pc95

This is a general warning to folks who fly Southwest. Be careful with your inputted name during reservation.

I've been flying them for years and years. Recently in October 2010 upon reading a notice on the online check-in to fill in your whole name exactly as it appears on your gov. issue id (driver's lic) I added my full middle name to the reservation. Unbeknownst to me I found out on the 24 hr prior online check this error:

"Oops:Sorry, your itinerary is ineligible for checkin online. Please proceed to any Southwest Airlines Ticket Counter to check in for your flight. (SW302114) "

Upon calling "iflyswa" the agent was unable to check me in stating that I had
to check in at the airport, and sorry for the inconvenience. It turned out that for work reasons, I had to change my inbound flight. On booking a new flight with the old credit I simply omitted my middle name and was NOT flagged, checking in properly for an "A" seat. The TSA security did not stop me on the lack of middle name. I called Southwest customer relations (12149320333) and was told that they would forward it to their "technology department".

The same thing has now happened on my outbound check-in My name on my rapids reward number only has my middle initial. The Southwest agent tried to change the name on the RR# account with no effect. To not be able to modify or override your own reservation system is incompetent and bumbling. Any kind of TSA explanation makes little sense as the security checkpoint verifies your identification anyway. It's prompted me to cancel another flight I'd made the same mistake reserving due in February. If this continues to happen, I'll make sure to describe the trouble with Southwest to everyone I know, and fly Virgin or some other carrier. Wasting time trying to check in online, calling their ineffective support, and finally being crammed into a middle seat with no carry-on space is not worth the discomfort and hassle.

So, Careful with inputting your reservation name. Southwest is too incompetent or apathetic to override their own reservation system for whatever inane reasons.

sctn8gp

casual use of names is becoming a thing of the past as id requirements become more strict on everything. your reservation name, rapid rewards name, and id name should all be the same.

if your name is causing you check in problems you may need to go to tsa to get a 'redress number' that you'll need to provide with future reservations.

pc95

Note that flagging is done by SW, not the TSA. There was little casual about my initial input. TSA has little to do with Southwest's reservation system besides giving guidelines. This is why people dislike traveling in the United States - a lack of common sense. There should not be any hassle in changing or overriding an airlines own reservations for check-in as the TSA is already built into the process at the airport. Being unable to override system conditions is incompetent database management and creates this sort of inconvenience.

And a TSA redress number is comical - lost in a bureaucracy more involved in creating jobs for a theatrical presentation of security which we all know does nothing but pester, annoy, and infuriate the public while being ineffectual. This is a Southwest reservations problem defined by their database error. The TSA would simply direct you to Southwest's customer service.

expert7700

Southwest.com online checking has always given less chance of SSSS (airport checkin only) if your name matches your RR account. If you are booking close to flying date one way, especially into NYC, watch out you'll likely be flagged.

Southwest.com also gave (and is giving) a free name change update to your rapid rewards account in case it didn't match your government photo ID. This would in theory lower the risk for SSSS mismatch. But it may not take effect immediately, maybe just for new bookings

Maybe I dodged a bullet though on the other hand. I had our DMV change my government photo ID to mach my rapid reward acccount. I found it easier to do that since I needed a new photo card anyway.

mustang93

PC do you have a common name? maybe that can be the problem.

pc95

No, my name is pretty uncommon I'd say. The fact that I omitted my middle name and had neither a problem with a subsequent reservation nor TSA has led me to believe that it was my mistake to give more information in the first place. These stupid security calls are inane and cause nothing but inconvenience, discomfort, and hassle. Not to mention they are ineffective. How many articles since the "stepped security" have you seen in print or media bemoaning yet another missed contraband. Thanks to trying to follow Southwest directions I now will have a guaranteed middle seat in the back of the plance and leg-room sacrificed for carry-ons despite making the time for a 24hr prior online check-in. The customer at Southwest was what really failed here. They are clueless and incompetent. 1/2 of the telephone reps were callous to boot. I'll make sure to pay some other airline who at least knows how to setup their own database rules and modifications

And while I'm ranting, Southwest's new flight status page has completely regressed. It no longer estimates times dep/arrival times - a dumb-founding lack of information. Have to resort to http://flightaware.com

pc95

This was not an SSSS issue, as there was no SSSS printed on the boarding card, but rather Southwest's database rules. After omitting my middle name on the inbound flight, it was not flagged. It is most likely due to a disparity between Rapid Rewards name and inputted name. No follow up from Southwest yet. This is the worst experience I've had with Southwest is several years.

lougord99

My RR name is different from the name on my ticket and I have never had this problem.

subtitulo

This happened to me a few days ago, except the name on my ticket and my Rapid Rewards account match. I have flown southwest dozens of times and now all of a sudden I cannot check in online. I had to check in at the airport. The funniest thing is, I checked in at a kiosk and no one asked me for an ID.

When I call to ask about this, the customer service agents have no idea why. I am flying back home tonight and I doomed to a C seat because I could not check in ahead of time.

The most frustrating part if that no one at Southwest can tell me why I am ineligible for online check in.

huskiefan

I have flown SWA for many years, and this happened to me out of the blue. I get the "Oops" message, and go nuts. Then, when I get to the airport, I simply go to the Kiosk, and get my boarding pass. C-11. Thanks. When I call SWA, they tell me to talk to the TSA. I happene to fly again this past Monday, the 18th, and DID speak with the TSA. They said it was a SWA issue, and they knew nothing about it. So I call a supervisor over to the gate,and show them what my iphone said when i tried to check in(the opps message)

She was in fact trying to help me, and hand wrote a better boarding pass. BUT, when I got an email from her, she said they had fixed the problem. I thought, thats great. BUT, they didn't fix my problem, they fixed theirs. Now, as I continue to get this message, I WILL have to show ID in the line to get my boarding pass, and will still get a C pass. I asked her why this was happening, and she said there could be many reasons, but SHE WASN'T AT LIBERTY TO DISCUSS! Talk about furious. I am white, middle aged normal guy....not exactly a terrorist threat. If they had said my name popped up on some some list, at least I would know, but this cloak and daggar stuff infuritates me.

I have to fly SWA again next week, but after that, unless they resolve it, I will be looking elsewhere.

curbcrusher

This is no longer true thanks to Secure Flight.

http://www.southwest.com/html/genera...light_faq.html

wkidd

A month ago wife and I went LAS-LGA. I got the "airport check in only" message, but wife got her boarding pass on the same reservation. Talked to SWA CR and got the old "don't know" reply. No problem at the airport with BP. This weekend, flew LAS-SFO. I got the opps message, but wife got her BP. Called SWA again but this time was given a TSA omsbudsmen phone number. Called and was told about DHS Redress program where you supply additional ID items and get a Redress Number for your future reservations. BP issued at airport. On the return, however, my wife and I both got the opps message. Same reservation as the outbound so name in the record had to be the same. Why the opps could not be explained by SWA. At airport check in using kiosk. No id was used or shown to anyone except TSA at security. Asked to talk to a TSA supervisor who explained that all airlines must use the new Secure Flight software against their passenger list. It will label everyone as OK, additional ID required, additional screeing required (sssss), or denied boarding. So why was wife OK on ourbound and tagged on the return? Is the redress number have any value, or is it a one time use? SWA has a software problem IMHO.

screeton

This appears to be one more example of the present user unfriendly SWA website and data system. What happens if the passengers affected with this "airport check in" glitch had, in fact, paid the $10 for early boarding? Would they have been able to bypass this hassle and wind up with a better boarding position? Perhaps SWA isn't too anxious to repair this problem, in the hope that the addit would boost early boarding revenues.