Southwest Airlines Reviews

I recently flew on SWA on July 28th. My flight was from Eugene, Or to Kansas City, Mo via Denver. Original ETD was 2:40 pm with about a two hour and 20 minute flight to Denver. Due to bad weather at Denver we were three hours late departing which I totally understand. SWA customer told not to worry because my flight to KC from Denver was also delayed. ETD Denver being 9:40 pm or so. Deplaning in Denver I saw my flight was delayed again and then again and yet again not leaving until almost 1 am.

Zero communication. They cancel flights without notice, ignore damaged property, and have incompetent customer service and flying/airport crew. Not far behind Spirit.

On June 29, 2026 from SEA - PHX, leaving from Gate B10, boarding at 6am, I had a carry-on and a personal item. I was wearing a vest with many pockets and a fanny pack (also called hip pack, waist pack). I checked with a Southwest agent at the counter near the gate, if I had to consolidate anything and she said, 'no, you're fine'.

Rating: 0 / 5 Stars. I’ve been a loyal Southwest flyer for years, but recent experiences show they are drifting toward low-cost carrier behavior with high-end prices. On July 22, during a connection in Nashville (BNA) from San Diego to Detroit, I experienced unacceptable behavior from a gate agent. After being told to check my carry-on (Group B-8), I explained that I had high-value jewelry, a laptop, and an iPad inside that couldn't be checked. The agent told me to speak with the manager handling bag checks.

I want to give a heartfelt thank you to Mrs. Linda (Agent #**) at Southwest Airlines for her outstanding customer service. During a very stressful travel experience, she treated me with kindness, patience, and genuine compassion. She took the time to listen, answer my questions, and make sure I felt supported every step of the way. Employees like Mrs. Linda truly make a difference. While my travel experience didn't go as planned, her professionalism and caring attitude turned a frustrating situation into one where I felt valued as a customer. Thank you, Mrs. Linda, for going above and beyond. Southwest is fortunate to have someone like you on their team!

Thank goodness they got rid of Spirit just in time for Southwest to go from giving you 2 free checked bags to a nickel and dime on EVERYTHING!!! Even when you check in within 24 hours you can not select your seat. They will also not keep your family together. I was flying with a newly 13 year old and they didn’t keep us together. From my understanding there is no age where they will keep a family together. So if you have young ones you WILL need to pay, and there are about 4 different payment options for seats.

1.) Fare is HIGH and same as Delta and AA but far from a Tier 1 airline.

I’ve flown with Southwest Airlines four times, and every single flight was delayed. At this point, it doesn’t feel like bad luck—it feels like their normal way of operating. Their flight scheduling is completely unrealistic. On one trip, my flight was supposed to begin boarding, yet the previous flight assigned to the same aircraft hadn’t even started boarding. It was obvious there was no chance my flight would leave on time, but Southwest still hadn’t updated the departure time or communicated the delay. Passengers were left standing around with no accurate information.

I have flown Southwest for years but NEVER will again. We traveled as a family of 8 with 3 generations to Denver from Dallas Love Field and back in July 2026. My mother is on oxygen and requires a wheelchair. We wrote this on the ticket and informed the airlines more than 1 week in advance. We were told explicitly that a wheelchair would be available at check-in at Dallas Love Field. Instead, we were treated as an inconvenience and almost missed our flight due to incompetence and the refusal of staff to acknowledge our presence as the only people in the wheelchair check-in line.

Absolutely HORRIBLE!!! Feeling totally discriminated against. I fly a lot and purchased luggage that fit the dimensions for carry-on. At the Bozeman airport I was appaud by the 2 inexperienced girls scanning the boarding passes. They were making it difficult because my suitcase was expanded. It's a hard suitcase and can only expand so far.. again with in the dimension allowance. Watching other people board the plane with far larger carry-on items?? Being singled out isn't fun!!! Southwest come on, you can do BETTER with the behavior of your employees!!!

Tickets and seating was purchased together. Then somehow me and my kids seats were splitted up! Was forced to pay extra to be re-seated together. Then once it was time to board, there was no overhead bin space! Had to check bags in, which again inconvenienced the crap out of us! Southwest has begun to have very little regard for accommodating their customers!

BEWARE OF SOUTHWEST REFUND POLICY. I canceled a booking 30 days prior to the flight because my event was canceled and they refuse to refund my money due to the 'price point'. So now I'm out nearly $600. This should be illegal.

The plane before ours was delayed due to weather. It was delayed so long the pilot of that plane checked out. Causing our plane to be delayed. Rather than going to another gate. They kept the ppl on the plane waiting as well as us. They finally moved gates. When we got in air. It was clear it would be tight for our connecting flights. I’ve been on a plane and had to wait 40 mins for others delayed flight to catch up for they could make connection. I was late 20 mins and they rebooked me. Not a flight that straight to where I was going but a flight the next day where they would fly me clear to Las Vegas from Chicago and then back to ks. I don’t get the seats I paid for it. It was middle seats.

I'm putting this out there everywhere I can to warn my friends and family. Do not fly Southwest! They canceled our flights to Columbus, New York and a few other places before we even landed in Baltimore. Instead of informing anyone, they took people's luggage. We've now been held hostage at the airport for over four hours waiting on our luggage that never even left here, so there is no excuse.

I got bumped off a flight that I confirmed was not full by Omeka and the boarding counter at Dallas Love Field. Flight 3033 on 7/17/26. I was sitting in the boarding area, waiting for the group 8 sign to light up. When it did, I walked up and they told me the flight was full. I confirmed with Southwest help desk that it was NOT full. I still have zero idea why they did not let me on. I could see the other passengers down the gangway. She put me on a later flight through Tampa, which I changed becasue that was not the next best flight. I ended up going home through STL and arriving at PIT earlier then what the Apathetic, spiteful, Omeka set me up with. Terrible service, no reason to stop me, and to be honest, it felt incredibly racist.

Southwest took an hour delay to connect flight to Baltimore. Missed Iceland air flight and they refused to comp any new connections or hotel stay. Stuck in Baltimore now.

Worst experience ever. First and last time with Southwest. A family vacation turned out to delays, canceled flights and stuck airport for 14 hours. No TV is fine but one flight we were told the wifi is down. Then next thing our flight got canceled so my wife and I with an infant and toddler stuck at the airport for 14 hours.

👎 Lied about space and forced a gate-check. The gate agents forced me to check my carry-on bag, claiming there was "no space left" on the plane. This was a flat-out lie. When I walked down the aisle to my seat in the last boarding group, I saw plenty of open overhead bin space right there. Claiming the bins are full when they aren't does absolutely nothing to speed up boarding. Instead, it actually delayed things on the jet bridge. I had to stop everything to open my luggage on the spot and rip out my laptop and valuables because lithium batteries aren't even legally allowed in the cargo hold. Forcing passengers to check bags based on false information creates completely unnecessary stress. Southwest needs to train their staff to actually look inside the plane before making bogus claims to paying customers.

Flight 4075 to bwi. Stopped my 14 year old daughter at the gate because they said her bag was too large. It wasn’t, we’ve flown with it on 7 other occasions and it has always easily fit in the overhead bin. They abruptly and rudely pulled her out of line to check her bag, she was very embarrassed and upset. We counted no less than 15 bags similar or larger than hers carried by grown adults. None of them were stopped. For 25 years we’ve only ever flown Southwest, but we will be reevaluating that relationship going forward.

Because of their screw up we missed our connection. Had to stay overnight but they "couldn't find our luggage". We literally just got off the plane AND are the only ones going to Corpus Christi. My chemotherapy is in my luggage. Oh, and the customer service lady had the audacity to say it was my fault. Then.... they only give us a discounted hotel rate! Stay away from Southwest. They SUCK!

As I bought my tickets I picked a flight that had minimal layovers and paid extra for it due to the original flight was a 20 plus hour delay. Not cool with that so I paid more to receive a shorter flight. Well on the day of my flight home SW sent me a text a couple hours before my flight saying it was cancelled. I called and was told it was due to weather. I understand there isn’t any compensation for that but I paid extra and I’m getting taken advantage of by south west. Not to mention the weather isn’t even bad. I wonder if SW lied about the delay being weather so there is no compensation to customers. If it were mechanical or captain hours federally SW would be liable but “weather permitting” they won’t compensate. No help was given via food voucher for having to sleep at the airport. I asked about anything available and the lady simply said you don’t have to sleep here you can leave to a hotel, SW can’t help you good bye. Poor customer service.

This review is on behalf of one of your staff members; her name is Latascha ID # **. On June 18, I took an international flight to Belize. I just wanted your company to how excellent of a job she did when I was having a hard time at the machine trying to scan my passport. Your awesome young lady. See you soon.

LateWest. Every time. What a joke of an airline period.

My flight was at 5:00 am to Dallas with a connecting flight to Florida. Due to weather issue we were re-routed to San Antonio. This I understand. Once we landed in San Antonio around 7:30 am We were told the next flight out was at 5:50 pm going to Nashville with a layover to Florida. Arriving in Florida at 12:50 am. But while I was being told all of this there was a flight leaving San Antonio going to Dallas in a half hour. Why wasn't our flight sent back to Dallas if the weather had cleared up and planes could land. I filled out a complaint requesting a refund. Have not heard anything from Southwest. That was 2 weeks ago.

Southwest Rapid Rewards program is designed to steal your money. They literally charged me $530 when I transferred $530 in points to my son in law. I'll never fly Southwest again. I hope they needed my $530 dollars because it's the last penny they'll ever get from me.

They are giving so hard time to give my credit voucher. They took almost a year and now they are saying they may or may not give me. So many procedures and so many changes they made me to do. Still not sending me the voucher.

I used to love Southwest. But ever since they changed their boarding, seating, rewards, and luggage policies they are just as terrible as American. They forced everyone in Boarding Groups 7 & 8 to gate-check their bags. Only for there to be room for at least seven bags in the overhead space and my seat was only halfway down the plane. And I'm not even counting the space that was empty in the "reserved for extra leg room" bins.

My wife and I recently flew Southwest Airlines from PDX (Portland, OR) to ONT (Ontario, CA) and had an incredibly frustrating experience both ways. Outbound Flight: Our first flight was cancelled outright, and our replacement flight was rescheduled 5.5 hours later — only to be delayed again by nearly 2 hours at our layover in Sacramento. We arrived at PDX at 6:00 AM and didn't reach our final destination until 7:30 PM. For a flight that should take roughly 2 hours in the air, an 11.5-hour travel day is simply unacceptable.

We had a wonderful time on our flight from Pensacola to Denver. The flight attendants, Patrick and Justin, were both so friendly, personable, helpful, and went above and beyond to make our two kids feel comfortable and happy on the flight. They gave them extra snacks and drinks as well as a coloring book for our older one to help keep her occupied. They let my husband stand and rock our baby in their back area when she was crying and made us feel comfortable despite having two tired kids and a cranky baby.

Absolutely horrible. I was a long time customer and now why bother. Nothing sets them apart from any other airline. In fact they are probably the worst now with constant delays and total lack of communication. No perks whatsoever unless you pay out the ass! Bye bye SW…

Had to check my one carryon due to boarding staff stating flight was booked and no room. Get on board and every seat aisle had empty bin space and I was one of the last to board. Been flying Southwest for 20 years and never had the issues. Enforce your rules and have people store their purses and backpack under their seats. What is the point of selecting a seat and overhead been space to then be told it’s not available. If I could give less than a one I would have. Figure it out southwest!!!

Flight was delayed more than once with little to no communication at the gate, an annoyance but it happens, I get it. Better communication would have been nice. We sat there with an app status of boarding for over half an hour with no update. Boarded the plane and was met by a flight attendant named Eboni who had a scowl on her face. I asked her for a belt extender, she asked me how I was doing today while still scowling, I didn't think she heard me the first time because it was a bit loud entering the plane and she did not acknowledge my request. She snaps back at me and says, "I heard you the first time, I was asking how your day was," in an extremely snarky manner. She digs me out an extender and I head to my seat perturbed by the unnecessary situation.

I would give no stars if I could. Departing flight no issue. Return nightmare. You can’t get in touch with anyone for support. Changed a connecting flight, they said it would be 150, charged 252 to my credit card. Then they put standby on boarding pass. Walked all over airport to find some help but non existed. Then looked at the flight info and there were seats available. I paid the fees to upgrade seats. Was 107. Finally, someone came to the gate. I showed her boarding passes and told her I had upgraded seats since the passes showed standby. She said those seats were taken and I didn’t have seats. So, they defrauded me out of 359.00. Plus I checked 2 carryons, which they charged me for, then announced it was free, another 80. I’m almost 80 with a healing shattered ankle. My chest started hurting, my ankle swelling, thought I was going to have a heart attack. Still can’t find anyone at SW to try to rectify this occurrence

Just wanted to write a quick review about a stressful experience we had this morning at the Denver International Airport with Southwest Airlines after a cancellation. (flight was canceled, not canceled, canceled again via text messages). We were assisted by an exceptional agent named Cassie S. at the "Help" desk. She was calm, caring and very professional in assisting in not only getting our luggage returned back to us, but rebooked us on another flight after reviewing numerous options to our final destination. She searched for nearby flights within a 1-3 hour drive as well. She de-escalated our frustration quickly and we wanted to thank her for her help. Thumbs up to Cassie S.

I had two legs of my trip that was delayed. Terrible customer service. No reason for the schedule change except for poor planning on their part. I get that delays are to be expected but not when it happens to multiple legs in the flight. Do better SWA!

Southwest’s policy for disabled travelers is very frustrating. I chose an economy price for travel. I have ambulating problems and needed wheelchair accommodations which were provided. I was assigned a middle seat which was not helpful to me because of my leg and knee problems. The night before the flight I called and requested an aisle seat. I was informed the change could not be made until I was at the airport the next day and that there were 64 seats available. The staff at the airport and those on the phone who I spoke with were unhelpful. They seemed not interested in my accommodations. I was told by staff on the phone disabled economy fare does not provide other accommodations for your disability.

The problem is compounded by the number of oversized carry-on bags that appear to make it on board. When a single bag occupies the space intended for multiple passengers, everyone else pays the price. Passengers who comply with the rules should not be the ones inconvenienced because overhead space is being used inefficiently. The most concerning aspect is that these were not isolated incidents. These same issues occurred across all three of my recent trips. As a result, I no longer view these as occasional operational challenges but as recurring service problems.

They used to be excellent and for a $20 fee you got on board quicker. Now you pay to upgrade for $50 so that you can pick your seat and then they charge you again to pick the seat up to $67. Then they charge you for any luggage which for one checked bag, which used to be free, was $45. Screw them. They are now TRASH and I hope they go out of business. Typical greedy crap airline. I rate them at a Zero! I'm switching to American Airlines!!!

Horrible experience!!! Do not trust them with minors or elderly flying alone together. They attempted to extort my 11 year old son and 59 year old mother in law for an extra $270 less than 1 hour before the flight claiming that my sons ticket had a military discount on it because it was purchased with our account; despite us changing this a month ago on the phone for 2 hours and they acted like that was ok. My 11 year old son and 59 year old mother in law had to literally run to the gate with their bags because the rude ticketing agent did not want to call a supervisor until the last minute at which time we paid an extra $30 for something we already paid for because southwest is too lazy or does not care to check their recorded calls.

I wish I had read the reviews before paying for my ticket. Flight time was changed many times. At last report it’s now a 2 hr and 2 minute delay.🤬