I see it all the time. They give people a blue tag. I don’t gate check. But they come and pass out the tags to the people once they take them - call their name, give them the tag and tell them to wait on the jetway. It may be strollers and other things etc.
When I say gate check they are giving them on the jetway as they get on the plane after being told the flight is full and we’d be glad to gate check for you.
But it’s with regularity.
I’ve been A List and Preferred 10 or 12+ years. I see a lot.
Not always. The last several times I’ve had to gate check it gets put with the other luggage and off to baggage claim. Exception for a baby stroller.
And think about it, they aren’t going to have 15 people waiting on the jetway to pick up gate checked luggage and causing a traffic jam. They want you off that jetway as soon as possible.
Frustrated here as I got the SW card a few years ago and REALLY appreciated the two free bags when traveling to join my Ds for Xmas on the east coast. I have to take an irregular bus to catch SW in a city 90 minutes away. The fares and the points made it worthwhile. Less value now and will drop the card.
I would check my bag BUT…every time I have checked my suitcase, it comes back absolutely filthy with grease and dirt. One time it was soaking wet and the clothes inside were damp. Obviously left sitting out in the rain.
Interesting! We rarely fly southwest. It isn’t typically cheaper and I hate the open seating… but the one time we had our suitcases arrive all wet was on a southwest flight.
I’ve never had a problem with my bag coming back damaged or dirty. I haven’t flown SW in years but my daughter and her family fly SW when they come to us. They like to check a bag since it is helpful with a toddler to have more hands available. They won’t switch to another airline as it’s the only option between them and us. They are coming this week and we can’t wait.
I have had wet bags. I actually just purchased a new suitcase because my old one was mostly fine, but it seemed like the part I’m guessing made it water resistant was flaking off (it’s 10 or more years old), and I didn’t want to arrive somewhere to wet clothes.
That’s literally their competitive advantage over other airlines. It’s like Apple ditching MacOS and selling Windows computers instead. Who’s braindead idea was that?
Although if it is “like other airlines” then only the cardholder and people traveling with them get the benefits (like included luggage etc). So your kid won’t be able to take advantage when traveling on their own.
Having said that, this is probably an attempt to stop existing cardholders canceling, and I’ll probably keep mine, at least for the moment.
That’s a good point, though we will probably do for C26 what we did for D19, ie get them a separate credit card (that we pay for) to be used for college expenses like books etc to help build up a credit record while they are at college. It may be worth getting them a SW one in that case. At the moment their top college choice is best served by SW.
Do SW credit cards (or really ANY airline branded card) include trip cancellation/interruption (with caveats) as do some of the major credit cards such as the Chase Sapphire series?
