So your Southwest flight got canceled? Here’s what we know on refunds, re-bookings and baggage

A severe winter storm put a damper on travelers’ plans over Christmas weekend, bringing icy temperatures and flight cancellations throughout U.S. airports.

On Monday flight cancellation continued for Southwest travelers, leaving people stranded at airports with minimal communication from Southwest customer service. As of Tuesday morning 71% of Southwest flights had been canceled throughout the U.S. according to Flight Aware, a flight tracking website.

“We have made the decision to continue operating a reduced schedule by flying roughly one third of our schedule for the next several days,” posted Southwest Airlines on its website in response to the thousands of flights canceled.

Throughout California a staggering number of Southwest flights were canceled with 141 at Sacramento International Airport, 38 at San Francisco International Airport, 127 at Oakland International Airport and 99 at Los Angeles International Airport as of Tuesday afternoon according to FlightAware.

The Bee attempted to call Southwest Airlines for comment but couldn’t get through. However, a Southwest representative did respond to questions via email.

If you were impacted by canceled Southwest flight here is what you can do:

Finding your luggage

Due to canceled flights, hundreds of pieces of luggage were left across Southwest terminals at various airports. Frustrated customers posted videos to TikTok with rows of unclaimed bags.

On the Southwest website it states that it recognizes the issue and is working to figure out a solution.

For those customers who are still at the airport, a Southwest representative wrote to The Bee in an email that they “can speak with a representative at the baggage service office in an airport where we operate or contact us.”

“As a note, Customers may choose to have baggage delivered to an address of their choosing free of charge, and the Southwest Team will be contacting Customers over the coming days to make arrangements for delivery of baggage,” the representative added.

For Sacramento travelers, SMF has provided extra rooms to hold and secure luggage and extra deputies to watch over the bags in baggage claim.

Rebooking your flight

On the Southwest homepage they have posted a disclaimer advising customers to use their self-service tools to rebook flights instead of calling.

“If you are not traveling within the next 72 hours, and can wait to call, please do so. If you need to reach us urgently, you may continue to call,“ the airline stated in a travel advisory Tweet.

Due to the high volume of visitors to its website you may encounter functionality issues, like error messages at checkout, according to the Southwest website. Another point to keep in mind when rebooking, is that airports throughout California are all experiencing an influx Southwest flight cancellations.

Getting a refund

If you want to request a refund you can. Southwest airlines posted a form on its website for customers to request refunds on canceled flights. You can request to receive a refund on unexpected expenses you may have incurred from Dec. 24, 2022 through Jan. 2, 2023 due to flight cancellations.

To request a refund on a canceled flight you’ll need the following:

• Reservation number
• First and last name

To request a refund on meals, hotel and alternate transportation you can submit receipts through their online email system.

This story was originally published December 27, 2022 at 1:03 PM with the headline "So your Southwest flight got canceled? Here’s what we know on refunds, re-bookings and baggage."