@southwestair
Anybody who knows me knows that I’m a huge fan of Southwest Airlines.
Recently, I had an experience that proves why Southwest does something right that most airlines have wrong.
My travel plans for next weekend have changed. Josh’s closing got pushed back due to a problem on the seller’s end. That means I’m not helping him move this weekend. Instead, I’m going to be spending the weekend in Washington, DC to see an old friend from college. I had already purchased my airfare on Southwest weeks ago. With most other airlines, my $265 fare would have been history. But not with Southwest.
I went to southwest.com and canceled my reservation. That meant that I had $265 in credit available for my next flight. Instead of losing money, I can apply it to my trip to DC this weekend without any additional fees. A refund would be nice, but that’s not very good business. But by giving me an opportunity to use that money toward a different trip, they keep me coming back for more. THAT’s good business.
It gets better, though. As the day has progressed, I’ve decided to take Friday as a vacation day. Reggie is heading to my friend Chris’ house on Friday morning now. That means I can catch an earlier flight. Most airlines will charge you a fee for this. Instead, my flight has a lower fare available than my original flight. Southwest is giving me the fare difference as a credit.
You’ll never see US Airways do that.