Southwest reviews and complaints
The good, the bad, and the ugly - discover what customers are saying about Southwest
Welcome to our customer reviews and complaints page for Southwest. We understand that making informed decisions about where to invest your time and money can be challenging, which is why we've created this platform for our community to share their honest feedback about their experiences with Southwest.
On this page, you'll find a comprehensive collection of reviews and complaints from real customers who have used Southwest's products or services. Our reviews are authentic and unbiased, providing you with a complete picture of the company, its products or services, and their customer service.
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Lost luggage/no one helping
It's been over a month now and still no word on my dad's luggage. He came to Nashville to host karaoke for my son's 18th birthday party and they lost his luggage!!! Are you kidding me southwest??? Not a happy Mom at all!! To make a long story short, No karaoke party, Dad lost $9, 000 just in karaoke stuff! That's not even including his clothing!! He also...
Read full review of Southwestboarding pass
My mother-in-law came up on Southwest Airlines from Tampa to Manchester, NH. Last April we booked her flight and she got her boarding pass with no problem. This past December she came and was unable to get her boarding pass. She called and was told she couldn't get it until she went to the airport. Of course by then A & B's were already taken. No one told her that the reason was because she had to be "age verified". They saw her ID but no one said that was the reason she couldn't get her boarding pass online the day before. I didn't realize this until we tried to get her boarding pass on her return flight. Exactly 24 hours before I went online to get her boarding pass but could not do so. It took almost an hour to find out that she could not do it online because she was not "age verified" and her tickets was for a senior rate. If I known she would have had so much trouble I would have not gotten the senior rate. I signed her up for Rapid Rewards where it asks for birth date and thought that was it, but then still couldn't get it and called and was told she would have to go to the airport. I said she is 82 years old and I wanted to be sure that she didn't have to wait. She may not be in a wheelchair and is able to get around okay but SHE IS 82 YEARS OLD AND TRAVELING ALONE! The man on the phone said she could go to the airport and be age verified and tell them she could not get the boarding pass because of it and that the fact that she was over 65 she would be able to pre-board. When she got to the airport she was not allowed to pre-board because physically she was able to walk. Her husband died and since then traveling on her own has been a challenge. I really don't think Southwest is very adaptive to seniors traveling. When I first made the reservation I should have been told that she would not be able to get a boarding pass until she was age verified. That is so ridiculous - she would have to travel into the airport just to do that. Why couldn't she get the boarding pass and if she didn't pass age verification then she paid for a different ticket. You didn't make her verify her age to get the ticket - just couldn't let her get a boarding pass to get on the plane sooner. Also why would I be told on the phone that she could preboard but then she was told that could not? The reason we booked her on Southwest was that it is easier to pick her up in Manchester, NH but from now on we'll be booking her on Jet Blue to Boston.
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I flew from Houston to Detroit on August 5, 2007 (with a plane change in Chicago). I had just purchased a brand new suitcase that weekend from Macy's. When an old beat up piece of luggage (same brand) came by on the conveyor, I thought "that is what mine will look like in a few year". Unfortunately, that was my new luggage. It must have dropped from quite a distance because the wheels were completely caved in on one side and the metal running down the side was bent and pushed into the bag. In addition, there were several broken items inside and black scrapping on the front (as if it dropped from the plane onto the black pavement). I tried to talk to someone at Southwest last night, but was told that as long as I had my luggage there was nothing they could do. I then looked all over their web-site today to see if I could contact someone in baggage at SWA. No luck. I know bags get beat up, but this was a bit much. A $200 bag is completely unusable after only one flight. I know SWA is cheaper, but in my case, I need to add $200 to the cost of the flight. (And now I don't have a bag that wheels to get home.)
I flew from Phoenix back home to LA. I took my seat in the 2nd row, then alerted the attendant that there was dried up blood on the seat next me and to please get some disinfectant for it. Instead she said 'eww, I wouldn't sit there if I were you' and never cleaned it up. But this is not the complaint. There was a young girl, about 20ish sitting in the isle across from us. She was on the phone while the attendant was doing her little seat belt show, after the show, the attendant (southern bleached blond lady) yelled at the young girl to hang up her phone and the girl did right away. The attendant then walked up to the young girl and told her 'next time, you better get off the phone when your supposed to'. The girl responded by asking her to not be rude to her. The attendant then called for back up from the other attendant and proceeded to harass this young girl. They told her that they did not like her attitude, and they could turn the plane around and have her kicked off. The young girl then told them to do whatever they had to do, as they walked off, the poor girl was left crying, until the other passengers remarked to the male attendant in the back of the plane off the rudeness as lack of professionalism from the two women. I for one will no longer fly southwest if having a 'good attitude' is an additional requirement aside from paying for your flight.
My brother was flying into the DC area the weekend of the winter storms when his flight was canceled and rebooked. Then the next day it was canceled and he was asked to reschedule again. Given the storm it was understandable but he was moving for work and needed to find an alternative. He asked to fly into nearby airports instead, and found a flight to Southern Virginia that would require a four hour drive to his new home. Better than nothing, he asked to be put on that flight, thinking Southwest's legendary Customer Service folks would help him get on his way. Instead, he was charged an additional $200 for the tickets. Not only did this detour require him to book a one-way rental car ($200) and a night at a hotel, but Southwest charged him more money to get to his destination. If he took Southwest's offer to reschedule, he would fly in 4 days behind schedule, on the eve of the second storm to hit the DC area (which created more delays and cancellations) meaning he might've been a full week late! That is not an alternative. And I'll add that his flight was not fully booked.
These feel good stories of Southwest are in the past:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...0/b4024001.htm
Now they're just the same as all the other airlines. And before we blame a rep who may have been overwhelmed at the time, it was a manager who charged the extra fees.
We had to evacuate from the bahamas on 8/24/2011 due to hurricane irene. We were booked on an Southwest evacuation flight, this flight was specifically brought in to get people out. We were charged over $800 per person to go from the bahamas to washington, dc. The regular price on this flight would have been around $250 per person. We were completely ripped off.
Refund us the difference on all 4 tickets.
Sorry that Businessweek link should be:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_10/b4024001.htm