r/SouthwestAirlines

Howdy! I don’t fly very much, and have probably flown less than 15 times in my life. Just wondering if this is a normal experience.

An unaccompanied minor (somewhere between the age of 5-7) sat in front of me on my Southwest flight yesterday in row 6 by the window, with no one seated in the middle, and a woman who was not related to him in the aisle seat. This was the first time I’ve seen an unaccompanied minor on any flight I’ve been on, so I’m not sure what’s normal/abnormal.

This poor kid wasn’t given any activities by whoever dropped him off to do on the ~3.5 hour flight. He kept pressing the call button to call the flight attendants over to ask them questions (“is the plane going to crash?” etc) because he seemed nervous, and he didn’t really understand the purpose of the button or much of what was going on at all (because he’s only like 6). He was restless and anxious and wriggling around and yapping the whole flight, as many kids who don’t have their grown up with them would be.

I have a lot of sympathy for the kiddo, but even more sympathy for the poor woman seated in his row. She was essentially forced to chat with him, answer his questions, talk to him, and keep an eye on him for the whole flight. She was so kind and compassionate, in a way that I’m not sure I could have been since I usually feel quite anxious while flying and put on as much noise canceling as I can, and zone out.

The flight ended, the flight attendants collected the kiddo to get off the plane first, and the woman looked at all of us who were near her after he was gone, saying “oh my god.” She looked so exhausted. She, of course, did not sign up for that. I felt terrible for her, having to literally babysit a young kid who she had never met and she certainly wasn’t getting paid to do that. I feel like she should have gotten her flight for free or something. It seemed so unfair.

Is this a normal experience for unaccompanied minors on Southwest? I feel so bad for this poor woman. I think I would have needed to ask to move if I’d been in her shoes, and I’m not sure that request would have been accommodated. It seemed to me like the kid should have been seated in the first row right next to the Southwest flight attendants who were actually being paid to supervise him!!

What would yall have done in this scenario?? I don’t know if I should complain or something, since I was personally completely unaffected by this situation, other than just being an observer and feeling very bad for both the anxious/restless child and the woman.

I originally had a flight booked for Southwest Airlines through Expedia then I had to cancel and received flight credits. I go to select a new flight with those unused flight credits but unfortunately at checkout my “Onekey cash” overrides those unused flight credits for some reason. I spoke to Expedia customer service and for some reason the person said that I had to “upgrade my fare according to Southwest Airlines policy in order to use those”. I go to look online and there is nothing stating that you need to upgrade your fare if you are using unused flight credits. All in all, I think there has to be something wrong with Expedia and the customer service couldn’t help me with any of that and said that they would look into the problem. The problem is I don’t want these credits to go to waste since they expire in a month. Has anyone dealt with this issue before?

I need honest options on customer service supervisor position. For BWI to be exact. What's your experience or what do you know? Is it worth it? Recommend or no? Upon my research some are making it seem like an absolute nightmare. Which is shocking to me. Thanks.

I want to share what happened to me at Nashville International Airport (BNA) in case it can help other Venezuelans who may find themselves in a similar situation. I am a U.S. resident and had a trip planned to Aruba specifically to renew my Venezuelan passport at the Venezuelan Consulate.

Before the trip, I called Southwest, explained that my passport was expired and that I was traveling specifically to renew it, and they confirmed that I would be able to travel. Based on that information, I continued with all of my travel plans.

We arrived at the airport approximately three hours early, and I brought every document I could possibly think of, including proof of U.S. residency, a salvoconducto, my SAIME appointment confirmation with my information, Aruba ED Card, and consular documentation. Even with all of that, we spent almost three hours trying to resolve the situation with Southwest. I specifically asked what additional document they needed from me, but they could not give me a clear answer.

I also asked them to contact Aruba Immigration directly to verify whether I was allowed to enter the country under these circumstances, but they told me they could not do so. At the time, I unfortunately did not have the correct phone number to contact Aruba Immigration myself.

Ultimately, Southwest did not allow me to board, and I missed my flight.

Personally, after everything that happened, I feel that a large part of the problem was simply a lack of knowledge or familiarity at BNA with this type of procedure for people traveling specifically to renew their passports. I do not necessarily believe there was any bad intention, but I did get the impression that the staff simply did not know how to handle such an unusual situation or how to properly verify the documentation.

Afterward, I contacted the Venezuelan Consulate in Aruba. They responded to me in writing explaining that this procedure for Venezuelans traveling to renew their passports has been taking place since 2021 and that, when there is uncertainty, airlines can verify the situation directly with the Aruban authorities. They also provided me with the direct contact information for Aruba Immigration, but unfortunately, by then I had already missed my flight.
I am sharing this because I really wish I had known all of this beforehand.

If you are traveling with an expired Venezuelan passport for renewal:

Do not rely solely on what the airline tells you over the phone. If possible, try going to the airport in person a few days before your flight to speak with airline staff and make sure you will not encounter the same situation.

Bring your salvoconducto, SAIME appointment confirmation, ED Card, proof of residency, and every other supporting document you have.

Have the direct contact information for the immigration authorities of your destination country saved BEFORE you arrive at the airport.

If the airline confirms that you are allowed to travel, ask for written confirmation or a case or reference number.

If the airport staff are unfamiliar with the procedure, ask them to escalate the situation before accepting a final decision.

I know this is a long post, but I really hope it can prevent another Venezuelan from losing their flight, appointment, money, and time because of a similar situation.

NOTE: Just to clarify why my passport was expired, since I’ve seen some comments about why I didn’t simply renew it before it expired. The Venezuelan consulates in the U.S. have been closed for years, so renewing it here was not an option. I also could not leave the U.S. to renew it abroad until I received my Green Card and was able to travel and return.

One of the main reasons I’m sharing this is because before my trip, I found several Venezuelans who had gone through the same process successfully, but I never came across someone sharing an experience like mine. Honestly, if I had, I probably would’ve thought twice before booking everything.

I also specifically mentioned that I was flying out of Nashville because I think that may have played a role. Some of the people who had no issues were flying out of larger international airports, where staff may be more familiar with situations and procedures like this. That’s why I wanted to be specific about the airport as well.

I’m leaving my experience here in case another Venezuelan is researching the same thing in the future. Just because it worked for others doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have the same experience, even if you have all the required documentation.

To the person I sat next to on my flight from Chicago to Bozeman last week who was absolutely sick and blowing their nose for the entire three hours straight: I just wanted to let you know it took me five days to get sick.

Maybe next time, as a courtesy to those around you (and if you have to fly in that condition), consider grabbing a mask or something?

Okay, rant over.

So I booked a flight connecting thru Vegas. I’m A list so I took advantage and upgraded for a few more inches on an aisle seat. Today might seat was changed to a middle seat. Ok, but am I being penalized for being A list?

Is it just me, or does boarding out of LAS continue to get worse and worse?

Today there were at least 15 wheelchairs, along with another 20+ pre-boarders. I’m lowly A-List and was at the front of the Group 1 line, yet there had to be almost 50 people already on the plane by the time I boarded.

I haven’t flown Southwest much since all the changes, so I assumed the boarding process would’ve improved somewhat. Apparently not.

Hi, My husband and I have been spoiled with JetBlue and their TV’s. We are flying SW tomorrow because it’s a nonstop flight and my father passed away and no other flights were non-stop. I signed up for Rapid Rewards and I’ll have my husband do the same. I have AirPods for my iPhone but he does not. I’m buying him a cheap wired pair today (iPhones today don’t come with wired headphones). Don’t get me started on that. But any other suggestions to make sure we each have entertainment? It’s a 2.5 hour flight. Also I was wondering if I should buy a WIRED pair for myself. They’re only $5 at Dollar General. Thank you!

I'm on an afternoon flight tomorrow afternoon, with a 'basic' fare. There are two earlier flights (a 5:30 AM and a 10:10 AM), both with plenty of available seats. I'm going to head to the gate early to see if I can get on one of those earlier flights. My fare doesn't allow for same day changes without a fee.

I've seen posts here stating that as of last year it was easy to jump on an earlier same day flight as long as they have plenty of seats available, but Southwest was going to change the policy (and adherence to the policy) soon.

If I show up to the gate before the earlier flights, how can I maximize my chances that the gate agent puts me on an earlier flight without charging a change fee? Does the gate agent have any discretion? Has anyone had positive or negative experiences when they attempted something similar?

Here’s what I’ve found and how it all went down after I wrote this post, just in case someone else ends up in the same boat! TLDR: I have my 3 kids ages 14, 13, and 11 traveling together unaccompanied.

First of all, thanks to everyone who gave their experiences and advice, it helped me make a game plan and talk with my kids about what to expect.

I did end up calling, and to say the customer service had no clue would be an understatement. I’m not sure that was worth my time. 0/10 experience, but maybe I just had bad luck.

However, the ticket counter at the airport was super helpful! That lady was very nice, and made it quick and easy to get a gate pass and explain what would happen on the other end of their flight. She helped me check that my mom was a verified pick up person who would be able to get a gate pass at the arrivals and was just all around full of information.

Basically, the “young travelers” going with an unaccompanied minor means the airline treated the whole group like young travelers. That is to say, they don’t really care about them at all lol. It’s whatever for us, but other parents might want to know how it works so they can make an educated decision on choosing an airline.

We got to the airport, I went to the ticket counter and got my gate pass, walked them through security and to the gate. I had my 14 yo add the SW app to her phone so she could manage their boarding passes to make it all easier. They ended up with group 4 and since we purchased seats I didn’t bother upgrading and it was fine. We got in the back of the group 4 line, I walked with them all the way up to the gate and scanning boarding passes, gave them a big hug, and off they went. No one acknowledged them or said anything about them being young travelers. They reported no one checked in with them on the flight or anything which was fine. I hung out at the gate until their flight took off, went and cried in my car for a bit, and headed home. On the arriving end, my mom got a gate pass at the ticket counter (they did check her ID to make sure it matched exactly their records), and was able to meet them at the other end.

The kids did very well, I let them take the lead going through security and navigating the airport with me there and they had zero issues. If TSA weren’t so grumpy I’d probably be okay with them doing all that alone next time, at least in our home airport.

So yeah, AMA I guess if you have questions about your own kids? But it all worked out.

Hi if anyone is flying any time soon would you mind telling me the in flight offer? I’m considering opening up a credit card and fly on Sept. 4th but not sure if I should wait until then if the deal ain’t that great. Thank you!
Looking for the points to spend ratio/ any other perks they offer from inflight thank you!

Hi everyone. I need to book a flight. Does anyone know of any current Southwest promotions, discounts, or legitimate ways to reduce the cost? (as of August 19 2026) Or when/how often Southwest have their promotions Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

What do you mean I can’t travel with my robot support animal???