Programs: AA PLT; UA 2P; disillusioned SWA RR member
Posts: 5,318
For some reason the website never remembers my RR number, even though I click "Remember my account number for future login." I don't know if others have that problem.
I agree with the suggestions about more transparency for through flights. This is both in the reservation process and in the "flight status" information (i.e. show me the intermediate stops departure/arrival time status, not just the initial departure and final arrival).
I would like the flight status info to show what time the flight departed, rather than making it disappear once the flight departs. No other airline hides their departure times, and the only possible reason why Southwest could be doing it is to cover up for late departures. (See other lengthy current threads in this forum for that topic!)
Also under flight status, I would like to be able to select a city pair and see all of the ACTUAL departure/arrival time on one screen, rather than being presented with a list of the flights between those cities and then having to click on just one. The way things are set up now, it's difficult to "get a feel" for how late flights are running that day between a particular city pair (requires many clicks).
On a positive note, I love that you can change your ticket online. Few if any of the legacy airlines have this capability in their web site, which is extremely frustrating.
I second the above, about more transparency for through flights.
Also - maybe I'm too accustomed to the websites of the majors, but I find the flow for managing existing reservations somewhat unintuitive:
Log into MySouthwest
Get PNR
Copy PNR
Go to Travel Center
Choose desired action (OLCI, security document, change, cancel, view funds, flight status messaging, or e-mail itinerary)
Paste PNR and enter name (or in the case of flight paging, enter flight numbers)
I would rather see it work something like this:
Log into MySouthwest
See all, rather than just the next, active PNRs
Click on desired reservation
View reservation summary and select from appropriate available actions (for example, OLCI if within 24 hours, but not if not), all of which would happen in the context of the current reservation, so you don't have to re-enter anything.
Alaska Airlines has the most straightforward example of this, IMO, where after retrieving a reservation, at the bottom of the screen, you get a list of contextually relevant options (e.g. if it's a held itinerary, you can choose "Continue holding" or "Purchase", if it's a purchased itinerary you can "Change," "Cancel," etc).
1) Improve support for multi-leg flights. Current southwest.com interface only allows for the booking of two legs at the same time (Depart -> Arrive -> Return). Additional legs have to be booked under a different PNR.
2) Allow for the subscription to Flight Status Messaging for all flights booked with the same RR number. SW's messaging implementation is fantastic, but only when I remember to subscribe for a given flight!
1) Improve support for multi-leg flights. Current southwest.com interface only allows for the booking of two legs at the same time (Depart -> Arrive -> Return). Additional legs have to be booked under a different PNR.
2) Allow for the subscription to Flight Status Messaging for all flights booked with the same RR number. SW's messaging implementation is fantastic, but only when I remember to subscribe for a given flight!
Maybe have Southwest send an automatic email to me when credits have been posted to my account.
I like the idea of showing us stops, waits, etc. I'd like to know where I may be stopping if my flight is not non stop.
Programs: AA Lifetime Plat, WN CP, Latin Pass Bonus
Posts: 3,286
Thought of another one - dont think it is above:
A link to see the unused Ticketless Funds we have available from Canceled flights. Unless there is one somewhere. I think this is almost criminal not providing access to funds one has "on deposit". Also a reminder 2 months or so before they expire.
As far as i know, one has to track this by oneself and no easy way to confirm credits are "in your account" as you expect after a cancellation.
A link to see the unused Ticketless Funds we have available from Canceled flights. Unless there is one somewhere. I think this is almost criminal not providing access to funds one has "on deposit". Also a reminder 2 months or so before they expire.
As far as i know, one has to track this by oneself and no easy way to confirm credits are "in your account" as you expect after a cancellation.
Oooooh... this would be wonderful. I could then toss all those yellow stickies with confirmation numbers for cancelled or changed flights, with remaining funds. What a mess trying to keep track of all those! How great it would be if, upon clicking "use ticketless funds" when buying a ticket, it showed me my available ticketless funds! What a concept!
Programs: AA PLT; UA 2P; disillusioned SWA RR member
Posts: 5,318
JetBlue's web site does a fantastic job of showing ticketless funds from cancelled flights. I suggest making and cancelling a flight just to see how it works. Basically you get what looks like a bank statement showing what flight you cancelled, what flight(s) you applied some or all of the funds towards, etc. It's very slick. I believe JetBlue is the only airline that shows you travel credits in this way. Certainly the legacies are all a disaster in this regard in my experience (I think they want you to forget you have credits!).
As WN is flying more long haul flights, I'd love to see IFE on longer flights. I flew LAS-MCO this past weekend, flying WN eastbound and Song westbound. I really liked Song's IFE system. Being able to watch Penn & Teller's magic special, football, Family Guy, sports highlights, etc. and not having to worry about exhausting my laptop battery made the flight seem a lot shorter than five hours. IFE is pretty superfluous for intra-Texas, intra-California, or other short haul flights, but I'd love it on LAS-BWI, LAS-TPA, MHT-LAS and other long WN flights I've flown on.
Yes, JetBlue-like IFE would be the best, providing the most choices for anyone on the plane, not having to worry about the content of the main movie on the main screen.
I also don't really mind the 1-2 hour flights, as you can enjoy the scenery or finish a good newspaper in that time frame. However, with 4-hour flights, it gets to be pretty boring... I started listening to my iPod in noise-cancelling headphones. Blocks out all conversations, but you can still hear the low-pitched engine roar.
After reading all of these wonderful suggestions, my top two would be:
1) an area where you could see all unused travel funds--a FABULOUS suggestions, since I too, have trouble keeping track of them myself
2) being able make a CP pass without inputting all of the data now required
TalkBoard Member/Moderator: Southwest and JetBlue forums
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: California
Programs: WN CP & A-list, Interstate BBQ at MEM B17, CO Lifetime Presidents Club
Posts: 9,242
Quote:
Originally Posted by SAPMAN
A link to see the unused Ticketless Funds we have available from Canceled flights. Unless there is one somewhere. I think this is almost criminal not providing access to funds one has "on deposit". Also a reminder 2 months or so before they expire.
As far as i know, one has to track this by oneself and no easy way to confirm credits are "in your account" as you expect after a cancellation.
Even Southwest's Refund Accounting people do not have an easy way to locate available ticketless funds. When they get the capability, maybe we will too. Right now they can pull up all reservations for a given credit card, but most of those will have zero balance because they were flown. I decided to just keep track of it myself years ago, but in my conversations with Refund Accouting I got the distinct impression that their retrieval tools are quite primitive.
Not having to keep track of this myself would be a major benefit. However I don't expect to see it before the arrival of change fees.
Programs: AA Lifetime Plat, WN CP, Latin Pass Bonus
Posts: 3,286
It is inconceivable that a large company would not have the ability to track and find funds (that can be used for travel). I would think it would be a liability of the company and on the books as such. Not being able to have detail to support such is mindboggling. I also think they would have legal problems with such loose standards.
It is like checking with a bank to see if you had any deposits and they said we do not know and cannot find out unless you give us the "locator" of the deposit you made!
Basically you get what looks like a bank statement showing what flight you cancelled, what flight(s) you applied some or all of the funds towards, etc. It's very slick. I believe JetBlue is the only airline that shows you travel credits in this way. Certainly the legacies are all a disaster in this regard in my experience (I think they want you to forget you have credits!).
