Southwest booted me off my flight!

[lurkernj]

Last Saturday I was ecstatic to see I could book AirTran on southwest.com with points while looking for my April flights. I got a nice flight leaving Orlando at 7p for just 7680 points. Today they called me to say that flight shouldn't have been offered as it was full and asked me to move to the 9p flight, and they'd give me a $200 certificate for a future flight. I asked if they could keep me on the flight and make the offer to someone else since BFF and I are flying in on different flights landing 30 min apart. She said no they couldn't do that and she booked me on the later flight

Just some inconvenient growing pains, but I guess I can start planning another trip with my $200

 

[magicaldisney]

It's only a two hour difference so it won't be so bad. Enjoy the credit!!

 

[TLSnell1981]

It's only a two hour difference so it won't be so bad. Enjoy the credit!!

Huh? I find the situation totally unacceptable!!

 

[sam_gordon]

Huh? I find the situation totally unacceptable!!

I agree it shouldn't have happened. But what could SW do? Hope for a no-show? I wouldnt like it, but $200 would help mitigate my frustration.

 

[magicaldisney]

Huh? I find the situation totally unacceptable!!

Sometimes you have to make lemonade out of lemons. There is nothing the OP can do to change it so......therefore.....lemonade!

 

[wiigirl]

Sometimes you have to make lemonade out of lemons. There is nothing the OP can do to change it so......therefore.....lemonade!

lol...hate that expression....but agree.

 

[msjprincess]

Sometimes you have to make lemonade out of lemons. There is nothing the OP can do to change it so......therefore.....lemonade!

I agree/ If the flight is full, it's full. There is not much else they can do about it.

 

[robinb]

Only $200 for an involuntary bump? That doesn't see nearly enough to me.

 

[TLSnell1981]

only $200 for an involuntary bump? That doesn't see nearly enough to me.

ita

 

[lurkernj]

I wouldn't have cared at all, except now BFF will be waiting in the airport for 1.5 hrs for me so we can drive the hour and fifteen minutes home together. She's flying us air and can't change her flight without a fee. She said shed make sure she had something to read

I was ok with the $200 since it happened over the phone and not at the airport.

They said they were calling a lot of people so its not just a matter of one seat.

 

[keishashadow]

Only $200 for an involuntary bump? That doesn't see nearly enough to me.

i'd have requested to speak to a supervisor, have a feeling they'd up the ante.

OP at the very least you likely could request to be placed on any AT or SWA flight that would work better as to arrival time.

 

[gojoe]

I've heard SW overbooks all the flights it can, because of no shows.
I use to watch the TV Airline and they overbooked all the time. That's what made the show so funny.

 

[mom2jcg]

I've heard SW overbooks all the flights it can, because of no shows.
I use to watch the TV Airline and they overbooked all the time. That's what made the show so funny.

I worked for a major airline several years ago (not SWA) and at that time, we were told that most flights are oversold to a degree. They kept statistics that told the percentages of no shows on certain flights, and booked accordingly. If what we were told is accurate, they were pretty good at predicting, as I only remember a few instances of offering up credits for passengers to take later flights. The one thing that is strange to me is that they called OP before the trip to do this. Sounds more like a computer glitch than an intentional oversell, as they wouldn't know how many would "no show" until the flight was ready to depart.

 

[crashbb]

This isn't the normal involuntary "bump" situation - that happens at the time of the flight (at the gate). Also probably why they wouldn't make the offer to someone else (as the OP requested) - it was a specific issue with the OP's ticket.

Not saying that I wouldn't have been annoyed or asked for a supervisor, just saying it isn't really an IDB.

OP - is your friend on SW? If so, I'd try seeing if they'd let her move to a later flight (so closer to your arrival time).

 

[seashoreCM]

Last Saturday I was ecstatic to see I could book AirTran on southwest.com with points while looking for my April flights. I got a nice flight leaving Orlando at 7p for just 7680 points. Today they called me to say that flight shouldn't have been offered as it was full and asked me to move to the 9p flight, and they'd give me a $200 certificate for a future flight. I asked if they could keep me on the flight and make the offer to someone else since BFF and I are flying in on different flights landing 30 min apart. She said no they couldn't do that and she booked me on the later flight

Just some inconvenient growing pains, but I guess I can start planning another trip with my $200

If you already have a confirmed reservation then they do not have the right to switch you to a different flight while the original flight still exists and any necessary connections are still legal. Hopefully you printscreened * your original reservations.

Normally I consider a later flight home to be more desirable. If you would rather keep the $200. voucher then double check what your confirmation looks like now.

By the way how do you get the voucher and how do you prove that the voucher was offered? I would ask for something by email to confirm this and if that did not appear in a day or two, then call the airline back.

* Requires more than pressing the PrtScn button.
'

 

[kaytieeldr]

If you already have a confirmed reservation then they do not have the right to switch you to a different flight while the original flight still exists and any necessary connections are still legal.

Sure they do. Your airline reservation ultimately only assures you of passage from point A to point B on the scheduled date (and even that could be impossible with weather or other emergency closures).

 

[lurkernj]

This isn't the normal involuntary "bump" situation - that happens at the time of the flight (at the gate). Also probably why they wouldn't make the offer to someone else (as the OP requested) - it was a specific issue with the OP's ticket.

Not saying that I wouldn't have been annoyed or asked for a supervisor, just saying it isn't really an IDB.

OP - is your friend on SW? If so, I'd try seeing if they'd let her move to a later flight (so closer to your arrival time).

Shes flying us air and unable to change without a fee.

If you already have a confirmed reservation then they do not have the right to switch you to a different flight while the original flight still exists and any necessary connections are still legal. Hopefully you printscreened * your original reservations.

Normally I consider a later flight home to be more desirable. If you would rather keep the $200. voucher then double check what your confirmation looks like now.

By the way how do you get the voucher and how do you prove that the voucher was offered? I would ask for something by email to confirm this and if that did not appear in a day or two, then call the airline back.

* Requires more than pressing the PrtScn button.
'

I have my printed reservation, but she made it clear there were no seats left.

Since it was the first day the AirTran flights were available on sw, I'm guessing they didn't include the previously booked AirTran passengers before filling it with sw passengers. Those AirTran passengers would already have seat assignments, therefore no place to sit for the new people. She said there were a lot of people they were contacting, so I'm not the only one, and this probably isn't the only flight.

She said I'd receive a voucher in the mail.

 

[seashoreCM]

I have my printed reservation, but she made it clear there were no seats left. .

Then they must ask for volunteers at the airport.

Airlines call people up for this purpose all the time and are known to call fliers up at 2 in the morning to (added later) try to get the fliers to sleepily agree to change their flights.

 

[crashbb]

Then they must ask for volunteers at the airport.

Airlines do this all the time and are known to call fliers up at 2 in the morning to get the fliers to sleepily agree to change their flights.

No, the do not have to wait to ask for volunteers at the airport - as you prove by your second statement. You are contradicting yourself.

What happened to the OP is very annoying, but not, in fact, against the Contract of Carriage.

 

[seashoreCM]

What happened to the OP is very annoying, but not, in fact, against the Contract of Carriage.

I beg to differ. But I don't want to turn this thread into a three (you, k...r, and g...k) against one (me 'sans' flame suit) cat fight.

To the OP: Now you can enjoy two more hours of park time at the expense of keeping your friend waiting, and (tell her in advance, like today) blame it on the airline.