Southwest Airlines

Not Verified | My flight was cancelled due to mechanical failure. When trying to rebook the staff working the counter was unwilling to help. I rebooked a flight to the closest airport to my final destination as there were no flights until tomorrow and I need to get back for work. They will not provide me with a rental car to get home even though my trip was entirely cancelled. Everyone I have spoke to on the phone has tried to get me to hang up as quickly as possible and placing me on hold for over an hour. This is my first and last experience with this airline. Customer service has been worse than anything I have experienced from the counter to the management on the phone. Learned a lesson and would never fly with them again even if the flight was free.

✅ Trip Verified | Phoenix to Washington via Atlanta. Southwest Airlines flight attendants are friendly, down to earth, professional and the aircraft is comfortable. There was a weather delay however the electronic updates were very user friendly and kept me well informed of my flight status. I like Southwest Airlines because they invest in modern technology not just for the aircraft but you are able to use the internet, also when boarding there are electronic/modern technology used. The attendant announces the boarding class and seat (which sometimes it is hard to hear in the airport or due to the person speaking) but South West electronic devices for the lines alerts with the seat or boarding zone so you can visually read it which is good for people who maybe hearing impaired. Also the flight attendants uniforms are not too professional making the customers feel more at ease. Great job Southwest! Also it is important to provide snacks and juice it refreshes the flyer and that shows good customer service and accommodation that you care for your friendly flyers. Thank you!

✅ Trip Verified | I booked a flight with Southwest Airline for Sunday August 12, 2018 leaving Tampa, FL headed back home to Memphis, TN. While checking my email to ensure I had the correct gate location and departure time, I decided to check in online via Southwest website. To my surprise my flight was cancelled. I called their company at 11:00 AM and was on hold for 1 hour literally. The first lady who answered said "yes it was cancelled but let me see if there is another flight leaving out the same day" I responded with "why was I not notified by email" and she ignored me. I asked again and was told an email was sent at 9AM. I told her I check my emails around the clock and would have received a notification. She told me no flights were available for Sunday but I can leave on Monday or she can refund my money. There was no sympathy for what was just caused to me and my son. I asked to speak with a Manager and her response was "Mam he's just going to tell you the same thing" and I said I don't care, I need to speak with one. Well the Manager was horrible because I told them there was no way I could return Monday and that I was completely stranded and needed to get home Sunday. When I asked why was the flight cancelled he said "the weather" my response was "sir I'm in Tampa and it's clear skies" and the next thing I know I was placed instantly on hold, where I waited minutes and then the phone hung up. I called back several times with no response. I did there call back option when the sweetest woman who took her time trying to get me home on Sunday but said there was nothing else leaving out and it was too late for the one that was leaving at 4. This is how I knew there was a flight but the other two decided my faith even though I informed them of my situation. The agent found a flight and told me I could get to the airport and ask for assistance with a hotel but they don't refund money due to weather. She walked me through the flight details and I said wait let me take the information down, but she said it's coming through email. I saw the email instantly, so how ironic that hers came through but the alleged cancellation email did not. So my 1 hour no stop trip that was canceled has turned into 7 hours + with a stop in San Antonio TX, Dallas, another flight, then home from 3:30 PM -9:55 PM. No apology from Management, inconvenienced, stranded with a 12 year old, no clean clothes, no food, and no money. It's safe to say they can take off anytime without my family. This took away the joy, excitement, and turned my day into a living nightmare. For future events, a simple apology, and a notification goes a long way. I could have tried to make arrangements but I guess that wasn't an option for them. Thanks for the disappointment.

Not Verified | Minneapolis to Raleigh Durham via Baltimore. Southwest canceled our connecting flight from BWI to RDU today. No call or text. Fortunately, I checked my e-mail and saw a cancelation message. It was "my problem" to fix. There was no proactive effort from Sowthwest. It was too late to book earlier flights, so I will now arrive home after midnight. Worse yet, because I had to rebook, I "lost my place in the boarding process", so we will be the last ones on the plane and its unlikely we will be able to sit together or store our bags. Thanks a lot Southwest!

✅ Trip Verified | From the moment we got on the plane the flight attendants were rude to the customers. There is a way you can professionally communicate to your customers rather than being hateful to them. Then I had to use the ladies room in flight and the lady was rude to me directly and in front of the rest of the flight which I found very embarrassing. We fly Southwest all the time but this experience definitely tainted my view of Southwest and I will look elsewhere from here on out.

Not Verified | La Guardia to Atlanta. Southwest promotes that you can receive travel funds for any canceled tickets. However, they make every effort to make it difficult for you to access your own money. These travel funds are not placed and visible on your account. The expiration information is unclear. Once it expires, if you are willing to hassle them they pay you the "courtesy" of charging you a $100 to access your remaining credit. I called and spoke with over 4 representatives over multiple days and was given misinformation. They will not help you with this process but require that you call back after it has expired. It then takes 4-6 weeks to process this request until you are able to access the remaining small fraction of your own money. I will utilize my remaining points and then I will not fly Southwest again. This has completely changed my impression of Southwest. I used to view them as a reasonable company with fair practices. I feel that they misrepresented their values. Delta has harsher return policies but I now appreciate them for their transparency.

✅ Trip Verified | Las Vegas to Oakland. Flights are always late. I got to the airport 4 hours early because of a change in my business plans. They would not allow me on an earlier flight even though they announced at the gate there were 20 available seats. Southwest wanted to charge me $169 to change then my flight was late which they did not announce until it was boarding time. That is why as a business traveler my loyalty is to American. They accommodate a change if they can. 8 our of my past 10 flights with Southwest have been late.

✅ Trip Verified | On 7/24/18 my wife and four children were flying from West Palm Beach to Boston via Atlanta on a 8PM flight. We had just concluded a 1 week vacation. My youngest son whose is 12-years old had not been feeling well prior to boarding the flight, probably from eating too much all week/day long. Well we boarded flight 1204 and after a brief delay were air bound. Needless to say, the plane ride was not agreeing with my son, and he soon became ill. Luckily, he managed to get everything into the bags provided in the seat backs. I flagged down one of the cabin attendants and he immediately came over. This man could not have been any nicer, he made light of an embarrassing situation for my son and set him right at ease. Soon the other male attendant came over and also jumped to help. I can't say enough good things about these two guys, they were great! The one attendant in particular assigned to the rear of the plane must have came back and checked on my son at least half a dozen times, truly a nice gesture and a nicer guy! I give this airline serious props for employing caring individuals like these two men, great cabin service.

✅ Trip Verified | Chicago Midway to Newark. It is irritating when you travel with an airline 5 times and a flight gets canceled every. Single. I can understand the cancellations due to the weather. I can also understand the cancelations due to "scheduled maintenance " (badly scheduled if the plane was supposed to be flying though.) What I don't understand is how thinking that leaving your customers stranded overnight at the airport is ok. It is not. Allowing the customers to reschedule "for free" for a flight the airline canceled should not even be a question much less something that gets thrown in your face. No attempt or offer was made for a hotel or another place to spend the night. No offer or attempt was made to get us back into the same boarding position we had prior to our flight being canceled due to "scheduled maintenance " Delays are irritating but at least you get where you want to. Unscheduled cancelations are not ok. Being forced to stay in the bagging area overnight because security shuts down the terminals overnight, is not ok.

✅ Trip Verified | Deceptive and misrepresenting their low fares. Last minute cancellation of my original carrier, Delta, made it necessary to make an alternative flight plan. Southwest ticketing agent informed me that the flight was sold out of lower fares and only the higher fares were available. The 1 way ticket price from Indianapolis to Orlando was $414.98. Traveling with my son required 2 tickets, $829.96. Boarding the plane it was empty, hence we were lied to reqarding the availability of lower fares. We were simply gouged with the higher fare because of urgent circumstances. Called the corporate headquarters of Southwest and they gave me the story that low fares are not available for disparate last minute travelers. The attendant on the flight stated that lower fares were available for this flight as it is low demand flight. This simply is a poor business practice for an airline that markets low fares and has the deceptive image of a friendly and customer service oriented. In the future when I fly again I will try to avoid this airline.