Southwest Airlines Canceling Flights & Major Scheduling Problems

Something happened with Southwest Airline's automated rescheduling of flights in the last few days. I talked with a customer service representative today who said 90% of the calls today were regarding this scheduling issue.  Flights are getting consolidated but aren't being rebooked correctly.  

We recommend that you double-check what flight Southwest Airlines rescheduled you.  I had two one way flights that were changed wildly incorrectly.  

Thankfully Southwest Airlines has wonderful customer service and will accommodate your needs but it will require a phone call likely to make a change.  It also won't cost you anything and you might possibly benefit from changing the flight to a better time or date. 

Here is the sample email letter you will receive. 

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 opportunity to change your flight date(s) and/or time(s) by up to 14 days from the original travel date at no additional cost in accordance with our established re-accommodation practices.

For expedited service, you can change your flight at www.southwest.com/rebook3 within three days of the delivery of this email. Flights with no additional cost will display as “Available”. Should you need further assistance, you can reach a Southwest Representative at 1-800-IFLY-SWA (1-800-435-9792). * Please keep in mind that wait times may be very high at this time.

We look forward to seeing you onboard soon.

-Your friends at Southwest

Southwest Airlines Request A Call Back Has Major Problems

Southwest Automatic Request A Call Back Has Major Issues

For several years Southwest has had a problem with its automatic call back feature.  Instead of waiting on hold for 5, 10 or 20 minutes call customer service at their phone number 800-435-9792 it gives you the option of calling you back.  When the system does call you back and you follow the instructions to of hitting any key when " " is on the line.   It just hangs up.

I have even experimented with turning WiFi calling off on the phone and the problem still persists.  I also added the Southwest 800 number to my phone book so it wouldn't be blocked.  The reason I am writing about the problem is that apparent customer service is aware of it based on this discussion Serious Problems.  Yet nothing has been done to fix the issue in the last two years.

I assume Southwest is a problem outsourcing their call back feature to a third party telecom company.  I would like to know what telecom company is providing this service and would love to call them out also in this blog post.  Southwest always has had great customer service and this happens to be something that does not seem to be getting resolved.   I would bet AT&T and/or Verizon are providing this 8000 call back service and scamming Southwest by dropping calls and then charging them for each call.  Wouldn't put it past them to do this.  

This hangup problem has occurred with me several hundred times and it's annoying and wastes my time.  The problem seems to happen most when the wait is longer than 10 minutes.  Please chime in below under discussion and let us know if you have had similar issues with customer service.

I am also a huge fan of Southwest Airlines and think they are light years above every other airline by far.  I think their customer service is amazing when you can reach them and love their credit card point system.  Hopefully, enough people will read this post so they can do something to fix the problem.  Comments appreciated.  

Free Live Streaming Wifi Dish TV on Southwest Airlines is Awesome!

Free Live Streaming WiFi Dish TV on Southwest Airlines is Awesome

I enjoyed 3 hours of live TV on a recent flight to my laptop, iPad, and iPod.  It was easy to use and was free. If you want internet access this is an additional cost of $4 to $8 depending on the length of your flight.

Using your own laptop, tablet, or smartphone, you will have unlimited access to both live channels and on-demand television shows at no cost.  You can watch CNBC, Fox, MSNBC, Golf Channel, NBC, NFL, and a bunch of other stations.  See more available content & stations below.

What kind of device do I need?

You will be able to test your device prior to purchasing TV or movies. The inflight entertainment offerings are available on WiFi-enabled devices (802.11g/n) that meet the following minimum requirements:

Windows Devises Minimum Requirements

• Operating System: Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP
• Browser: Internet Explorer 7.x (or higher), Firefox 11.x (or higher), Google Chrome 18.x (or higher).
• Plug-ins: Adobe Flash Player 10.0.22 (or higher)

Apple Minimum Requirements (iPad, iPod, Macs)

• Operating System: OSX 10.6.x, or 10.7.x
• Browser: Safari 5.x (or higer), Firefox 11.x (or higher), Google Chrome 18.x (or higher)
• Plug-ins: Adobe Flash Player 10.0.22 or higher
• iOS Requirements: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, 4, 4S, iPod touch: 3rd & 4th generation, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.2 or later.

Android Requirements: Only select devices are supported at this time.

The live TV channel lineup includes: Bravo CNBC FOX 5 New York (WNYW) FOX Business Network FOX News Channel Golf Channel MLB.com (Major League Baseball), when games are available MSNBC NBC 4 (WNBC) NFL Network Select episodes from: 30 Rock Downton Abbey Grimm House Law & Order Law & Order: SVU Parenthood Parks and Recreation Royal Pains Smash The Office Top Chef Up All Night Whitney Available movies: Babe Back To The Future Definitely, Maybe Despicable Me Field of Dreams Jurassic Park King Kong Letters to Juliet Man on a Ledge Meet the Fockers Nanny McPhee Notting Hill Once Pride and Prejudice Red The Adjustment Bureau The Bourne Identity The Bourne Supremacy The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift The Hunger Games The Mummy The Three Musketeers The Twilight Saga: Eclipse The Twilight Saga: New Moon Tower Heist Twilight Warrior