FindAWay

That's what I thought (and why I posted that story).

Franklin7777

My wife tends to make some <cough> speculative </cough> bookings on points with different times/airports/etc when we are planning vacations. She recently had 5/6 international bookings cancelled WITHOUT notification from Southwest and WITHOUT any refund of the points used. A call to customer service was able to get the points refunded, but IMO this was a real problem that SW is doing this without notification or refund. She keeps track of points/confirmation numbers/etc in a spreadsheet, it would have been really difficult to figure out what had happened without that.

FindAWay

Interesting! That is different from the story that I shared.

Kevin AA

Maybe it was punishment for making speculative bookings. In theory they could ban her.

Jewel21

I have a lot of flights I am booking for an upcoming travel for family and business travel for me. I had somehow double booked one couple and the oldest flight was cancelled. It was probably the cheaper of the two but the logic made sense. I wasn't sure what happened and when I called SW the customer service rep wasn't sure either but I heard them talking about the auto canceling of duplicates and how difficult the audit trail is to follow.

The really odd situation was when I booked an Anytime flight for business and then changed the flight to BS (my company won't compensate for BS so I get the receipt for AT flight and then rebook paying the fare difference). I used the change reservation function but in My Travel it showed both reservations (same reservation number) as upcoming travel. Two days later SW went back and cancelled the AT flight. I wonder if the scrutiny on the duplicate flights is occurring due to a glitch that is not "changing" flights but when a flight is changed, it is leaving both flights open in their system?

SAPMAN

What if you book a reserv. and then have someone else (who you can refund or swap point purchases) book the back up for you without (at time of booking) entering a RR# or a known traveler number. Then cancel the unneeded reservation before the departure day.

With someone else booking the 2nd reservation, would they be able to link the two?

Sometimes I know people book for one day and a backup for next in case of severe weather and massive cancellations when one MUST fly ie. for a cruise departure.

joshua362

Possible but we really need to know what common link is. RR#, booking account, credit card, ?, through trial and error.

I don't think it can be just name or KTN as I imagine the masses don't have.

I was going to try 2 points bookings, one with RR and the other without (on the same day) but got scared about losing the security fee so I cancelled and got it refunded. (not sure if normal or the 24 hour rule)

I'm sure we'll eventually figure it out...

konems

I knew this day was coming but doesn't make it any less painful.

birdiedouble

Don't forget that your DOB is on the reservation too.

Often1

The flip side is that this preserves better inventory for longer. This is a zero-sum game. If you are holding two seats, that is a seat which I can't get, at least at the fare I want. Maybe that is good for you, but not me. Next time, you take the hit.

Having been vilified for pointing out that the new upgrade would of course include anti-fraud protections for WN, just as similar upgrades did for other US carriers, this is no surprise.

There are many more data points than one would imagine, including IP addresses and the like. The theory is that at some point, it becomes too hard to cover, so it gets reduced.

jmsnyc

So I just came on this forum to find out if it was ok to do this:

I am planning a trip to Florida with points. I am booking going and return using separate bookings. I booked going there to Tampa and return from Miami. I wanted to book another one way to Miami, in case I decide I want to skip Tampa.

Would this being a flag for cancellation or would it be left alone since it is two different cities?

FindAWay

WN flies into/out of FLL, not MIA.

If your xxx-TPA & xxx-FLL flights are booked for the same travel day for the same traveler, then, yes, it appears it would be a flag for cancellation. See, for example, my first post in this thread.

stampchez

I will occasionally book two different flights home if I'm afraid that a meeting will run long and I will miss the first one. It sounds like that is something that may not be allowed going forward?

Often1

What you are doing not only sounds like, but is expressly prohibited by the Contract you agreed to with WN. The provision is cut & pasted below.

When you book two tickets which are impossible to fly, that means someone else may not. So, it is not just WN losing revenue and passing that loss on to others, but it is also someone else not getting home. Or, when you are looking for a flight and can't find one, it may be because someone else has done this to you.

So, hopefully this ends the cycle.

Multiple Reservations. Southwest prohibits multiple reservations for the same
Passenger departing from the same city on the same date. Furthermore, without
notice to the Passenger or purchaser, Southwest may cancel such reservations or
any other reservations that it believes, in its sole discretion, were made without
intent to travel.

ursine1

Since Southwest overbooks, and has a no-show policy they enforce, it's unlikely anyone is "not getting home" due to someone else making multiple bookings for the same day. A fair standby policy/fee for non-elites would eliminate the need stampchez mentioned.

That said, this option appears to be gone now.

One wonders if WN is adjusting their overbooking algorithm accordingly?