In the wake of Southwest Airlines scrapping thousands of flights over the holidays, inconvenienced travelers across the country are looking to get their money back for expenses they’ve incurred, including flights on other airlines, clothing, hotels and meals.
According to federal law, airline passengers are entitled to a refund if a flight is canceled for any reason. But navigating the reimbursement process can get complicated when it comes to determining what other expenses qualify for a refund, according to travelers who have had their vacations upended.
In order to request a refund, the company says passengers whose flights were canceled from Dec. 24 to Jan. 2 should fill out a form and submit receipts online.
The form asks for a reservation number and name, noting that passengers need to complete the form just once for all travelers in their reservation.
For additional expenses, the company says it will “honor reasonable requests for reimbursement.” However, it does not specify what that entails.
Fred Barber, whose daughter’s and son-in-law’s flights were canceled Christmas Day, said he plans to seek reimbursement for their rebooked, next-day American Airline tickets, which cost about $290 each. His family also plans to submit expenses they wouldn’t have incurred had their flight left as scheduled, including some basic clothing items, prescription medicine and gas mileage.
Barber, who lives in Argyle, drove back and forth to Dallas Love Field during the rebooking process, approximately 40 miles each way. He estimates their request totals about $1,000, and said he hopes to recover the full amount.
“I can’t think of anything we are asking for that is unreasonable,” he said. “All of these are things that they should not have had to pay for.”
But Barber said he is privileged to absorb the extra costs in the meantime.
“From our family’s standpoint, this is a first-world problem,” he said.
David Gail, whose flight also was canceled over the holiday, said he hopes to get a full refund for his rebooked, same-day flight on JSX for himself, his wife and their three children.
Gail also submitted expenses for his rental car. His family had plans to rent a car, but had to drive three hours to a different airport to catch a flight back to Dallas.
He said his reimbursement request totals around $2,400, and considers those expenses to fall under Southwest’s definition of “reasonable.”
“It would have been much more expensive for Southwest had we booked two hotel rooms for three days and had a rental car for three days,” he said.
Gail received an automated email from the airline Thursday that acknowledged receipt of the request and provided a case number. The email says the passenger will receive a “personalized response” from a member of Southwest’s customer service team but does not disclose exactly when the airline will process the request.
Meanwhile, Imani Stewart said she received a full refund for her canceled Southwest flight from Dallas to Salt Lake City by talking to a ticketing agent at Love Field. The conversation took about an hour, she said.
Stewart also asked the agent for a refund on the $95 pet fee she was charged for her small dog. The airline representative told her she wasn’t sure whether that qualified for reimbursement.
The Mansfield resident, who flies Southwest in part because of how well they typically handle pets, said she doesn’t see why this wouldn’t be considered reasonable.
“You’re buying your pet a seat or the ability for them to fly on the plane, and he didn’t fly on the plane, so the service at the end of the day wasn’t met,” she said.
Stewart plans to submit her pet fee expense along with receipts for her rescheduled flights on United Airlines. She hopes to see some money refunded to her credit card by mid-January, which she thinks is a “reasonable timeframe” for the airline to process her request.
