Cancelled connecting flight while enroute.
 

Flew out of Philly today with a connecting flight in Phoenix. As we are just taking off, I get a text that says my connecting Phoenix flight is cancelled...also a link to find free alternative flights home. So I clicked the link, but frustratingly, the link only showed routes from Philly to home, not from my connecting flight (phx) to home. This was obviously not helpful, since we were already on the runway.

So next I look at options out of Phoenix, which appeared to be somewhat sparse. There was a 7:30 flight (2 hours later) showing Business Select availability, plus a 9:30 flight (4 hours later) with multiple options.

I selected the Business Select flight, operating under the assumption that ALL flights might be full by the time I hit the ground 4+ hours later...at least I was securing a way home and could sort it out in phx.

So when I land in Phoenix, I walk to the closest counter and tell the agent my situation. She looks me up on the computer and says I'm double-booked. "Why did you book another flight? We automatically re-booked you on the 9:30 flight." I responded, "I booked the 7:30 flight because I couldn't call to talk to somebody, and there was a 7:30 flight available. Why did SW put me on the 9:30 flight when a 7:30 flight was available?" She said they did so because the 9:30 flight was the only flight with WGA fares available, which was my original fare...and I could keep the earlier flight but would need to pay the full fare. This really bothered me..."You're telling me SW cancelled my flight and instead of putting me on the next flight with empty seats, they want me to wait around 2 more hours (6 total!) for a cheap-seat fare? BS! (and I don't mean BS in the SWA kinda way)."

I asked to visit with a supervisor, and the agent got snarky. "I'll call her over, but it's a waste of time...she won't do anything more for you!" OK, thanks.

I wait 15 minutes before the supervisor finally comes over. I was polite with her and explained my situation. She was reasonable and understanding, and with a bit of work on her part she put me on the 7:30 flight and refunded that fare. But as we wrapped up she said, "Just so you know, we can't normally do this, but because you are A-List+ I thought I would take care of you."


So that's a long story...but my questions:

1. In the event of a cancellation, shouldn't SWA automatically book passengers on the next available flight, regardless of fare? And when necessary, give preferncre based on status?

2. Since weather was sketchy and flights left and right were getting delayed/cancelled, what if I had told the agent to keep me on both flights and let the weather situation play out? "Go ahead and keep me on the flight you automatically re-booked me on, and I'll pay out of pocket for the BS flight." Then cancel the BS flight last-minute if needed.

I've read that weather-related rebookings (SODA) also require availability of a compatible fare. I'm pretty sure Dallas Customer Relations can override that if they are open. As an A-lister, call Dallas for requests like this if they are open.

Since you've already started your trip, WN has no way of knowing where you want to go when they cancel your connecting leg.

Need more information here. Where were you heading after the PHX connection? Home? Back to PHL? Somewhere else? Where were the 730 and 930 flights heading?

You have to tell them.

This is probably one story where I agree with the OP, if there is space (seats) available on the next flight, why not re-book him to that one? I've personally had that happen on other airlines, no status and sometimes award/cheap bookings, always rebooked to the next convenient flight out with open seats.

I don't understand the question. Obviously I wanted to go where I originally booked (in this case home.) My flight was Philly - Phoenix - home. They obviously assumed I wanted to continue to home, as they booked me on the 9:30 flight. My objection is saving BS fares to hopefully profit more money while hanging enroute customers out to dry.

Lessee...ten posts and no less than three WN service fails for the OP. This airline just ain't workin' for you, is it? Have you considered a different carrier?

Thanks, that clarifies it. Your earlier connection got cancelled, a 730 and 930 to the same destination were both available, and only the later one still had a WGA fare available.

I don't see where you did anything wrong. In fact, you helped by coming up with an acceptable alternative flight. They didn't need to get "snarky", and in the end you straightened it out at the airport.

Customer service could have been better.

I'm most surprised that WN rebooked the OP automatically. I've literally never experienced that.

It would be different if Business Select was actually a different class of seating on the plane. It's really just a different pricing segment, no different than close-in ticket prices being higher than tickets purchased 21+ days out on a legacy carrier. Can you imagine a legacy carrier not rebooking a higher fare? "We booked you on a new flight in three weeks because it was the only one with an equal or lesser fare." If every seat is the same on Southwest then every seat should be available in IRROPS.

I suspect that this is simply poor IT compounded by poor ability to handle simple enroute misconnects. Indeed WN ought to rebook onto the next available flight and the 7:30 had availability.

Given that there is no such thing as BS, it is simply a boarding position, all WN needs to do is rebook into the same fare basis (the terminology is just cutsie marketing) and OP then boards the 7:30 at whatever position he ought to have.

What WN apparently is not able to deal with is the fact that OP had internet connectivity so although his original segment had pushed from the gate, he was able to handle rebooking himself.

OP clearly has issues with WN. Time and again.

I am no WN fan. It fills a small niche when there is nothing else available. But, OP's profile does not list his home airport and he lists his destination only as "HOME" so nobody here can help on that front. However, PHL-PHX is an AA hub-hub route with assigned seating F and MCE seating and so on. That is an alternative worth considering.

This is also the first time that I recall a report of pushback from WN on booking the next available flight if any availability exists. I suspect that what the OP reports is not WN policy.

To be fair to the OP, it does seem like he has a valid point here. Not so much in the other thread. And I can see someone searching the internet when they have a flight problem and coming across FT. Then they sign up to get more info so their first posts are just issues.

Not to excuse OP's assumptions in the other post but fair's fair and I agree that WN should have just booked him on the 0730 without requiring WGA fares available.

You should be able to standby for the 730 for free, correct?

Rasheed

I agree that Southwest should always rebook passengers on the next flight with any available seat and not just the next seat with availability in the same care category. For many routers, it is rare to find a WGA fair without at least seven days of advanced purchase, so acting the way that the airline tried to in the passenger's case could leave passengers in a bad situation.

The only thing that I can think of is that in some instances, Southwest over sells flights. So perhaps the seat wasn't really available, but they were willing to resell it at the Business Select fare and risk having to bump someone. I am curious whether the new flight was completely full.

Yes, they offered standby. But the flight was completely sold out by the time I landed, so I wasn't guaranteed a standby seat. Why should I have to risk standby if I was able to get a reserved seat?