My 28 hour Southwest adventure home Friday 10/8/21 - MCO to MDW

[ScubaCat]

With all the Southwest news floating around, I figured I'd share my own little adventure from this past weekend. I've flown about 20 times on Southwest since covid, and about 50% of them have had some sort of delay or problem. This past Friday was my most adventurous, and my years of travel experience definitely came in handy.

I attempted to fly home from MCO on Southwest this past Friday evening. I was lined up to board, told to sit back down in the gate area, and then was informed that all flights Friday evening were cancelled. Everyone around me in the gate area was automatically rebooked to the 7:30pm flight Saturday evening. As people queued up half way across the terminal to reschedule at with the gate agents, I recognized the pointlessness of getting in that line and instead quickly booked a room at the embassy suites near the airport since I knew available rooms wouldn't last very long after an announcement like that. With the room secured, I refreshed the SW app a bunch of times times checking for a different flight home. Eventually the 6:45am flight suddenly popped up as available, at which point I quickly switched to that knowing it would be available for a matter of seconds before someone else got it.

Went downstairs to get my luggage and discovered that Southwest was refusing to release anyone's luggage (translation: there was nobody available to do it). So, I reluctantly made my way to the shuttle pickup and the 3rd time it came back I was able to get onto the large embassy suites van, got to my room, and ordered a pizza. Got up Saturday morning at 4:15am for the 5:00am shuttle and was able to get home on the 6:45 am flight which thankfully was only about 30 minutes late.

Arrived at MDW and of course my luggage didn't show up, so I filed that report (made it into the baggage office just in time before it received it's own massive queue). Uber'ed home and was at least thankful to have made it, albeit without my clothes and substantial volume of massively overpriced 50th WDW merch still in limbo somewhere. Received a call around 4:00pm that my baggage was expected to arrive around 5:45pm and I should receive a call at approx. 6:30pm to discuss options for retrieval. I noticed the 3pm flight was slightly delayed and estimated arrival stated 5:45pm, so apparently my bags were on that flight. Unsurprisingly, the 6:30pm call never came because the baggage office was still overwhelmed.

Around 9:00pm I couldn't settle down about my 2 bags so I decided to roll the dice and drive to the airport (about 20 miles), pay for an hour of parking, and see if my bags might happen to be there. Armed with my claim tags, the "mislocated" (love that term) luggage report, and ID, I paced up and down the 4 long rows of bags just sitting there, many tagged with the flight number I was originally checked on the night before (which is what mine would say) but I did not see my bags. It was more than a little frightening how much luggage was just sitting there unsecured in the bag claim area. Nevertheless, the available SW employees were really trying to hard to accommodate everyone, but they were clearly overwhelmed. The line for the baggage office was actually twice as long as it was when I left earlier in the morning, literally 12 hours prior. I finally came across a nice lady with a SW badge who was trying to give people direction and showed her my report and explained that I had received the call earlier. She immediately led me to a back room where the baggage that was reported missing was held for processing and sure enough, my 2 bags were there. She asked for the report and to keep the claim tags so they could mark them, and I was happy to oblige, and took my 2 bags home.

Thus, 28 hours after I initially lined up to board the Friday evening flight, a hotel, dinner, breakfast, an extra round-trip to the airport and $4 for an hour of parking, I successfully made it home with my bags.

Fun side node: Both the 7:30pm flight I was originally rescheduled for and the later 9:00pm flight on Saturday were cancelled.

 

[Gitelfor]

With all the Southwest news floating around, I figured I'd share my own little adventure from this past weekend. I've flown about 20 times on Southwest since covid, and about 50% of them have had some sort of delay or problem. This past Friday was my most adventurous, and my years of travel experience definitely came in handy.

I attempted to fly home from MCO on Southwest this past Friday evening. I was lined up to board, told to sit back down in the gate area, and then was informed that all flights Friday evening were cancelled. Everyone around me in the gate area was automatically rebooked to the 7:30pm flight Saturday evening. As people queued up half way across the terminal to reschedule at with the gate agents, I recognized the pointlessness of getting in that line and instead quickly booked a room at the embassy suites near the airport since I knew available rooms wouldn't last very long after an announcement like that. With the room secured, I refreshed the SW app a bunch of times times checking for a different flight home. Eventually the 6:45am flight suddenly popped up as available, at which point I quickly switched to that knowing it would be available for a matter of seconds before someone else got it.

Went downstairs to get my luggage and discovered that Southwest was refusing to release anyone's luggage (translation: there was nobody available to do it). So, I reluctantly made my way to the shuttle pickup and the 3rd time it came back I was able to get onto the large embassy suites van, got to my room, and ordered a pizza. Got up Saturday morning at 4:15am for the 5:00am shuttle and was able to get home on the 6:45 am flight which thankfully was only about 30 minutes late.

Arrived at MDW and of course my luggage didn't show up, so I filed that report (made it into the baggage office just in time before it received it's own massive queue). Uber'ed home and was at least thankful to have made it, albeit without my clothes and substantial volume of massively overpriced 50th WDW merch still in limbo somewhere. Received a call around 4:00pm that my baggage was expected to arrive around 5:45pm and I should receive a call at approx. 6:30pm to discuss options for retrieval. I noticed the 3pm flight was slightly delayed and estimated arrival stated 5:45pm, so apparently my bags were on that flight. Unsurprisingly, the 6:30pm call never came because the baggage office was still overwhelmed.

Around 9:00pm I couldn't settle down about my 2 bags so I decided to roll the dice and drive to the airport (about 20 miles), pay for an hour of parking, and see if my bags might happen to be there. Armed with my claim tags, the "mislocated" (love that term) luggage report, and ID, I paced up and down the 4 long rows of bags just sitting there, many tagged with the flight number I was originally checked on the night before (which is what mine would say) but I did not see my bags. It was more than a little frightening how much luggage was just sitting there unsecured in the bag claim area. Nevertheless, the available SW employees were really trying to hard to accommodate everyone, but they were clearly overwhelmed. The line for the baggage office was actually twice as long as it was when I left earlier in the morning, literally 12 hours prior. I finally came across a nice lady with a SW badge who was trying to give people direction and showed her my report and explained that I had received the call earlier. She immediately led me to a back room where the baggage that was reported missing was held for processing and sure enough, my 2 bags were there. She asked for the report and to keep the claim tags so they could mark them, and I was happy to oblige, and took my 2 bags home.

Thus, 28 hours after I initially lined up to board the Friday evening flight, a hotel, dinner, breakfast, an extra round-trip to the airport and $4 for an hour of parking, I successfully made it home with my bags.

Fun side node: Both the 7:30pm flight I was originally rescheduled for and the later 9:00pm flight on Saturday were cancelled.

You just provided a tutorial for others facing the same dilemma!

 

[SteveH]

Thanks for sharing! Glad you were able to navigate the challenges you faced with relative ease. I figure the repercussions are going to be around for a week as luggage is strewn all over the country and they are already overwhelmed and short staffed. But talk about a complete and utter mess. While the story/issue behind this was well intentioned, I really fear we are going to see this type of fiasco all over the country as a result of these polices and impact on employees who pull a Nancy Regan and "Just say No!"

 

[ScubaCat]

Thanks for sharing! Glad you were able to navigate the challenges you faced with relative ease. I figure the repercussions are going to be around for a week as luggage is strewn all over the country and they are already overwhelmed and short staffed. But talk about a complete and utter mess. While the story/issue behind this was well intentioned, I really fear we are going to see this type of fiasco all over the country as a result of these polices and impact on employees who pull a Nancy Regan and "Just say No!"

It's hard to pinpoint the cause. On one hand, the vaccine mandate could have some impact, but American and United already have announced the same policy without the same impact. Last I read, Delta stated that they're charging $200 more per month for their health insurance to unvaccinated employees. Some of the mainstream news articles from today state this: "Southwest had 3,614 flights scheduled on Sunday, the most since April 2020 and down 8% from the same day in 2019, before the pandemic, according to aviation consulting firm Cirium." Taking that quote into consideration, no way are they anywhere near 92% of the staffing levels of April 2019. So while there could be some sort of a rebellion against the vaccine requirement, that's at most the straw that broke the camel's back. From what I've read in recent months, SW management has had a strained relationship with the unions for a while and has clearly been overscheduling flights for a while as well. Thus, when there's a disaster like this, the dominos all fall.

Hopefully they're able to work out their management level issues, come to terms with the unions, and get back to normal. When you read my drama above, realize I'm extremely lucky compared to most of the people in my situation. There were a LOT of people sleeping on the floor and chairs at MCO Friday night, and who knows how long it took them to finally get home and how much longer to finally retrieve their luggage. (not to mention if anyone made the mistake of packing medication or other critical necessities in their checked bags,)

 

[ScubaCat]

You just provided a tutorial for others facing the same dilemma!

I have learned many tricks over the years. Most importantly, have an emergency game plan ahead of time, don't panic, and take the path of least resistance. If you see a massive queue for 2 gate agents or are warned of a 2+ hour hold time on the phone, look for another option. By the time you do get to speak with someone after waiting however many hours it takes, what do you really think will be available for you?

Transportation and hotel options are extremely limited when tens of thousands of people are suddenly stranded at an airport. Don't assume a taxi, uber, or rental car will be available if you wait too long, either. Best option is an airport hotel that has a shuttle. The Hyatt in the airport seems tempting but that will be booked up INSTANTLY; thus, I didn't even consider it. If you have a friend or other personal connection in the area, I'd call them first. Today, your smartphone is your best friend. Book the airport hotel online ASAP and then figure out what you're going to do next knowing you won't be stuck there all night on the floor.

 

[Gitelfor]

I attempted to fly home from MCO on Southwest this past Friday evening. I was lined up to board, told to sit back down in the gate area, and then was informed that all flights Friday evening were cancelled. Everyone around me in the gate area was automatically rebooked to the 7:30pm flight Saturday evening. As people queued up half way across the terminal to reschedule at with the gate agents, I recognized the pointlessness of getting in that line and instead quickly booked a room at the embassy suites near the airport since I knew available rooms wouldn't last very long after an announcement like that. With the room secured, I refreshed the SW app a bunch of times times checking for a different flight home. Eventually the 6:45am flight suddenly popped up as available, at which point I quickly switched to that knowing it would be available for a matter of seconds before someone else got it.

When you rebooked yourself, online, did the system give you a message, allowing you to change your flight at no additional cost?

 

[JaxDad]

Taking that quote into consideration, no way are they anywhere near 92% of the staffing levels of April 2019.

Actually, they reportedly had 60,800 employees in 2019, and they have approximately 56,000 now. That’s 92 percent.

 

[ScubaCat]

When you rebooked yourself, online, did the system give you a message, allowing you to change your flight at no additional cost?

Yes, once they cancelled and rebooked us on a new flight, everyone who knew how (where to click.. "Details" and then "Change") could do the one-time rebooking for free.

Actually, they reportedly had 60,800 employees in 2019, and they have approximately 56,000 now. That’s 92 percent.

Respectfully, I fly SW a lot, and there's just no way they're staffed appropriately. Something is missing somewhere. I left my phone on hold when I went to bed and the call was answered in 5 hours and 7 minutes. Even in prior disasters (I had a flight cancelled due to the ATL power outage... story for another day/thread), I got through in about an hour. I've also waited a solid hour and 5 minutes for luggage; NEVER happened before covid.

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

I'm amazed at how quickly you thought on your feet when all this happened.

I'm not going to be in MCO until April but figure it doesn't hurt to start preparing for the worst case scenario. What hotels nearby have airport shuttles that you would recommend other than Embassy Suites?

 

[JaxDad]

Respectfully, I fly SW a lot, and there's just no way they're staffed appropriately. Something is missing somewhere. I left my phone on hold when I went to bed and the call was answered in 5 hours and 7 minutes. Even in prior disasters (I had a flight cancelled due to the ATL power outage... story for another day/thread), I got through in about an hour. I've also waited a solid hour and 5 minutes for luggage; NEVER happened before covid.

Just doing the math.

My own anecdotal information, from two friends who are SWA pilots, is that the vaccine mandate has more to do with all this than what is being widely reported.

 

[nicko]

While I applaud ScubaCat for the quick and successful execution of a Plan B, those moves might not work for all.

In my case, my Friday flight was cancelled. I was able to rebook to Saturday. Then just before departure, my Saturday flight got cancelled. They auto rebooked me 2 days later which didn't work since I was coming home the next morning.

At that point (Saturday night), the App would just throw an error if you tried to make a change. The same happened on the website. I had no choice but to get in the ridiculously long line. An hour into my wait, a Southwest rep started going up and down the line announcing that there was no reason to wait in line for customer service. We can all rebook online or on the App. Of course we all held up our phones and said "No we can't". The Rep then suggested we call the 800 number.

Me (thinking I'm clever) had already called the 800 number as soon as I got in the line. I told the Rep I'm already on hold with SW and the "expected" wait time is 120 minutes. She assured me that the ticketing line will be longer than 120 minutes and I should leave the line and let the SW phone team take care of it. I told her I'll stay in line and on the phone just in case.

Fast forward 5 and a half hours later, I'm finally next at the SW ticket counter. My phone was still waiting for the SW 800 number Rep to pick up.

 

[ScubaCat]

At that point (Saturday night), the App would just throw an error if you tried to make a change. The same happened on the website. I had no choice but to get in the ridiculously long line. An hour into my wait, a Southwest rep started going up and down the line announcing that there was no reason to wait in line for customer service

Unfortunately I've had this same experience with their app/web site in the past, albeit without the extensive wait times to get through on the phone. That's why I, NOT a morning person, was extremely excited about rebooking on the 6:45am flight. The earlier the better is always the motto with air travel, especially in a cancellation nightmare, because things always get worse by the hour. I doubt I would have been in line for 5 hours had we been cancelled off that flight. Maybe 1-2 hours max given that the swarms had not yet filled up the terminal. (Didn't need lightning lane just yet.) Also, with a lot more cancellations coming, you want to get out as fast as possible or risk being stuck a lot longer. All the talk about things being back to normal on Saturday were obviously ridiculous and just intended to keep everyone calm.

Sorry it didn't work out as well for you. All we can do is look for the best option, strategy, and opportunities as they arise and hope for the best. Ultimately, we need a little luck along the way. Had my 6:45am flight been cancelled, who knows what would have come next?

I'm amazed at how quickly you thought on your feet when all this happened.

I'm not going to be in MCO until April but figure it doesn't hurt to start preparing for the worst case scenario. What hotels nearby have airport shuttles that you would recommend other than Embassy Suites?

If you open your favorite online travel site/app, go to the hotels section and type MCO, any place with "Orlando airport" in it's name usually offers a complimentary shuttle (tip the driver a couple of bucks). You'll want to call the hotel after you book a room so they'll know to come pick you up and they'll tell you where to go to meet the shuttle. When you check in, let them know when you need to leave the next day for your flight. When they're busy, they often keep a list with certain time slots.

I generally recommend whatever is available except anything under $100 probably has the shuttle "temporarily suspended due to covid" (meaning they're not making enough money or don't have anyone available to run it). I use Hilton properties for business travel so I just went to that portfolio. Embassy is generally my first choice for the huge room and free breakfast buffet (which I obviously didn't get to partake in this time due to the very early flight.)

For example, if you go to Expedia, under "Stays", type "MCO", put in your dates, and click search, you'll get a list. Change the "sort by" to "distance from airport", and then just scroll down to see the options.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

You did great.

My sister is still stuck in Minneapolis trying to get to California. Been stuck since Friday evening. After talking with her, her mistakes have been accepting the flights that Southwest has rebooked her on - later in the day and all have been cancelled. At least she was quick to get a hotel room. And Southwest is covering everything - rental car, food, hotel. And she did carryon luggage only thankfully so she has her luggage with her.

She was able to rebook again for a Wednesday morning flight after Southwest put her on a Wednesday evening flight so hopefully that will go as scheduled.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Very surprised with her compensation package due to delays from SouthWest… will it be in future travel expenses or actual cash / credit card refund. Does it help to use a SW Visa credit card and purchase travel insurance from SW card? to receive this compensation?

 

[ScubaCat]

You did great.

My sister is still stuck in Minneapolis trying to get to California. Been stuck since Friday evening. After talking with her, her mistakes have been accepting the flights that Southwest has rebooked her on - later in the day and all have been cancelled. At least she was quick to get a hotel room. And Southwest is covering everything - rental car, food, hotel. And she did carryon luggage only thankfully so she has her luggage with her.

She was able to rebook again for a Wednesday morning flight after Southwest put her on a Wednesday evening flight so hopefully that will go as scheduled.

Wow, sorry about that. 5 days is absurd. May as well drive 3 days (assuming that's even possible and not like you could know it would drag on so long.) I hope she finally gets out Wednesday. Another problem that hasn't been mentioned is Southwest doesn't participate in the interline agreement with the other domestic carriers. Thus even if there's a seat open on another airline, Southwest can't book you her it. If she (random example) were booked on a cancelled Delta flight but there were a seat open on an upcoming United flight, a Delta agent could just book her on that United flight and that'd be the end of it. But wow, Friday to Wednesday... crazy! Good luck to her and keep us posted!!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Very surprised with her compensation package due to delays from SouthWest… will it be in future travel expenses or actual cash / credit card refund. Does it help to use a SW Visa credit card and purchase travel insurance from SW card? to receive this compensation?

She pushed for it. I don't think that is the normal compensation. It's in travel vouchers that she used to pay for the hotel, car rental and food. She is listed as standby for today too but the customer service rep told her that is highly unlikely for her to make it since so many are on standby. I didn't ask if she had travel insurance.

On the plus side, she did get in touch with our niece and is going to visit her and her daughters this afternoon. She said she got her laundry done this morning so she has plenty of clean clothes if this keeps going on.

 

[Donna M]

We had SW tickets for Oct 27 that we changed to Delta when SW cancelled our n/s and put us on a one stop flight. Boy, am I glad we moved over to Delta. I´m keeping my fingers crossed nothing else changes after Delta did move us once already.

 

[Willow1213]

I'm anxiously watching with a very short weekend trip booked leaving this Saturday. I'm already planning to bring only carry on luggage, and be prepared to rent a one way car to get home if I have to. If flights get jammed up leaving for Orlando, I'm more like to just cancel and ask for refunds.

 

[VandVsmama]

FYI - for anybody looking to lighten their luggage load, given the current SW Airlines situation, I've found the following website to be really helpful. I've traveled to Europe before with this method and it worked out really well. At the very least, it might help one think outside the box a little bit and consider packing a few essentials in your carry on luggage JUST IN CASE you get stranded somewhere.

https://www.onebag.com/

 

[leebee]

...So while there could be some sort of a rebellion against the vaccine requirement, that's at most the straw that broke the camel's back. From what I've read in recent months, SW management has had a strained relationship with the unions for a while and has clearly been overscheduling flights for a while as well. Thus, when there's a disaster like this, the dominos all fall.

In August DD's and my flight (PWM to MCO) was canceled at the last minute. We checked our bags and by the time we got to security, we'd been canceled. SW provided vouchers for a hotel and booked us on the early morning flight the next day (and sent $100 LUV vouchers about a month later). On that flight I was sitting next to a SW flight attendant who was dead-heading to BWI. We were chatting about staffing and such, and she pretty much said what I bolded above, and that most FAs were just waiting for the "perfect storm" to hit. Apparently that happened this weekend.

DH and I were impacted this weekend. Our 10am fight (PWM to MCO) was canceled and we were booked on the 1:20pm flight, which then was delayed until 2:40, thru MDW rather than BWI- but we didn't have to change planes, so I was pretty relieved. If we'd had to change in Chicago, I bet we'd be there still. There was one huge issue, though. Even though Dollar was tracking our flight changes and I called them to confirm this AND emailed them, of course they didn't have the vehicle we reserved. They had a vehicle for us, though- and it was $450 more than the original reservation. Pretty much stuck on that. SW has sent both DH and me a LUV voucher for $150. Doesn't make up for getting raked over the coals by Dollar, but it's $300 "back" on the $450 we didn't expect to spend.

We flew home today and while flights were full, the airports weren't particularly crowded (not even a line at Chik-fil-A in BWI at lunch time, hahaha). Hopefully this means things are settling out. I do hope it happens soon; we love flying SWA and would hate to see them "fold."