Southwest Airlines
reviews and complaints

I always have to pre-board so went up and asked the lady and explained why I have to pre-board, she looked at me and gave me this look like she didn't believe me so I went on to even show her my scar. It was humiliating to say the least. I then handed her my boarding pass as well as my husbands. I told her that my youngest two will need to board with us. She took my pass as well as my husbands and handed me back a preboard for my daughter. I went back up and asked and she rolled her eyes like as whatever and asked me what I'd your name, I began to tell her I had handed her my boarding pass in the beginning, and then I just told her my name. I then asked her and bout husband and kids and she told me in a very rude and insulting way well I don't care what's happened in the past but not today girl! I couldn't believe it, I was shocked. I told her we have always flown southwest and we have a business in Wisconsin and i can't believe your talking to customers like that. This ladies name is Ruthie and we are boarding at Gate 1 for Chicago/Midway
So I called customer service and the guys name was David and I got nowhere, he made excuses of why she was like that and basically justified why she was so rude!

I left Burbank yesterday flying to PDX via Oakland. My suitcase got left in Oakland and it was delivered today. The suitcase is totally destroyed. The handle to pull the suitcase will not move and is separated from the case, the frame of my suitcase is bent and the material that is around the frame is torn away and distorted. It is the middle size in the American Tourister suitcase and I cannot be used again. I have no idea what happened or if it was done at Oakland or PDX but it is a total loss.

I am not sure if it is repairable or if it needs to be replaced but I would appreciate someone getting back to me regarding what you will do to correct or replace the suitcase.

You can reach me at [protected] or [protected]@gmail.com. I will be waiting to hear from you.

Thank you
Babette Flynn

I was flying from southwest to New Orleans and it was my first time flying with an infant o ask the lady who covered her name so I couldn't report her why do I have to keep showing my baby birth cert if I showed it when I left New Orleans to come to Florida she got an attitude with me because I was asking questions
This was my first time flying with my baby and I had lots of questions and she just ignored me
I will not fly with southwest again but f there customer treats people this way

I have provided my boarding pass and baggage claim tags to SWAirlines regarding an item stolen out of my checked bag at LAX on June 15, 2019. Upon arrival at our destination, my $225 Coach crossbody bag had been stolen from my luggage. No TSA checked placard was in the bag. Southwest does not believe they are responsible for stolen items by their employees while yourbitems are in their posession. I have not been given a replacement purse or any indication that SWAir intends to take any responsibilty for my loss. I will file a police report and would appreciate any help to recover.

I have never flown in all of my 65 years due to severe anxiety issues. For my birthday my daughter purchased us tickets to go to a family reunion. While waiting for A passengers to load my daughter got in line to wait for B as she wanted to make sure we could sit together, the flight was crowded. Some very rude heavy set woman rolling a suitcase pushed it in front of my daughter and said I'm next. My daughter has not flown but a couple of times so she was not sure what she was referring to. As it turns out we were not out of our place in line. My daughter let her go ahead of her. I never spoke to this woman and my daughter only spoke to say go ahead of me. I was talking to my daughter as we were boarding and said maybe she was rude because she may need 2 seats. As we loaded the plane we took the last 2 seats that were together at the end of the plane. Did not see or talk to the woman in question once on the plane. We were belted in and the plane was running when two men approached us saying we needed to come with them. I was so alarmed thinking there was an emergency of some sort. One of the two men said we were being removed from the flight because of threat to another passenger. I said this is ridiculous there was nothing said to her. He then said to me, you've been drinking I smell alcohol. Wow! My daughter bought me one drink to help my anxiety before the flight. We had dinner plans with family upon our arrival and had to inform them we had been rudely kicked off the plane. Once off the plane we were told we were being rescheduled for a am flight in the morning. I said if we were a threat why would they book us another flight. The lady I was speaking to said we are going to give you a second chance. We live quite some distance from the airport so we had to spend the night in the airport. We had no sleep, cost of dinner in there was outrageous. We had to sleep as soon as we arrived to our destination the next day. Our flight home got canceled and was a stress factor for my daughter because of her young daughter at home and her job. We tried to get a flight on another airline when we got kicked off but the were $800 +++ I did call the airline and received a $75 voucher which I will Never use! I was told if someone complains this is how they handle it anyone could say anything. We did nothing to deserve this treatment. Any suggestions?

We had to change at last minute due to early arrival of a baby. Travel date change June 21 2018- Confirmation #SD7ZSP. After emailing Southwest to obtain the confirmation #, we called to be able to book a flight in July, using the credit that was left on this confirmation. The credit amount was $70.00. We were told travel had to be taken prior to midnight on 6/21/19. To be clear, though maybe an error, we were told when we changed the ticket that it had to be booked, not taken prior to the year date. Todays date is 6/19/19. I was then directed to call 'headquarters' and after holding for 58 minutes, a member of the 'executive team' listened to my request to have it extended as a courtesy and the reply was no we can't: and 'it's under $100.00 so we can't-if over $100 we could extend it 6 months'. And that was it - no response when I asked about customer care and loyalty. It was like a learned repetitive reply, since her answer was the same and pointed out it is in the policies. I then said couldn't you even offer a $50.00 gift card? I would think that Southwest Airlines would actually care about their customers and have some understanding of the situations. No empathy at all! I am requesting a gift card in the amount of $50.00-not even the full $70.00. Come on Southwest!

Hi I flew from Orlando Florida to denver then sacramento. My plane was delayed from Orlando to Denver having only five minutes to get to my flight to sacramento. When we got there m my ten year old and me could not find a seat on the plane and had to struggle to deal with people to see if i could get someone to move and leave me two seats to sit together I did not want to leave my daughter on a seat by herself for she is not use to flying and was scarde to sit nex to a creep. The airline stewrdist where of no help and I even had sone jerk try say something threating to me. I dont think I will use southwest in the future it was very stressful to me and my family.

Flight 2790 June 16 2019 San Jose Ca to houston hobby. Worst flight staff on any southwest or united flight i have ever taken and I fly monthly. got on plane and asked if they had an ear buds, response maybe but i'm too busy to look, 4 hour flight, wanted a second coke, response, no we're only serving cofee and water and too busy they said. WOW, probably not going to fly southwest again. the napkin motto says you receive only yes's here on our flight, all i got was a bunch of no's! I understand they are busy, but they didn't serve any snacks or food for purchase so all they had to do was hand out chips once and 1 beverage, then come down the isle with coffee and water, seriously 3 flight attendants and a 4 hour flight and you can't get a 2nd coke, our flight was delayed on the runway 45 minutes from bad weather so i was extra thirst. It was just so rude they way they said no to the coke, could have said well maybe after we are finished with coffee and water, never even thought about offering a compromise. seemed like the whole flight staff didn't want to be there that day, no smiles and no people skills, ruined my impression of southwest and won't recommend southwest to anyone. thanks maria phillips

My wife and i were in the Dominican Republic May 25th thru May 30th at Punta Cana resort. I fail extremely ill after three days and continued very ill for 5 days after returning home in Chicago. I have received head aches stomach aches and diarrhea. while flying home i had severe chills and nausea. We were not warned about the water until the next day. There was no life guards to warn about the water and very few English speaking people to instruct or caution you from some hazards. After three week i am still feeling ill and periods of diarrhea. please help with any support or claim we used the Southwest Vacation All Inclusive package.

On June 6th, 2019, I was scheduled to depart Las Vegas via flight 1648 at 0520hrs and arrive in Los Angeles at 0630hrs. I was scheduled to report to my plae of employment by 0900hrs. Flight 1648 did not depart Las Vegas until nearly 0800hrs. Once flight 1648 arrived in Los Angeles, passengers aboard this flight were detained inside the plain for an additional two hours. At 1100hrs we were finally allowed to exit the plain. At this time I was approximately 4hrs and 30mins late for my employment. Even though I contacted my employer and made them aware of the situation, I was subsequently suspended for 5 days. I humbly request Southwest airlines to compensate me with a round trip airfare to my desired destination within the Uninted States. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.
Sean B. Cade /[protected]/cade.[protected]@ymail.com

To Whom it man Concern,

re: Confirmation # SDBWBV - May 24-28, 2019

I am requesting compensation for unreasonable travel time via Southwest Airlines on May 28th. On my scheduled flight back home to Los Angeles, California, I expected to return home at a reasonable hour of 11:30 pm PST to enjoy the following day, May 29th which was my birthday. To my astonishment, that did not happen due to Southwest planes having mechanical problems.

Instead, my flight did arrive home until the next day at 3:15 am the day of my birthday on May 29th. My home is 45 min away from the LAX (Chino Hills, CA) which meant I did not get home until approximately 4:45 am. Please note that I had to walk at night, by myself, to a facility where my vehicle was parked because there was only 1 shuttle bus being operating at that time of the morning.

Please further note that my flight consisted of 2 legs; BWI to STL/STL to LAX. Both departing flights had mechanical problems. In the STL to LAX departure, Southwest was well aware of that planes mechanical issues as we were place on a plane that had flown in with mechanical issues. Further, everyone on the STL to LAX had to walk to at least 4 different gates before Southwest decided upon the exact gate of departure.

I have attached both flight itineraries which can be confirmed by Southwest accordingly. I await Southwest's reply.

Thank you,
Robin Smith
Southwest Awards Member: #[protected]
email address: [protected]@gmail.com

I had a return reservation (UZJXSV) from 28 May 19 and return on 4 Jun 19, from ATL to LGA. to attend the birth of my Grandson. An emergency arose on 16th May, and I had to home in NY ASAP, as my pregnant Daughter was admitted into Hospital for early emergency delivery.
I called your Reservations and tried to adjust my departure to 16 May and was told that the flights were fully booked and was available for Fri 17 May for $62.00. I accepted that flight and asked to Agent to cancel my return on 4 Jun 19, because I was unsure of the emergency or complications from from it. Your Agent assured me the he would cancel the 4 Jun 19 return trip and that I would receive a Credit of 92.00.
After my my family was discharged from the Hospital and was well; I called called your Reservation to check on the price of an earlier return date ticket to ATL as I was NY much earlier than planned. The Prices were very high as it was approaching the Memorial Weekend. I asked to Agent to confirm that I had the 92.00 credited for the cancelled leg on 4 Jun 19; the Agent confirmed my 92.00 credit and I thanks the individual.
I came back to ATL on the 26th May 19, using Frontier and on 4th June I received an email from Southwest Airline informing me that I was listed as a No Show Passenger for a flight on that 4th Jun 19, (that was supposed to be cancelled on 16 May 19). I immediately called your Reservations with my complaint and was told to write to you. It seemed that I did not receive efficient and reliable service on the 16th May 19, when I re-booked my flight from the 28 May to that earlier date of 17 May19. Please investigate my case, because I was given incorrect and false information by your Agents on 2 occasions about my 92.00, and came back very early to be able to cancel the 4th Jun flight if I needed to.

She was the south western customer service agent taking our boarding pass I asked her name as I tried to look at her badge and she smacked me and said very rudely " you never touch me, I touch you! " she said "you look up here, this is my name do y look at my badge" I said I am sorry I just wanted your name she said "why" I said I want it she asked me my name I told her she said yea, good to know then took my ticket and placed it inside her personal magazine and handed me back my grandsons boarding pass. It sounded like a threat I mean hey she never took anyone else's tickets from them just mine after she assaulted me! Never again and yes there were witnesses

This is our 3rd email our flight out of Las Vegas flight 0159 to Chicago was cancelled flight 0031. 5/29/19and then again 5/30/19 cancelled we had to get hotels for them 2 more days and also our rental car from budget also our car that was parked at Hartford Ct. for 2 days we did check there were no weather problems and we do have receipts every thing was paid on our Southwest card so that can be checked we have never had this problem and have flown many times on Southwest so if somebody can respond to this my email is [protected]@gmail.com and phone #[protected].
Thank you Rosalene and Stephen Birtles.

TSA Friday May 31st in Oakland wasted so much time with me, making me put my suitcase through their damn X rays multiple times, sending me back to wait in the Ticketing line, far from "security" checks, they destroyed my iPod, and definitely made me almost miss my plane.
When I asked Southwest Air to put my TSA Precheck number, which was clearly on my reservation, onto my Boarding pass, they prevaricated and danced around, finally saying "sorry"...probably so they could let TSA harass me further. Then S.W. Air, on the return flight from L.A., after I asked for the TSA Precheck to be put on my boarding pass, suddenly decided to cancel my flight and say it was "delayed for an hour and a half."
At which point I realized I could rent a car and DRIVE back to Oakland faster than waiting around for their incompetence to miss my appointment, which I did.
SW Air owes me the cost of the rental car from Marina del Rey to Walnut Creek, plus gas = $ 107.74.
I'll never get the time back wasted on the road, as opposed to wasted waiting for Southwest Airlines and the the TSA's harassment.

On 5/28/2019 I attempted to fly from Reno/Tahoe to LGA New York with a stop in Chicago. When the flight arrived in Chicago, I learned the flight to LGA was cancelled "due to weather". Obviously a long line to book another flight into LGA. Gate clerk was only able to find a flight from Chicago to Orlando and then on to ISLIP Long Island NY. So I agreed to take the flight otherwise it would be 2 days before they could get a flight to LGA. I was told my luggage would be routed to ISLIP. When I arrived in ISLIP at 1:30 AM on 5/29/2019 due to more delayed flights, my luggage was not there. I tried to report it to the ISLIP baggage customer service who told me my luggage was in LGA. Not sure how my luggage got there since they couldn't get me there! In any event ISLIP refused to open a claim and told me I had to file it with LGA. They gave me LGA phone number but no one answered the phone. I rented a car from Long Island to go to LGA to pick up my luggage but they were closed. I had to return the car rental. Then spent the rest of the day calling several SW customer service offices to try to get my luggage. Finally, their central office in Dallas filed the baggage report and called and sent emails to LGA to contact me. Still no call from LGA baggage office. I kept calling and finally spoke with another person in central baggage who told me that the claim number I was given by Customer Service was incorrect. In any event, they had located my luggage and if I wanted it delivered I had to pay $40 and I was responsible for contacting the delivery service to have that done! Other airlines have lost my luggage before and never once have they asked me to pay to have it delivered. They took responsibility as they should have and they made arrangements to deliver it. Bottom line, I needed the luggage since one piece was our baby's crib and he needed a bed to sleep in so I paid for the delivery. I was told it would be delivered at 2 AM o 5/31/2019 and of course it was delayed and didn't arrive until about 8 AM. Southwest Airlines has truly earned the name SouthWORST Airlines!

Arrived at MDW at 10:00 am on 5/29/2019 for Flight from MDW to DAL (confirmation # WI7JNO) cancelled, and then cancelled again. Changed our flight to be from MDW to Albuquerque. Delayed, delayed, and then delayed again. No one at the desk to ask questions. No one provided any info AT ALL(no way to say it but in caps). Called Southwest customer service who said what is the problem it has only been two hours - IT HAS BEEN 12 HOURS(no way to say it but in caps). With no information, and she can't help me because it is up to the airport. And calling customer service when the recording says 15 minute wait is like 45 minute wait. And if you leave a call back to save yourself in line - NO ONE CALLS BACK(no way to say it but in caps). And then gets worse - they have waited all day and are treated like stand by. Last seats on the flight. What would have happened if there had been no seats? They would still be waiting with no information. My daughter was supposed to get into Dallas on the afternoon of 5/29/2019 and she will not get in there until 5/30/2019 late in the day. 24 HOURS LATE! I think at the very least they should be given comp flights - full refund. If we are late we miss the flight. If Southwest is late it's not their fault? And I guess they think they don't have to explain, since they don't.

My wife and I go to some effort to plan our trips. We have had, up until lately, good service with Southwest Airlines. That has changed. We flew out of New Orleans on Saturday, April 13 and our flight was cancelled only hours before we were scheduled to depart. We had no where to stay and other plans we had made were disrupted because of the flight being cancelled. We checked and other flights by Southwest and other airlines were honored so it was not weather related. We were not told why the flight was cancelled. We lost valuable time and money due to this abrupt change in schedule. It appeared that the contract we had with Southwest was only honored from our end of the bargain. We ended up taking frontier airlines to get home.

Now, I tried to fly home from Indianapolis Indiana on Wednesday, May 22 and again my flight was cancelled less than 24 hours from my scheduled flight time leaving me without a place to stay or means of transportation. Again, my valuable time and money was spent on trying to recover from this disruption in my carefully made plans. Our plans were predicated on allowing my wife to travel during daylight hours because she is taking cancer medications and that had to change because the airlines did not honor their end of the contract. Again we honored our end and made careful plans based on the assumption that the airlines would honor their end. Southwest airlines did not honor their end and we paid the price for it. Again we checked and other flights by southwest and other airlines at the same time to the same or nearby locations were honored. So, this was not due to weather.

You have proven yourself to be not trustworthy and unreliable. Therefore we will have to look for other airlines in the future. We believe that we are due compensation for our trouble and your waste of our time and money. But under the circumstances, it appears that your airline has changed its policies and is no longer concerned with the customer.

Glen & Nancy Mink
[protected]
10430 NE Fox Farm Road
Dundee, Oregon 97115
[protected]@yahoo.com
[protected]@nancyminkart.com

Hi,
I am not one to complain, but I feel very offended by the way we were treated on our flight 1838 to Boise from Spokane on April 11, 2019. First of all, there were 3 of us flying to Boise and since our flight was delayed we decided to have a few drinks in the airport bar. We were minding our own business having a few laughs. After we boarded (around 9:30 pm) the plane we asked our flight attendants, Taylor and Liberty to order a drink, and they blatanly told us that we were not allowed any alcohol. I have never ever in my 42 years been denied alcohol on a flight! We were appaulded by the way they treated us. The mother sitting in front of us with her adult child asked to have a cocktail too and they denied her. To top the night off, when we land in Boise, our luggage never was put on the plane in Spokane! At this point, the 3 of us have had enough with Southwest! We go to the luggage claim booth in the Boise airport and the gentleman at the front counter was rude and his customer service skills were lacking tremendously! He told me that he did not have to give us customer service because he was a union worker! What does that have anything to with it? I explained to him that I work for the State of Idaho and customer service is a must regardless if you are a union worker or not. This gentleman was reported about the next morning when we had to drive back to the airport to pick up all of our luggage. What are the odds that we were denied alcohol and then our luggage is missing? I don't know what is going on with Southwest, this airline has always been my 1st choice for flying my entire life; that is no longer the case. I am writing this complaint because I feel your customer service skills need to be addressed on the plane and off the plane. The 2 flight attendants should be repremanded for their entitled attitudes towards us. We 3 were paying customers and did not deserve to be treated so disrespectfully. I would appreciate a response and also compensation for our whole horrible experience. Thank you for your time and look forward to hearing your response.

Angela Richards
[protected]@hotmail.com - [protected] N Emerald Dr Hayden, ID 83835

My wife and daughter and another friend were scheduled on a flight leaving Tampa Florida at 5:46 PM flying to Columbus Ohio on May 5. We arrived at the airport at 12:30 from the port returning from a cruise. We were checking our bags curbside when the attendant informed me the flight was delayed until 7:45 and we were too early to check our bags. So we waited until 1:45 went to the counter checked all bags except 1 it was 1 lb over so we moved to a place to move contents maybe this took 1 min but in that time the clerk said it was her break time and walked away making us wait in line again to check the bag. Planning to leave at 7:45 in the next 4 hrs I received 3 text messages where the flight was delayed until 8:20 then 7:20 then back to 8:20 . Luckily I sat beside a flight attendant that works for southwest airlines that was also waiting on a flight. She went to a counter and found out that the flight had been moved back to 7:45 but was at a completely different gate at the other end of the terminal. We got to the right gate as they were loading. Now mind you the last text I had said the flight was delayed until 8:20 . Once we arrived in Columbus we discovered that one of our luggage was damaged. This was taken care of by your office in Columbus. My family has always used southwest airlines for all the travel needs but after this mess we will have to check out other options. No reason was ever given for the delay the counter help walked away to go to break and luggage was damaged and flight changes and gate changes were not given on a timely manner . This chain of events will have me looking elsewhere in the future for my flying needs .