SoonerStormchaser
4/19/2007, 12:45 PM
Ok...before I begin my next rant on Southwest...here's the original complaint:
http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91987
Now...here's the rest of the story...
Because of the aforementioned (in the other thread) mechanical delay, the plane was running over 1.5 hours late on Friday when it landed in Austin. The flight then got delayed even further because of the nasty weather moving through Dallas (and we all know what happens to the Dallas area airports when severe weather even comes within 50 miles of them...that's right, they SHUT DOWN). Soooooo...the delay got ballooned to over 3 hours.
Mrs. SoonerStormchaser called me when I got to El Paso...she and my stepdaughter were checked in at OKC just in case the flight was only a few minutes late...but no one at the Southwest counter told her that it would probably be 9:40 before she left (original departure of 7:35).
Here's the long and short of what happened afterward (as written to me by my wife):
1. Flight was delayed early in the morning…..mechanical?
2. Delay only showed 30 minute(?) delay when I headed to airport.
3. Once at the airport, it was showing an hour delay…..then a hour later….another hour, then another. They stated weather delay.
4. Announcements at airport were that it was on a ATC hold at Austin (announced that twice)….then we heard Dallas was having bad weather…..then we heard that the plane had left Austin….then we heard that the plane was sitting at the airport unable to get a gate at Dallas. We heard that the plane was in route to OKC….and we were expected to leave at 11:05PM…but then they told us at 10:45 that another SWA plane would be arriving at our gate and that was NOT going to be our plane….they were using that gate to deplane another flight….then they had to move that plane out of the way for ours to get the gate….while NONE of the other gates were being used for other flights. At this point, we were the only ones in that area of the airport.
5. When the delays first started, I acquired about whether or not our flight would be making it at all…..they said that a cancellation would NOT be likely in our case. Then I asked about them putting me on a USAirways flight that left at 10:30PM (the same current departure time as the SWA flight)….but it was a non-stop flight. They told me that they don’t share with that airlines, but they could refund my money on my flight instead.
6. They called all the people going on to Vegas up to the podium and told each of us that the flight would not be going to Vegas that night (they could not tell me why)….it would terminate in PHX….and offered us lodging choices in OKC or PHX. I chose PHX and got a Hilton voucher and a $10 food voucher (both for 2 people). I asked them if I went to Phoenix if we would get our luggage….she said yes…that the luggage could not get to Vegas because the flight terminated there.
7. Our flight didn’t leave OKC until 11:30PM and arrived around 11:30PM (Phoenix time). Our bags did not come out on the conveyor belt. Went to luggage services (along with A LOT of other people) and found out that our luggage was being held until the first flight out the next day. They told me that it would take 45 minutes to an hour to locate the bags and get them to us. Meanwhile we were TIRED (was 1:30AM central time) and needed to catch the shuttle bus. I called the Hilton people for the shuttle….and then we waited 30 minutes (not secure area) for it to show up. It was 1AM Phoenix time before we went to sleep.
8. Vegas passengers were treated like crap….they acted like the flight was originally terminating in Phoenix….apologized to the passengers for getting them to their destination late…..without apologizing to us that didn’t get to OUR destination!
9. I lost out on my $300/night reservation in Vegas. Was apart from my husband for 12 extra hours out of a less than 48 hour time frame.
Other passengers were offered toiletry kits…..we got nothing
10. The Hilton’s shuttle only runs on the half hour and hour….so we had to be downstairs at 6:25 AM to catch the shuttle to be at the airport to check in and get our boarding passes to catch the 7:20AM flight. The hotel’s restaurant didn’t open that early….so our food vouchers were worthless. Spent mega bucks at the airport on snack crap.
11. I asked the agent that morning if they had applied that flight to my RR account and he took my RR card….checked the number and told me it was on there…..he lied.
So the long and short of it is that, because of the fact that Southwest flies mechanical disasters through Dallas, Mother Nature caught them with their pants down...and my wife and stepdaughter got screwed majorly out of nearly HALF their weekend trip to Las Vegas...while I'm holed up by myself in a $350 a night room at Paris.
Southwest is about to get a massive complaint letter from me and my wife...and I'm done flying them for the forseeable future unless I get one hell of an apology.
On that note...I flew ExpressJet from Ontario, CA (connecting from a Southwest flight from LAS-ONT) to here (SAT) last Sunday. If there's anyone up in OKC who flies here (or the LA area...or Albuquerque...or that ****hole 50 miles north of me) regularly, FLY EXPRESSJET!!! It may be only a 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145, but you get the following in-flight services:
1. FREE MEALS!!!
2. FREE SATELLITE RADIO (do you know of any other airline that flies regional jets that has IFE?)
3. $1 BEERS (yes, we're talking the whole can)
Ok...I'm done...back to Nav School.
http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91987
Now...here's the rest of the story...
Because of the aforementioned (in the other thread) mechanical delay, the plane was running over 1.5 hours late on Friday when it landed in Austin. The flight then got delayed even further because of the nasty weather moving through Dallas (and we all know what happens to the Dallas area airports when severe weather even comes within 50 miles of them...that's right, they SHUT DOWN). Soooooo...the delay got ballooned to over 3 hours.
Mrs. SoonerStormchaser called me when I got to El Paso...she and my stepdaughter were checked in at OKC just in case the flight was only a few minutes late...but no one at the Southwest counter told her that it would probably be 9:40 before she left (original departure of 7:35).
Here's the long and short of what happened afterward (as written to me by my wife):
1. Flight was delayed early in the morning…..mechanical?
2. Delay only showed 30 minute(?) delay when I headed to airport.
3. Once at the airport, it was showing an hour delay…..then a hour later….another hour, then another. They stated weather delay.
4. Announcements at airport were that it was on a ATC hold at Austin (announced that twice)….then we heard Dallas was having bad weather…..then we heard that the plane had left Austin….then we heard that the plane was sitting at the airport unable to get a gate at Dallas. We heard that the plane was in route to OKC….and we were expected to leave at 11:05PM…but then they told us at 10:45 that another SWA plane would be arriving at our gate and that was NOT going to be our plane….they were using that gate to deplane another flight….then they had to move that plane out of the way for ours to get the gate….while NONE of the other gates were being used for other flights. At this point, we were the only ones in that area of the airport.
5. When the delays first started, I acquired about whether or not our flight would be making it at all…..they said that a cancellation would NOT be likely in our case. Then I asked about them putting me on a USAirways flight that left at 10:30PM (the same current departure time as the SWA flight)….but it was a non-stop flight. They told me that they don’t share with that airlines, but they could refund my money on my flight instead.
6. They called all the people going on to Vegas up to the podium and told each of us that the flight would not be going to Vegas that night (they could not tell me why)….it would terminate in PHX….and offered us lodging choices in OKC or PHX. I chose PHX and got a Hilton voucher and a $10 food voucher (both for 2 people). I asked them if I went to Phoenix if we would get our luggage….she said yes…that the luggage could not get to Vegas because the flight terminated there.
7. Our flight didn’t leave OKC until 11:30PM and arrived around 11:30PM (Phoenix time). Our bags did not come out on the conveyor belt. Went to luggage services (along with A LOT of other people) and found out that our luggage was being held until the first flight out the next day. They told me that it would take 45 minutes to an hour to locate the bags and get them to us. Meanwhile we were TIRED (was 1:30AM central time) and needed to catch the shuttle bus. I called the Hilton people for the shuttle….and then we waited 30 minutes (not secure area) for it to show up. It was 1AM Phoenix time before we went to sleep.
8. Vegas passengers were treated like crap….they acted like the flight was originally terminating in Phoenix….apologized to the passengers for getting them to their destination late…..without apologizing to us that didn’t get to OUR destination!
9. I lost out on my $300/night reservation in Vegas. Was apart from my husband for 12 extra hours out of a less than 48 hour time frame.
Other passengers were offered toiletry kits…..we got nothing
10. The Hilton’s shuttle only runs on the half hour and hour….so we had to be downstairs at 6:25 AM to catch the shuttle to be at the airport to check in and get our boarding passes to catch the 7:20AM flight. The hotel’s restaurant didn’t open that early….so our food vouchers were worthless. Spent mega bucks at the airport on snack crap.
11. I asked the agent that morning if they had applied that flight to my RR account and he took my RR card….checked the number and told me it was on there…..he lied.
So the long and short of it is that, because of the fact that Southwest flies mechanical disasters through Dallas, Mother Nature caught them with their pants down...and my wife and stepdaughter got screwed majorly out of nearly HALF their weekend trip to Las Vegas...while I'm holed up by myself in a $350 a night room at Paris.
Southwest is about to get a massive complaint letter from me and my wife...and I'm done flying them for the forseeable future unless I get one hell of an apology.
On that note...I flew ExpressJet from Ontario, CA (connecting from a Southwest flight from LAS-ONT) to here (SAT) last Sunday. If there's anyone up in OKC who flies here (or the LA area...or Albuquerque...or that ****hole 50 miles north of me) regularly, FLY EXPRESSJET!!! It may be only a 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145, but you get the following in-flight services:
1. FREE MEALS!!!
2. FREE SATELLITE RADIO (do you know of any other airline that flies regional jets that has IFE?)
3. $1 BEERS (yes, we're talking the whole can)
Ok...I'm done...back to Nav School.