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Business Profile

Airlines

Southwest Airlines Company

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

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Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Southwest Airlines Company's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see

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Southwest Airlines Company has 15 locations, listed below.

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    Customer Complaints Summary

    • 1,576 total complaints in the last 3 years.
    • 459 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

    If you've experienced an issue

    Submit a Complaint

    The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

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    Complaint status

    Complaint type

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:08/23/2024

      Type:Customer Service Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      On 01/27/2024 I booked a round-trip flight from *******, ** to ****, ** for myself and my partner, *** for departure on 09/05/2024. On or about 01/31/2024 I cancelled the flight after ** told me he decided he did not want to fly anymore.I understood when I booked the flight, that I would not receive a refund but would receive flight credits should I need to cancel my flight.Recently I tried to book a one-way flight from **** to *******. I had intended to use the flight credits from my January cancellation. However, I was unable to do so.I contacted Southwest and explained the situation. I was told that the flight credits could be used only by ** since he was the original ticket holder.When booking, the name on the reservation must match the identification of the person flying. In other words, I could not put both tickets in my name even though I paid for both. I made the reservation using my Southwest credit card *** is not on the account). I explained this to Southwest and they did not change their tune.I asked if ** had died prior to 09/05/2024 (our departure date), would I be able to use the flight credits. I was told I could not. After asking for clarification, I was told that I would lose those flight credits (i.e. dollars).I have already paid the Southwest credit card bill as I had no reason to believe I would have a problem using the flight credits.The confirmation email I received for booking the flight has no clear explanation that flight credits can be used only by the original ticket holder.This situation is highly unethical to me. I believe it would be to most people. I've paid money for a service I did not receive and am unable to use those funds.I am not asking for a refund, but that I be able to use the $323.95 flight credits.Attached are screenshots of the confirmation email a received from Southwest and the available flight credits.

      Business Response

      Date: 08/23/2024

      Attached is the response to BBB Complaint ********

      Customer Answer

      Date: 08/23/2024

      I have reviewed the business response and accept this resolution upon receipt of ****** described in said response.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:08/22/2024

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Unanswered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      When I last spoke with you on 7/8, we discussed the whole situation and you stated I would receive a refund for $921.80. My tickets were never purchased with credits. A southwest employee cancelled our first flights/confirmation number (2AGHEM) because the system would not allow her to make changes to my flight. We switch this flight due to Southwest changing the departure times. So I suppose that is why it looks like credits were used to purchase our new confirmation number of 2QONFG. When you were helping me last, someone else had deleted just my flight off of the confirmation number 2QONFG. I now have my own flight confirmation number of 4GRJCB which is a round trip flight from LGB to HNL.Other passengers are still on the confirmation number of 2QONFG. ****** ******, ********* ******, ****** ******. We should all have a $160 credit that should be a refund due to my tickets being purchased as anytime flight. These mistakes were all made by southwest airlines. I have called 20 plus times and have several case numbers to try and resolve this. As a reminder I never once cancelled or changed my flights. It was ALL mistakes by a south west employee. The case numbers that I have written down are:94266437 ******** ******** ******** This has gone on far too long and I will be working to dispute charges with my credit card company as I have call logs showing that I have tried to resolve this since 7/8. In addition to notes and proof that this has been southwests mistake. I will also work on filing a claim with the BBB in hopes that I may be able to speak to someone that can actually resolve my issues. I am very frustrated with repeating to southwest the amount of mistakes they have caused with ZERO resolution. All the agents are clueless as to what has happened and are unable to help me.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:08/21/2024

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Unanswered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      December 14, 2023 I purchase airline tickets to travel to ************* on August 9th 2024. I paid extra for the "Business Select" tickets. Total=$2,911.84 for a family of 4 round trip. They changed my flights a few times before travel, but in a reasonable time frame to adjust my schedule. On August 8, 2024 I check in online and we were given A1-A4 boarding.Then I woke up at 3 am to find out I was changed to an entirely different flight. I spent almost an hour on the phone with no good explanation as to why this happened. My original flight was taking off as scheduled. I booked months out. I paid for business select because according to Southwest policy, my kids (ages 7 and 10) are too old for family boarding. I did absolutely everything how I was supposed to. Also, only 3 or us we able to log in to WI-FI, which is included in the Business Select ticket I paid for. They are giving me $200 in vouchers that will expire before I fly again. Essentially they took my money and did not give me the services I paid for. Their website states that a travel credit without expiration can be issued for downgraded flights. I have asked for the travel credit instead, but they are ignoring me. They even suggested I just give my vouchers away to someone that will use them.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:08/21/2024

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      We purchased a Southwest Vacation through Southwest Airlines in November of 2023 for travel to ****** on July 22 - July 25, 2024. The return flight was cancelled due to staffing issues and we were stranded in the airport for over 6 hours with no representative from southwest to inform us of what was going on or what was needed to be done. Due to the flight cancellation the 4 travelers, myself, spouse and 2 children had lose wages of over $980. along with the hassle and inconvenience of being stranded with little to no help from southwest. They did issue LUV vouchers for the flight, but nothing for loss wages. Also at the time of booking with them, and on my confirmation it was stated that we would receive bonus rapid rewards of ****** points. I called them today and was told that Southwest Vacations, even though it is booked on their website, is not responsible for those points and we are basically out of luck with getting those points. it a case of buyer beware!!! They have a F rating for a reason.

      Business Response

      Date: 08/23/2024

      Attached is the response to BBB Complaint ********.

      Business Response

      Date: 08/23/2024

      BBB Complaint  #********

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:08/21/2024

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      On the day of my departure, I was unable to obtain a boarding pass from the Southwest Airlines (***) ticketing kiosk. Eventually, we were informed that the problem arose because *** had entered the wrong passport number into the system for my account. I presented my passport card but was informed that I needed to have the complete passport booklet, which was at my home in ****, **. After returning to the *** ticket counter at 4:45 am, I requested that the representative contact the departure gate to inform them that we were on our way. The representative refused, stating that we had enough time to make it to the gate. However, when we arrived, the plane doors were already closed, and we missed our flight.However, upon arrival to ******, we discovered that the hotel did not match the one we had seen on the website when booking. It was now past 10 pm, and I showed the representative at the ********** a picture of the hotel we believed we had booked. The representative informed us that many guests had been similarly misled, believing they were booking the "****************," which is located on the beach as described online and in the brochure.We decided to take a shower, only to find that the shower drain was clogged, causing water to spread across the bathroom floor and toward the front door. Additionally, we discovered a broken lamp with exposed wires, posing a safety hazard.On the third day of our stay, we moved to the "****************," the one we initially believed we had booked. These moves cost us an additional $1,400. On Saturday, July 20th, we arrived at ************** to retrieve our boarding passes for our flight back to *******, **. Upon reaching the ticket counter, the agent informed us that we could not be checked in and needed to report to the ******************* system and that we should not have been in ****** at all.***************************

      Business Response

      Date: 08/29/2024

      BBB Complaint 22150396

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:08/20/2024

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I had a scheduled flight from ********* to *********** NM scheduled on August 12, 2024. I had just returned from a three week vacation in ****** and was ready to return home. For no explained reason my flight was canaceled and I had to miss work the following day, Tuesday August 13, 2024?as SW rebooked my flight the very next day. I could not rebook the same date because I was over 100 miles away from the airport and I was advised of the cancelation at close to 330pm MST. I was planning to head into ****** to catch the 9pm flight at 5 pm because it was so far away. When I reached the flight the next day, I spoke to fellow passengers that were offered a LUV voucher for the inconvenience and I was denied the same voucher, again for no explained reason. This is absolutely unfair. Here is the case number and my flight confirmation number. Confirmation number: 3LPYLACase number: 96902404Please help me obtain the same rights and benefits as the others that incurred the canceled flight.

      Business Response

      Date: 08/21/2024

      Attached is the response to BBB Complaint 68649676C76B7

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:08/19/2024

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      On Aug. 4, 2024 I planned to fly from DAL to LGA with Southwest flight 3154. Original departure time was 6:40pm with planned arrival time at 11pm in ***. The flight was then first delayed to 8:10pm and later corrected to a departure time of 7:15pm (both announced by messages to me). The reason for this delay was claimed by Southwest to be weather and ATC related. Boarding started at 7:15pm. I was in the plane at 7:30pm, boarding concluded at 7:45pm. However, shortly thereafter the pilot announced that the ground handlers scratched the plane when loading a wheelchair. First he considered the damage not serious (at 8:03pm), but at 8:17pm the pilot decided otherwise and ordered to change the plane. Everyone had to deplane.During the wait at the gate I approached Southwest personnel and requested a refund. They claimed "higher power" as reason for the delay, even when I pointed out that the damage to the plane when loading the wheelchair causing the change of plane and succesive delays was certainly Southwest's fault. But the Southwest personnel refused to compensate for this delay.At 9:18pm (now 2h past the weather and ATC related delayed departure at 7:15pm) the second plane was boarded. The plane left the gate at 9:36pm and arrived LGA at 1:37am the next day with over 2:30h delay (30min weather/ATC related). As the main delay of 2h was caused by Southwest due to the inflicted damage by baggage handlers to the plane and further the need to change planes, I request compensation.

      Business Response

      Date: 08/20/2024

      Attached is the response to BBB Complaint22167306

      Customer Answer

      Date: 08/21/2024

      I am rejecting this response because:   

      It is irritating that Southwest does not acknowledge that the delay due to ATC directives is only part of the truth and only contributed to about 1/2h of the delay. The main cause of the delay, as reported by me in my original submission to BBB was caused by Southwest itself due to the damage on the airplane inflicted when baggage handlers loaded a wheel chair (as announced by the airline captain). The captain further assess that the plane is no longer fit to fly and decided (presumingly in accordance with Southwest management) to change planes. De-boarding the damaged plane, waiting for the second plane and re-boarding the second plane were main reasons of the delay of over 2 hours. I am certain that Southwest is aware of this announcement by their captain. I am also certain that other passengers witnessed this announcement and events.

      I appreciate the offer by Southwest to submit a request for a Southwest LUV voucher. However I have already done that. After unsuccessfully talking to Southwest personnel at the gate area at *** when waiting for the second plane I received the identical information by them to request such a voucher at this very website. I submitted my request on Aug. 5, 2024 to Southwest and received a response Aug. 9, 2024, stating that "my request [...] is not eligible for a voucher." (southwest response from Aug. 9, 2024 is attached).

      Customer Answer

      Date: 08/30/2024

      It is now nine days since I rejected the response by Southwest Airlines (8/21/2024). I presume that Southwest Airlines is also required to respond within 10 days as I am. Thus please post an update regarding activities with respect to this case. Thank you

      Customer Answer

      Date: 09/05/2024

      Can you please be more explicit how you came to this decision? Did Southwest not respond to your requests after I rejected their offer? Thank you

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:08/19/2024

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      7/24/2024 I was traveling back form ****** *****, **********. To ******* I o come to **********. When we arrived to when we arrive to *******, we were informed that our flight was canceled. Shortly I received the email that our flight was canceled and it was 3 1/2 hours until the next flight came. The next flight was such an inconvenience. My family was in ********** waiting and we wasnt informed why it was canceled. The flight attendant didnt give us no other instructions other than the flight was canceled and they didnt know why.

      Business Response

      Date: 08/20/2024

      Attached is the response to BBB Complaint22165359

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:08/16/2024

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I called into Southwest Airlines this afternoon in regard to adding my daughter who is enlisted in the Navy DOD ID Number so that she will be able to go through TSA Pre Check. When I called I was made aware that I was on a recorded line. The associate began to tell me that I only paid for two tickets and I was explaining to him as I was looking at my itinerary that I indeed paid for 6 tickets. He repeatedly told me that my confirmation was incorrect, and went as far as telling me I can just get my money refunded. I in no way wanted to cancel my reservation which was for 6 passengers. 2 adults and 4 minor children scheduled for August 28, 2024 at 3:55pm flight number 4428 confirmation number 32GGIM. When he suggested that, I immediately asked for a supervisor because at that point I felt that he wanted to cancel my reservations, and when I asked what his name and employee number was he refused to give me either one. He then wanted to go back and fourth with me instead of just letting me speak with a supervisor. He finally transferred me to a supervisor and while ******************* the supervisor and I were talking my reservations were cancelled and my money was refunded.

      Business Response

      Date: 08/20/2024

      Attached is the response to BBB Complaint 22155476XXXXXX.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:08/16/2024

      Type:Delivery Issues
      Status:
      Unanswered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I received an letter by mail offering a promotion by both AAA and Southwest Rapid Rewards that if I join AAA by Aug 23, 2024 I would also earn 500 Rapid Rewards bonus points. I join AAA on July 18, *********************************************** the mail, but I have not received my 500 bonus points from Southwest Rapid Rewards. I submitted a complaint by email to Southwest Rapid Rewards on Aug 5, 2024 Case # ******** asking about my bonus points and haven't heard a word back from them. Can you please see if you can get an answer back? I have also uploaded the letter.Thanks,*****************

    Southwest Airlines Company is NOT a BBB Accredited Business.

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