Often1

It doesn't bode well for OP's relationship with any carrier. He isn't going to find a carrier which permits this.

matt21

Thanks for the replies.

To the sanctimonious types, spare me. I spend $60k a year with Southwest and fly 2-3x a week. Sometimes in order to avoid a 5x increase in fare price or to make sure I can get where I need to be should plans change, I book multiple routes which Southwest always ends up getting the revenue on at the end of the day.

For those who contributed info, I think what clearly triggered it was that I had 2 flights at approximately the same time, which is not the case when I've done this in the past. If that's the only thing that gets flagged, I understand the logic. What I don't understand is why cancel it 16 days out as opposed to shortly after I booked it (30 days out) or perhaps closer to the actual flight? 16 days seems like a random guess. I've done this on more expensive flights which I'd assume are more full and have never had a problem, even 24 hours out but clearly they weren't at the same times so that was the key variable.

TemboOne

Very obviously you're getting little sympathy on here, and quite frankly I concur!

You seem to have an enhanced sense of entitlement and go making overlapping reservations at will with no regard for anyone else, including Southwest. Others need to travel, often urgently, and you seem to feel that your $60k spend entitles you to inconvenience everyone else, unless they should be so fortunate as to stumble upon a free seat or two which you so graciously decide to vacate at your own convenience.

You are of course free to cross shop, using different carriers where reservations obviously have the potential to clash.Of course then the carriers will get smart, because none want a pax with multiple reservations and many cancellations.

Sorry! Your self-serving actions are inconsiderate to other travellers, and coming here to FT in an attempt to justify your actions was extremely foohardy!

kennycrudup

Oh, FFS get over yourself. The whole point of FT is maximizing travel, and "booking extra seats while they're lower during uncertain travel" is just a part of that, especially last year before this change was made.

What I think OP's actual gripe was about the timing of the CX anyway; IME overlaps are cancelled around Midnight CST the night the overlapping booking was made, not sometime in-between.

TemboOne

I don't think so!
If he/she makes a habit of multiple overlapping bookings there are going to be cancellations and possible consequences when the system picks them up. For that matter OP also runs the risk that the actual needed reservation gets cancelled if it should be the second one made.

We're not talking here about reservations made way in advance to grab a good deal; just duplicate overlapping reservations.

But, let's take an example:
If we have a business meeting in one city and must then possibly schedule one in a different city at the same time then we have to make a choice. One meeting has to be cancelled or rescheduled as soon as the conflict arises. Same for flights. If appointment 1 is to be cancelled or rescheduled then cancel and if necessary reschedule the flight to coincide, leaving the original date open and conflict free to schedule a flight to the second appointment.
Perhaps this seems too simple for some who may not agree but seems logical common sense to me!

smmrfld

IMO, just this line alone reduces your credibility.

kennycrudup

Ex-cuse me?!

Kevin AA

Normally, spending more money on an airline gets you better perks.

In this case, it is the opposite. This is someone who takes advantage of low fares but takes the advantage of flexibility (which normally requires a higher fare).

I think of it as someone who plays blackjack with two spots (or a partner-in-crime, same thing). Play two hands, and switch cards to make a better hand. For example, one hand is dealt 6 and 10, and another hand is dealt 10 and 5. Switch the 10 and 5 and exchange the 15 and 16 for an 11 and 20. Stand on 20 and double down on 11. This is called cheating and it will not just result in being barred from the casino, it can also result in jail. Card counting is legal. Switching cards is not legal.

Kevin AA

OP thinks that spending $60k a year on Southwest while engaging in fraudulent ticketing is somehow a badge of honor. It's not. It's like saying "I cheat at cards at the rate of $60,000 a year, so where's my comps?"

If you cheat Southwest out of revenue and pay a net total of $60k a year, how much do they lose on your fraudulent tickets? Let's say it's 10%. $6,000 a year is not much for a $21 billion annual revenue, but they have the right to sue you, and that is exactly what I would do if I were in charge.

I would go through all of last year's reservations and identify people like the OP; people who make duplicate reservations in a significant number. I would then sue them for the amount of fraudulent bookings, plus attorney's fees. At the end of the lawsuit, I would send you a certified letter that says "you are banned from Southwest for one year". After a year is up, you can book on Southwest again. I'm not a fan of a lifetime ban unless it's absolutely necessary.

If you learned your lesson, you would book just one ticket at a time, and change it if needed (NO CHANGE FEE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD). Should you make fraudulent reservations again, it doesn't matter if it's one ticket, I would sue you and then ban you for life.

Isn't it funny that AA will not allow a duplicate booking, despite the fact that they charge a $200 change fee? Weird....

nsx

Normally an autocancel occurs at midnight Central Time between 24 and 48 hours after you booked the flight. Yours is the first report here of a delay in that timing.

justhere

And that's the story of how Kevin failed law school.

matt21

Comparing it to BJ "cheating" is a bad example. The better comparison is a stock option, where I pay a fee for the option to do something later. I can choose a BS fare with the ability to cancel AT ANYTIME for a full refund, but it's likely a much higher fare for this privilege. Should I choose a lower Wanna-Get-Away fare and cancel, I forfeit the ability to get my money back and instead accept it as a 1 year Southwest credit.

I mostly fly Southwest because I value this flexibility as you pointed out. If such flexibility weren't available, I'd probably start flying other airlines where I can often get a first class ticket for the same price as a BS fare. Since I don't fly the others regularly, I can't comment on if this is a common practice due to change fees or other restrictions. I do however know of several people/companies like myself who use similar tactics and are very loyal to Southwest, not out of any "scheming", simply because their schedule demands the optionality. It's a competitive advantage that wins over certain customers. Since this is the *first time* I've had a reservation auto-cancelled in 10 years of flying Southwest, it looks like they don't have a problem with it except for extreme cases (overlapping flight in my case). Last year, I even had a phone agent schedule multiple flights from different airports while driving out of Florida prior to a hurricane in case I couldn't make it to the first one due to the heavy traffic, they were unbelievably helpful.

Often1

WN could care less because it was the last of the US domestic carriers to add the anti-fraud provision to its COC. This means that while you can take your $60K in business elsewhere, it won't help you with the ticket fraud problem. So, chances are that you won't move your business.

Often1

It also makes no sense. Even presuming that this is an easy task and an easy lawsuit and that OP's bank account is sitting there ripe for execution, why on earth should WN go through all of this when it can get to the same place and deter the conduct on the spot by auto-cancel.

Don't forget that there is always the risk that WN cancels the ticket you really need and that by the time you cancel the one you don't need and rebook the new ticket, it's either more expensive or worse yet, not available. This does not have to happen too many times before the bad behavior stops.

smmrfld

This has nothing to do with the (IMO) poor pattern of multiple-booking behavior you've described in your earlier posts; it was WN trying to assist you during a potentially ugly IRROPS situation.