Stranded in the Southwest and stuck with unexpected costs

Olivia Laskowski was in Nashville and expected to fly to New York on Dec. 27 when she received a text from Southwest Airlines the night before that her flight was cancelled. After four days and more than $600, Laskowski and her Siamese cat Pretzel are finally home to Brooklyn.

The text message from Southwest contained a link where she could look into her other travel options. But when Ms. Laskowski, 25, tried to rebook with Southwest, the next available flight wasn’t until Jan. 11. her home on December 30. Southwest told Ms. Laskowski that she would be refunded the price of her original ticket, and plans to provide her JetBlue receipt to compensate as well. So far, Southwest has offered her 25,000 points for her trouble.

“Sometimes you get extra expenses in life and you just kind of ignore them and it’s just the way it is,” said Ms. Laskowski, who works as a marketing director for Partners Coffee. “But that’s the kind of money I’d really like back because as a young person who lives in probably the most expensive city in the country, $600 makes a huge difference to me.”

Southwest Airlines is cancelled Thousands of trips in December As bad weather disrupted the holiday travel plans of thousands of flyers. But while other major airlines quickly recovered, Southwest’s inadequate computer systems stranded many of its customers for days. Others rented cars to complete their trips. Travelers also took on debts from having to pay for unplanned meals, hotel rooms, and tickets on other airlines. While the chaos in the Southwest has died down, many travelers are still dealing with the financial ramifications of having to make alternative plans to get home.

Southwest is offering customers refunds and reimbursement on flights from Dec. 24 to Jan. 2 that are canceled or delayed by more than three hours plus 25,000 points per ticket, Chris Perry, a spokesperson for the company, wrote in an email to New York. times. Points are worth about $300 in flight credits.

According to US Department of Transportation website. says the website, detailing the airlines’ major obligations to travelers Southwest is required to offer coupons when cancellations force customers to wait three hours or more for a new flight, free hotel stays for those affected by one-night cancellations and free transportation to and from their hotel.

But for Dan Hughes, 53, who was flying home to Oregon after spending his 26th wedding anniversary in Nashville on Dec. 21, a refund may not be possible because his travel plans were out of date.

“I got stranded in Denver on the 21st,” Mr. Hughes said. At this point, you’re saying, ‘No, you’re on your own until the 24th.’ “

Mr. Hughes and his wife, who own a small pizza franchise, were to fly from Nashville to Denver and then call in Portland. Mr. Hughes said their flight from Nashville was stuck on the tarmac in Denver for about two hours, and then he received notice that the flight back home had been cancelled. He booked one flight and then another on Southwest which was delayed and then cancelled.

Finally, Mr. Hughes books a flight on United Airlines to Las Vegas, which will then connect to Seattle. But he and his wife got stuck in Las Vegas. The couple eventually took a Southwest flight to Sacramento and then flew home to Oregon. They spent about $1,700 on the ordeal, and still haven’t got back their baggage with Mr. Hughes’ breathing apparatus for sleep apnea. (Southwest called Mr. Hughes on Jan. 5 and told him his bags had been found in Nashville.)

In addition, Mr. Hughes said, he and his wife incurred expenses in their restaurant because they had to pay employees to do their work when they could not be there.

“I only make what my business makes,” he said, “so it turned out to be more of a financial hit than we expected, not including the extra expenses.”

Susan Durham, 56, had to use her bonus to pay for the additional costs of her travel disruption. When her flight from Boston to Nashville was canceled on December 26, she booked a new flight to Southwest for the following Thursday and managed to move it to the Tuesday. However, she said she worried it would be canceled (which it eventually did) and bought the American Airlines flight using nearly $1,000 in points purchased.

She ended up spending about $1,100 to $1,200 and was reimbursed at $183 for the return trip to the Southwest. It also received the 25,000 points offered by Southwest.

“I will be putting my gym membership on hold for two months,” said Ms. Durham, who does promotion and marketing for the record label. “I don’t like to have any religion.”

JR Jones, 29, planned to fly southwest from Sacramento to Seattle with his fiancee to see her family on Dec. 22, but their trip was delayed and then cancelled. Southwest rescheduled their trip for Christmas Day, so the couple ended up renting a car for the 13-hour drive to Seattle. They hoped to return to avoid the long drive again.

Then their return flight was canceled on December 28th, and they had to get another rental car to get back to Sacramento. The cost of additional travel has been added to around $1,000. For canceled flights, the couple have so far only received airline credits from Southwest, plus 25,000 points. While Mr. Jones’s fiancée’s family was able to lend the couple about $500, they hope to get it back to pay it off.

“The rest will come out of our wedding chest, and hopefully we’ll be able to get it back before the actual wedding,” said Mr. Jones, who works for an environmental engineering firm. “Otherwise, we’ll end up putting a little extra on the credit cards or something so we can offset those costs.”

Michael Baxter, 47, was planning to go on a trip with his family to San Diego for Christmas. His 15-year-old daughter wanted to visit Legoland with her best friend, and the trip was her present. But when Mr. Baxter’s flight from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to December 29 was moved from December 25, he chose to borrow his sister’s Subaru and drive so his family could take the vacation as scheduled.

While Southwest offered to let him and his family keep the second leg of their trip, they couldn’t give up their car. They have been reimbursed for the full cost of their trip. However, the family spent over $500 on gas and had to book a hotel room on the way back, which cost about $400. The family had $430 lost on the first night at the resort due to the long flight, plus $130 on a car rental that was no longer needed.

Mr Baxter and his wife are medical professionals and said the costs would not have a significant impact on their finances, but the ordeal had taken a toll.

It still hurts, said Mr. Baxter. “My wife and I missed a two-day vacation.”

Mr. Baxter’s wife emailed Southwest to explain their situation and was told they would not be reimbursed for the additional costs. But now that the couple has calculated the full cost of the inconvenience, they plan to call Southwest again.