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Business Profile

Airlines

Southwest Airlines Company

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

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Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Southwest Airlines Company's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see

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Southwest Airlines Company has 15 locations, listed below.

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    Customer Complaints Summary

    • 1,584 total complaints in the last 3 years.
    • 466 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

    If you've experienced an issue

    Submit a Complaint

    The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

    Sort by

    Complaint status

    Complaint type

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/19/2022

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      For a company that promotes "We value our customers over their wallets," "We value transparency, respect, fairness and honesty," the solutions to problems don't align with those core values. I've been a loyal customer for over 10 years and have unused funds that will be expiring within the next month. I'm in a situation where those funds would be of use and unfortunately this company didn't provide a fair solution. They denied my request for a refund and suggested I extend the expiration date on the unused funds for 6 months even though I don't plan on traveling within the next year due to unreasonable circumstances. Also, I was advised even if I got the extension and won't be traveling I'd still lose my money so they take my money and I get absolutely nothing...not sure how that would be considered a "fair" solution, respectable treatment toward a loyal and consistent investor or valuing their customers over their wallets as they seem to have displayed everywhere. I've talked to multiple representatives and noticed different information was provided for each call which makes me question their honesty policy. If a business is going to promote these types of values they should stand by them not trick people into thinking their going to be treated properly then when the moment calls the rug is pulled from underneath them. That is what we call conniving and who would want to do business with a company who doesn't treat people with respect, manipulate people to their own selfish benefit then leave you high and dry.

      Business Response

      Date: 10/02/2023

      Response to BBB Complaint ******** is attached

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/18/2022

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      On June 22 my 15 year old daughter was supposed to fly from Burbank CA, to Salt Lake City on a direct flight. She arrived at the airport on time. Checked in and checked her bag. She sat at the gate waiting for the flight. The flight got cancelled. Then she was put on another flight with a 7 hour layover in another city. She got in line at the gate to tell them she could not get on the flight and she needed her luggage back. All the other passengers got in line too. By the time she got to the counter her luggage was already on the other flight to another city and she was considered a "no show". I paid $247 for the flight and as of today (7/18) they have only refunded $116. I have requested either a full credit of $247 to put her on another flight or a full refund.

      Business Response

      Date: 09/28/2023

      The Customers concerns regarding BBB Complaint ******** were addressed by phone.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/18/2022

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I flew with Southwest Airline on 7/16/2022. My flight confirmation number is 2IRXJ2. I checked my carryon with Southwest. When I received my carryon, the shell was broken in the corner. It was 3:30 am (7/17/2022) so I got home and called Southwest at 4:08 am to report. I never received any emails from Southwest whether my claim for my baggage is filed or not. I called the airline again. They gave me a Courtesy Damage Baggage Claim but the case was closed. I would like the airline to take actions into this damage.

      Business Response

      Date: 10/02/2023

      Response to BBB Complaint ******** is attached.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/17/2022

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      -July 17, 2022 -Booked 2 flights on separate reservations, one for my husband, one for me. The reservations were for the same flights, but needed to be separate so that I could use different gift cards and flight vouchers (a limitation with southwest.com). I entered different passenger information on the reservations but I guess because I was signed into my rapid rewards account, both reservations were made in my name. At the time of reservation, the system should have notified me that reservations were being made for the same person on the same flights. They have the rapid rewards number as a passenger unique identifier, so that should not be hard to do. Instead, I received an email days later that one of the reservations was cancelled and instead of issuing a refund for this system issue, my money is being held up in flight credits, which I cannot use to rebook a flight for my husband. Instead, they are forcing me to pay them $192 again. It seems wrong to me that a company should be allowed to make me pay them twice for something that their system should have caught sooner. I also talked to a representative about the issue and she blamed me. Said the system did not need to notify me at the time the reservation was being made with the same rapid rewards number.

      Business Response

      Date: 10/03/2023

      BBB Complaint ******** is attached.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/17/2022

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I purchased 5 tickets in October 2021 to fly to Hawaii in January (for myself and my family). Our trip was delayed to March and then we were unable to attend due a death of my brother. We are traveling to Hawaii on July 18th, however since the purchase was combined with a credit the funds were set to expire in June rather than October (12 months after the purchase date), I had to repurchase all the tickets.

      I emailed Southwest and told that due to the circumstances that if I provided a copy of my brother's death certificate, then I would receive a full refund for Confirmation Number*******. As such, I provided a copy of his death certificate.

      On 4/12, I received a response from Tori T************************, that she had requested the refund and it would show on my credit card in 30 business days. She said that it would go back to two credit cards. One ending in 3009 and the other in 3759.

      Later in the month of April, I received two credits just for my (Adrienne Shelton tickets) for $268.01 to my card ending in 3009 and $19.99 to my card ending in 3759. However, I have not received a credit for the other 4 family members that were on my confirmation number as well.

      Christian H***** - RR # *********** - Refund promised $288.00
      Adria Angelo - RR # ******** - Refund promised $288.00
      Christopher H***** - RR # *********** - Refund promised $288.00
      Makayla H***** - RR # *********** - Refund promised $288.00

      I informed Southwest that I would be escalating this claim if I did not hear back from them by 7/14.
      Please see letter attached for additional details and the email from Tori where she said she would process the refund.

      Business Response

      Date: 10/05/2023

      Response to BBB Complaint ******** is attached.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/16/2022

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I flew from ******* ** on Friday June 17th on flight 31JN6 to **************. I checked a garment bag that was damaged on the flight. I left for a cruise on June 19th through June 25th to *******. I didn't open the garment bag until I got on the cruise ship and that's when I saw that the hook inside my garment bag was broken off. I couldn't call Southwest by their policy because I didn't have phone service on the cruise ship and I didn't have enough time once I returned from the cruise until I got back to ***********. As soon as I got back to ***. I notified the baggage claim office and he told me to contact the baggage claim customer service. Someone needs to understand why I couldn't report the damage within 48 hours. Please replace my garment bag.

      Business Response

      Date: 10/02/2023

      Response to BBB Complaint ******** is attached.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/16/2022

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I left an expensive water bottle on the plane and the airline indicated that they threw the bottle away. It was an $80 item. They told me they would have it waiting for me at the baggage claim and would only hold it for 24 hours so I drove all the way back from across town and then they said they don't keep water bottles and throw them away. Very disappointed.

      Business Response

      Date: 10/17/2023

      Attached is the response to BBB Complaint 19723055.

    Southwest Airlines Company is NOT a BBB Accredited Business.

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