Southwest Airlines

✅ Trip Verified | Rochester to Providence via Baltimore. These two flights took place amidst the winter storm which struck the Northeast in early December of 2019. As usual, for these short flights, we were offered beverages and pretzels. The gate agents for both flights were excellent and got us boarded quickly, but the issue was that we were delayed for both flights due to de-icing and such. The flight attendants did a good job of balancing the occasional need for speed with the need for passenger respect. Not a whole lot of joking around during these flights, too, but given the circumstances, I suppose that should not be surprising. We arrived at each location about 30 to 45 minutes late. All things considered, I think that was quite impressive! After flying with Southwest for nine flights over the span of about a week and a half, I can say that one area in which they are excellent is in getting you where you need to go on time. This is one area where they really do outperform JetBlue, and to me, it matters a lot!

✅ Trip Verified | Rochester to Las Vegas via Baltimore and Salt Lake City. The flight from Rochester to Baltimore was operated on a Boeing 737-700, while the flight from Baltimore to Salt Lake City (and onward to Las Vegas) was operated on a Boeing 737-800. We had some comedians as flight attendants on these flights! The first two kind of struggled to get us to laugh. The third, however was absolutely hilarious! I noticed several indirect advertisements for Southwest's new flights to Hawaii through joking we had just landed in Hawaii. The flight from Rochester to Baltimore featured the usual beverage service and packet of pretzels, as did the flight from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas. For the flight from Baltimore to Salt Lake City (which was much longer), there were two beverage services, and we were offered shortbread cookies or Fritos, or both. As usual, inflight entertainment was available, but only if you had a streaming device with you. I don't know why, but for some reason, I felt like the flight attendants on the first two of these flights were a little less friendly than I've experienced in the past on Southwest. Not hostile, but just kind of passive-yet also a little impatient with passengers as they boarded (like during previous flights). I guess my biggest gripe is the food. I know it's a low-cost carrier, and I know it's a domestic flight in the U.S. But somehow, for a flight that lasts for something like five hours, I feel like people really ought to be offered more than just a couple of packets of snacks. (Yes, I am absolutely spoiled by Asian carriers, which offer full hot meals on such flights!)

✅ Trip Verified | Providence to Rochester via Baltimore. Two quick flights, and pretty much without incident. I was accompanying my parents, and one of them (my Dad) needed special assistance. For some reason, the gate agent in Providence said only one person was allowed to accompany my Dad during preboarding. My Mom opted to do so. The gate agent in Baltimore, however, said both my Mom and I could accompany my Dad during preboarding. During the flights, complimentary beverages were offered, as were packets of pretzels. Apparently wi-fi is available, as well as a few movies if you brought your tablet or smartphone or whatever to watch them on. The flight attendants were generally pleasant, but seemed a little bit impatient at times. I recognize that these were short flights and that they had schedules to keep (which they did indeed keep, to their credit), but it seemed like people generally were not going particularly slowly as it was, despite Southwest's unique boarding technique of having people choose their own seats. Overall, though, pretty good, and it certainly beats flying American or United!

✅ Trip Verified | Ontario to Denver. Take their no show policy seriously. Ten hours travel, my elderly mother appeared to have a stroke and was transported to a local emergency room. Numerous tests were being done because of the concern for her wellbeing, and the doctor was less than sure about what the cause was. Being an only child, I stayed with my mom during this process, getting her to agree to treatment, explaining what the doctors were telling her, and trying to keep her calm. The furthest thing from my mind was our planned travel to go to her college friends funeral in Colorado. While they were doing a procedure, I got the email that we missed the flight - that is how fast time flied. I immediately called, and they said it was too late, but that I should contact the corporate consumer line. Much later that day, when I left the hospital, I immediately went to the airport, and they also recommended that I contact the corporate consumer line. The staff member at the airport was understanding and encouraged me to reach out because the company is known to make exceptions. So I did. In response was an automatic, non-empathetic, “you didn’t meet our rules email”. It was clear the author never read anything I wrote, that the author never came close to the sympathy advanced by phone representative or airport representative. That the author utilized the cut and paste function to get through its tasks. The moral of the review - keep the southwest number on your favorites if you are traveling. That you have a sick family member in the emergency room is not a reason to miss the deadline or not call them to cancel. That their mission statement claiming “dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness” are words on a website, not words that consider any tragedy that may befall you or your family, unless they can advertise it for their advantage. My mom and I are nobodies to a big institution like this, so be careful, you will be too.

✅ Trip Verified | I have been fairly disappointed with Southwest in the last several months. I routinely fly multiple times a month between Sacramento and Los Angeles (Burbank) for work. My last 4 flights in a row, starting mid-November, have been delayed by an hour or more. And today it has already been delayed 40 minutes. It has begun to really interrupt my ability to make dependable plans. I have been a rewards member for a year, and I am looking to stop using southwest for all flights. For many months there was not a problem at all. But the last 2 months have been delay after delay. Very unfortunate they can not maintain the schedules flight times. I will begin to look to other companies for better reliability.

Not Verified | San Jose to Boise. I am really disappointed about how Southwest handles transfer of miles to friends and family. I just gifted my adult son 10,000 miles and it cost me $100.00 to do so! I wanted him to have the freedom to use them as he wished. I decided to go ahead and pay but next time it would seem better for me to purchase his ticket and use my miles. I have never gifted miles before so maybe it's standard practice. Regardless I know I won't be doing that again. Not worth it! In general I use Southwest and enjoy the benefits of free luggage and refundable tickets.

Not Verified | St Louis to Fort Lauderdale. I do believe southwest just set a company record. A three owner flight has now turned into a 18 hour nightmare. Since we left St. Louis we have had eight delays. We are going to miss our family cruise. Sitting in a plane waiting for their next delay. To make matters worse we tried to get off and drive to port. Now Southwest Airlines employees are telling us they don’t know what plane our luggage is on. Still stuck in a nightmare!

Not Verified | Today our 3 pm flight was cancelled for no apparent reason. Luckily we were able to book a 2 pm flight. We arrived at the airport with an hour to spare to find the southwest computers had been down for 13 hours. We had to wait in a line for 3.5 hours that wrapped three times around the inside of the airport as every single passenger had to be checked in manually. Then were put on standby for a different connecting flight which we were able to obtain seats. Unfortunately that plane was 90 minutes delayed, causing us to miss our connecting flight by 2 minutes. The connecting flight departed 10 minutes early as we watched it take flight. There are no flights home for us tonight after we just missed the last one. Meanwhile we are offered a $100 travel voucher which won’t even cover a hotel tonight. Now we have been waiting over an hour to speak to a supervisor.

Not Verified | Omaha to Manchester. Johnny Lopez helped us twice for this trip. Our flight from Omaha to Chicago was delayed to the point where we would miss our connecting flight. We stood in line with lots of other folks to get rescheduled for the next day and when it was our turn, Johnny was friendly and efficient and wished us a Happy Holidays. The next evening when we came back, he was working at the ticket desk and remembered us, helped us out and again wished us a Happy Holiday. Everyone, even the woman in the luggage area apologized profusely for the inconvenience. SWA is my preferred carrier and that’s the reason why

✅ Trip Verified | St Louis to Atlanta. Great prices and good at having available flights. My only issue is they lag everything I fly. Always delayed flights, Today I waited 20 mins at the boarding line for them to board us. I also waited 40 mins for my bags to come to baggage claim. I got places to go.