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Flying to your Cruise on Southwest? Have a backup plan!


Ozark_Kid
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I just made a backup flight on American for getting to San Juan next month.  No way do I want to miss that cruise!  Luckily, I had points I can use and cancellation is free if Southwest gets and keeps their act together.  It’s one thing to be able to drive…..of course, who knows if AA is going to be a reliable option.

 

Feel for folks impacted this weekend.

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We flew on Southwest BUR-DEN on Oct 1st and was delayed an hour prior to departure...then another hour once we were sitting out on the side of the tarmac watching other carriers take off. Said it was an air traffic control shortage at Denver and everything in/out of Denver was affected.

 

My flight home DEN-BUR on Oct 8th was on time. MY DH is due to fly home on Oct 12th...I'll keep checking on his flight.

 

Many of you love Southwest....I don't, especially the open seating, but it was the best nonstop (routing) I could find. Hoping things get better since our youngest son and his family just moved there and we'll be making this trip several times a year.

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26 minutes ago, Jasukkie said:

Best backup plan...marry/date/parent an airline employee for flight benefits. Of course there do have to be open seats available.

DBIL a retired Capt. with United ... lot's of stand by's usually not worth it to us.

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2 hours ago, dianajo67 said:

I just made a backup flight on American for getting to San Juan next month.  No way do I want to miss that cruise!  Luckily, I had points I can use and cancellation is free if Southwest gets and keeps their act together.  It’s one thing to be able to drive…..of course, who knows if AA is going to be a reliable option.

 

Feel for folks impacted this weekend.

Do you have refundable tickets with SW? If yes, I would cancel SW and fly AA. 

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24 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Do you have refundable tickets with SW? If yes, I would cancel SW and fly AA. 

Unfortunately not.  We do have other trips next spring we haven’t gotten tickets for yet that we can use any SW vouchers for if they won’t give a refund for some reason.  We’re also flying to San Juan 2 days before the cruise….so that helps also.

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4 minutes ago, dianajo67 said:

We’re also flying to San Juan 2 days before the cruise….so that helps also.

Same for us on November 5th. It does give us some wiggle room but I am wondering if we should just book a different airline just to be cautious. I'd like to think SW can get their act together by then.

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4 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Same for us on November 5th. It does give us some wiggle room but I am wondering if we should just book a different airline just to be cautious. I'd like to think SW can get their act together by then.

If you can book a flight with points that is cancellable without penalty, it’s worth considering.  We have backed up with American.  I made it for the next day so that I have ample time to canx if my SW flights go okay.

 

now, I might be stranded in San Juan coming home, but that wouldn’t be as bad..

Edited by dianajo67
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Don’t really get why people have issues with SWA’s boarding process.  Yup, you have to line up and read both your boarding pass and the poles to line up.  I’ve flown traditional seating airlines & everybody crowds the gate area even if it’s not their boarding group.  It’s the same cluster #%##.  SWA open seating - oh a crying baby/restless child/semi drunk adult - let’s sit somewhere else. Traditional seating - so sad, too bad.  I’ve also found, in my experience, the plane fills more efficiently with open seating - pick a seat & put your butt in it.  Traditional seating - is this row 20? No lady it’s row 6.  Keep moving!!

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I got caught up in the Southwest mess this weekend. It seems like I just made it out of Florida on my flight before all the cancelations started. My return flight Sunday morning was canceled and I was notified at midnight the night before. Went to reschedule and the earliest available was on Monday. Fortunately I kept checking and rechecking and finally got on a flight Sunday night. I wasn't too stressed as my plans were flexible, I have travel insurance and I still had access to a rental car. I ended up getting home about 10 hours after originally planned. But it was a huge mess and since SW said it was ATC and weather related they weren't giving people hotel or meal vouchers.

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