This morning around 6:15am, Southwest opened up their reservation schedule for flights through January 4, 2016. I’d be lying if I say I didn’t set my alarm to 6am to ensure I was able to book the minute they went live! Well, the domestic flights opened up, and then about 15 minutes later the international flights opened up. Not surprised since last year, it took about 4 hours for them to open up international reservations.
I was super excited as I was on my computer that moment and had all my flights ready to book. I entered all my information as quickly as possible and then the Southwest red box on the top of the screen appeared. It essentially said that my Rapid Reward number wasn’t correct. I knew that wasn’t correct and even taking out my number didn’t fix the problem.
I immediately called Southwest’s international phone number and an hour and a half later the call dropped. There was no way I was calling again and spent a good two hours attempting to get flights through. I was beyond frustrated to say the least since I saw a few flight prices increase and my early bird attempt to get the best deal failed.
I sent the Southwest Twitter team a note just hoping that I could get some help. Even a confirmation that the system was down for everyone and it wasn’t just me. About two hours later, I got a reply back! They confirmed there were some issues and the women was willing to book all my necessary reservations herself. Not only that, she was able to match the lower fares that I saw earlier that morning which was amazing! I probably spent close to an hour on the phone with her, but at the end of the day, all flights got booked for the same “low” price that I saw that morning. I was beyond surprised by the customer service I received from Southwest – kudos to you! Although, I still did waste a good four hours on this and time is definitely money in my world.
For those that were having trouble this morning, the reservation system is back up and working. If you by chance run into an issue, I highly suggest reaching out to the Southwest Twitter team (@SouthwestAir) – they can work wonders!
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I booked a couple domestic flights for Christmas early this afternoon, and for a while it wasn’t letting me add my companion (it said the flight was sold out, which it most certainly wasn’t). I’ve since been able to do it, but whatever was buggy seems to extend beyond international.
So glad you posted about this as I eagerly went on their site this morning to book tickets to Aruba in November and I kept on getting a message that no flights were available. I even started looking into other places to go!
Well, just an fyi it has been back down for hours, called and they cannot help. just an fyi for those having issues
Alright, I’ll bite…why the rush? Just excitement, or am I missing something? It isn’t like WN has award availability that you have to snap up…
Would love to know the reasoning in case I’m missing out! 🙂
@Baqa – With Southwest, if the price of the flight goes down you get the amount back. If paid with credit card then back in a voucher (there is an expiration date though), but if using points, the difference just goes right back into your account. So no reason not to book now. Also, over the Christmas times are peak dates. Those flights will most likely not be any cheaper than they were the day they came available.