On Wednesday, Southwest Airlines once again canceled thousands of flights across the country. According to data from FlightAware, Southwest canceled more than 2,500 flights on Wednesday, which accounts for 62% of its total flights. That’s only a slight improvement from Tuesday, which saw nearly 2,700 Southwest flights canceled, or 64%.
The past few weeks have been a nightmare for air travel, but while other airlines have recovered, Southwest has continued to flounder. Southwest CEO Bob Jordan even shared a video message apologizing for the chaos this week, which you can watch below:
How to get a refund from Southwest
Southwest has already preemptively canceled thousands of additional flights that were scheduled to take off later this week and won’t be able to rebook many passengers until Saturday, December 31. In the meantime, if you can find another means of transportation, then your best bet might be to start the process of requesting a refund from Southwest.
With all the delays and cancellations, Southwest set up an all-in-one online hub where customers can check the status of their flights, attempt to rebook a flight, or request a refund. If your flight has been canceled, you can request a refund of your unused ticket to the original form of payment by providing your first name, last name, and confirmation number.
Furthermore, if you have incurred additional expenses, such as hotel rooms, rental cars, meals, or other flights, you can submit receipts for potential reimbursement via Email Us on Southwest.com. Southwest says it will honor “reasonable requests.”
How to rebook a Southwest flight
Rebooking your flight is probably going to be far more difficult than getting a refund, at least for the next few days. That said, you can attempt to do so through the same hub. Once again, you’ll need your first name, last name, and confirmation number to start the process.
If you can’t find any flights with seats available, this is Southwest’s advice:
With so many different ways to book and many Customers seeking reaccommodation, flight availability may change throughout the day. We encourage you to keep looking.
Southwest also notes that customers can rebook for free as long as “travel is completed within 30 days of the originally scheduled itinerary and no changes are made to the originally reserved city pairs.” Also, if you managed to complete part of your trip or didn’t book directly from Southwest, you’ll need to call 1-800-I-FLY-SWA (1-800-435-9792) to make changes.
