Was your Southwest flight disrupted? Here’s how to request a refund.

Flights Was your Southwest flight disrupted? Here’s how to request a refund. “We will honor reasonable requests for reimbursement for meals, hotel, and alternate transportation,” the airline said in a statement. Southwest Airlines staff members help a customer at Dallas Love Field Airport on Dec. 27, 2022. Emil Lippe/The New York Times
More than 1 million passengers have been affected by more than 13,000 cancelled Southwest flights in the past week, according to the Associated Press, which means travelers are seeking refunds and reimbursement.
Southwest Flight Delays: Southwest says it expects normal operations to resume Friday
The embattled airline has slashed two-thirds of its regular schedule this week but says it expects to return to normal operations by Friday after what Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called a company “meltdown” on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.
Travelers who have been impacted by the Southwest cancellations can go to its Travel Disruption Information webpage to request a ticket refund, submit receipts for unexpected travel expenses, and more.
Customers with a cancelled flight from Dec. 24 to Jan. 2, 2023 may request a refund of the unused ticket in the original form of payment, according to the airline.
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Those traveling between Dec. 25 and Jan. 2, 2023 may rebook in the original class of service or travel standby without paying additional charges, according to Southwest. The rebooked tickets must be within 30 days of the original date of travel and between the original city pairs.
Travelers who paid out of pocket for unexpected travel expenses due to flight cancellations can submit receipts for hotels, car rentals, food, and rebooked tickets on other airlines.
“We will honor reasonable requests for reimbursement for meals, hotel, and alternate transportation,” wrote Southwest.
There is also a form for travelers trying to track down lost luggage.
The airline is experiencing “extremely high call volumes,” Southwest noted, so it’s best to use the airline’s self-service tools to rebook. The airline recommended calling at a later date if customers do not have plans to travel in the next 72 hours.
On Wednesday, Southwest cancelled about 2,500 flights, or 62% of its planned flights and the airline was responsible for more than half of all cancellations at Logan Airport. By 2 p.m on Thursday, Southwest was responsible for 2,360 cancelled flights, including 26 of the 35 cancellations at Logan Airport, according to flight tracking service FlightAware.
The federal government is investigating the issue and Buttigieg told “Good Morning America” that the problem began with severe weather, but the cancellations at Southwest far exceeded other airlines and indicated a system failure and the airline “should absolutely be providing refunds for those flights … but also things like hotels, like ground transportation, like meals, because this is the airline’s responsibility.”
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