Southwest is in the process of making amends with one million passengers who suffered when the company had a nearly complete meltdown because of antiquated technology following a huge winter storm. Some passengers continue to be unhappy about how Southwest handled their canceled Hawaii vacation costs.
This comes as Southwest attempts to right the issues that occurred. Bob Jordan, company CEO said, “On behalf of Southwest, I want to let you know we’re so sorry. I know no amount of apologies can undo your experience.” Southwest is also offering at least some passengers 25k Rapid Rewards points as a gesture of goodwill.
He also said that customers will be receiving refunds, and the company is hoping to reconnect the remaining passengers with their baggage by the end of this week.
Canceled Southwest Hawaii vacation passenger pleads for help.
Amy Dougherty of Denver planned a Hawaii vacation. She indicates she bought it through Southwest Airlines. That would probably mean she bought it through a company called Southwest Vacations, which isn’t the same company as Southwest Airlines.
Amy is pleading for help from Southwest Airlines, the US Department of Transportation, or anyone else who will listen. She claims that “Southwest Airlines offered to pay us 1/4 of what we paid for our Hawaii vacay that we booked thru them and didn’t happen. So much for lip service about making things right. Who can help?
Southwest Airlines offered to pay us 1/4 of what we paid for our Hawaii vacay that we booked thru them and didn’t happen. So much for lip service about making things right. Who can help? @SouthwestAir @USDOT @AP
— Amy Dougherty (@haikutweethaiku) January 4, 2023
Passenger Dave Helfen pleaded for help, too, about his return from a tropical vacation, as you’ll see below.
Takeaways to protect your Hawaii vacation.
1. We don’t usually buy trip insurance domestically but…
Trip insurance is a must for international travel. For one thing, without it, you may have no way of getting back to the US if something goes wrong. In addition, virtually all health insurance is invalid when traveling abroad. So for us, it is a no brainer to have it.
Domestically, on the other hand, we have almost never purchased trip insurance. For one, it is relatively expensive and generally can cost up to 10% of the amount insured. Then too, in most cases, there’s no need for additional health insurance in Hawaii. But when vacation rentals or other advance purchase nonrefundable costs are involved, it could be smart to either cover those through trip insurance or avoid prepaid Hawaii vacation costs to circumvent the need for trip coverage.
2. Plan for the unexpected. It can happen.
Who in their wildest dreams could have imagined the systemwide Southwest collapse that occurred over the holidays, wherein most of their flights were canceled? Moving forward, this will serve as a reminder not to be complacent about such things.
You may recall that editor Jeff has had multiple things happen on trips. His luggage was lost by two airlines, including Delta. In that case, even though their baggage tracking is online (which Southwest is not), it took three days for him to actually reconnect with his luggage when a flight was canceled due to mechanical issues, and he was rerouted differently than his luggage. He needed to buy clothes, among other things, and his trip insurance paid all of those costs with minimal hassle. Jeff was cavalier and only had slippers with him on the plane. Bad mistake, as he had major hiking planned on the trip, which necessitated finding new hiking shoes immediately upon arrival.
3. Know who you are dealing with.
In this case, Amy may have incorrectly believed she was purchasing her entire trip from Southwest Airlines. But in reality, Southwest, like other airlines, partners with companies to sell vacations under their brand, including airfare, accommodations, car rental, etc. Apple Leisure Group is the company that owns Southwest Vacations. It also owns United Vacations.
Another Southwest Vacations traveler got stuck in this mess. Dave Helfen said he was traveling from Cancun. “Flight cancelled home from Cancun on Christmas Day – Been on hold for 3 hours and also waiting for callback from #southwestvacations to modify itinerary and it never came. Gave up and had to book another way home – all we needed was a little help.”
4. When things go awry, take control immediately.
People who seemed to fair the best in the Southwest debacle are those who acted proactively on their own behalf, immediately making alternative plans. They did not rely on then overwhelmed Southwest to come to their short-term rescue. Lesson learned.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
I booked 3 different Southwest flights yesterday. There was no option for insurance!!
Hi Sherri.
Why would you buy trip insurance from an airline? Look at a trip insurance provider—far, far better options.
Aloha.
Creditcard used to book flight may provide trip insurance.
nerdwallet.com/article/travel/credit-cards-that-provide-travel-insurance
Yet another reason I despise SWA. Many have given me grief for being a HA apologist on this forum and all I can say is you get what you pay for.
Will continue to always fly HA when I go visit the mainland.
Happy new year gentlemen
Hi Chris.
Happy New Year. Good to hear from you!
Aloha.
I don’t understand why some are calling Southwest a failure. They had a bad week or 10 days. So di other airlines, SWA was worse.
But, a failure doesn’t have 123,300,000 passengers in 2021. 55,000 employees, 121 destinations, 3,000 flights a day…
My employees will continue to fly SWA even as they upgrade their tech.
Lose the hate, it’s not a good look.
Southwest management has had opportunity to fix, resolve, and get ahead of potential issues but still seems to fail at every opportunity. The whole executive team should be fired at this point. Selling everything.
When I started cruising and started reading about the horror stories from travelers all around the world I realized that some kind of insurance was a necessity. Fortunately I have not yet had to file a claim but sinc I fly first class everywhere I usually get a call from American as to possible alternative routings. So I now have basic trip insurance and emergency evacuation insurance that will get me home from just about anywhere.
It’s funny how Southwest isn’t t responding to customers like this while ads are all die Delta vacations. Southwest so could have delt with this then gets twice slammed again because it doesn’t deal with it’s issues to and then had it’s competition advertise in news articles where they could have delt with it. Go delta… Scr southwest.
In English please.
BOH,
In a meltdown like this – 1,000,000 passengers impacted, travel insurance companies would probably fail if a significant number of passengers bought the “insurance.” And, passengers might only get a fraction of their actual cost.
Still, buying the coverage is probably a smart idea.
Happy New Year,
Rod
Hi Rod.
Thanks. Happy New Year to you too!
Aloha.
The realisation of individual responsibility certainly comes into focus when you don’t have a ride. Run Forest! Run!
No airline is responsible for prepaid expenses. For this reason it is always highly recommended to get trip insurance.
I agree with you on purchasing insurance on international trips however good luck collecting if you have a claim. We went to Kenya on safari and were supposed to spend another week in Cape Town but COVID flared up. Had to reschedule flights, cancel our condo. It’s been a year and a half and still no payment. They keep asking for more irrelevant documents. They asked for a letter from the state department stating we could not travel to South Africa. Of course I didn’t get one of these but it was common knowledge the country was closed to tourism. They are happy to take your money but have little intention in giving any of it back.
Absolutely true, and the devil is always in the details. The exceptions are always so numerous that they can almost always find a way not to pay.
Flew from Honolulu to Tokyo on New Years and been staying at Haneda Hotel. Delta seemed to cancel almost all flights including HNL ones and Hawaiian have canceled 2-3 every day. Is there an issue with Delta or Hawaiian? Perhaps they have staffing issues in Japan. Every day I see long snaking lines and customers looking annoyed. Interesting it has not attracted journalist attention.
Hi Rich.
We aren’t aware of any issue other than Japan tourism to Hawaii isn’t back to any significant degree, But at the same time, the long lines seem to contradict that. Thanks for over 200 comments!
Aloha.
In regards to lost luggage…while I don’t really like air tags, they came in really handy the last time we traveled to Hawaii. We shipped our luggage because we were spending 6 week on the islands, and we put an air tag in each box. We knew exactly where those boxes were at all times. While the luggage still might not be where you want it to be when you get there, it may help you get it back sooner (or at all) if you can prove to the airline exactly where it is located.
Air tags are great and it was reassuring knowing where my luggage was. Just make sure the battery is new or still has a lot of life for the duration of your trip.
Happy New Year, BOH!
An airtag sounds wonderful! Where can i buy one?
Hi Lisa,
I bought mine on Amazon and a cover for it. You can also buy them at Target or an Apple Store.
Thank you!
Happy New Year 🎉
Every time I go to Hawaii, I purchase trip insurance. It’s a no-brainer. Who wants to be stuck on Maui when a medivac can easily cost you $50K to $100K to get to Oahu or Mainland for a serious medical situation? The healthcare system on Maui and the outer islands is deplorable. You can’t have it your way when you are on an island in the South Pacific. Meds can take up to days or weeks to arrive. It is the reality of living in this beautiful tropical paradise. I have zero sympathy for people who do not purchase trip insurance. Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, and his extraneous cancelation policy overruled the vast majority of owners who lost $ thousands in bookings as a result of sympathetic guests who failed to purchase the trip insurance.