Southwest Statement on Irene

[mcd2745]

From their website:

Southwest Airlines is closely monitoring the tropical weather conditions surrounding Hurricane Irene. At this time, we are operating our scheduled service to/from all Southwest Cities. We will post additional updates to this page if we anticipate operational disruptions.

 

[newyorkmike]

Translation:

We want to bleed every last penny from rational people who can afford to pay outrageously high last-minute fare increases to change plans now before we waive fees at the latest possible minute.

My parents are scheduled to fly from Cleveland in to Newark Saturday at noon. I called to see about switching them to the morning flight or Friday evening flight just to make sure they get in before the storm arrives in the area, and Continental had raised the fares on that leg of the flight to $914!!!! Talk about price gouging.

 

[mcd2745]

Translation:

We want to bleed every last penny from rational people who can afford to pay outrageously high last-minute fare increases to change plans now before we waive fees at the latest possible minute. My parents are scheduled to fly from Cleveland in to Newark Saturday at noon. I called to see about switching them to the morning flight or Friday evening flight just to make sure they get in before the storm arrives in the area, and Continental had raised the fares on that leg of the flight to $914!!!! Talk about price gouging.

SW doesn't have change fees.

 

[newyorkmike]

SW doesn't have change fees.

I'm referring solely to the difference in fares. If someone changes a flight in the next few days, the last minute fares for a purchase less than 7 or 14 days in advance will be significantly higher than what most people most assuredly paid when they initially booked.

 

[Mamapapa]

I called Southwest today as well, to ask about changing my flight one day earlier and it was $600 total for three tickets. That's price fare difference, not a change fee.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

SWA is now offering changes for some flights:

http://www.swabiz.com/html/travel_center/IRENE.html

Hurricane Irene

Southwest Airlines is closely monitoring the tropical weather conditions surrounding Hurricane Irene. At this time, we are operating our scheduled service to/from all Southwest Cities.

As the storm conditions develop, there is a possibility that some of our weekend flights could be disrupted. With this in mind, Customers holding reservations for travel to/from the cities listed below starting Saturday, August 27 thru Monday, August 29 are eligible to reschedule their flight in accordance with our accommodation procedures.

If you would like to rebook online, please click reschedule your flight. For Customers who did not purchase their ticket via southwest.com, please call us at 1-800-435-9792 to rebook their flight in the original class of service or travel standby (within 14 days of the original date of travel between the original city-pairs) without paying any additional charge.

Albany (ALB)

Baltimore/Washington (BWI)

Boston (BOS)

Hartford/Springfield (BDL)

Long Island/MacArthur (ISP)

Manchester (MHT)

Newark (EWR)

New York LaGuardia (LGA)

Norfolk (ORF)

Philadelphia (PHL)

Providence (PVD)

Washington Dulles (IAD)

 

[Mamapapa]

My flight is on this list - called Southwest today and after 45 minutes on the phone I am now a devoted Southwest customer for life. The customer service rep who helped me was so sweet and kind, she was wonderful. Made this bump in the road so much easier to handle! So we'll be flying out Tues now instead, sucks, but it is what it is. At least the airline change was free and they changed my flight back for free as well (extended out one day). Now I'm waiting for my travel agent to call back and let me know how much Disney will charge me for this change in plans...

 

[vallamen]

We got "stranded" in orlando due the winter storm that hit the mid-atlantic in January/February 2010. We were stuck at Disney world for an extra 2 nights.....it was horrible! LOL! Southwest was fantastic and incredibly accomodating considering the situation. The only downside was the hold times......waited one night for 3 hours.

Good Luck to all!
Val.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Translation:

We want to bleed every last penny from rational people who can afford to pay outrageously high last-minute fare increases to change plans now before we waive fees at the latest possible minute.

My parents are scheduled to fly from Cleveland in to Newark Saturday at noon. I called to see about switching them to the morning flight or Friday evening flight just to make sure they get in before the storm arrives in the area, and Continental had raised the fares on that leg of the flight to $914!!!! Talk about price gouging.

Translation: "I think the airlines are a charity around to provide me cheap transportation"

CO did not "raise fares" just to rip you off. That's the walk up fare rate that business travelers pay so you can get those "elcheapo" fares you seem to think the airline "owes" travelers.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Translation: "I think the airlines are a charity around to provide me cheap transportation"

CO did not "raise fares" just to rip you off. That's the walk up fare rate that business travelers pay so you can get those "elcheapo" fares you seem to think the airline "owes" travelers.

Exactly. The airlines are a business. That means they exist to make money. They don't control the weather. When scheduled flights are canceled because of weather or equipment problems, you will be re-booked within a certain period of time at no charge. Seems pretty reasonable to me.

 

[Twende]

A few years back I was in Orlando trying to fly out right before a hurricane. I asked to move my flight up by 2 days and SW changed my flight free of changes or price increases.

They were professional at the airport and as the storm approached, they made us all feel like we were important. The rains and wind literally hit as we taxied away. I was happy that they treated me fairly.

I am a customer for life too!