Interesting SW air information

[DaveOKC]

I fly Southwest Airlines often when cruising on HAL.  One of the main reasons I do so is the flexibility in cancelling/changing/rebooking without a penalty.  On my upcoming cruise I was using mostly funds from a cancelled trip from 9 months ago.  

 

I booked an early 6:20 am flight out (I normally do one way fares to maximize flexibility in changes) just one week ago.  This early flight saved me about $80 pp over a later one, so worth getting up early IMO.  This morning I get an email from SW that my flight changed (this almost NEVER happens on SW due to the limited time scheduling they use) so I was a bit confused.  I checked the information carefully and the only change I could see was that the flight number had changed - OK, no big deal.  In rereading the email I see that they are allowing me to change my flight to another one within 14 days if I want, for any reason (certain flights only).  So, I thought I would see what that meant.  I use the link provided and after a few clicks was able to get the better flight (the $80 more one) FOR THE SAME MONEY!  Naturally I quickly booked it!  I could not believe that SW was offering me this option and it was so quick any easy to use.

 

I have had this same situation occur on other airlines and every time I had to adjust my flight I had to call the reservation number, wait awhile for a live person and spend time explaining my situation and what I wanted to do - and I am sure they would not allow this just for a simple flight number change!

 

SO, just a "heads up" for cruisers who fly to the port.  And a shout out to SW Airlines for their great service and flexibility.

 

[strickerj]

What luck, congrats! I haven't flown Southwest, but I find Delta to be irritating when it comes to schedule changes. My return flight from Alaska was changed so my connection in Seattle decreased from 2.5 hours to less than an hour. The email gave the usual spiel that this makes me eligible to change or cancel without penalty, and to click through to see my options. And all the options they presented cost extra... (I know I can call to change for free, but I'd rather just wait and see. It's doable if the inbound flight is on time.)

 

When my brother came home for Christmas a couple weeks ago, he found out his outbound flight had been discontinued a month earlier when he went to check in. They send an email when the schedule changes by 5 minutes, but they don't inform us of that, lol.

[Brentt_M]

I had a very similar experience about a month ago for our flights in March.  There are 5 of us booked together and we did an early morning flight to FLL and then were staying 1 night in FLL the day after our cruise cause the flight the next morning was so much cheaper the difference for 5 people easily covered the additional days expenses.

 

Anyways SW moved the departure time of our original flight up by 10 mins. Because of this change I was able to rebook both legs of my flights to much better flights for the no additional costs as well and I don't have to spend another night in FLL after the cruise. It was awesome.

[3rdGenCunarder]

That's great! United is never that generous and they're very sloppy about change notifications.

 

Thanks for the idea of booking each flight separately. I'll try to remember to check one-way prices next time I book flights. I like the idea of added flexibility. 

Edited January 16, 2020 by 3rdGenCunarder

[Tom O.]

Southwest is having a lot of last minute changes because of the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max. Southwest has a bunch of these planes on order, and the delivery of them has been delayed. So they are constantly having to scramble their flights around.

The other airline that is in this situation is American Airlines.

I am glad it worked out for you. Usually I never come out ahead when I get these last minute changes.

[Level six]

SW really is the best.  I have a free companion pass and it is the way to travel.  Last year we used the companion pass over 20 times( I pay, my hubby flies free).  SW has No cancellation or change fees, no baggage fees(2 free) and we can sit where we want.  You really can't beat them.  

[Paulinda]

LUV Southwest!  Only thing I don't like is the awkward boarding routine if you don't pay up for priority boarding.  We usually take direct flights from MKE to FLL and oddly they are usually cheaper than flights with stopovers.  

[Hlitner]

We also luv Southwest.  In our case we must drive 1 1/2 - 2hours to access a Southwest airport and often do that despite having an excellent local airport serviced by Delta, United and American.   What attracts us to Southwest, besides their pretty good pricing, is no extra fees for luggage,  very few schedule changes, and pretty good ontime performance.  

 

Hank

[puppycanducruise]

Good news.  Thanks for sharing.

[Roz]

SW is always my go to airline for domestic flights for all the reasons already stated.  I've re-booked my upcoming flight to San Diego twice and saved over $100 that I'll use towards a trip I'm taking this summer.  My flight home after my Panama Canal cruise will be from FLL and it's on Feb. 14 💘.  If I'm not mistaken, that's one of the days SW offers free drinks.  

[DaveOKC]

3 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

That's great! United is never that generous and they're very sloppy about change notifications.

 

Thanks for the idea of booking each flight separately. I'll try to remember to check one-way prices next time I book flights. I like the idea of added flexibility. 

On SW, booking two one way fares is the same price wise as a roundtrip.  The only advantage to booking roundtrip is that if you get stuck on the return flight for some reason, SW has more obligation to you (not sure exactly what however).