ Trip Verified |   Great airline! Very friendly staff. Flown with this airline around 28 times and never had a bad experience only 5 of my flights have Been delayed and none cancelled.

Not Verified | On 9/30/24 I was buying a ticket for my mom to come with me on a trip. After I purchased the ticket, I realized I had inadvertently gotten a duplicate ticket for myself. My mistake, I really don't know how I missed putting in her details. I cancelled that ticket and was immediately going to buy her ticket, so I just did a flight credit. I put in her information and everything was going well until I tried to pay. I could not use the flight credit to pay for her ticket because the flight credit was in my name! I saw that the credit was transferable, so we made her an account, transferred the credit and bought her ticket. On Oct 2nd we cancelled the ticket. As it was past the 24 hours for free cancelation and a refund she got a flight credit to transfer back to me since I paid for the ticket. She was unable to do this because you can only transfer one time. As a new user with Southwest I was unaware that when you get a flight credit you can only use it for a flight in your name. I thought that I would have a credit to use however I needed as it is my money. Then when we cancelled the flight and she was issued a credit I fully expected that I could have it transferred back to me. I'm sure that there are others who hadn't read the one time rule either. So, I find that Southwest doesn't care if they cheat you out of your own money! First by issuing you flight credit that you can't use as you wish. It's my money, I should be able to purchase a ticket for anyone I want. Second by only allowing a one time credit transfer. I realize that it was my mistake in the first place not putting the ticket in her name, but it was a mistake. Southwest had the opportunity to rectify this when I called and when I filed a complaint. I didn't ask for a refund, I simply wanted the flight credit back in my name. So for an honest mistake, I have lost over $711. Had I purchased the first ticket in her name, when she cancelled and got a flight credit, she would've been able to transfer it to me no issues, as that would've been the one and only transfer. For those who would say have my mom give me $711 and she has a flight credit to use. She cannot afford that, which is why I was buying her ticket in the first place. It would hurt Southwest in no way, shape or form to simply return the flight credit back to me. They still get the $711 revenue. The paper trail is there. They can clearly see the mistake of the duplicate ticket and they obviously know how their 'rules' twist this mistake all around to cheat me out of $711. I will never fly Southwest again. Buyer beware!

✅ Trip Verified | This airline made it impossible to sit with your spouse. Sharing the food we brought was also not possible. Bad open seating policy. When you board the plane, you get whatever seat is left over.