Southwest - notification re delay?

[Best Aunt]

I don’t see anywhere in the Southwest app to request notifications regarding your flight. Am I missing something?
My flight is delayed and it would have been nice to have been notified rather than find out because I happened to check myself.

I’m used to Jetblue where it is easy to set up for notifications.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

SW is not one of the more proactive in giving you these updates. I think it's because they will really try to get back on schedule so they want you there just in case.

 

[Best Aunt]

Ok thanks. I am using Flightaware to track the plane (where it is coming from, where it came from before that). They have changed the departure time about 5 times already today for my flight. All other flights out of here are on time so I assume the problem was in a city my plane went through earlier.

I’ve been trying to guess if i’m better off switching from my delayed nonstop to an on-time itinerary which would require changing planes.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

I don’t see anywhere in the Southwest app to request notifications regarding your flight. Am I missing something?
My flight is delayed and it would have been nice to have been notified rather than find out because I happened to check myself.

I’m used to Jetblue where it is easy to set up for notifications.

I always provide my contact information at the time I book my flight, and have then received notification emails (which I prefer to text messages, the other option) when there have been delays.

 

[gillep]

They have you fill that in when you book the flight and give you a delivery option, email, text, etc. I find that I don't always get the messages though, and it seems that for me email is more reliable than text.

 

[DawnAurora]

I receive texts from SW when my flights are delayed. You sign up for notifications when you book the flight.

 

[Anthony1971]

Be aware delayed flights can change at anytime.... even if it says 2 hour delay they can still update for a 1 hour delay or 5... your best bet is to be at the airport waiting... I agree not the best use of your time but I have seen on at least 3 occasions where a flight was delayed 1-2 hours than boarded 15-30 minutes after the announcement and the delay time was lowered... one time a flight was delayed an few minutes later the gate was to a few gates down thankfully changed and boarding now was posted--if you were not close and did not check the postings you were poop out of luck getting that flight.

 

[Brer Chump]

Also check out flightstats.com Even though there is no free push notifications, the site will show when there is an equipment change or change in departure time as it is filed by the airline.

 

[AngiTN]

I always provide my contact information at the time I book my flight, and have then received notification emails (which I prefer to text messages, the other option) when there have been delays.

They have you fill that in when you book the flight and give you a delivery option, email, text, etc. I find that I don't always get the messages though, and it seems that for me email is more reliable than text.

I receive texts from SW when my flights are delayed. You sign up for notifications when you book the flight.

Same as the above. SW does give you an easy way to sign up, just not after the fact. I'm sure there is one, just never looked for it
Though, knock on wood while I type, in all our flights, we've only had 1 delay with Southwest. And they did indeed send me a text notice about it. So their system works.

 

[writerguyfl]

According to this page, Southwest is discontinuing their Flight Status Notification product. I believe that's the feature being discussed here.

https://www.southwest.com/air/flight-notification/

If you click on the link on the above page, the explanation below is provided. I bolded the text that corroborates the notion that you will only receive messages about your flight if you sign up when you make your reservation.

"We made the difficult choice to retire Flight Status Notification messaging because of declining usage over the years, as well as a retirement of the technology that powered this feature. But don’t worry—you can continue to use our Automated Flight Status Messaging system, which will automatically send updates about Flight Status changes to the contact information listed in the reservation via text or email. Look to sign up for this feature when making your next booking on the Purchase Page. You may also use our Flight Status lookup tool on southwest.com or our mobile iOS or Android apps to track the current status of any our flights. Thank you for your understanding, and we’re sorry if you miss the Flight Status Notification tool!"

 

[Huff]

I've never found any airline app able to give timely information. They all send out notices long after the fact. By that time its often impossible to rebook on another flight as they're all full by then. Last time this was in Baltimore. They had a 1/4" dusting of snow then blue skies. Many flights were cancelled because they lacked enough deice equipment at the airport. I kept checking flight status on the airports website, not the airlines. Found out our flight was cancelled about 30 minutes before they announced it at the airport. Another 30 minutes before my phone alert went off.

 

[Best Aunt]

Thanks for all the replies. I kept checking the website and they kept changing the delay. I finally went to the airport as though the flight would be on time, and it was only about 20 minutes late.