SW Cancellation question

[Hockeychic]

Hi everyone,

We are scheduled to fly on the 15th of Sept. I have non-refundable tickets on SW. However, if SW cancells due to IVAN does anyone know if we will be able to get our money back since basically they cancelled not us??? Anyone know??

Thanks everyone

 

[maraakl]

Yes, they have a very liberal policy. For an example, go to their website and click on Hurricane Francis.

 

[Hockeychic]

Thank you

 

[lawgs]

hockeychic

if they invoke rule 85 window due to Ivan for your trip, they will allow you to do a number of things, including asking for a refund

they have done two rule 85 windows with Frances

you can also rebook for future travel as long as they have the same "class" available on the flights you want ( for most internet fare deals that would be class M ) and even though the fare maybe higher than when you booked, they will transfer your locator to the new flights for the same cost as you paid originally..you can see the class of fares by using the "shortcut" icon on the SWA homepage ( upper right hand corner )

once you put in origin/ destination and dates it brings up a calendar that will show what class of fares are available on various dates

that being said, the only time you might have to pay additional costs would be if your NS is not available and you have to fly through BWI which seems to charge security and PFC ( PFC can see since you are going into their conccourses and using facilities, but security fee seems to be a cash grab ) just for passing through their airport

 

[Lewisc]

If you want to cancel BUT you're not within the window you can still cancel and get a full credit toward a future flight. BTW SW offered a REFUND for flights during the window, other airlines only offered a refund if your actual flight was canceled.

 

[Donnainnj]

I also had a question on SW cancelation so I will post it here,
My DDad had his flight canceled for Francis, and resceduled for Monday, then that flight was also canceled, even though the airport is open, and there are other airlines' flights that seem to be arriving on time if they are after Noon. (his would have been)
Is he entitled to any compensation? Just wondering.
Donna

 

[lawgs]

donnainnj

from the southwest website

Updated September 5, 2004 - 11:00 AM ET

All service to/from Orlando for Sunday, September 5, 2004 and Monday, September 6, 2004 has been cancelled. The resumption of our scheduled service is contingent upon the conditions of the airport facilities, runways, and available support services.

Customers holding reservations through Wednesday, September 8, 2004 to/from Orlando may rebook their travel in the original class of service without paying any additional charge, travel stand by, or request a refund.

you should give southwest a call as soon as you can......1-800-435-9792

 

[Hockeychic]

Thanks everyone,

I won't cancell my flight, I was just curious if they did what would happen. We can drive to disney but it does take almost 24 hours so we are hoping Ivan Just goes away. Unfortunatley with vacation time restraints we won't be able to reschedule.

Thanks for the info

 

[Donnainnj]

Lawgs,
I guess I wasn't very clear. He has already changed to a Tuesday flight, but I am wondering if they can still use the hurricane as an excuse for the delay/cancelation until Tuesday when most other airlines are willing and able to fly into Orlando after 12noon today. He is missing an additional vacation day that he would not have if he had flown another carrier.
Donna

 

[lawgs]

donnainnj

under rule 85 he has again been able to rebook for Tuesday

if they cancel tuesday's flight, they might extend the rule 85 which would then kick in the rebook, fly standby or request a refund scenario

otherwise it would probably just be regular cancellation policy ( ticketless funds for future travel )

as far as a delay, do not know how that would be handled

best to call SWA for clarification on that....

or maybe someone else here has had "experience" with delays

 

[Pinnie]

My guess, Donnainny, is that the SWA gate area took another hit and is NOT ready to have pax and planes today. When Charley hit, they lost a few jetways (I saw one that was still not repaired when I flew in a few days after Charley) I also know that the gate area was flooded after the first hurricane and I am going to guess the same thing happened again.

I don't think they are closing for the heck of it!

pinnie

 

[Donnainnj]

Thanks for the info Pinnie.
Donna

 

[lawgs]

donnainnj

lewisc ....mentioned in another thread that it might be due to repositioning of planes

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=638924&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

 

[maraakl]

Donna,
No, he is not entitled to any compensation other than the standard policy.
SWA cannot fly more than 50 miles over the ocean, and they were concerned about winds that would force them to fly out and around the residual effects of the hurricane.
Southwest is not the only one that cancelled today.

Southwest Airlines, Aeromexico, Air Jamaica, British Airways, CanJet, Cayman Airways, Condor/Thomas Cook, Copa, Martinair-Holland and Virgin Atlantic have advised that they will not resume passenger operations until Tuesday, September 7, 2004.

 

[Lewisc]

Donna--SW might let you cancel and get a refund, you didn't have to reschedule in the first place and SW is pretty reasonable.

I suspect the reason SW isn't flying today is all of the above.
Their planes have to be repositioned. I know the gate area they use was hit hard with Charlie, many broken jetways and a section of roof that was destroyed. I suspect flooding is an issue. Maraakl mentioned that SW's planes can't fly more than 50 miles over the ocean, makes sense SW doesn't have any routes overseas or even to the Caribbean so they have no reason to equip any of their planes for over the ocean flying.

I'm also not sure how many flights the other airlines are actually flying today.

 

[Donnainnj]

Thanks for all the info everyone. It is funny because they did end up flying some of thier flights to Florida afterall. Don't know how it worked out that way, but at Ddads airport all Orlando flights were still cancelled. (maybe just the cities that had late flights went out.
Thanks again,
Donna

 

[maraakl]

The available flights for today were luck of the draw and repositioning of the planes.