Post all SW questions concerns, etc. here...

[EACarlson]

I have a question about seating that I'm sure other airlines have addressed. I know that a person in a wheelchair cannot sit in the exit row. But suppose a person who'll need wheelchair assistance unknowingly books a seat in the exit row. How do flight attendants address the problem? Do they simply ask for someone in the equivalent style of seat (extended leg or preferred-I forget which) to trade? Do they randomly take someone from a non-exit row to switch? I know that currently it isn't a problem (I'm in a wheelchair, and once when I got on, I must have looked like I was headed for the exit row, and a flight attendant quickly appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, with a panicked look on her face to remind me "No exit row")

There is no way to "unknowingly" book an exit row seat on other airlines. I would expect SW to be the same when it goes to assigned seating. When you go to book those seats, there is a pop up that explains it's an exit row and what the requirements are. In my experience, if the FAs find someone in the exit row seats that does not meet the requirements, they will have those passengers swap with someone else. I've gotten moved to an exit row when the person assigned there did not speak English.

 

[titojackson84]

Just wondering if the new seat layout is common now. Not assigned seating, but the seats with more legroom.

 

[snacks]

Just wondering if the new seat layout is common now. Not assigned seating, but the seats with more legroom.

I fly quite a bit and have not seen any changes to the seats on SW planes so far

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Just wondering if the new seat layout is common now. Not assigned seating, but the seats with more legroom.

Flew out and back on SW for our 4th of July vacation and neither plane was cut over yet.

They started in May with a goal of year end, so about 1/4 of the planes should be done now assuming they move at a steady pace (which, who knows if that's the case).

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

So, are we thinking that the SW site is glitching during the current sale? Doing my periodic check for reductions on our future trips and several of these flights have lower WGA than Basic fares. Makes no sense...

 

[pooch]

Grab them quick!!! And from where are you flying that has that many non stops’

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Grab them quick!!! And from where are you flying that has that many non stops’

LOL, you'll be shocked to hear that the time that works best for our schedule is the only one not on sale. I've already got those down to 8500 each, though, and it's not worth the hassle of leaving earlier or coming in later to try to go even lower.

These are BWI flight options. In a perfect world, we'd prefer PHL, but I'd rather drive 2 hours to a direct flight than to have to connect. The risk of something going wrong between two flights, plus the fact that it's actually faster door-to-door if we drive the first leg, means we end up driving down and then flying most of the time.

 

[clh2]

Ok SW experts…is this easy for SW to fix?

The names on our tickets do not match exactly what is on our government-issued ID’s.

Ie, our middle names are not on the tickets, but is on our IDs. I do not know how we missed it…but, we got our tickets at “too early in the morning” on release day. Clearly, I was not caffeinated at that time. Ugghhh.

thoughts?

 

[Mle8308]

Ok SW experts…is this easy for SW to fix?

The names on our tickets do not match exactly what is on our government-issued ID’s.

Ie, our middle names are not on the tickets, but is on our IDs. I do not know how we missed it…but, we got our tickets at “too early in the morning” on release day. Clearly, I was not caffeinated at that time. Ugghhh.

thoughts?

I've never had any issues with it. I don't have my middle name on my SW tickets and it is on my DL. And I fly SW at least 7 times each year. Well, going forward that will change, but for now... I probably just jinxed myself!

 

[LoveToDisney]

My husband always said more info in the ID versus the ticket is okay. His license has his full name and tickets always have just his initial. I wouldn’t worry as long as you have the Real ID.

 

[Simba's Mom]

There is no way to "unknowingly" book an exit row seat on other airlines. I would expect SW to be the same when it goes to assigned seating. When you go to book those seats, there is a pop up that explains it's an exit row and what the requirements are. In my experience, if the FAs find someone in the exit row seats that does not meet the requirements, they will have those passengers swap with someone else. I've gotten moved to an exit row when the person assigned there did not speak English.

Thanks for explaining it! I've been used to Southwest's "no seat assignments" for so many years, I didn't know that.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Thanks for explaining it! I've been used to Southwest's "no seat assignments" for so many years, I didn't know that.

Whenever you sit in the exit row even now with SWA they have to have people verbally confirm that they can do what they need to do with being in the exit row which also includes age restrictions.

Along the same lines as the PP and with SWA on our flights from Orlando to Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico to Orlando in 2023 both of those flights the exit rows (which we were sitting in) had multiple empty seats because the FAs had to move everyone who tried to sit there out of there because of the English speaking requirement.

I've been on a flight where an under 15 year old attempted to sit there as well as a pre-boarder.

So SWA already employs having to watch out for who is and isn't allowed in the exit row and moves people as needed. With assigned seating there might be slightly more moving around if say it's with an english speaking issue on specific routes even if a pop up comes up we know how people ignore that, there would hopefully be a software block in the system using the passenger's age where if they were under 15 they would not be assigned that spot in the event that they let the system select their seat (one would hope that's how it works).

 

[kristenrice]

It's probably possible to "unknowingly" book an exit row seat when you don't qualify. My friend and I are paramedics so we would have no problem sitting in an exit row and meeting the qualifications. Honestly, I prefer to sit much closer to the front of the plane because I feel a little too claustrophobic in the middle of the plane, but in an emergency, that all goes away. Anyway...we buy our tickets on release day which is quite a bit in advance of travel. A few years ago, we booked our flight and before our flight came around, my friend ended up having shoulder surgery and she was travelling in a sling. Obviously, she would not have been able to travel in an exit row seat, but she didn't know that when she booked her ticket. If she had booked an exit row seat (not possible with SW at the time), we would have had to switch seats when we travelled.

So, the TLDR version is, yes, I would say it is possible to inadvertantly book exit row seats and not be qualified .

 

[EACarlson]

It's probably possible to "unknowingly" book an exit row seat when you don't qualify. My friend and I are paramedics so we would have no problem sitting in an exit row and meeting the qualifications. Honestly, I prefer to sit much closer to the front of the plane because I feel a little too claustrophobic in the middle of the plane, but in an emergency, that all goes away. Anyway...we buy our tickets on release day which is quite a bit in advance of travel. A few years ago, we booked our flight and before our flight came around, my friend ended up having shoulder surgery and she was travelling in a sling. Obviously, she would not have been able to travel in an exit row seat, but she didn't know that when she booked her ticket. If she had booked an exit row seat (not possible with SW at the time), we would have had to switch seats when we travelled.

So, the TLDR version is, yes, I would say it is possible to inadvertantly book exit row seats and not be qualified .

She didn't inadvertently book exit row seats, she would have had to knowingly book exit row seats and then circumstances changed and she no longer met the requirements. I would hope that as an experienced traveler, she would have made that issue known to the airline prior to boarding. A phone call the day before or even talking to the gate agent prior to boarding would have gotten it fixed.

 

[disneylover81]

I would bet good money that you get an A position. At this point there are still a lot of people that booked WGA before the change to basic and will be behind you in order no matter how far ahead of time they purchased EBCI.

Just to update…
We ended up with A28 & A29 leaving from MEM and A19 & A20 leaving from MCO. I was very surprised what we got leaving MCO because we usually buy Anytime and get very high A’s and I normally upgrade to A1-15. We were delayed an hour, but I expected that when I booked it… since it’s July and it was a late flight.

 

[kristenrice]

I need a little help for my daughter...

She booked a BASIC fare and modified it BEFORE 5/28 and she shows a non-expiring travel credit in her account (she paid cash). Now, the fares have gone WAY down...in fact, the WGA+ fare is lower than the basic fare that she currently has booked so she would get a credit for the upgrade. Walk me through what would happen....
....what happens to her credit? Does it become an expiring credit retroactive to 1 year from the original booking date?
....does she lose the 2 free checked baggage allowance?
...what happens if she modifies to the WGA/Basic fare instead of the WGA+ fare?

She currently does not have any firm plans to travel in the next year, but *IF* she goes on our girls trip with us next year, the travel credit will come in handy so she does not want to lose what she currently has. I believe she paid around $160 for the fare and the WGA/Basic is currently at $67 so it is a substantial drop. The WGA+ is $107 and the Anytime is $167. Any advice on what her best option would be at this point??

I just modified mine this morning and saved another 1500 points. I am booked on the WGA+ fare and I have the SW Visa card so I wasw not worried about losing the 2 free bags.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

what happens to her credit? Does it become an expiring credit retroactive to 1 year from the original booking date?

So, because she is currently on a pre-5/28 ticket, any change she makes now will still generate a non-expiring flight credit, because those were the terms in place when she made that ticket. At that point, she's on a new ticket with the new rules.

does she lose the 2 free checked baggage allowance?

Yes, she would have no free bags (unless she is a cardholder, A lister, or on a reservation with such, which it sounds like she isn't)

what happens if she modifies to the WGA/Basic fare instead of the WGA+ fare?

Then the new ticket would have no changes, only cancellations, no free same day standby and, if she did have to cancel, would be subject to the 6 month expiring flight credit.

It sounds like you need to weigh the cost of paying for checked bags on this flight but having extra flight credit in hand for a future trip VS not generating the additional credit but not paying for bags this time.

 

[kristenrice]

So, because she is currently on a pre-5/28 ticket, any change she makes now will still generate a non-expiring flight credit, because those were the terms in place when she made that ticket. At that point, she's on a new ticket with the new rules.



Yes, she would have no free bags (unless she is a cardholder, A lister, or on a reservation with such, which it sounds like she isn't)



Then the new ticket would have no changes, only cancellations, no free same day standby and, if she did have to cancel, would be subject to the 6 month expiring flight credit.

It sounds like you need to weigh the cost of paying for checked bags on this flight but having extra flight credit in hand for a future trip VS not generating the additional credit but not paying for bags this time.

This is the info I was looking for! Thank you so much.
Usually, we do not check any bags. She gets by with a backpack and a rolling carryon bag so she really does not need to check a bag. Even if she decided to do so, the $35 fee is not a deal breaker, especially with the fact that the airfare has dropped so dramatically. She can get almost $100 back in credit and, when added to what she already has (as long as it stays non-expiring), it will be enough to cover a one-way ticket next year if she decides to go with us.

Would there be any advantage for her to "upgrade" to the WGA+ at this point? It would still save her about $60 but what practical advantages are there? I don't remember if she bought EBCI so that may or may not be a factor.

 

[eticketplease]

This is the info I was looking for! Thank you so much.
Usually, we do not check any bags. She gets by with a backpack and a rolling carryon bag so she really does not need to check a bag. Even if she decided to do so, the $35 fee is not a deal breaker, especially with the fact that the airfare has dropped so dramatically. She can get almost $100 back in credit and, when added to what she already has (as long as it stays non-expiring), it will be enough to cover a one-way ticket next year if she decides to go with us.

Would there be any advantage for her to "upgrade" to the WGA+ at this point? It would still save her about $60 but what practical advantages are there? I don't remember if she bought EBCI so that may or may not be a factor.

If she changes to WGA plus and another price drop comes that credit would be good for 12 months as opposed to the basic fair which is six months

 

[buzz1fan]

What are you doing if you chose between basic and wanna get away plus.
We are flying around holidays.
We don’t ever to do the pre- board or change flights same day.
We do change times - days often and I’ve got ticket funds back or paid another difference.
I’m really only seeing we would be able to change on basic for 6
Months and 12 for the other. I must be missing something.