Re: Southwest - extending Ticketless Travel Funds?

Paul Lalli wrote:
On Feb 23, 11:15 am, Rudeney <rude...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
My two biggest problems with SWA is that no matter what you do, you are
flying "standby"

I've seen you say this before and still don't understand why you make
that claim. In what way are you "standby" on Southwest any more than
you are on one of the legacies? Do you think that because you don't
choose your seat until you're on the plane that makes you less of a
"real" passenger somehow? I don't get it. You can be bumped off the
flight on any airline, regardless of checkin confirmation and seat
selection.

Rule-compliant airlines sell three types of tickets: assigned seats, confirmed seats, and standby. As long as you carry a confirmed or assigned seat ticket and you show up on time, the airline is obligated to get you to your destination. If the airline cannot do so due to their own fault (equipment or crew problems), then they are obligated to compensate you and/or get you to your destination on another airline that can, even if it means they have to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to that other airline. If you fly "standby", then *you* are taking the risk and the airline has no obligations to you except to get you on a future flight (or refund your ticket if it was a refundable fare).

The compliant airlines know how many assigned and confirmed seats they can sell for a given flight. Once a flight becomes oversold, or even at risk of being oversold, the airline must sell the remaining tickets as standby. They are obligated to let standby passengers know that there is risk in the purchase of the ticket.

In the case of SWA, you are taking the risk. They can (and often do) oversell flights without ever mentioning it to the passengers buying tickets. The real problem they have is with connecting and stop-over flights. You might be the first person to check-in at the 24-hour mark and get "A16", yet when you get ready to board, there could be 15 people ahead of you who paid to get A1-A15, and then some of the other A's might get ahead of you in the corral. Now, if there are only 17 seats available on the plane, you have a chance of being bumped. And when that happens, SWA offers you no compensation - no cash, no hotel room, no transport on another airline. At best, they offer you another standby seat on another flight.

and they do not adhere to the "rules", which makes
their tickets worthless for travel on any other airline.

This one I agree with, and it's annoying that they won't transfer your
ticket to another airline, but not participating in that agreement is
one of the ways they can offer cheaper tickets, and it's never
affected me personally, so I'm okay with it.

The way they offer cheaper tickets is by trying to fill every seat on every flight. They do this by overbooking. Think about it. You are booking your "big WDW family vacation" months in advance and need flights. You call Delta and they have one seat available and the other three are standby only. You call SWA, and they offer to sell you four seats. Little do you realize that they are already 20 seats overbooked, whereas Delta was only 3.

To contrast that, I've had Delta foot the $700 bill to fly me home on US
Air because they had equipment delays. And that was on a $200
non-refundable ticket.

And to contrast that, I've been stranded by USAir after they cancelled
my flight with 0 notice (I was even already checked in online), and
spent a lovely evening in the airport because they couldn't find
another airline to stick me on that day. Oh and they ended up putting
me on a Delta flight the next day, which didn't have the E+ seats I'd
purchased more for on USAir, for which it took me three phonecalls to
Delta, USair and finally my credit card to get that charge reimbursed.

I'll take Southwest any day over messes like that.

If your flight is canceled due to local weather or an airline closure that is beyond the control of the airline, they they are under no obligations to do anything for you but get you on the next open seat on the next flight to your destination. However, if the cancellation is the airlines fault, which can even be weather at another airport preventing equipment from getting to your departure point, then thy are obligated to get you on another airline or compensate you for hotel, meal and ground transportation costs related to the delay.

As for seat classes, There is first, business and coach. Those classes of seats some airlines offer that have a few inches of extra legroom or exit row seating, etc. do not "crosswalk" through the "rules". If you pay for a confirmed or assigned first class seat, then you either have to be given ta first class seat or refunded the difference.

--

- RODNEY

Next WDW Vacation?
Who knows...
.

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