Even before Covid-19 hit, flight cancellations were a part of life.
But even once life started to get back to whatever passes for normal these days, flights kept getting canceled, thanks in part to understaffed airlines.
Customers have a lot of complaints about the modern airplane travel experience, and we don’t have the time nor the space to elucidate them all here.
A frequent grievance is that although airlines give passengers travel credits, they put so many qualifiers and red tape on them that it is all but impossible to use them.
Southwest Airlines (LUV) now may have good news for people who have travel plans for the summer but are nervous because there seems to be a new Covid-19 variant every month.
What Is Southwest Airlines Offering?
This week Southwest Airlines has introduced Wanna Get Away Plus, its first new fare class since 2007.
It has a number of features, including one that customers have been asking to have.
If your flight is canceled, or your plans change, you can transfer flight credits — which Southwest calls "travel funds" — for a future flight, or you can give them to another traveler.
But you will both have to be Rapid Rewards Members.
Wanna Get Away Plus also comes with the ability to make same-day changes to a flight with no price difference in the base fare, if you get to the airport early and there’s a seat available on an earlier flight.
Customers will also earn up to eight Rapid Rewards points for every dollar spent.
“As travelers increasingly return to the sky, we know that added flexibility and greater choice is more important to our Customers than ever before,” said Jonathan Clarkson, vice president of marketing, loyalty and products for Southwest Airlines, in a statement.
“With Wanna Get Away Plus, we’re thrilled to offer a new low-fare product that enhances Southwest’s fare lineup and provides more options for our customers, while maintaining all of the benefits our customers know and love about our existing fares, and even adding some new ones,” he said.
Image source: Shutterstock
What Does Wanna Get Away Plus Cost?
There’s already a Wanna Get Away fare available, which comes with two free checked bags, no change fees and free TV and movies.
So far, the Wanna Get Away Plus option has not named its price.
But looking around on Southwest Airlines's website, $30 for upgrades seemed to be a fairly common price point.
