# Southwest Airlines Sucks Ass



## justdust (Jan 27, 2009)

Sadly, I booked Southwest for my round-trip flight to Salt Lake City from Albany, NY. I chose Southwest based largely on the recommendations I saw on this forum...so I think it's appropriate to share my horrible experience on this forum as well. 

I booked my flight in October to leave Albany on 12/30. This afternoon (12/29) I get a voice mail that my 6:45 a.m. flight has been canceled. After waiting the customary 40 minutes on hold before speaking to a human being at Southwest's customer service number, I am told that the flight is canceled due to fog in Chicago (a scheduled stop) and that because all other flights are sold out, Southwest can not guarantee my son and I seats on an airplane to Salt Lake until January 5 (which happens to be the date that we are scheduled to RETURN from Salt Lake). When I inquire about booking on another airline, Southwest tells me "WE DON'T DO THAT...we have not had reciprocal agreements with out airlines for 39 years." When I explain that I've spent a couple of thousand dollars for a trip that I can not reschedule, the only solution SW offers is to go wait at the airport and hope to get on a standby flight. There is only one flight tomorrow and three on the following day. LOOKS LIKE I AM ROYALLY FUCKED.

Although I made it clear that I would be willing to drive to another airport and that it was not possible to change my vacation dates and that I will lose money because of this last minute cancellation, SOUTHWEST HAD NO SOLUTION TO OFFER. This is absolute worst kind of screw-the-customer corporate attitude.

Moral of the story: SOUTHWEST AIRLINES SUCKS ASS!!!

btw: the story with stand-by: get your name on the list as early as possible and wait...which means you have to check your bags and they go to SLC whether a seat opens up on the flight for you or not...they will be waiting for you if/when you eventually get there. And if no flight becomes available in time...I've wasted my vacation and my boards are in Utah while we have powder here.

Anybody here flying their own charter jet to SCL in the next couple of days?


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

If you're trying to fly to or from the northeast right now, you're just plain fucked, period.


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## Shocktroop531 (Aug 3, 2010)

these things happen. I'm not sure what southwest really could have done for you.


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## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

Call them back ask them if you can make it to Buffalo and fly from Buffalo to ATL then go to Denver to transfer to SLC. You could also see about doing Buffalo to Cinncinnati to Denver to Dallas Forth Worth to SLC. There are options you're just dealing with low person on the totem pole. Also a bullshit story about how your son has bone marrow for a dying relative will change things around for you.


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## justdust (Jan 27, 2009)

I called twice (yeah, 40 minutes on hold each time) and spoke with two different reps and a supervisor...they all checked every combination of flights that Southwest has to offer and could not get us out before 1/5. Where I fault Southwest is for not having an arrangement with other airlines...there is a flight on Delta out of Albany tomorrow, but Southwest will not switch the flight for us. That is corporate policy...not weather...that is why Southwest blows.


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## surfinsnow (Feb 4, 2010)

Southwest kicks ass. Best airline ever, especially for boarders. They've never charged me a penny for board bags, even when oversized. They're more often early than late. Maybe you should watch the news or the Weather Channel...there was a huge storm in the northeast and thousands of flights were canceled. 

Two words; trip insurance. 

A few bucks would have saved you thousands. Southwest didn't cause your problems.


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## AlexS (Feb 12, 2010)

Just be thankful your bags are waiting for you. Frontier is currently trying to track down(can't find) one of my bags from Denver flight back home which was Sunday..I'm not one to complain but yeah.


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## JeffreyCH (Nov 21, 2009)

Snowolf said:


> Worst case.....you can take a greyhound...sucks ass and you will get to meet some weird people, but at least you can salvage your trip and still fly home. I would hop on a bus without a second thought rather than give up the whole trip...:dunno:


NOOOOOOO!!!! don't do it!!! I took a greyhound from Phx back to Ne some years ago, it was absolfuckingluty the worst 4 days of my life. 4 fucking days for an easy 2 day drive, the layovers some more then 5 hours, living on a bus the whole time try sleeping sitting up for a day or two and see how ya like that. Plus it's twice the distance for your trip you wouldnt even get there till the 7th or 8th. Weirdos??? HA you have no idea, it's like they took a whole wal mart and jammed it into a closet....worst case...man up and drive that shit, if you leave right now you could be in SLC by Sat night easy.  Or just grab the delta hope for a voucher from SW like snowolf said. Sorry it worked out like that, but wtf....if you book a trip and get to the resort and there is no snow are you going to blame them? I say SUE the bastards :laugh:


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## justdust (Jan 27, 2009)

By the time I spent a couple of hours screwing around with Southwest's "customer service" (most of that time spent on hold) the Delta flight was gone. Snowwolf is right that the airlines are a cutthroat biz...but they don't just cut the throat of their competition...they do it to their own customers without blinking an eye. Maybe I would have been better off buying trip insurance. I just don't trust the idea of shifting responsibility for one corporation's failure to another corporation...bound to get equally screwed somehow in the end.

I will "man up" and drive but a 35 hour one-way drive to Salt Lake is ridiculous. Just have to turn this sow's ear of a nor'easter into a silk purse and take advantage of some New England powder.


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## JeffreyCH (Nov 21, 2009)

AWESOME!! rent a car and get to it, fly back.


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## ev13wt (Nov 22, 2010)

Get them to refund your money, drive to airport, go to Northwest counter. Buy tickets to closest availible airport. Rent car, drive the rest.


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## david_z (Dec 14, 2009)

linvillegorge said:


> If you're trying to fly to or from the northeast right now, you're just plain fucked, period.


Indeed. 

Once your flight gets canceled due to weather or acts of nature, you get sent to the back of the queue with everyone else whose flights have been canceled or postponed. 
How it works is this:

When the weather clears up, any passenger on a flight which has not been canceled (on schedule) has priority over you. Flights which have not been canceled have priority over flights which need to be rescheduled, etc. This is why they are unable to "guarnatee" you a seat until 1/5 - between the storm on the east coast and now the upper midwest there's a lot of disruption in flights and a lot of people who are trying to get rebooked all at a very busy time of year for air travel.

The big storm on the east coast fucked up air travel nationwide as planes weren't able to leave or land, etc. You're asking them to bend over backwards and get you to your destination when there are hundreds or thousands of other people in the exact same (or worse) position as you...

There are a lot of things working against you in this equation like weather and timing, and although I sympathize with you I don't think it's entirely fair to blame Southwest... Delta would fuck you just as badly if you gave them the opportunity.

No airline that I know of is under any obligation to rebook your flight if it's canceled due to inclement weather; other reasons yes they are required by law but if it's weather you're going to be grounded.

I'm not saying I wouldn't be royally pissed off (I would be) but it's not really Southwest's fault.


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## david_z (Dec 14, 2009)

FYI there are flights out of Detroit to Denver tomorrow morning on Southwest. It's an 8-hour drive from DEN to SLC in good weather I think. You could be in SLC by tomorrow night. Gonna take you a good bit of driving to get to Detroit but it beats the heck out of 35 hours in a car, no?


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Salt Lake City through Denver are in a winter storm watch and much of the area in between is in a winter storm warning through tomorrow. Probably not the greatest idea to try to fly here and drive a rental car one way to SLC. I'd want to be direct. It's definitely not SW that fucked you. Sucks regardless. You should be able to get flight vouchers for them to plan a different trip or even get your money back. No reason to not get it back. You paid for something they couldn't deliver through not fault of your own.


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## david_z (Dec 14, 2009)

killclimbz said:


> You should be able to get flight vouchers for them to plan a different trip or even get your money back. No reason to not get it back. You paid for something they couldn't deliver through not fault of your own.


They'll definitely give a voucher all you have to do is reschedule and then cancel the rescheduled flight for credit on Southwest. Or you could probably call them, cancel, and get a full refund. What they won't cover (and no airline pays for these things) is trip costs: condo/hotel rental, rental car if you pre-paid, lift tickets that you already bought, etc.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

The thing with doing the online voucher thing is you lose the airport fees. So I would call them and demand you get full value.

Not much you can do about anything else, though a lot of places will rebook for zero or minimal fees due to a circumstance like this.


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## david_z (Dec 14, 2009)

killclimbz said:


> The thing with doing the online voucher thing is you lose the airport fees. So I would call them and demand you get full value.


I don't think so with Southwest - I've done this a few times and always get credit for whatever I paid - taxes/fees inclusive.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

I seem to remember having lost some of those fees when I did it a few years ago. To be honest though, it's been awhile so I'll go with what you said...


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## david_z (Dec 14, 2009)

you could be right though maybe I just didn't pay close attention to those things


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## surfinsnow (Feb 4, 2010)

david_z said:


> I don't think so with Southwest - I've done this a few times and always get credit for whatever I paid - taxes/fees inclusive.


One of the things I love about SW -- they do give you vouchers for travel any time, even if you just have to cancel your flight. I just bought a ticket to Orlando for mid-January because my father in law MIGHT have surgery...but if he doesn't, I can just cancel and my ticket is still good for a year.

I don't know why the OP didn't just do what has been suggested a few times, just taking another flight and keeping the vouchers for another time. That is, if there are any other flights. The airlines are really fucked up right now, and with the new storms coming, it's gonna get worse before it gets better.


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## Soul06 (Dec 18, 2010)

david_z said:


> Indeed.
> 
> Once your flight gets canceled due to weather or acts of nature, you get sent to the back of the queue with everyone else whose flights have been canceled or postponed.
> How it works is this:
> ...


Listen to this guy. He speaks the truth. I do and have worked for an airline in customer service for the past 6 1/2 years. Everything he said is correct save for the *bolded* portion. Your plane ticket is a contract and has to be honored. If your flight is cancelled then they MUST either refund your money or rebook your flight. They can't just keep you cash and screw you over.

As for Southwest (not the airline I work for), they didn't do anything wrong and even though you are pissed (I would be too) claiming that they "suck ass" isn't really fair. As already stated the storm we went through cause more mayhem then you can even begin to imagine. What he said about other customers now taking precedence is sadly true. They are booked for those first leaving flights, as per their ticket, so they go first. After them comes everyone from the first canceled flight back to the last. And not only did weather conditions prevent planes from taking off and landing but its leaves the operation short-staffed. Pilots and inflight that are scheduled to work certain flights get stuck in other cities which end up resulting in more cancellations and delays.


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## david_z (Dec 14, 2009)

Soul06 said:


> Listen to this guy. He speaks the truth. I do and have worked for an airline in customer service for the past 6 1/2 years. Everything he said is correct save for the *bolded* portion. Your plane ticket is a contract and has to be honored. If your flight is cancelled then they MUST either refund your money or rebook your flight. They can't just keep you cash and screw you over.


Thanks for clarifying! I didn't mean that they get to keep your money, only that they're not obligated to book you on another airline unless the flight is canceled at their discretion (e.g., they haven't sold enough seats, etc.) But yes, they are obligated to honor the contract and either get you from A to B or refund your money in full.


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## HoboMaster (May 16, 2010)

I've had nothing but good experiences flying with Southwest. I think the weather/timing just screwed you, I don't think you would have gotten a better deal out of any other airline. It's just part of the airline game, they all do it.


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## surfinsnow (Feb 4, 2010)

The ultimate irony is that every time I check in on this thread there is a Southwest ad at the top of the page. 

Op didn't get much sympathy here, but I hope the trip works out somehow. The real moral of the story isn't that Southwest sucks ass, it is that when you're spending a shitload of money on a major trip like this, another $10-15 for trip insurance is probably worthwhile. Put another way, cost of the insurance is no more than you'd pay for a couple of cocktails on the flight (of course, you should really just be filling 3oz plastic bottles with your favorite hooch and putting them in your carry-on liquids bag).


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## Soul06 (Dec 18, 2010)

david_z said:


> Thanks for clarifying! I didn't mean that they get to keep your money, only that they're not obligated to book you on another airline unless the flight is canceled at their discretion (e.g., they haven't sold enough seats, etc.) But yes, they are obligated to honor the contract and either get you from A to B or refund your money in full.


No problem. I was just clarifying for anyone that might have misread what you wrote.



Snowolf said:


> Yeah, Southwest has been good to me. Two years ago, I flew back to Phoenix and brought my board to ride at Flagstaff and Sunrise. TSA did not get my board on the plane in time and when I got to Phoenix, I had to wait for 6 hours for the next flight for my board to arrive. Southwest gave me a $100 voucher for my next flight with them even though it was TSA who fucked up not them. They were under no obligation to give me anything, but did anyway which I though was pretty cool.



Yeah that happens often enough. Some airlines will get your address and have the bag delivered directly to where ever you are staying (home/hotel/etc). But I know not all do that.



surfinsnow said:


> The ultimate irony is that every time I check in on this thread there is a Southwest ad at the top of the page.
> 
> Op didn't get much sympathy here, but I hope the trip works out somehow. The real moral of the story isn't that Southwest sucks ass, it is that when you're spending a shitload of money on a major trip like this, another $10-15 for trip insurance is probably worthwhile. Put another way, cost of the insurance is no more than you'd pay for a couple of cocktails on the flight (of course, you should really just be filling 3oz plastic bottles with your favorite hooch and putting them in your carry-on liquids bag).


Heeeeellllll yeah. I always make sure any trip I pay for is refundable or has some kind of insurance.


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## BarrettDSP (May 10, 2009)

Sorry this happened to you, its just kinda the risk of flying during the winter when a winter storm could happen. I fly SWA exclusively(2-3 times a year for snowboarding) and have always had a pleasant experience. Sure I've been delayed a few times but that happens with any airline. If I where in your situation I would ask for a refund or voucher, and hopefully your hotel that you were going to stay at in SLC will refund you if you explain your situation to them calmly and then reschedule your trip for later this month or season.


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