SW air making reservation changes due to Max 737.

[DaveOKC]

I received an email from SW about possible changes to my upcoming Sept. trip to Seattle, but no details.  They blamed the 737 Max situation of course.

 

So, I checked the SW site, and sure enough, my return flight was no longer there.  So, I called SW and talked to a very nice agent.  She said that lots of changes are currently being done, so best to check your reservation.

 

Anyway, she rebooked me onto a better flight for the same amount of money - I was VERY pleased with the result and the service provided.  THANKS SW!  I now get to the airport an hour later and get home and hour earlier than before (I know, does not make sense, but thats how it worked out).

 

Keep your eye on your SW (and other airlines) reservations until this 737 Max thing gets sorted out.  And be sure to ask what your options are if your flight is changed.

[daisy-mae]

Thanks for the "heads up", DaveOKC.

It sounds like SW is being pro-active, which is a good thing...

We are in a similar situation with Westjet but so far they have not provided any information on what will likely be a new itinerary.

[DaveOKC]

55 minutes ago, daisy-mae said:

Thanks for the "heads up", DaveOKC.

It sounds like SW is being pro-active, which is a good thing...

We are in a similar situation with Westjet but so far they have not provided any information on what will likely be a new itinerary.

About a year ago I had a similar situation with Westjet (flight change messing up my cruise travel plans) and they were not very helpful and quite frankly rude!  Never did get it fixed properly and I vowed never to fly them again.  SW on the other hand has ALWAYS been very polite and extremely helpful (and I have been flying them for over 30 years!

 

Good luck with Westjet - I hope you have a plan B........

[daisy-mae]

19 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

 

 

Good luck with Westjet - I hope you have a plan B........

We're working on it, but it would be nice if WJ would release us from our obligation and refund our fare so that we can book with another airline while there is still space available...

[Jammu2]

WestJet was very helpful over the phone (Calgary call center) on our Max flight in October. Might be who you talk to.

[DaveOKC]

2 minutes ago, Jammu2 said:

WestJet was very helpful over the phone (Calgary call center) on our Max flight in October. Might be who you talk to.

You are probably right - the young man I talked to was a bit of a smart A**.  It was obvious that he was not very experienced in traveling by air and the issues involved when you mix in a cruise.

 

Comment - "even if you miss your flight we will get you on another later one."  Not likely since it was a Friday evening and the place I was flying into has very few flights in total.  Next day we would not have made it to the pier in time even if we got the earliest flight out.  

 

All the other airlines (SW, Delta, American and United) I have dealt with on this issue (flights being changed) have been over the top nice to work with and VERY flexible in getting me something that I was comfortable with.  

 

[iancal]

This issue could drag on for some time.  Recent reports indicate that the FAA has recently found another  previously unknown software problem related to data processing.

[slidergirl]

2 hours ago, iancal said:

This issue could drag on for some time.  Recent reports indicate that the FAA has recently found another  previously unknown software problem related to data processing.

I thought they are not sure yet if it is software or hardware.  FAA test pilots got the simulator with the new software fix to crash the same way as the 2 airliner did.  So, the fix isn't quite the end all.  Could be until the end of the year before it gets certified.   WN was counting on those MAX for the new Hawaii flights.  So, for now, they have to pull whatever ETOPS planes they have from other routes.  They also had to put flights to Lihue and Kona on hold for now.  

[LF23]

AA is doing the same. Got an email that my (perfect) flight from Vancouver was “changed”, but the new details were completely different.  Looked it up and sure enough our flight had disappeared. They had automatically rescheduled us and of course by then the best alternative flights were already sold out. They were agreeable but not very helpful in our request change to a different lousy flight.  

[DaveOKC]

19 minutes ago, LF23 said:

AA is doing the same. Got an email that my (perfect) flight from Vancouver was “changed”, but the new details were completely different.  Looked it up and sure enough our flight had disappeared. They had automatically rescheduled us and of course by then the best alternative flights were already sold out. They were agreeable but not very helpful in our request change to a different lousy flight.  

My experience on AA has always been good in this situation, but I might just have been lucky!  Did they offer to refund your ticket so that you could book on another airline?

 

 

[Roz]

I just back from a 4-day trip to Pittsburgh, and I was notified by SW a couple of months in advance that my flight out was changed due to the Max 737 situation.  

 

As an aside, SW will be extending its schedule beyond January 5, 2020 on July 10 or thereabouts. 

 

Roz

[LF23]

1 hour ago, DaveOKC said:

Did they offer to refund your ticket so that you could book on another airline?

 

They didn’t and I never thought to ask!  The agent just wasn’t very proactive or helpful and seemed stressed.  The hold queue took forever. I think they were bombarded with calls from the Max upset. 

[bEwAbG]

I was on a Southwest flight last month and the crew was re-routed twice while we were in the air.  I was in the bulkhead so I got to hear all about it.  One flight attendant was planning to be in CA that evening but was going to end up in Florida instead.  The flight crew changed during a stopover: the new pilot had been flown from Houston to Dallas to take our plane to San Antonio, and the pilot getting off was flying from Dallas to Houston to take a different plane to San Antonio.  It's been a mess for them.  

[violet stillwater]

On 6/27/2019 at 3:02 PM, DaveOKC said:

to

Thanks so much DaveOKC for the suggestion to check the flights. I discovered we had a MAX flight & called SWA. Customer service said it could be as late as October 1st (cruise is 10/19) before we find out if our flight is cancelled or if another plane was substituted, so I just switched flights, at no charge, even though the switch was to a higher-fared flight with 2 legs instead of the original one.