Southwest Starts Sending Refunds

Southwest promised refunds for customers who had canceled flights, or experienced heavy delays over the holidays. The Department of Transportation got involved, asking the airline to speed up the process and answer every claim within 60 days.

Now some customers are already receiving their refunds, but much less than they expected. The airline’s social media channel are filled with complaints about a variety of issues from the holiday mess. 

One customer for example received only a $9 refund, when she claimed costs of about $140. It’s hard to say if all proper documentation was submitted, but $9 for a canceled flight seems ridiculous.

In one case, Southwest offered a $200 refund when the claim was for $4,000 (HT: View from the Wing).

Another passengers claims her flight was canceled and she had to drive 1,000 miles home. Southwest only offered a reimbursement for about half of the cost of her flight.

Another customer claims that she had to rebook with another airline after Southwest canceled his flight. But the airline now is refunding about a third of the cost of flights, and adding LUV vouchers.

https://twitter.com/showardpvd/status/1611850420753780736

Then there are customers who are still being offered airline credits instead of full refunds, even though it was Southwest who canceled the flights.

https://twitter.com/ErickaKane/status/1611064252223131682

Or even worse, partial credit…

I have reached out to some these customers and will update the article if they provide any additional information about their claims. Also let me know in the comments if you are having issues with Southwest refunds.