Assigining worst possible itinerary after WN schedule change
 

How the heck does Southwest have the nerve to assign passengers a three-stop, 11 hour itinerary in place of a one-stop, 8 hour itinerary from BUR-LGA when other 1-stop, 8 hour itineraries on the same route are available on the same day? They want me to fly from BUR-PHX, change planes, and then stop in SAT and DAL en route to LGA. This itinerary is so ridiculous that it doesn't even show up as an option for BUR-LGA. This is not the first time Southwest has done this to me, but it is the worst time.

Due to the schedule change, you are entitled to a reroute or a refund. Presumably you want the reroute. If you do not like the auto-reroute, simply call WN and provide the flight details you want.

One has to be proactive in IRROPS or one gets the bottom of the barrel based on some algorithm that no human actually reviews.

Yes, I know I can call and change the auto-reroute as I've done in the past, re my point is that no passenger should be assigned, as you said, "the bottom of the barrel based on some algorithm that no human actually reviews." Is it possible the algorithm is designed to make the rerouting inconvenient, figuring that a certain percentage of passengers will accept the changes and Southwest can thus leave the more convenient routings available for new customers to book?

Likely yes, either by design or shoddy programming that fortuitously ends up that way WN's favor and no one bothers to correct since there is no ROI to do so. Apparently demand is exceeding supply right now.

Stuff happens.

You do not even have to call. Login and pick the flights you want. Easy stuff.

(sorry you have to deal with this, but.... it happens)

A change made online would result in having to pay any price difference whereas a phone call will allow changes at no additional fees.

Maybe.

I made 2 changes yesterday with no charge or change in price.

As a data point, was there a fare difference which was waived or is it that there simply was no fare difference as an add/collect. If the latter, that is not OP's situation (necessarily).

When I looked up the fare separately, it would have been higher.

The online version showed me ALL the flights for the day as "available" and allowed me to pick the one I wanted. I dropped a late evening flight that was the cheapest to the preferred mid day flight. My flight had not even been cancelled.

Free changes are available online until 11:59pm (CDT) July 21 for any flights Oct. 2 - Nov. 2.

In most cases, it is simply due to stupidity of the computer system and not trying to snooker you. It probably costs them more to take you roundabout than to take the more direct routing when all is said and done. Often, when a flight is broken due to IRROPS, the algorithm is trying to get you the shortest replacement of that flight rather than the whole itinerary. So if you were originally on BUR-DAL-LGA and the BUR-DAL flight was canceled, they may have rerouted you on BUR-PHX-SAT-DAL because that was the only way available to get you BUR-DAL, even though that's not the best way to get you to LGA.

One time when I was in college I had a flight on US that was (I think) SFO-PIT-PHL-LGA. The SFO-PIT flight got eliminated, so they rerouted me on SFO-PHL-PIT-PHL-LGA. Clearly it was thinking only in parts and being stupid as a result. This is why your intervention is needed.

I think of it as Artificial Stupidity.

OP--

Hey, at least they re-routed you and let you know! I had a flight change on Delta and they didn't even notify me.

I received a schedule change email yesterday from SWA and they wrote the following (I'm sure you got the same) on how to change to another flight if I didn't approve their choice of itineraries. Seems pretty straight forward:

"We want to make you aware of a change we’ve made to your upcoming trip. This was done proactively due to a Southwest flight schedule change on your day of travel.

Please review your new itinerary below. Your reservation is confirmed and no further action is required.

In the event this new itinerary does not work for you, we are offering the one time opportunity to change your flight date(s) and/or time(s) by up to 14 days from original travel date at no additional cost in accordance with our established reaccommodation practices.

For expedited service, you can change your flight at www.southwest.com/rebook3 between the hours of 12:00pm (CDT) July 18, 2019 and 11:59pm (CDT) July 21, 2019. Should you need further assistance, you can reach a Southwest Representative at 888-871-8321. Please keep in mind that the time to reach a representative may be longer than normal during this time.

We look forward to seeing you onboard soon.

-Your friends at Southwest"

For those that have worked in corporate decision making and IT programming... it is often far from stupidity. $hapen$