Post all SW questions concerns, etc. here...

[bsmcneil]

I've read through a lot but I just wanted to check in and see if anyone had particular concrete advice, particularly in 2021/2022. I had a ton of travel funds, with which I bought my ticket to MCO. I have a companion pass (for my 8/9 year old) and so that was free (save tax) and I had a lot of points to use for my 2nd kid (5), so I only spent the tax there, too. What should I do to ensure we're together?

For instance, I don't really want to spend the extra OOP to buy EBCI, as I'm trying to save where I can, etc. Can I even buy EBCI for my companion pass? I didn't immediately see that - but may have missed it. Similarly, I assume you can pay the ECBI fee for tickets bought with points - but I haven't looked into it yet. So, the other option is, theoretically, I could upgrade to Business Select and use my travel funds to cover getting a good position, right (and do the same with my points ticket)? I feel like what I've read is that if my points ticket gets a later spot, I'd need to move to that instead of whatever I have, right? Maybe this is the best use? FWIW, I "paid":

• $218 for my R/T flight (Wanna Get Away). To upgrade to Business Select, it would be an extra 140 (leaving me with ~150 in travel funds and no particular other trips in mind).
• 14,606 points for my other ticket. To upgrade it, it would cost 12,354 points (leaving me with ~32K).

That seems the best move to make, doesn't it?

I also thought about the whole upgraded boarding upon check-in. I signed up for the SW Priority Card this past year, so I should have 3 - maybe 4 - upgraded boardings left to be reimbursed. And, I've found that those are super hard to come by - I've taken 16 flights this year and on only 1 was upgraded boarding available (coincidentally going from MCO-home). So, I don't necessarily want to risk it. I think I'll make the upgrades - but I'm curious if anyone has any other thoughts!

 

[kristenrice]

I have a question...

Our flight home to GRR currently has a 4-hour layover at MDW which is just under a 3-hour drive from our house. I am not thrilled with that, but it is what it is. The kicker is that I have been watching that itinerary over the past several weeks and the flight has been delayed a LOT. This past week, it was on time ONCE. It is the last flight of the night and that plane is the first one out of GRR in the morning so I am fairly confident that, barring a staffing issue, the flight will eventually go, but it has been up to 3 hours late. If it is known that it is going to be 2-3 HOURS delayed, my husband can drive to MDW and pick us up and get us home sooner than the flight would, depending on what time we are made aware of the delay. On the off chance that there is a rental car available, I would be happy to go that route too. My question is, would SWA penalize me in any way for not taking the second leg of the flight if there is a substantial delay? We have only carry-on luggage so baggage isn't an issue. I know that the "hidden city" itineraries can cause problems. I genuinely wanted to fly MDW-GRR until SWA changed our original flight to the 4-hour layover. Now, I'm not so happy about it, but I will tolerate it, but not if there is going to be a 2-hour delay tacked on as well.

 

[PCFriar80]

View attachment 613736

 

[Arouge]

I've read through a lot but I just wanted to check in and see if anyone had particular concrete advice, particularly in 2021/2022. I had a ton of travel funds, with which I bought my ticket to MCO. I have a companion pass (for my 8/9 year old) and so that was free (save tax) and I had a lot of points to use for my 2nd kid (5), so I only spent the tax there, too. What should I do to ensure we're together?

For instance, I don't really want to spend the extra OOP to buy EBCI, as I'm trying to save where I can, etc. Can I even buy EBCI for my companion pass? I didn't immediately see that - but may have missed it. Similarly, I assume you can pay the ECBI fee for tickets bought with points - but I haven't looked into it yet. So, the other option is, theoretically, I could upgrade to Business Select and use my travel funds to cover getting a good position, right (and do the same with my points ticket)? I feel like what I've read is that if my points ticket gets a later spot, I'd need to move to that instead of whatever I have, right? Maybe this is the best use? FWIW, I "paid":

• $218 for my R/T flight (Wanna Get Away). To upgrade to Business Select, it would be an extra 140 (leaving me with ~150 in travel funds and no particular other trips in mind).
• 14,606 points for my other ticket. To upgrade it, it would cost 12,354 points (leaving me with ~32K).

That seems the best move to make, doesn't it?

I also thought about the whole upgraded boarding upon check-in. I signed up for the SW Priority Card this past year, so I should have 3 - maybe 4 - upgraded boardings left to be reimbursed. And, I've found that those are super hard to come by - I've taken 16 flights this year and on only 1 was upgraded boarding available (coincidentally going from MCO-home). So, I don't necessarily want to risk it. I think I'll make the upgrades - but I'm curious if anyone has any other thoughts!

Not sure if you're aware, but if you are flying on SW with a 6 year old or under, you qualify for family boarding which boards after the A's and before the B's. That might work for you- and no charge for that.

 

[EACarlson]

I've read through a lot but I just wanted to check in and see if anyone had particular concrete advice, particularly in 2021/2022. I had a ton of travel funds, with which I bought my ticket to MCO. I have a companion pass (for my 8/9 year old) and so that was free (save tax) and I had a lot of points to use for my 2nd kid (5), so I only spent the tax there, too. What should I do to ensure we're together?

For instance, I don't really want to spend the extra OOP to buy EBCI, as I'm trying to save where I can, etc. Can I even buy EBCI for my companion pass? I didn't immediately see that - but may have missed it. Similarly, I assume you can pay the ECBI fee for tickets bought with points - but I haven't looked into it yet. So, the other option is, theoretically, I could upgrade to Business Select and use my travel funds to cover getting a good position, right (and do the same with my points ticket)? I feel like what I've read is that if my points ticket gets a later spot, I'd need to move to that instead of whatever I have, right? Maybe this is the best use? FWIW, I "paid":

• $218 for my R/T flight (Wanna Get Away). To upgrade to Business Select, it would be an extra 140 (leaving me with ~150 in travel funds and no particular other trips in mind).
• 14,606 points for my other ticket. To upgrade it, it would cost 12,354 points (leaving me with ~32K).

That seems the best move to make, doesn't it?

I also thought about the whole upgraded boarding upon check-in. I signed up for the SW Priority Card this past year, so I should have 3 - maybe 4 - upgraded boardings left to be reimbursed. And, I've found that those are super hard to come by - I've taken 16 flights this year and on only 1 was upgraded boarding available (coincidentally going from MCO-home). So, I don't necessarily want to risk it. I think I'll make the upgrades - but I'm curious if anyone has any other thoughts!

Companions are now automatically assigned boarding positions immediately in front of the person they are the companion to. So if you would get A30 when you check in, that is given to your companion and you are assigned A31. If you bought a ticket for a 5 year old solo it should have required you to associate it with an adult on the flight or be charged for Unaccompanied Minor. Worst case I would use Family boarding if available. No GA is going to say anything about one adult and two kids during family boarding.

I have a question...

Our flight home to GRR currently has a 4-hour layover at MDW which is just under a 3-hour drive from our house. I am not thrilled with that, but it is what it is. The kicker is that I have been watching that itinerary over the past several weeks and the flight has been delayed a LOT. This past week, it was on time ONCE. It is the last flight of the night and that plane is the first one out of GRR in the morning so I am fairly confident that, barring a staffing issue, the flight will eventually go, but it has been up to 3 hours late. If it is known that it is going to be 2-3 HOURS delayed, my husband can drive to MDW and pick us up and get us home sooner than the flight would, depending on what time we are made aware of the delay. On the off chance that there is a rental car available, I would be happy to go that route too. My question is, would SWA penalize me in any way for not taking the second leg of the flight if there is a substantial delay? We have only carry-on luggage so baggage isn't an issue. I know that the "hidden city" itineraries can cause problems. I genuinely wanted to fly MDW-GRR until SWA changed our original flight to the 4-hour layover. Now, I'm not so happy about it, but I will tolerate it, but not if there is going to be a 2-hour delay tacked on as well.

I would be shocked if SW had any issues with it, if it's just once, especially if there is a flight delay. Most of the problems people have had with hidden city tickets are those that were doing it consistently. If it was booked as a RT, there would be no issues at all.

 

[bsmcneil]

Not sure if you're aware, but if you are flying on SW with a 6 year old or under, you qualify for family boarding which boards after the A's and before the B's. That might work for you- and no charge for that.

Thanks - I hadn't thought of that!

Companions are now automatically assigned boarding positions immediately in front of the person they are the companion to. So if you would get A30 when you check in, that is given to your companion and you are assigned A31. If you bought a ticket for a 5 year old solo it should have required you to associate it with an adult on the flight or be charged for Unaccompanied Minor. Worst case I would use Family boarding if available. No GA is going to say anything about one adult and two kids during family boarding.

Helpful to know - this will be my first (and probably only, sadly) companion flight. And I do have the 5 year old's ticket connected to mine but I haven't flown with them lately (or even as a non-lap seat kid) so I wasn't sure how that worked.

 

[sandam1]

I just got an email from Chase re. my Southwest credit card and with my RR Plus credit card, I now have two free early bird check-ins each anniversary year. Since I've never used the EBCI (I'm cheap and it usually isn't necessary for my travel style), I have a question - if I have a connecting flight, does one EBCI check me in for both flights or do I have to do each one separately? Also, can I check someone else in as well (obviously this would be my second usage)? I have a friend traveling from another city and would love to treat her to this.

 

[Minniemoomoo]

Has anyone found a website that lists when their flight times were removed or adjusted? So Southwest has changed my flight for December from an 8:40pm departure time to a 5:45, and they state that I knew all about it. I have confirmation emails that are all the 8:40. I am sure that it was changed and they did not send me an email or call regarding the change. I have been looking for a website that says hey this flight is now no longer available and has been pulled by this airline. Thank you so much in advance.

 

[EACarlson]

Has anyone found a website that lists when their flight times were removed or adjusted? So Southwest has changed my flight for December from an 8:40pm departure time to a 5:45, and they state that I knew all about it. I have confirmation emails that are all the 8:40. I am sure that it was changed and they did not send me an email or call regarding the change. I have been looking for a website that says hey this flight is now no longer available and has been pulled by this airline. Thank you so much in advance.

There is a pay service called Expert Flyer that offers alerts whenever your flight is changed. But I don't know of a free service that does it.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Has anyone found a website that lists when their flight times were removed or adjusted? So Southwest has changed my flight for December from an 8:40pm departure time to a 5:45, and they state that I knew all about it. I have confirmation emails that are all the 8:40. I am sure that it was changed and they did not send me an email or call regarding the change. I have been looking for a website that says hey this flight is now no longer available and has been pulled by this airline. Thank you so much in advance.

They did the same thing to me in April. Change my time and never sent me an alert.

 

[Avery&Todd]

I know some folks have had their upcoming flights drop in points, but mine has gone UP almost by almost 30k points!! PER PERSON!!

I did book the second they were released many months ago, and was charged 9,588 points for my flight, and now the same flight is:
View attachment 613142

holy cow!!

so I check my upcoming flight on occassion (ok, I check it multiple times a day....) and last time I reported it had increased in points from the 9,588 I originally paid for this flight was up to 39,157..

and now today...its up to 45,103...yikes!

 

[focusondisney]

so I check my upcoming flight on occassion (ok, I check it multiple times a day....) and last time I reported it had increased in points from the 9,588 I originally paid for this flight was up to 39,157..

and now today...its up to 45,103...yikes!
View attachment 614797

It’s 3 weeks away, over a popular holiday weekend. Not surprising it increased a lot. Just checked your dates from my airport…. Nonstop flights both ways were 41000 points with an afternoon return or 52000+ for a late evening return. Very popular time to go so prices reflect it.

 

[jkelly86]

I just want to thank all of my friendly Dis'ers on this thread. We have no flexibility with work and only can travel on peak days. I camp out with all of you on release dates, and I work as quickly as I can when the schedule opens up. Still, this year we were paying $600pp one way on the Sunday evening of Thanksgiving. Last night, by chance, for our flight only on that date, we were able to receive a $250pp refund (not flight credit). Immediately after our changes were confirmed, our power and internet went out overnight (we have no cell service without it). It was a crazy, random, unfathomable, gift! So, don't give up hope and keep on stalking those flights!

 

[Avery&Todd]

I woke up this morning to a "we've changed your flight" email for our March 5th flights - my stomach totally sunk when I saw the email....

but then I saw the times and I was OK with it - the outbound flight to MCO is still a non-stop and it's leaving a whole 15 minutes EARLIER!

that's a first for me - usually they have cancelled that flight and bumped us to a layover later in the day as I like to leave first thing and get to MCO!

I'll take that Southwest!

 

[BillFromCT]

My direct 2/27 flight from PVD changed as well. 10 minutes earlier. Also, fine by me.

 

[Lsdolphin]

When do they release schedule for May?

 

[mickey916]

Next round of flights are scheduled to be released on Dec. 8

 

[Erica Ladd]

i currently have a flight booked from RDU-ATL early morning 11/6. I want to book a flight for the night before (11/5) because I might be able to go earlier depending on forthcoming info. Do you think they will cancel the flights because they are less than 24 hours away from each other or will I be ok since they are on different days? FWIW I should be able to cancel one of the fights myself in the next 24-36 hours when I find out if I’m free to go earlier. Thanks

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

I woke up this morning to a "we've changed your flight" email for our March 5th flights - my stomach totally sunk when I saw the email....

but then I saw the times and I was OK with it - the outbound flight to MCO is still a non-stop and it's leaving a whole 15 minutes EARLIER!

that's a first for me - usually they have cancelled that flight and bumped us to a layover later in the day as I like to leave first thing and get to MCO!

I'll take that Southwest!

Glad that it worked out for the better for you. I keep waiting for them to change our flights. It happened twice the past trip and they never emailed me.

 

[leeniewdw]

so I check my upcoming flight on occassion (ok, I check it multiple times a day....) and last time I reported it had increased in points from the 9,588 I originally paid for this flight was up to 39,157..

and now today...its up to 45,103...yikes!
View attachment 614797

I am so very jealous of your flight times! We're doing RDU/MCO in Feb and the only direct leaves RDU at 11:30am. I hate it since we've in the past arrived and hit the parks first thing -- we even got to DHS before opening on our last trip!