luckyword

How late does a flight have to be projected before they will move you to an earlier flight without incurring a ticket fee?

I realize Southwest says they don't charge to change flights, but only to change tickets, where there is a price difference. How can you avoid paying that difference?

What is the official Southwest policy, and what have your experiences been like?

For example. If I arrive at the airport two hours before my scheduled flight, and my scheduled flight is projected 15 minutes late, and there's an earlier flight with space, per Southwest policy, do they have to offer a seat on the earlier flight? How about per FAA policy?

How late does a flight have to be projected in order for an airline to make accommodations to seat you on an earlier flight? Thanks.

jco613

May have changed but I know it used to be 15 minutes and/or if the csa was able to reroute you if there may be a delay on connection...really depends on the csa

smmrfld

I've had GAs tell me 15, 20, and 30 minutes at various times. No consistency IME.

wetsand

Example - At SNA waiting for my plane to arrive that is listed as delayed by 10 min. Flight aware says it is still on the ground over an an hour away and my flight is scheduled to leave in 45 min. There are open seats on a delayed flight to the same location starting to board and the GA tells me she can't let me change flights. Our flight left 1 hr 10 min late, and was packed!

Mr. Vker

I have been told 60 mins.

ursine1

In my experience, it used to be 30, but since about the time the A-List free standby perk began reps have been saying it's an hour. There is no written policy, so you are very much up to the discretion of the agent.

Calboy9903

I've had no problem being put on standby for 10-15 min delay (before free standby for A/A+). If you want to be confirmed over the phone, original flight has to be delayed 60 mins or more and the new flight has to be more than 60 mins out.