pgh234

I have gotten quite a few VDB's on WN in the past few years. I have no idea how though🤔

ulmguy

WN stopped intentionally overbooking after UA's debacle dragging David Dao off a plane in 2017. I don't recall hearing a WN announcement for VDB volunteers at any airport since then.

Their current FAQs say: "There will be operational instances where we will be over available seating capacity resulting in an oversale. Operational instances that may create an oversale include weight restrictions and aircraft type changes."

I still see VDBs in their DOT statistics, so it does still happen, albeit much less frequently than before.

pgh234

I understand that is their policy, however I have personally gotten three VDBs over the past two years (and heard announcements in the airport for plenty of other flights soliciting VDBs in the post-Dao era). All of my flights were 737-700s that were not downgraded from 738's and should not have range issues on a flights that were only 2-3 hours long. I received a fourth VDB on a downgrade from a 738 to a 737...but that one makes sense.
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rsteinmetz70112

I took that comment to mean the flight was full, as in no more seats. No matter what they do the airline can't make the plane bigger.

usedtobeimportant

Update:
1) I did get it wrong and mis-wrote. The DOT has the rules not the FAA
2) I filed a complaint with WN and they responded quickly and have agreed it was an IDB (initially said it was voluntary but I pushed back) and they have given me $1350 per ticket in cash as per the DOT rules. This is odd as the DOT rule is 400 percent of the one way fee OR $1350 which-ever is smaller and my ticket was only $230.

But I still think they treated the passengers poorly by not giving hotel and meal vouchers.

95east

I had the same thing happen 3 years ago, on a flight from SFO connecting at DAL to HOU, leaving SFO at 4 PM. The plane leaving SFO was 1.5 hours late. The SFO gate agents lied and swore to us the DAL people would hold our flight to HOU. When we got to DAL they had no idea what we were talking about, and said the last HOU flight left long ago. DAL would give us nothing, they said "maybe" a pillow to sit the night outside the TSA area. I have since avoided at all costs connecting at DAL.

usedtobeimportant

But to be clear this was on SouthWest? I ask because DAL = Delta but I think you mean DFW (Dallas Fort-Worth Airport)?

I guess that's one big difference between WN and legacy carriers like UA, AA etc. The latter handle IRROPS much better.

joshua362

I too have been a victim of this at MDW and BWI, its hardly airport specific

And once, my incoming fight was (not terribly) late, maybe 30 minutes and I landed BWI (with A01 no less) to my name repeatably booming overhead to report to the gate immediately for departure. After walking briskly from once side of the concourse to the other, I was told my bag was not going to transfer and asked if I want to really continue on to MCI tonight!

So they clearly have the capacity to track and manage connecting passengers. Its the implementation that is not consistent,

Tanic

DAL - Dallas Love Field is the home airport of Southwest Airlines. They do not have a station at DFW.

ulmguy

And CSAs who say WN will hold connecting flights when they don't have the authority to decide that.

WillCAD

I was curious what the DOT compensation rules are, so I looked them up. Only took a little Googling.
U.S. Department of Transportation Fly Rights

According to the DOT web site:


If you were bumped from a flight, you deserved compensation under DOT rules.

If you were delayed due to a system-wide grounding which caused delays to cascade to the point that you missed a connection and WN couldn't get you onto another plane until the next day, I don't believe the DOT rule applies. But WN compensated you anyway, first with the $200 voucher, and later with the larger amount because you were making a stink. I think they could have legitimately said that they weren't legally obligated to come across with that compensation, but when faced with an irate passenger, sometimes the cost of buying someone's satisfaction is cheaper than sticking to their guns, even when they're in the right. I think that says something about WN - they're dedicated to passenger satisfaction to the point that they sometimes fork over cash when they're not required to do so, just to keep passengers happy.

Probably wasted money in this case; you seem unhappy enough with WN that won't become a regular customer.

djp98374

WN does more linked flights than other carriers with stop overs and the same crew.. over the course of a day a plane and crew fly the same plane through 5 citues. One delay cascades.

from their hub airports where they have extra planes on these.inkedflight with delays they will break the link. Years ago I had a 3 stop flight through Denver ( a hub). It got weather delayed so they switched plane and crew even though I was one of thru pax that didn’t show for the flight. I had a layover to the next flight. They claim weather.

usedtobeimportant

I don't think you understand the situation. I was IDB (involuntariy denied boarding) which is covered by the DOT rules. WN tried to pass it off as an voluntary but I pushed back and the supervisor agreed with me.

"I think they could have legitimately said that they weren't legally obligated to come across with that compensation" YES THEY ARE. Period. The DOT rules are not for WN (or any other carrier) to choose to abide by or not.

"fork over cash when they're not required to do so, just to keep passengers happy" again its not their choice, they pay $1350 cash or 400% of the face value of the ticket as per DOT rules.

WillCAD

So, your plane was there, it boarded passengers and took off, and you were not allowed to board with the rest of the passengers?

pgh234

...and you had a confirmed (not standby) seat on that plane?