Tag Archives for southwest airlines.
Southwest Airlines doesn’t offer Basic Economy. All of their fares all cancellation while retaining full credit towards a new ticket, and they do not charge for two checked bags. They promised not to take anything away from the lowest fares even as they rolled out a new, more expensive fare type. And that’s exactly what they’ve done.
The world was shocked last May when a Southwest Airlines passenger attacked a flight attendant, chipping her teeth, bruising her and sending her to the hospital for stitches after being asked “to fasten her seat belt, stow her tray table and wear her face mask properly.”
Vyvianna Quinonez was charged for her violent behavior on board that San Diego-bound flight on May 22, 2021. She pled guilty. But was she too drunk to be sentenced?
Southwest Airlines just pushed back the return of alcohol on board to “late in the first quarter maybe early in the second quarter” a week ago blaming virus spread. And now they’ve reversed course. Booze will be back on board February 16th.
Good news Southwest is honoring free drink chits with 2020 and 2021 expiration dates. Here’s how you can still get free drinks on Southwest.
A video is going viral in social media of two passengers boarding a plane, one leading the other one on a leash.
It seems the passengers in the video are consenting adults, with one in control and the other pulled by a leash attached to their neck. And they’re wearing their masks properly!
Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly tested positive for Covid-19 “after returning home” from testifying in front of the Senate Commerce Committee with the CEOs of United Airlines and American Airlines, and an Executive Vice President of Delta. Flight attendants union head Sara Nelson was also there, and she reports speaking directly with Kelly after the hearing.
`Southwest did a head fake as it renegotiated its card deal last time. But brands always do this, use other banks as a stalking horse to get a better deal. The card is integral to its strategy in fact offering customers Hawaii flights as an inducement to rack up Rapid Rewards has even been a piece of their network strategy.
Those who aren’t redeeming will be interested in watching the new fare product Southwest plans to introduce in 2022.
On October 22nd American Airlines CEO Doug Parker received the Wings Club’s Lifetime Achievement Award. I shared the video American prepared for the event, and Parker’s acceptance speech, earlier today in my coverage of his retirement announcement. Parker will stay as CEO through March 31 when he becomes Chairman and current airline President Robert Isom becomes CEO.
The real star of the Wings Club event, enjoyed by around 1300 guests at the New York Hilton, was Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly’s music video tribute. It’s been held close to the vest since that night.
Hawaiian, United, American, Delta and Alaska are all running sub-$100 each way Hawaii fares from the West Coast. Southwest Airlines has matched the lowest of these ($62 each way) and that makes their flights available super-cheap on points as well.
You can book Hawaii for just 3154 points each way, or 6308 Rapid Rewards points roundtrip ($5.60 in security taxes each way as well). The best part of Southwest redemptions is that they are fully refundable, you can cancel and redeposit your points at no charge.
A man jumped out of a moving airplane at the Phoenix airport on Saturday. The 30-year-old passenger opened the rear galley door of Southwest Airlines flight 4236 after it had touched down from Colorado Springs, and while it was taxiing to the gate. He ran to the airport fire station and locked himself inside.
The most common complaints on airline twitter seem to be about delays – flight delays, long lines, long hold times to get through especially when there’s a flight change or cancellation. The most common things we see photos of are damaged bags, dirty planes, and other passengers not wearing masks. Positives on twitter are fewer and farther between but usually focused on the trip itself, the happy people, with the airline being how they got there.
While there are certainly complaints in the Southwest Airlines feed there’s something unique there that I don’t see very often on other airline feeds: people having fun, both passengers and crew. While the tenor of most flights reported in social media resembles something out of a black-and-white rendition of George Orwell’s 1984, Southwest seems to offer a bit more technicolor.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
