Current Events > Southwest delayed my flight 4 times, then cancelled 30 min before boarding

(+) Yeah! (+)

Was a horrible traveling experience this weekend, jesus christ. Flew out to Los Angeles for a quick weekend camping/hiking trip. Was supposed to fly back Sunday night at 7pm to Houston.

Sunday around 1, they delayed the flight from 7pm to 10pm, then changed it to 10:30pm, then back down to 10pm. Then they delayed it to 10:50pm. We get to the airport at 9, go through security, check bags. 30 minutes before boarding starts, Southwest texts everyone cancelling the flight entirely, trying to put us on a return flight for Tuesday(today).

Fucking ridiculous. 200+ people all jumped in line instantly to try and figure out what was happening. They found zero flights to put us on till Tuesday, so we got a refund instead of waiting till today to come back. Luckily found a United flight for about the same price I got refunded. Southwest didn't give any extra compensation for the inconvenience, either. Lots of people got stuck till Tuesday, but they did at least give us a hotel voucher for a Sheraton.

Is this the new normal for travel via plane? Thousands of flight cancellations every single day now, it seems.

MFBKBass5 posted...

Southwest didn't give any extra compensation for the inconvenience, either.

Yeah I hate this shit.

I have a flight in about four hours, how much you wanna bet it gets cancelled and I get no compensation despite blasting me with "you may entitled to compensation!!" emails.

Hope your flight goes well today!!

You can get reimbursed and more. I think there's a new law about this, look into it

ApherosyLove posted...

Yeah I hate this shit.

I have a flight in about four hours, how much you wanna bet it gets cancelled and I get no compensation despite blasting me with "you may entitled to compensation!!" emails.

Hope your flight goes well today!!

I got back yesterday via United, actually. There were like 5 open spots on that flight, so we were able to snag them right as they cancelled our Southwest flights while waiting in line for Southwest to deal with their mess.

Dan_Haren- posted...

You can get reimbursed and more. I think there's a new law about this, look into it

idk if that applies yet. We even called Southwest after they kept delaying, and were on hold for an hour and a half. Nearly impossible to reach someone to even talk to.

That sucks. But I'm glad you got recompensated and found a new flight.

so what have they compensated you so far? they've given you meals atleast since then right

Dan_Haren- posted...

You can get reimbursed and more. I think there's a new law about this, look into it

You wanna see the email I got this morning about my reimbursement?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/0/3/AAZuMeAADl9P.jpg

Like my ass it was a safety issue.

Lil_Bit83 posted...

That sucks. But I'm glad you got recompensated and found a new flight.

Shoulda been more than just a refund for that stint of the flight. I didn't get a full refund, just for the second half of my flight.

pick4six posted...

so what have they compensated you so far? they've given you meals atleast since then right

Total flight cost was 450 both ways. They compensated me 215 for the second half. No meal voucher.

Theres been problems with flights in Texas. Only heard about it because there was a big Smash tournament in the state this past weekend. The #1 Smash Ultimate player in the world (MkLeo) just happened to be in a tv interview about it lol

https://twitter.com/thrillho22/status/1561847873263869952

The funniest part is they very likely knew the flight was canceled/was going to be the whole time.

Airlines do this shit now. Well, maybe they always did, I dont know, but they most certainly do now.

Yeah canceled flights are a thing. The airlines probably adjusted for pandemic conditions throughout the year. Theres a shortage of airline and airport personnel from what i read going into this summer.

At this point, if I needed to travel, I'd probably just drive. I'm hearing about way too many nightmare stores of people being stranded in connecting airports and the airlines are basically telling them to go fuck themselves.

smh it sounds like they're not paying the workers enough, why put in extra hours when they don't give raises? smdh

ECW_Originals12 posted...

The funniest part is they very likely knew the flight was canceled/was going to be the whole time.

Airlines do this shit now. Well, maybe they always did, I dont know, but they most certainly do now.

This was my biggest problem with it. They clearly knew there were issues with the flight but waited for everyone to already check bags, go through security, and sit waiting to board. They should have been honest early on so passengers could find other arrangements earlier in the day.

pick4six posted...

smh it sounds like they're not paying the workers enough, why put in extra hours when they don't give raises? smdh

I think there's a massive pilot shortage. And pilots get forced retirement at age 65.

ApherosyLove posted...

You wanna see the email I got this morning about my reimbursement?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/0/3/AAZuMeAADl9P.jpg

Like my ass it was a safety issue.

I dunno if that's old policy or new. The new was supposed to be more flyer friendly.

Tried looking how to complain to Southwest and request further compensation, but of course calling them gives me a wait time of hours, and there's no live chat function with agents. Can email but the response I got said it might take up to 10 days for a single response.

These airlines need far more oversight. They're fucking customers over and being greedy by offering flights they can't even honor.

Yep.

Flight travel will carry premium prices soon plus the inflation will factor in after that. Also, expect less flights to destinations if safety is being cited for these canceled flights.

Flight travel demands will balance soon though and news of price increases will likely happen before the next travel season of the winter

HBOSS posted...

Yep.

Flight travel will carry premium prices soon plus the inflation will factor in after that. Also, expect less flights to destinations if safety is being cited for these canceled flights.

Flight travel demands will balance soon though and news of price increases will likely happen before the next travel season of the winter

only the rich and elite will be able to feasibly travel in the future, I think. Even now, you gotta have some decent cash to travel these days.

I've never flown anywhere but seriously, it just sounds like a nightmare.

WrkHrdPlayHrdr posted...

I've never flown anywhere but seriously, it just sounds like a nightmare.

i mean its an inconvenience, but not the worst thing in the world.

my main thing is if Im paying for a $400 flight, they better fucking hold up their end of the deal

I AM HOME!
With only a 30 minute delay because the aircraft was "too hot."

Im actually super impressed. Southwest already responded to my email, and gave me an additional $300 travel voucher on top of the 215 I got refunded for the second half of my trip.

i outlined what happened in the email, and told them Ive been a loyal customer for years and after this fiasco I was reconsidering ever flying with them again lmao

so $520 back on a flight that cost me 410 originally. 220 back on my card and 300 in vouchers. Thats what Im talking about!

they shouldn't of ran those flights if they couldn't fill them :(. goddamn delays

lmaooooo I always get so lucky. SOuthwest told me the voucher would be for $300, then this morning sent me one for only $250. So I emailed again saying why's it different, and they sent an ADDITIONAL voucher for $300. So 550 total in vouchers, with a 220 dollar refund too lolololol