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

[focusondisney]

Here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...cerns-etc-here.2500174/page-704#post-65202436

That gives the times the new booking dates opened. I think she’s asking more like what dates were included in all those releases. Much like Mousesavers lists discounts were released on Month/date & included from Month & date to Month & date. @scrappinginontario, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a list tho.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

SWA does change their dates sometimes for what time period their release covers, they sometimes delay or bring forward release dates too at a moment's notice so what is listed as release day for X dates doesn't always stay the same.

I think the poster who was tracking them hasn't been on the DIS for a while. The last post of theirs I found for the SWA thread had this information "Southwest next release will be THURSDAY 3/3/22 for travel through November 5th, 2022." This info may help but may not as we know SWA has not done things in recent years exactly the same way they did in years past.

 

[EACarlson]

In the numerous SW flights I've had over the years, last week was the first time I've ever had someone try to deny me a seat. I was A50 for my flight MKE-MCO. Board the plane and see the unlimited legroom seats are taken so I go to my next choice, a window seat as close to the front of the plane as possible. Get to row 10 and see there is a woman in each of the aisle seats with their coats over the middle seats and open window seats. I ask the one on the starboard side to get up so I can get into the window seat. Her friend across the aisle tries to tell me the seats are saved. The one I was speaking to engaged in a discussion with her friend about how many seats they were saving. I piped up with, "There is no seat saving on Southwest, please move so I can take my seat and not hold up boarding anymore." She then swung her legs into the aisle so I could squeeze past. Their friends arrived pretty deep in the C group. Pretty sure the two of them purchased A1-A15 boarding spots just to try and save those seats. Don't try and do that in row 10, go back to row 25 and you're probably fine.

 

[Tink3815]

In the numerous SW flights I've had over the years, last week was the first time I've ever had someone try to deny me a seat. I was A50 for my flight MKE-MCO. Board the plane and see the unlimited legroom seats are taken so I go to my next choice, a window seat as close to the front of the plane as possible. Get to row 10 and see there is a woman in each of the aisle seats with their coats over the middle seats and open window seats. I ask the one on the starboard side to get up so I can get into the window seat. Her friend across the aisle tries to tell me the seats are saved. The one I was speaking to engaged in a discussion with her friend about how many seats they were saving. I piped up with, "There is no seat saving on Southwest, please move so I can take my seat and not hold up boarding anymore." She then swung her legs into the aisle so I could squeeze past. Their friends arrived pretty deep in the C group. Pretty sure the two of them purchased A1-A15 boarding spots just to try and save those seats. Don't try and do that in row 10, go back to row 25 and you're probably fine.

Good for you not putting up with their games. The seats in the front of the plane are a must, with Southwest's tight 30-minute connection windows. Clearly only the two spent extra to board early and were saving seats for those who did not and ended in C group.

 

[scrappinginontario]

That gives the times the new booking dates opened. I think she’s asking more like what dates were included in all those releases. Much like Mousesavers lists discounts were released on Month/date & included from Month & date to Month & date. @scrappinginontario, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a list tho.

Yes, thank you. You’re correct that what I was looking for was an idea historically tickets for March 2025 may open up. I was able to find by going g through this thread that that happened Aug 3, 2023 for this coming March. It can change but it’s good to get an idea of when it might happen.

Appreciate your help with this!

 

[disny_luvr]

Does anyone know when you're going to be able to use a combination of points and cash to purchase flights? I thought I had read that this was to happen in 2024, but I'm not seeing it as an option on the website.

 

[ultimatefans]

Does anyone know when you're going to be able to use a combination of points and cash to purchase flights? I thought I had read that this was to happen in 2024, but I'm not seeing it as an option on the website.

That’s coming - they say spring 2024. https://www.southwest.com/rapid-rewards/program-updates/

 

[disny_luvr]

That’s coming - they say spring 2024. https://www.southwest.com/rapid-rewards/program-updates/

Thank you!

 

[kittylady1972]

In the numerous SW flights I've had over the years, last week was the first time I've ever had someone try to deny me a seat. I was A50 for my flight MKE-MCO. Board the plane and see the unlimited legroom seats are taken so I go to my next choice, a window seat as close to the front of the plane as possible. Get to row 10 and see there is a woman in each of the aisle seats with their coats over the middle seats and open window seats. I ask the one on the starboard side to get up so I can get into the window seat. Her friend across the aisle tries to tell me the seats are saved. The one I was speaking to engaged in a discussion with her friend about how many seats they were saving. I piped up with, "There is no seat saving on Southwest, please move so I can take my seat and not hold up boarding anymore." She then swung her legs into the aisle so I could squeeze past. Their friends arrived pretty deep in the C group. Pretty sure the two of them purchased A1-A15 boarding spots just to try and save those seats. Don't try and do that in row 10, go back to row 25 and you're probably fine.

Good for you for holding your ground. Witnessed a similar experience last week with a much different outcome. I boarded as C-1 and was in the back of the plane (with my husband who boarded in the mid B group and he did the Early Bird). There was clearly a large group saving several seats for people about mid plane, maybe closer to back. As C people were boarding, the flight attendants were announcing taking first available seats, even if middle seats, and it was clear that small group of people were saving multiple seats for many of their C group friends. The flight attendant even walked up to this group on the plane and explained that there was no seat saving, but they refused to engage further or enforce it. So many people were left wandering looking for seats and eventually found some of course. Since we were in the BACK row, one couple took the window seat in our row and the other person in the couple took the aisle across from us.

I honestly think SWA does a MAJOR disservice with their open boarding that really slows the process down. I honestly detest it, but sometimes choose them mostly based on flight times being better for me. It is much slower for me to be searching up and down for open seats then to just look at some numbers and find my seat.

In contrast, my Spirit return flight a few days later had us boarding a little bit late, but since we all had seats it went pretty quickly and we still got out on time and arrived on time. There was one person who apparently had the same seat assignment as another person, but even with a mostly full flight he easily found another seat with no drama.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

There was one person who apparently had the same seat assignment as another person,

Nearly all your seat drama is actually on planes with assigned seats the primary reason upsells and selected seats.

From people who specifically selected a seat being asked by another passenger to move especially when it comes to parents but also happens with spouses. And people are fed up with being asked to be moved when they've selected that particular seat.

On our BA flight back last year from Heathrow to Chicago there was a huge uproar over a family who mistakenly sat in another family's seat. It was far more chaotic than it needed to be and it was on an honest mistake.

Arguably there will always be an opportunity for situations to occur on SWA but they represent such a rare experience overall, you will however stand a very high chance of issues arising on airlines with assigned seating. Overhead bin space is also a stressor compounded by the fact that you often have paid for your seat selection on other airlines.

As an aside what good is having a seat assigned if somehow the system can assign two different people the same seat? And hopefully the person who had to find another seat wasn't one that paid for that seat (I know seat selection is add-on for Spirit).

SWA's main issue is really it's pre-boarding procedure. That's the angst the airline deals with far more.

 

[kittylady1972]

Nearly all your seat drama is actually on planes with assigned seats the primary reason upsells and selected seats.

From people who specifically selected a seat being asked by another passenger to move especially when it comes to parents but also happens with spouses. And people are fed up with being asked to be moved when they've selected that particular seat.

On our BA flight back last year from Heathrow to Chicago there was a huge uproar over a family who mistakenly sat in another family's seat. It was far more chaotic than it needed to be and it was on an honest mistake.

Arguably there will always be an opportunity for situations to occur on SWA but they represent such a rare experience overall, you will however stand a very high chance of issues arising on airlines with assigned seating. Overhead bin space is also a stressor compounded by the fact that you often have paid for your seat selection on other airlines.

As an aside what good is having a seat assigned if somehow the system can assign two different people the same seat? And hopefully the person who had to find another seat wasn't one that paid for that seat (I know seat selection is add-on for Spirit).

SWA's main issue is really it's pre-boarding procedure. That's the angst the airline deals with far more.

I'm sure there is drama in all of those situations...assigned or not...but I still feel loading is longer with people seeking seats over people who have to go to them. However I have no scientific evidence to back that up other than I feel like my Spirit flights load very quickly compared to SWA flights, and these are all full flights.

This was the first time I have seen a duplicate assigned seat, and who knows if that was really the case or the guy who had the ticket wasn't up for fighting it.

Yes you do have the OPTION to pay for seats on Spirit of course, but if you don't you still get assigned one based on the timing of your check-in for the flight. We've found those booked as a group on one reservation always get seats together, and I assume that's the norm but don't know if it's possible for them to get different rows.

I keep thinking about the story I read recently where a mother and toddler were on some flight and got assigned different rows (not Spirit, I think an international airline?) and the person next to the toddler was asked to switch with the mom (who had a middle seat) and refused. Something about the mom and child part of a tour group and there were others who she could have asked to switch but didn't? I don't know.

Yes the pre-boarding issue I agree has gotten out of hand, and you know people are gaming that system more now.

Case in point...my husband flew home on a SWA air flight this Saturday, while I was on a Spirit flight. According to him, a woman walked up with a cane for the blind and a child helping her for preboarding. When she got to the scanner, he said she easily put her ticket under the scanner no issues like had no problem with sign and that gate attendants were laughing. Then she folded up her walking cane, got on the flight, and he said was reading her phone without the use of glasses. He was floored.

You just have to pack your patience when it comes to any kind of travel these days.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I'm sure there is drama in all of those situations...assigned or not...but I still feel loading is longer with people seeking seats over people who have to go to them. However I have no scientific evidence to back that up other than I feel like my Spirit flights load very quickly compared to SWA flights, and these are all full flights.

This was the first time I have seen a duplicate assigned seat, and who knows if that was really the case or the guy who had the ticket wasn't up for fighting it.

Yes you do have the OPTION to pay for seats on Spirit of course, but if you don't you still get assigned one based on the timing of your check-in for the flight. We've found those booked as a group on one reservation always get seats together, and I assume that's the norm but don't know if it's possible for them to get different rows.

I keep thinking about the story I read recently where a mother and toddler were on some flight and got assigned different rows (not Spirit, I think an international airline?) and the person next to the toddler was asked to switch with the mom (who had a middle seat) and refused. Something about the mom and child part of a tour group and there were others who she could have asked to switch but didn't? I don't know.

Yes the pre-boarding issue I agree has gotten out of hand, and you know people are gaming that system more now.

Case in point...my husband flew home on a SWA air flight this Saturday, while I was on a Spirit flight. According to him, a woman walked up with a cane for the blind and a child helping her for preboarding. When she got to the scanner, he said she easily put her ticket under the scanner no issues like had no problem with sign and that gate attendants were laughing. Then she folded up her walking cane, got on the flight, and he said was reading her phone without the use of glasses. He was floored.

You just have to pack your patience when it comes to any kind of travel these days.

For the most part SWA is faster on average though research should probably look at how airlines are doing since the pandemic.

Sometimes I see slow downs with people unaware of how it works. As in they think the numbers by the overhead bin mean their seats and that the boarding number is their seat selection. They don't line up according to SWA's process, etc. Yes that will slow it down if someone is in C trying to board with A but because they are unaware of how it works (excluding people trying to board dishonestly).

My hunch is passengers already know Spirit is Spirit, you're not paying for a whole lot to be included in the experience. I don't know how much overhead bin space is used either.

I think other airlines have big slow downs with the gate lice and all. The different classes with their seats, finding overhead bin space, asking to switch seats because they couldn't find ones together when they booked their flight or were assigned seats apart from each other, etc.

I do think people are seeing larger groups try to save more seats compared to before the pandemic, that I've seen myself as well and that might be creating more of a pain point. Mostly I see other passengers rolling their eyes at people trying to save a lot of seats. Assigned seating wouldn't fix that issue, you might have it worse with the boarding process if you did have assigned seats hearing more "can you switch me seats" happening on a larger scale because they are trying to find more seats together. It happens a lot on other airlines so no reason not to expect it to happen with SWA if they went to that model.

I agree patience can really be the key for travel no matter what airline

 

[nekonekoneko]

very high chance of issues arising on airlines with assigned seating. Overhead bin space is also a stressor compounded by the fact that you often have paid for your seat selection on other airlines.

This was my issue on a flight from MCO-LAX a couple weeks ago on Delta. Somehow, even though I was like the 5th person to buy a ticket for this flight, I managed to board very last. My seats were right behind the Comfort Plus seats. By the time I got to board, there was 0 overhead bin space left, so I hate to gate check my carry on. Of course, when we landed, I saw at least 10-15 people in front of me bringing down 2-3 bags and a jacket per person, which is why there was no overhead space left.

 

[mrsdoubie]

I'm sure there is drama in all of those situations...assigned or not...but I still feel loading is longer with people seeking seats over people who have to go to them. However I have no scientific evidence to back that up other than I feel like my Spirit flights load very quickly compared to SWA flights, and these are all full flights.

This was the first time I have seen a duplicate assigned seat, and who knows if that was really the case or the guy who had the ticket wasn't up for fighting it.

Yes you do have the OPTION to pay for seats on Spirit of course, but if you don't you still get assigned one based on the timing of your check-in for the flight. We've found those booked as a group on one reservation always get seats together, and I assume that's the norm but don't know if it's possible for them to get different rows.

I keep thinking about the story I read recently where a mother and toddler were on some flight and got assigned different rows (not Spirit, I think an international airline?) and the person next to the toddler was asked to switch with the mom (who had a middle seat) and refused. Something about the mom and child part of a tour group and there were others who she could have asked to switch but didn't? I don't know.

Yes the pre-boarding issue I agree has gotten out of hand, and you know people are gaming that system more now.

Case in point...my husband flew home on a SWA air flight this Saturday, while I was on a Spirit flight. According to him, a woman walked up with a cane for the blind and a child helping her for preboarding. When she got to the scanner, he said she easily put her ticket under the scanner no issues like had no problem with sign and that gate attendants were laughing. Then she folded up her walking cane, got on the flight, and he said was reading her phone without the use of glasses. He was floored.

You just have to pack your patience when it comes to any kind of travel these days.

I’m going to say your comment about a woman using the cane for the blind is a bit ableist. Not everyone who uses these canes are totally blind. My daughter can see but is legally blind however she really struggles with depth perception and direction hence the use of the cane. Don’t be so quick to judge.

 

[mrsdoubie]

Super excited that I discovered I had almost $200 in credits. I had a trip booked for 28k points to MCO but I cancelled and rebooked using my credits and paid $160 round trip for the flight. Now I have enough points for a future flight!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Case in point...my husband flew home on a SWA air flight this Saturday, while I was on a Spirit flight. According to him, a woman walked up with a cane for the blind and a child helping her for preboarding. When she got to the scanner, he said she easily put her ticket under the scanner no issues like had no problem with sign and that gate attendants were laughing. Then she folded up her walking cane, got on the flight, and he said was reading her phone without the use of glasses. He was floored.

I’m going to say your comment about a woman using the cane for the blind is a bit ableist. Not everyone who uses these canes are totally blind. My daughter can see but is legally blind however she really struggles with depth perception and direction hence the use of the cane. Don’t be so quick to judge.

As @mrsdoubie said, there's lots of reasons a person may need a cane without being totally blind. Having gone to high school with a friend who was losing her vision and subsequently volunteering at various events for blind athletes, I can tell you there's a wide range of visual problems that people aren't aware of.

The stereotype of a person who is totally blind in both eyes is the exception, not the rule. There are people who have literal tunnel vision where they have excellent visual acuity in one spot in their vision but everything else is a blur. Navigating a busy airport or getting on a plane with people moving all around them can be very challenging, but then doing something like using a scanner or looking at one's phone can be easier because they can make sure that the device is within their range of good vision. There are people who can see well if things are brightly lit, but dim rooms might as well be pitch black and switching between levels of lighting is extremely challenging.

There are tons a reasons why a person who isn't totally blind still needs the aid of a cane and would have trouble boarding a plane under normal circumstances.

 

[EACarlson]

I'm sure there is drama in all of those situations...assigned or not...but I still feel loading is longer with people seeking seats over people who have to go to them. However I have no scientific evidence to back that up other than I feel like my Spirit flights load very quickly compared to SWA flights, and these are all full flights.

There has been a lot of research done and SW's method is reliably faster than those used by other airlines with assigned seats. If you take the same Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by Delta, United and Southwest. Delta and United will block 40 minutes for boarding and SW will block 30. In research, the fastest method is WILMA, Window seats, Middle seats then Aisle seats. But that disadvantages high status passengers and while United is trying a modified version of it, it's not really working the way United thought it would.

 

[disneylover81]

I received a 30% off promo code last year when I got the SWA Visa card. My family is planning on using it to go to Aulani this fall. If we redeem it at booking and then the price drops later and we modify our flights, does the discount carry over and apply to the new flight price or do we just lose it?

Also, we fly from MEM and they don’t give an option to fly to HNL so it really messes up using our 30% off since it’s one time use only. I can book it one way as a multi city flight, say like MEM to LGB to HNL, but not the return flight at the same time. Does anyone know if it’s possible to call SWA and book it this way round trip in one booking number? It’s not super cheap to fly to HNL and we are trying to maximize our promo code savings. The closest airport where we can book the flight round trip is 4 hours away, so it’s a little too far.

I’m so overwhelmed trying to book these flights. We’ve never been on such a long flight, typically we just take 2 hour flights so this 6 hour flight to Aulani seems like a lot. I’ve been looking at SWA, Hawaiian and Alaska airlines as options. We really want to fly SWA (since we have the promo code), but are wondering if we will be super uncomfortable sitting on those seats for such a long flight.

 

[RedHead0186]

I received a 30% off promo code last year when I got the SWA Visa card. My family is planning on using it to go to Aulani this fall. If we redeem it at booking and then the price drops later and we modify our flights, does the discount carry over and apply to the new flight price or do we just lose it?

Also, we fly from MEM and they don’t give an option to fly to HNL so it really messes up using our 30% off since it’s one time use only. I can book it one way as a multi city flight, say like MEM to LGB to HNL, but not the return flight at the same time. Does anyone know if it’s possible to call SWA and book it this way round trip in one booking number? It’s not super cheap to fly to HNL and we are trying to maximize our promo code savings. The closest airport where we can book the flight round trip is 4 hours away, so it’s a little too far.

I’m so overwhelmed trying to book these flights. We’ve never been on such a long flight, typically we just take 2 hour flights so this 6 hour flight to Aulani seems like a lot. I’ve been looking at SWA, Hawaiian and Alaska airlines as options. We really want to fly SWA (since we have the promo code), but are wondering if we will be super uncomfortable sitting on those seats for such a long flight.

The code should carry over. I've rebooked flights before that had a code, and it always gave me a message at the top "your code is still being applied" or something like that (assuming my new flights were still within the parameters of the code).

You should be able to call and book that all as one reservation. I think the website just limits how many legs you can book.

 

[piglet1979]

When is the next drop of dates? I looked back a few pages and tried to find it southwest's site and can't seem to find it.