Southwest Starts Its Redemption Among Customers
Southwest Airlines has started making amends with its customers who were affected by last week’s disastrous set of delays and cancellations.
Weather delays and technology issues affected nearly 2,000 flights over the previous weekend.
Southwest has been issuing vouchers in the range of $100 to $250 to passengers who were impacted by problems. The vouchers for future travel are in addition to refunds for canceled flights.
But the carrier is flying under the radar when it comes to letting people know about it, according to USA Today.
The airline is not broadcasting the availability of the vouchers or specifying who gets how much and when, with travelers initially only hearing about them if they appealed to Southwest on Twitter.
Late Wednesday, Southwest sent its first batch of emails notifying travelers vouchers are on the way for their troubles.
“You matter to us,” according to one letter. “We hope this LUV Voucher will allow our paths to cross again soon so we can have a better experience.” Inside: a travel voucher for $250.
“We know things didn’t go as planned when traveling,” began another. “We’re so sorry for the disappointment this disruption caused and want a chance to make it up to you.” Inside: the promise of a $100 voucher.
Southwest spokesperson Brandy King said affected passengers should automatically get the voucher but notes the timetable “might be slower than usual due to the number of customers we are processing.”
USA Today said that in order to get a refund and/or travel voucher, check your email for details on your goodwill voucher. Reach out to the airline via Twitter for the fastest service. Have your confirmation number handy and other relevant details but don’t post that on Twitter. The airline will direct you to talk to them via direct message, including a link to do so in their initial response. You might get an automated response at first but it will eventually respond.
It pays to be kind, but don’t back down. You can always file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation too if you want.