How do I get a refund from Southwest?

The airline has set up a dedicated website for travelers to request a refund: <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http*3A*2F*2Fsouthwest.com*2Ftraveldisruption&data=05*7C01*7CMax.Zahn*40abc.com*7C98434de582274801bf9908dae8e0d31f*7C56b731a8a2ac4c32bf6b616810e913c6*7C1*7C0*7C638078349558595934*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0*3D*7C3000*7C*7C*7C&sdata=A6uxUE*2BGc4R8EvOV9CGibsnlVEYtiT5kkXQeVNyBF*2BU*3D&reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJQ!!BxxYAft0oVuNRA!40c6zkgLmxJQ8yoC7kBbSUCV5BoywGVrs9MefMcpWEHxWWcaNvRnR_wNuc6QdHUhcvX7p_Rud_6N$" target=_blank>Southwest.com/traveldisruption . According to the Transportation Department , travelers are entitled to a refund if an airline cancels a flight, no matter the reason, and the customer decides not to travel. Passengers are also owed a refund if a carrier makes a schedule change or has a delay that is considered “significant” and the traveler opts not to take the flight.

How long will it take to get my money back?

It’s not clear yet how long it will take for the airline to process refund requests. Southwest did not include a response to this question in comments it provided to The Washington Post. In a customer service commitment posted in 2019, the airline said its refunds department processes credit card refunds within seven business days from the time they receive a request. The Transportation Department has cracked down this year on airlines that did not provide timely refunds, fining six airlines for “extreme delays” in refunding passengers. Southwest was not one of the six airlines fined. “When a flight gets canceled, passengers seeking refunds should be paid back promptly. Whenever that doesn’t happen, we will act to hold airlines accountable on behalf of American travelers and get passengers their money back,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement in November. “A flight cancellation is frustrating enough, and you shouldn’t also have to haggle or wait months to get your refund.”

How do I get my luggage back?

Southwest said in a statement Wednesday that teams at the airline are “finalizing a resource” to provide extra help to travelers who need to be reunited with their lost or missing bags. On its website for travelers whose trips were disrupted, the airline says only: “We recognize that many of our Customers are currently separated from their belongings, and we’re working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.” According to the airline’s contract of carriage , Southwest will pay for delayed bags to be delivered. The airline will compensate passengers for expenses they experience due to the loss, damage or delay of baggage, up to $3,800.

Will the airline pay for my hotel room and meals if I’m stuck?

In a statement, Southwest said that “requests for reasonable reimbursements directly related to the travel disruption will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.” That includes meals, hotels and alternate forms of transportation. The airline says on its website to submit receipts for expenses related to cancellations or significant delays experienced between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2. Ryan Green, Southwest’s chief commercial officer, said in a video message Wednesday night that passengers can submit refund requests and ask to have their expenses covered using the airline’s website , avoiding busy phone lines. Southwest has committed to cover several expenses in cases of “controllable” cancellations and delays, according to a dashboard maintained by the Transportation Department. They include meals or vouchers if a passenger is waiting three hours or more; hotel accommodations if the delay or cancellation requires an overnight wait; and free ground transportation to and from a hotel for an overnight cancellation or delay. In an interview with “Good Morning America” on Wednesday, Buttigieg said the airline could no longer say the cancellations were a “weather-driven issue.” He called it a “system failure.” “They need to make sure that these stranded passengers get to where they need to go and that they’re provided adequate compensation not just for the flight itself,” he said.

Will Southwest reimburse me if I have to book on another airline?

The airline says it will honor “reasonable requests” for reimbursement for alternate transportation, but unlike the three other major U.S. airlines, it does not have a standing promise to rebook passengers on other airlines.

When will Southwest flights be back to normal?

As of Friday, Southwest began operating a close to normal schedule. “We are encouraged by the progress we’ve made to realign Crew, their schedules, and our fleet,” the airline said in a statement Thursday. “With another holiday weekend full of important connections for our valued Customers and Employees, we are eager to return to a state of normalcy.” While about 2,500 flights were canceled Thursday, fewer than 1 percent of the carrier’s flights were scrubbed for Friday.

What are other airlines doing to help?

Several other airlines, including United and American, said they had capped fares on flights from certain cities, though they didn’t offer specific details on exact locations. United said it was capping fares in select cities that Southwest serves in the United States and Latin America through Dec. 31, and Frontier said it capped its prices at “pre-disruption levels.” The Denver-based budget airline said it has sold “thousands of last minute tickets in recent days.” “We are running almost completely full, accommodating as many passengers as possible,” Frontier said in an email. Buttigieg urged airlines in a Tuesday night tweet to continue capping fares to help Southwest travelers get home. Justin George, Julian Mark, Rachel Lerman contributed to this report.

By The Way

What to know about Southwest refunds, rebooking and lost luggage

How to get money back for a canceled flight, and other resources for travelers stranded by Southwest

By Hannah Sampson

and

Gabe Hiatt

Updated December 29, 2022 at 3:42 p.m. EST|Published December 28, 2022 at 12:22 p.m. EST

Listen

6 min

The convergence of a massive winter storm, a swarm of holiday travelers and a major airline’s operational collapse has created travel chaos of epic proportions.

Southwest Airlines passengers suffered the worst of it, with the carrier drawing scrutiny from the Transportation Department for a meltdown that caused more than 15,000 canceled flights. The airline admitted to struggles with outdated scheduling systems, and an internal company memo highlighted a worker shortage in Denver.

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On Thursday, after the airline canceled more than half its schedule again, Southwest said it planned to operate close to a normal schedule beginning Friday.

Holiday air travel this year is worse than in years past

Across the country, passengers attempting to fly Southwest either gave up on holiday reunions with out-of-town family or made drastic alternatives like driving through the night or paying premiums to rebook through other airlines.

The unluckiest among them were left waiting for hours (or days) with few answers on when or how they could resume their journeys — or where their luggage was waiting.

Here’s what you need to know if your Southwest flight was caught in the fray.

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