Southwest Airlines

Travel Tidbits for a new week

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Here are some travel tidbits from the Stuck at the Airport inbox to help you ease into the week, including music and travel advice, contests for travel adventures and, of course, airport news.

Hello Kitty Day coming to Oracle Park

EVA Air is teaming up with the San Francisco Giants to host Hello Kitty Day at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Saturday, May 11, 2024.

As part of Hello Kitty Day, the first 15,000 fans to enter Oracle Park on May 11 will each receive a Hello Kitty Bucket Hat. On that day, EVA President, Clay Sun, will throw out the first pitch while Hello Kitty and the Giants Mascot Lou Seal mug on the field.

For planespotters: EVA’s Hello Kitty “Shining Star Jet” is flying between San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) in Taipei, Taiwan. The Boeing 777-300ER is flying two days a week, on Fridays and Sundays, now through May 26. It will then shift to Sundays only, from June 2 to June 23.

Musical Travel Guides for Europe, courtesy of Air Canada

Air Canada asked three Québec artists – Charlotte Cardin, Alexandra Stréliski and Sarahmée – to create music playlists to go with their favorite European cities.

Charlotte Cardin focused on Paris.

Sarahmée visits Barcelona.

And Alexandra Stréliski shares her faves in Amsterdam.  

The playlists are available on the Air Canada website and Spotify. Give a listen.

Airline Satisfaction Study: Niceness wins.

J.D. Power’s 2024 North American Satisfaction study is out and concludes that investments some airlines have been making in trying to improve the overall flight experience with friendly, attentive service are paying off.

“The big takeaway from this year’s study is the power of people to positively influence the overall flight experience,” said Michael Taylor, J. D. Power senior managing director of travel, hospitality, retail and customer service. “Airlines investing in staff training and recruitment are finding ways to overcome the negative effects of crowded gates and planes simply by being nice to their customers.”

The North America Airline Satisfaction Study measures performance in seven categories: airline staff; digital tools; ease of travel; level of trust; on-board experience; pre/post-flight experience; and value for price paid. Scores are tallied on a 1,000-point scale.

Here are the top lines in Customer Satisfaction, but segment.

First/Business: Delta Air Lines ranks highest with a score of 743. JetBlue Airways (736) ranks second.

Premium Economy segment: Delta Air Lines ranks highest for a second consecutive year, with a score of 716. Alaska Airlines (687) ranks second and American Airlines (684) ranks third.

Economy/Basic Economy: Southwest Airlines ranks highest in customer satisfaction in the economy/basic economy segment for a third consecutive year, with a score of 685. Delta Air Lines (651) ranks second and Allegiant Air (633) ranks third.

Leap Year Flight Deal + Eclipse Flight Contest

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How to see the eclipse from a Southwest Airlines flight

Much of the United States will be able to see a total or partial eclipse on April 8, 2024.

But wouldn’t it be great to see the eclipse from the air?

Some lucky ducks will get that opportunity. Including the winners of a “Solarbration” sweepstakes hosted by Southwest Airlines and Omni Hotels & Resorts.

Entering is free and the two winners will each get a prize package for two that includes air travel on a Southwest Airlines flight from Dallas or Austin that is predicted to be in the direct path of the eclipse. Winners will also get to stay in an eclipse-themed Omni Hotels & Resorts hotel room. If you don’t live in one of Dallas or Austin, Southwest says it will get you there too. (See the rules and restrictions)

Enter the Southwest/Omni Hotels Solarbration sweepstakes by 8 a.m. CT on March 11, 2025.

Good luck!

LEAP YEAR FLIGHT DEAL

Qantas has a Leap Day Sale sale running for 24 hours – from 12:01 am to 11:59 pm PST on February 29, 2024.

The sale offers $250 off round-trip economy cabin flights to Australia and New Zealand from the carrier’s U.S. gateways. Some restrictions and blackout days apply. To take advantage, enter the code ‘LEAPDAY’ in the ‘have a promo code?’ prompt at the top of the flight search results page. This could help you save on these flights:

·         Los Angeles to Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne. 

·         Dallas/Fort Worth to Sydney or Melbourne. 

·         San Francisco to Sydney. 

·         New York (JFK) to Sydney (via Auckland) 


 

Airlines offer travel advisories/waivers for weather & 737-9 MAX inspections

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Between the storms in many regions of the country and the grounding of all Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft for inspection, there are a lot of flight cancellations, schedule disruptions, and airline travel alerts.

Here are links to the current travel advisories and waivers (as of early Tuesday, January 9, 2024) in effect for some of the major airlines. Be sure to check your airline’s website for the latest updates on these advisories,

Alaska Airlines

On its website, Alaska Airlines is advising travelers that due to Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft inspections and winter weather in the Northeast, they are offering a flexible travel policy for travelers who want to change or cancel their flights. Original travel dates include January 9.

American Airlines

American Airlines has a travel alert for close to 60 cities that may be affected by severe weather in the Eastern US and Canada. The airline will waive your change fee if you traveling in any fare class and are scheduled to fly January 9-10 and can travel instead January 9 – 15. See here for more details on American Airlines’ travel advisory.

Delta Air Lines

for Delta Air Lines has travel advisories posted for winter weather in the Midwest that may affect more than two dozen airports and as many in the Northeastern U.S.

JetBlue

JetBlue has also issued travel alerts for winter weather in the Midwest and the Northeastern US.

In the Midwest, the airline will waive change/cancel fees and fare differences for customers traveling through January 9 to or from Chicago (ORD), Detroit (DTW), Kansas City (MCI), Milwaukee (MKE), and Minneapolis – St. Paul (MSP). The travel alert covers about 15 airports in the Northeast. Customers may rebook their flights through January 13.

Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines has travel alerts posted for the Midwest and the East Coast.

United Airlines

For those scheduled to fly on a Boeing 737-9 MAX airplane, United Airlines offers these options:

You can reschedule your trip and have the change fees and fare differences waived. Your new flight must be a United flight departing by January 18, 2024. Tickets must be in the same cabin and between the same cities as originally booked. Trips rebooked after January 18, 2024, will still have the change fee waived, but there may be a fare difference. Cancelling and getting a full refund is also an option.

Sweepstakes from Delta/T-Mobile & Southwest. Plus: KLM’s newest miniature Delftware house

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T-Mobile Customer? Enter this Delta Air Lines contest

Are you a T-Mobile customer who doesn’t pay much attention to T-Mobile Tuesdays?

That’s the day customers can score discounts and prizes on a special T-Mobile app.

And whether or not you take advantage of the offers, October 10 will be a good day to check it out.

On October 10, T-Mobile and Delta Air Lines will give away more than $300,000 in airline gift cards in a T-Mobile Tuesday campaign.

Enter for a chance to win $500, $10,000, or even $25,000 in Delta gift cards. And use your prize on Delta flights, Delta Vacation packages, upgrades, in-flight meals, Delta merch, etc.

Good luck!

Southwest Airlines Trolls-themed plane + sweepstakes

To celebrate the new “Trolls Band Together” film from DreamWorks Animation, Southwest Airlines is flying a Boeing 737-700 aircraft covered in Troll characters.

And it’s not just on the outside of the plane. The design continues inside the plane too, with Trolls-themed images on some of the cabin window shades.

Ahead of the film’s release on November 17, Southwest’s inflight entertainment system is showing chapters of the blockbuster musical franchise, “Trolls” and “Trolls World Tour.”

Keep an eye out, too, for pop-ups at airports and onboard flights for Trolls-themed merchandise giveaways and other surprises.

In the meantime, Trolls fans should enter a Southwest Airlines sweepstakes for a Trolls-theme LA Getaway to Los Angeles.

The prize includes round-trip tickets on Southwest to LAX for the winner and three guests. The package also includes a hotel room for 2 nights, two $500 Visa gift cards, movie tickets and swag bags. Enter the Southwest Airlines Trolls sweepstakes here by October 19, 2023.

KLM unveils its newest Delft blue miniature house

Each year on its birthday – October 7 – KLM Royal Dutch Airlines unveils a new Delftware miniature in the shape of a Dutch house or building with a special meaning or place in history.

The tradition began in the 1950s. Each little house is filled with Bols Jenever (a Dutch gin) and gifted to passengers traveling in KLM’s business class cabins on intercontinental flights.

This year, in honor of KLM’s 104 birthday, the featured building is the train station in Valkenburg, about a three-hour train ride from Amsterdam.

Fully restored in 2005, this castle-like building was designed by architect Jacob Enschedé and began operation in 1853. KLM says it chose to add the station to its collection partly to celebrate the role railways play in the accessibility of the Netherlands.

Past homes and buildings in KLM’s Delftware miniatures series have depicted everything from the home of Dutch exotic dancer and spy Mata Hari to the Anne Frank House and the Heineken Brewery.

Learn more about KLM’s Delftware miniatures here.

Southwest Airlines Saga Continues

Airlines,

After a week of widespread cancellations and disarray in operations, many Southwest Airlines passengers are still stuck at airports around the country waiting for standby seats. Or in hotels waiting for confirmation of a flight home.

If you’re following social media and watching TV, you’ve also likely seen stories of people renting cars – sometimes with strangers – to get where they need to go.

The airline says it’s doing its best to put things right. And late Wednesday, Southwest Airlines Chief Commercial Officer, Ryan Green, took to social media to offer (more) apologies; a pledge to do “everything we can” to make things up to customers, and something more useful: fresh details about some added tools and resources that might help travelers get refunds, flight reservations, and their baggage.

Airports also are beginning to get answers and action from Southwest Airlines. Take a look at this Twitter thread from Chicago’s Midway Airport, where Southwest Airlines is the largest carrier. In addition to trying to accommodate thousands of stranded passengers, the airport has had to store and secure an incredible amount of baggage.

In the meantime, most other airlines are capping fares on many routes to accommodate those who are rebooking themselves on non-Southwest Airlines flights. But since this is still the busy holiday season, those seats are hard to come by too.

For those of you who may be stuck at an airport or know someone whose holiday plans were ruined by weather and airline meltdowns we know you’ll understand the joy this man experienced – and expressed – once he was reunited with this bag at Midway Airport.