Yes, Southwest told me that it would violate their rules if my wife did not continue onto SMF with me. She did not check baggage. They said I had to go to Denver since my wife was my companion so, I had no alternatives.

I think it was neglectful to close the customer service counter with people in line. As far as asking for the hotel voucher the gate agent was adamant that there were none available and I was out of luck as he had a flight to get out so, he couldn't help me. I tried to find a hotel and had no luck other than Motel 6 or a few other ones with awful ratings. Plus, by then it was 1130pm and my flight was boarding at 5:25 am.

As far as it being a horrible experience, I think being stuck on a plane with no AC and having to board and reboard two times, spend the night in the airport and get home 8 hours late qualifies as horrible. It was Wednesday and the temp in Dallas was about 100 degrees.

What it is the purpose of their customer service commitment if they don't honor it. I think JMW is correct that Southwest is really cutting back on vouchers. In the past a delay like this resulted in a $300 voucher. Coincidentally, my daughter was meeting my wife in Denver and had a 2 hour delay in ONT for a broken AC also and got nothing from Southwest.

From the responses it seems like I shouldn't expect anything further from Southwest and file a complaint with DOT? Thanks for all the responses. As far as gettign my own hotel and seeking reimbursement what is the amount they will reimburse generally. I charged some food at the airport. Can i send it my credit card statemtn or is not worth it for the $20 bucks.

Thanks for all the responses.