Flight cancelled 3 months out? Southwest will rebook you for worst alternative!
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2005
Programs: HIlton Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum, Southwest
Posts: 312
Flight cancelled 3 months out? Southwest will rebook you for worst alternative!
After Southwest cancelled my connecting flight for a December ATL-ISP itinerary (which would have included one stop and a plane change at BWI), they rebooked me for a two-stop ATL-IND-BWI-ISP itinerary instead of a far more convenient ATL-ISP flight with one stop at MCO and no plane change. Could this be due to the fact that the preferable itinerary was now pricing at $306 while their routing priced at $107? Had I not jumped on this immediately and spent one hour on the phone with Southwest at 11:15 p.m.,(WGA fares were almost sold out for my preferred flight) I could very well have been stuck with their choice. An e-mail to customer service asking about how their cancellation/rebooking decisions are made proved fruitless. Just a reminder to move as quickly as possible on any flight change!
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,043
No need for wild-eyed conspiracy theories. Could it be ATL-IND-BWI-ISP option is simply closer to the departure time of your originally booked flights and perhaps that was a bigger factor than the ATL-MCO-ISP option being shorter time-wise (I'm assuming you are talking 2997 vs. 2056/3245 here)? Whether or not that was the case, I can guarantee that a front-line agent is not going to know the inner workings of the auto-rebooking algorithms off the top of their heads. Nor are they going to spend a bunch of time hunting down IT folks to try to get them to explain how the algorithm actually works (which likely involves a number of factors).
#4
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
This is all automated and not the product of WN's Board of Directors sitting around trying to figure out how to do the worst to a passenger.
With the cancellation, you have the option of a reroute or a refund. If you don't like the auto-reroute, just call in. Presuming it is available, it is yours.
WN has a lot of IT flaws, but this one is not markedly different than most carriers. It goes without saying that when there is a schedule change or cancellation, you need to check your record like a hawk until it is where you want it to be.
With the cancellation, you have the option of a reroute or a refund. If you don't like the auto-reroute, just call in. Presuming it is available, it is yours.
WN has a lot of IT flaws, but this one is not markedly different than most carriers. It goes without saying that when there is a schedule change or cancellation, you need to check your record like a hawk until it is where you want it to be.
#5
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 921
After Southwest cancelled my connecting flight for a December ATL-ISP itinerary (which would have included one stop and a plane change at BWI), they rebooked me for a two-stop ATL-IND-BWI-ISP itinerary instead of a far more convenient ATL-ISP flight with one stop at MCO and no plane change. Could this be due to the fact that the preferable itinerary was now pricing at $306 while their routing priced at $107? Had I not jumped on this immediately and spent one hour on the phone with Southwest at 11:15 p.m.,(WGA fares were almost sold out for my preferred flight) I could very well have been stuck with their choice. An e-mail to customer service asking about how their cancellation/rebooking decisions are made proved fruitless. Just a reminder to move as quickly as possible on any flight change!
#7
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,565
Would the app have allowed you to rebook for free?
I know with some airlines, the auto-rebook function happens but the passenger still has to open the app and accept it or pick something else. Some airlines are better than others, and it's (thankfully) been a while since I've run into this on WN. All of my WN bookings are nonstop, so when irrops occurs, it's usually just looking forward or backward in time to find the next available one.
I know with some airlines, the auto-rebook function happens but the passenger still has to open the app and accept it or pick something else. Some airlines are better than others, and it's (thankfully) been a while since I've run into this on WN. All of my WN bookings are nonstop, so when irrops occurs, it's usually just looking forward or backward in time to find the next available one.
#9
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Blue Ridge, GA
Posts: 5,509
"Far less often" isn't supported by any available evidence. Carriers revise times by a few minutes with some frequency, IME. But an itinerary change with new flight number(s) and routing is pretty rare.
#10
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 5,813
I have my own experiance. I have flown 25-50 flights a year for about 30 years. Over that time I have generally flown a single airline for a time, that has included several different airlines I have flown Southwest mostly for the last 5-6 years I have not had any significant schedule changes. I think this is because Southwest releases their schedule in relatively short increments and changes the schedule when they do that. On previous airlines that happened far more often, sometimes only a few minutes schedule change sometimes a few hours, occasionally a flight was cancelled. This does not include IROPs.
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2005
Programs: HIlton Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum, Southwest
Posts: 312
Actually, the shorter flight leaves an hour earlier and arrives two hours earlier than my original flight; what Southwest assigned me leaves an hour and 20 minutes later and arrives two hours later. There's no logic to their selection.
#12
Moderator, Southwest Airlines and Choice Privileges
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 3,036
No logic from your perspective, but from the details given I can't say which I would choose. Your original flight might have been at the earliest possible hour I would even consider traveling. (I'm a night owl.) When are the departure times relative to rush hour in your departure city? How can an automated system be built to pick what you (and every other SWA customer in every specific situation) would choose each and every time? In this primitive day and age (relative to 1,000 years hence), the answer is that it can't be done.
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Nashville -Past DL Plat, FO, WN-CP, various hotel programs
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Posts: 11,072
Best answer so far.
Side note - somewhere, there is some logic, but it would not always appear to be logical looking from the outside.
#15
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Programs: HH Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 10,458
I have stated this before in other airline forums. The auto-rebooking algorithm is NOT a money-making or cost-saving algorithm. Therefore, not a lot of effort is put into these algorithms. If you don't like where it put you, simply research your options and call in and nicely request an suitable alternative. I've never had a problem getting something like this changed (unless they drop the city entirely).