Now I'm scared about Southwest!!

[eljojo]

I shouldn't be watching the show Airline this close to our trip, but twice now this week, they've had families bumped traveling to Orlando! On the one show, they overbooked by 13 passengers! How often does this occur and has anyone experienced having to get another flight?

 

[Poohlovr]

Every airline overbooks, not just Southwest.

The only difference is that the other airlines offer more to get people to volunteer to get off of the plane.

I've flown SW more than any other airline and have never been bumped.

The only airline I've been on that asked for volunteers was American

 

[drgnfly30]

I agree - Airline! started to freak me out as well but Poohlvr is right.. I've been on both US Air & United flights that were overbooked. Once we were flying standby to go to my DB's funeral on UAL (he worked for them at the time of his passing so we got discounted employee bereavment tix) & they actually kicked my mom & dad off the flight!!!! Some compassion huh!
Christine

 

[Pinnie]

You can now print out your boarding passes if you are making a connection on SWA at home or at your point of origin.

As to overbooking flights. EVERY airline does it. At least SWA is open and honest enough to admit it!!!!

pinnie

 

[NHmouse]

Overbooking is a problem for those passengers who tend to get to the airport later than the recommended flight times. We have flown southwest quite a bit and get to the airport about 90 minutes prior to departure and have never had a hnt of a problem infact we ususally get A boarding passes. So my advice is don't get too worked up over what you see on Airline! Just get there early and enjoy your vacation!

 

[Lewisc]

Originally posted by Pinnie
You can now print out your boarding passes if you are making a connection on SWA at home or at your point of origin.

As to overbooking flights. EVERY airline does it. At least SWA is open and honest enough to admit it!!!!

pinnie

EVERY AIRLINE is open an honest about overbooking. SW is different in that they won't pay to put you on another airline and are very low in what they'll offer people to voluntarily give up their seat.

I fly SW BUT it isn't fair to lump them with other airlines in overbooking. SW's policy is FAR BELOW what the legacy airlines offer. The guy in airline this week is right, other airlines would have paid a lot more to try to get a volunteer and if that failed would have put the family on another airline even if that meant paying for ground transportation to O'Hare.

 

[Pinnie]

Originally posted by Lewisc
EVERY AIRLINE is open an honest about overbooking. SW is different in that they won't pay to put you on another airline and are very low in what they'll offer people to voluntarily give up their seat.

I fly SW BUT it isn't fair to lump them with other airlines in overbooking. SW's policy is FAR BELOW what the legacy airlines offer. The guy in airline this week is right, other airlines would have paid a lot more to try to get a volunteer and if that failed would have put the family on another airline even if that meant paying for ground transportation to O'Hare.

And WHO do you think is paying for those PERKS that the "legacy" airlines give away? None other than the payng passengers with higher airfare! Maybe that is why Delta, USAir and so many other carriers are falling on hard times. They need to look and take heed of what SWA is doing to run a very successful and profitable airline!

pinnie

 

[polyfan]

Can anyone share what the other airlines give as compensation. We have volunteered twice to give up our seats on SW. We are a family of 4. Both times we ended up with a little over $1200 total, plus they put us up at the hotel for the night and gave us $12 a person to eat. It works for me, itpays for my next trip.

 

[eljojo]

I realize that every airline overbooks - I just wonder why they do it for non-stop flights to Orlando. They have to realize that almost ALL these passengers have long-standing reservations for family vacations, and I would think no-shows would be rare. I can understand overbooking for every day business travel (to non-resort cities) because I realize cancellations then are common. When airlines overbook flights to Orlando, I would think they lose money in the long run by having to offer people more money to get off the flights. Plus in the show last night, they put the over-booked family onto another flight where they had to dump out another family to fit the first bunch on this next flight!! Can anyone explain this system to me? It just doesn't seem logical for these type of flights.

 

[Lewisc]

Originally posted by Pinnie
And WHO do you think is paying for those PERKS that the "legacy" airlines give away? None other than the payng passengers with higher airfare! Maybe that is why Delta, USAir and so many other carriers are falling on hard times. They need to look and take heed of what SWA is doing to run a very successful and profitable airline!

pinnie

Sorry but getting a paying customer with a confirmed reservation to their destination on a timely basis is not a "perk" but a right. Overbooking a flight to FLL by 50 that is used by PAX going to a cruise is not fair. Other airlines have agreements to accomodate each others PAX.

eljojo--SW overbooks the flights I take to MCO by as much as 12 and the flight usually clears the standbys and still leaves with a few empty seats. Just because SW overbooked the flight for the family doesn't mean PAX will have to be bumped.

Check in early enough to get a boarding pass and you shouldn't be one the PAX bumped.

 

[redbirdgrad]

It scared my wife too - we are flying out of Midway on a Saturday morning to Orlando at 6:50 - I told her we would be at the airport in plenty of time to get a boarding pass - if you do that you get on the plane.

 

[DBC]

I think that guy got bumped because his connecting flight arrived late. I think if you have a direct flight and show up an hour or so before you shouldn't have issues.

btw-I felt his pain. His options were not good.

 

[mom_rules]

Our last flight coming home was overbooked because people were being accomodated from earlier flights that had been cancelled due to bad weather.

Also, in the departure lounge at MCO the United flight to Dullas needed a few volunteers since they were overbooked. Their first offer was guaranteed seats on the next flight out and dinner voucher. No takers-then they offered guaranteed seats, breakfast and dinner vouchers and hotel accomodations for the night-no takers. Then they offered all of the above but First class seats on next day's flight-still no takers. You should have seen the rush when they offered all of the above PLUS a pair of tickets to anywhere United flew to be used within a year. They were no longer looking for volunteers! there was a line up at the desk.

It was quite entertaining to watch-made the time in the departure lounge go pretty fast.

 

[Bosjoe]

Only thing that would bother me is connecting flights. You have to check in again and I do not think that is fair. Coming in late from another flight is not your fault, but if your connecting flight is still there your seat should be guarenteed. But other then that I Like Southwest. My number 2 airline. Jetblue number 1

 

[Pinnie]

Originally posted by Bosjoe
Only thing that would bother me is connecting flights. You have to check in again and I do not think that is fair. Coming in late from another flight is not your fault, but if your connecting flight is still there your seat should be guarenteed. But other then that I Like Southwest. My number 2 airline. Jetblue number 1

You can now check in for your connecting flight on SWA either online, at the kiosk or at the check-in counter for your originating flight.

pinnie

 

[Chicago526]

This is why I never book SW when, like the old FedEx ads said, "I absolutly have to be there!"

SW is great if you plans allow you to be flexable. But if you get bumbed, delayed, or canceled, it can turn into a nightmare! Yes, this can happen on the big carriers too, but they DO have agreements with other carriers, and having an assigned seat does lessen (but not illiminate) the odds of being bumped off a flight. I'll pay more for the peace of mind. Plus SW out of Midway doesn't usually beat flights from O'Hare on AA or UA by that much, so for me it's not worth it, anyway. I paid $215 round-trip for travel in December, and I feel it's a fare price for a flight. Could I have gotten $189 on SW? Maybe, but for $26 I'd rather be able to pick my seat and not worry that the flight is over booked by 50 people!

 

[polyfan]

A connecting flight for Southwest shouldnt be a problem. We were flying to MCO to BWI and then to Norfolk. When we checked in at MCO they gave us boarding passes for both flights. We were there early enough to get an A for both flights. I think you need to let them know that you want them to print your transfer boarding passes at the same time. They did it with no problem for us. We did not have to check in again when we got to Baltimore. Just when we left MCO.