Just before the big storm hit Denver, I called Frontier, where I was booked on a flight for 21-DEC. I wanted to switch to early in the morning on 20-DEC. United had already started giving free changes to get people out of Denver early. But not Frontier. I was told by one Frontier agent "we are not United." Yeah, no kidding.
Fortunately, there was Southwest Airlines, who, it appears, lowered their prices, on purpose. Normally, its $215 maximum fare, DEN-MCI-STL. But, for the 6:50 AM flight on 20-DEC (when looking at 10 PM on 19-DEC), it was only $134 per person. I grabbed it.
Thank you Southwest for putting a reasonably priced fare out there to help me get out of Denver instead of being stranded. Southwest, you made money buy selling seats that would have otherwise gone empty (the plane was less than full). You charged a reasonable price but you weren't greedy. You certainly weren't as greedy as Frontier, who wanted double the fare to make a change.
I'd would have booked these tickets with Southwest originally had they had a non-stop from DEN to STL. I thought Frontier could handle the job, and they probably could have, had it not been for the storm. Southwest, you may be based in Dallas, but you know how to deal with a mega snow storm far better than the local Denver boys.
I hope by next Christmas that Southwest is offering a non-stop from DEN to STL. There is no doubt who I will be booking with.
Had it not been for Southwest, I would have been one of the many that were stranded in Denver. I probably would not have got to where I was going for Christmas.
Location: Orlando, FL, home of the biggest human trap built by a mouse!
Posts: 53
One good thing about Southwest, is that they also don't have change fees. You can even rebook if a lower fare comes out, and use the credit for a future flight. I did that for my Christmas trip... now I have $100 in funds that I can use for a trip to Vegas or something
Just used my Southwest RR Voucher for a free trip back to the Mid-West to see my Mom who is not doing too well healthwise...cigarettes may get the best of her next year...thanx to SouthWest for the great RR program which allows us to save a few bucks and see relatives that are sick...
We were scheduled to come back on Thursday night, Dec. 21, but the Denver airport closed and the flights were cancelled. They "made up" a connection for me flying to PHX and then OKC on Dec. 24. I called back the next day and they said they were bringing in an extra plane on Dec. 21 from DEN to KC in order to help move customers. They let me use my tickets and we got to OK by Saturday afternoon instead of Sunday, two days before Christmas. That was great. Way to go, Southwest!
However, I will say I've never seen anything like the security line fiasco at the Denver airport on that Saturday morning. We arrived 3 hours early at 7 a.m. and found the security line circling the entire airport TWICE. The line had to be at least a mile long. While we were in the line, it wrapped a third time around the airport. Some said they knew folks who waited up to five hours in line for security. It was so sad, especially to see families with little children and the elderly who were trying to keep standing in these enourmously long lines. We waited for a little over two hours, and we weren't even close to the security area. While we were deciding what to do, some "angel" from the airport came out and said, (very quietly, I might add) "if your flight leaves in the next few minutes, come with me." She took us through Denver's International departures security line, where we were cleared immediately. We just happened to be at the right place at the right time, because this was not an announcement over the loud speaker, and we had heard no one else giving this direction in the two + hours we had already waited. She just walked out where we happened to be in line. When we got to the airport departure gates, it was so sad because there was hardly anybody in line to board the planes. The people were all stuck in security. Our plane left less than half full.
I don't know if I'll ever fly to Denver again. Certainly not at a holiday season. The airport experience (meaning security) was the worst I've ever encountered, and I'm a very frequent flyer. Something needs to be done about the TSA in Denver, in this flyer's opinion.
Programs: AA PLT; UA 2P; disillusioned SWA RR member
Posts: 5,318
Quote:
Originally Posted by FCfree
Just before the big storm hit Denver, I called Frontier, where I was booked on a flight for 21-DEC. I wanted to switch to early in the morning on 20-DEC. United had already started giving free changes to get people out of Denver early. But not Frontier. I was told by one Frontier agent "we are not United." Yeah, no kidding.
Fortunately, there was Southwest Airlines, who, it appears, lowered their prices, on purpose. Normally, its $215 maximum fare, DEN-MCI-STL. But, for the 6:50 AM flight on 20-DEC (when looking at 10 PM on 19-DEC), it was only $134 per person. I grabbed it.
Thank you Southwest for putting a reasonably priced fare out there to help me get out of Denver instead of being stranded. Southwest, you made money buy selling seats that would have otherwise gone empty (the plane was less than full). You charged a reasonable price but you weren't greedy. You certainly weren't as greedy as Frontier, who wanted double the fare to make a change.
I'd would have booked these tickets with Southwest originally had they had a non-stop from DEN to STL. I thought Frontier could handle the job, and they probably could have, had it not been for the storm. Southwest, you may be based in Dallas, but you know how to deal with a mega snow storm far better than the local Denver boys.
I hope by next Christmas that Southwest is offering a non-stop from DEN to STL. There is no doubt who I will be booking with.
Had it not been for Southwest, I would have been one of the many that were stranded in Denver. I probably would not have got to where I was going for Christmas.
What else can I say? I "LUV" Southwest!
Southwest's fares are usually lower on the flights at "inconvenient" times (like the 6:50 AM flight you took) and on unpopular travel days. I seriously doubt that Southwest intentionally lowered their fares because a storm was approaching. OTOH, it sounds like they didn't artificially inflate the fares to exploit people trying to get out of town, which is certainly a good thing (though there's no evidence any other airline did that either).
I'm surprised that the Frontier change fee is more than $134 (I assume that's what you're implying, because you said you bought a $134 ticket on Southwest rather than paying the Frontier change fee, and that would only make sense if the Frontier change fee was more than $134). I am not familiar with Frontier, but most airlines charge at most $100 change fee for domestic tickets.
I'm surprised that the Frontier change fee is more than $134 (I assume that's what you're implying, because you said you bought a $134 ticket on Southwest rather than paying the Frontier change fee, and that would only make sense if the Frontier change fee was more than $134). I am not familiar with Frontier, but most airlines charge at most $100 change fee for domestic tickets.
My understanding of the story is that F9 was not waiving change fees ($100) or fare differences, unlike UA, and $134 for a WN ticket was less than that total.
I'll share my story: I was working two hours northeast of Denver and scheduled to return on the 21st when the storm hit. I was scheduled to fly OAK-MCI with my wife on the 22nd. I had paid for that one-way ticket and my wife was my CP so she couldn't fly without me. With DEN airport closed and my flight cancelled, I called Southwest who said the earliest confirmed flight would be on 12/23 or 12/24. I gave up trying to fly back to Cali and focused on getting to MCI to meet my wife.
After explaining my situation to Southwest, the customer care rep asked if I had any awards available to get my wife to MCI without me. I had one but told her it was useless since it was capacity controlled and this was a last minute flight during the holidays. She said they could work around that and made a note on my reservation.
When I called Southwest back, I asked if there was any way to just change my paid reservation to be in my wife's name instead of burning an award. After checking with a supervisor, they agreed to do this for $10. I don't remember exactly, but I know the difference in price between my original paid ticket and the fully refundable ticket price was at least $100, so this was great.
My understanding of the story is that F9 was not waiving change fees ($100) or fare differences, unlike UA, and $134 for a WN ticket was less than that total.
That is correct. There was a $100 change fee and the new fare was $403. I'd already paid $136, so Frontier would have wanted 403-136+100 = $367 per ticket (total party of 3) to make the change. If they would have waived the change fee and fare difference, they would have made $136. Instead they refunded it to me.
The $100 change fee alone 75% of the cost of a Southwest ticket.
When I called Southwest back, I asked if there was any way to just change my paid reservation to be in my wife's name instead of burning an award. After checking with a supervisor, they agreed to do this for $10.
Why $10? This stikes me as very arbitrary. It's not a fee I am familiar with.
we too were victims of the snow. frontier did not do enough for their customers so we found two seats on southwest 3 days sooner than frontier could get us rebooked. sure we paid a premium for it, but we got where we wanted to be.
With DEN airport closed and my flight cancelled, I called Southwest who said the earliest confirmed flight would be on 12/23 or 12/24. 
I gave up trying to fly back to Cali and focused on getting to MCI to meet my wife. 
I thought that was weird, too. They said that was the difference in fare. Maybe a few last minute low fare buckets opened for my flight.
