Southwest has made a lot of changes in the past few years, none of them to the traveller’s benefit. Here are some of the things that have gotten the ax.
A fun ride – Southwest personnel used to have a sense of humor, but no more. Southwest is a serious airline now.
Low fares – Even the lowest fares on Southwest are now higher than American Airlines on most routes.
Easy & fast frequesnt flyer program – In the past you got one free ticket for every 10 (I think) flights that you took. There was no mileage calculation, just a simple program where you got one free flight for every ten taken. Now their frequent flier program looks just like everybody elses – you have to see how many miles you have credit for and use them to buy a flight of equal or fewer miles. And of course they are perfectly willing to sell you additional miles if you need them to finish booking a flight.
Flexible travel credits – It used to be that if you had a travel credit you could use it book a flight for someone else – a family member for instance – but no more. Travel credits can now be used only to book travel for the original flyer. And be sure to put the name in EXACTLY as it was on the original ticket. If you used a middle name on the original ticket, you must use a middle name on the new ticket or it won’t recognize the credit.
PRONGER's Blog 