You’ve most likely heard about the “meltdown” Southwest Airlines is currently experiencing. It started with a bit of bad weather, but then the airline’s antiquated software failed to dig the company out of the hole. Thousands and thousands of flights were canceled, travelers are stranded, people are mad. It’s a mess.
Southwest Airlines hopes to have everything back and running by this weekend. But, I’m a bit skeptical. I have a flight on Southwest next week, and I decided to make a backup plan just in case.
My Backup Plan
I’ve never booked a backup flight before. But, there has never been this type of airline meltdown for an extended period before. My kids need to return home to start school. And, I’m not going to rent a car and drive for 20 hours. No way.
So, I booked a flight on American Airlines for the day after my scheduled Southwest flight. I used AA miles to book a Web Special Award for 15k miles. If I don’t end up needing the flight, I can cancel it and get my miles back. Using miles is a better option than paying cash, as I would only get a future flight credit if I needed to cancel. There are many seats left on this flight, so I don’t feel like I’m taking up a spot on a super in-demand flight.
Why don’t I just cancel my Southwest flight and go with this new flight? It’s because I booked Early Bird Check-in for me and my kids to the tune of $60 total. If I cancel, I won’t get that money back. Plus, I like the time of the Southwest flight. And if it flies, I’d prefer to be on it.
But, if Southwest is still melting down, we will simply get a hotel room and take the AA flight the next day. My annual trip insurance policy will pay for the hotel room.
Bottom Line
If you have a Southwest flight in the next week, I recommend you at least think about other options in case your flight gets canceled. I hate that so many trips have been ruined by this debacle. Hopefully, using miles for a backup flight will minimize our disruption.
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Hi Nancy,
I am researching flights from Atlanta to Honolulu for next August. Southwest seems to be the best fares right now. I have a few questions.
1. Is it your experience that the fares on Southwest will only go up the closer it gets to the vacation dates?
2. Would you feel confident going with Southwest given their meltdown over the holidays? If not, which airline would you recommend?
3. And finally, my kids will probably be flying out of Atlanta, and my husband and myself out of New Orleans. Do I need to create a Southwest account for each person or can I keep them all under my account? I plan on using Ultimate Rewards from Chase to pay for one of the flights.
You helped me a great deal back in 2018 when we did our Disney cruise to Alaska. I enjoy following your blogs. Thank you in advance for your help!
Hi Tracey! For Southwest fares, I wish I had a good answer, but it really depends. For peak flying times (like Christmas, spring break) I’ve seen the fares just go up closer to the date. But for most other times, they usually fluctuate up and down as you get closer to the date. I do think Southwest will get its act together soon, so I would feel comfortable flying on them this summer. You can book everyone under your account, but I would first sign up everyone for their own Rapid Rewards account so that they can start accruing miles. I hope this helps. Have fun planning!
This is excellent advice, and I would absolutely do the same thing.
They just canceled more flights today. My best friend and her daughter are in Vegas hoping yo fly out Sat. For them it’s OK she’s a high roller with free rooms but feel for those with ruined plans.
@Boonie I hope they make it back on Saturday!
Where do you find the Web specials for AA?
@Hilde just do a normal AA search on miles, and then click on the miles for more details and it will tell you if it’s a web special award. Most of the flights that are not 12,500 miles are web specials.
@Hilde but regular AA award flights can also be canceled, not just Web Special Awards