SWA Major Outage and Service Disruption July 20, 2016 (was: Systemwide Groundstop)
Sep 6, 2016, 12:34 pm
#436
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: MCI
Programs: CBP Global Entry, WN A-List Preferred, WN Companion Pass
Posts: 2,007
Update:
Wow. I just received the following email, and it appears that they are actually going to reimburse the cost of my flight on American. I'm amazed.
When they stranded me out of town for 6 days over New Year's 2014 I was told in no uncertain terms that they absolutely did not reimburse for travel on another carrier. That meltdown had a weather component, so it could be argued that this time the cause was 100% on WN, but in any case I'm pleasantly surprised that they are stepping up and doing the right thing now. Even if this is a one-time-only response (to what I assume they hope will be a one-time-only event.)
It took quite some time, and there were a few hurdles to clear, so I hope that anyone else effected by the meltdown stuck with it and received their own resolution.
In the end, bravo to WN.
(Note: The EBCI refund finally appeared on my Visa account, but the taxes never did -- checking now, it appears to have been converted to TTFs, so that's close enough at this point.)
Wow. I just received the following email, and it appears that they are actually going to reimburse the cost of my flight on American. I'm amazed.
When they stranded me out of town for 6 days over New Year's 2014 I was told in no uncertain terms that they absolutely did not reimburse for travel on another carrier. That meltdown had a weather component, so it could be argued that this time the cause was 100% on WN, but in any case I'm pleasantly surprised that they are stepping up and doing the right thing now. Even if this is a one-time-only response (to what I assume they hope will be a one-time-only event.)
It took quite some time, and there were a few hurdles to clear, so I hope that anyone else effected by the meltdown stuck with it and received their own resolution.
In the end, bravo to WN.
(Note: The EBCI refund finally appeared on my Visa account, but the taxes never did -- checking now, it appears to have been converted to TTFs, so that's close enough at this point.)
Congratulations & thank you for sharing!
Sep 6, 2016, 5:07 pm
#437
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: ORD, MDW or MKE
Programs: American and Southwest. Hilton and Marriott hotels primarily.
Posts: 6,458
Yet another reason why flyertalk.com is the best travel forum out there.
You would probably never would have persevered and gotten this refund without it.
You would probably never would have persevered and gotten this refund without it.
Sep 6, 2016, 5:50 pm
#438
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Blue Ridge, GA
Posts: 5,501
Sep 6, 2016, 6:16 pm
#439
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: ORD, MDW or MKE
Programs: American and Southwest. Hilton and Marriott hotels primarily.
Posts: 6,458
Sep 6, 2016, 6:34 pm
#440
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Blue Ridge, GA
Posts: 5,501
Sep 6, 2016, 7:36 pm
#441
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,286
Yeah, all respect due to the many benefits of this forum, but I pursued compensation after this event the same as I have after every adverse WN experience. The only thing that really changed here is their response.
I suppose it was helpful to know that others had been told about receiving reimbursement, both here and on social media, so in that regard FT did help.
I suppose it was helpful to know that others had been told about receiving reimbursement, both here and on social media, so in that regard FT did help.
Last edited by ursine1; Sep 6, 2016 at 11:05 pm
Nov 17, 2016, 11:26 am
#444
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 90
So I should have seen this coming.....
Had flight cancelled due to the July system wide issue. Luckily I was at my home airport so was not stranded.
Fast forward to now with all my travel booked for the rest of the year and it looks like I will wind up 2 segments shy of A-List.
Wrote to Southwest to see if they would give me segment credit for the cancellation and was denied.
Sure I could fly a quick round trip....but am left wondering if it is even worth it.
Not so much as a we are sorry email was sent about the outage (at least not one that I received), had to call for a refund- and they didn't refund my early-bird check-in, and now this.
I know all airlines have issues- so this is more of a vent as I will probably remain loyal to Southwest even though it often means flying to airports two hours away from where I actually need to be (which makes flying Delta that much more appealing).
Had flight cancelled due to the July system wide issue. Luckily I was at my home airport so was not stranded.
Fast forward to now with all my travel booked for the rest of the year and it looks like I will wind up 2 segments shy of A-List.
Wrote to Southwest to see if they would give me segment credit for the cancellation and was denied.
Sure I could fly a quick round trip....but am left wondering if it is even worth it.
Not so much as a we are sorry email was sent about the outage (at least not one that I received), had to call for a refund- and they didn't refund my early-bird check-in, and now this.
I know all airlines have issues- so this is more of a vent as I will probably remain loyal to Southwest even though it often means flying to airports two hours away from where I actually need to be (which makes flying Delta that much more appealing).
Nov 17, 2016, 1:18 pm
#446
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 5,813
You might be able to re book some of your planned travel at add segments.
Not so much as a we are sorry email was sent about the outage (at least not one that I received), had to call for a refund- and they didn't refund my early-bird check-in, and now this.
I know all airlines have issues- so this is more of a vent as I will probably remain loyal to Southwest even though it often means flying to airports two hours away from where I actually need to be (which makes flying Delta that much more appealing).
I know all airlines have issues- so this is more of a vent as I will probably remain loyal to Southwest even though it often means flying to airports two hours away from where I actually need to be (which makes flying Delta that much more appealing).
