Coronavirus Southwest Flight Change Policies

1. Southwest Airlines is the fourth-largest airline in the world and the world’s largest low-cost carrier. The airline operates about 4,000 departures a day that serves to 103 destinations in the United States and 10 other countries. Southwest, unlike major airlines, does not follow the hub and spoke system but prefers a point-to-point system.

2. Southwest Flight Change Policy Amid Coronavirus Southwest adheres to the government’s advisory that has resulted in certain restrictions that came in the wake of the pandemic outbreak. Some of the restrictions which were introduced by the airlines involve flight cancellations, possible quarantine upon arrival or temperature checks upon departure or arrival.

3. Notifying affected passengers Any origin or destination point that experiences any travel disruption or restriction issued by the government, Southwest Airlines will notify the passengers 24 hours prior to the departure with the available options. Southwest change flight policy offers maximum flexibility and accommodates customers in the best of their interests.

5. Changes and Cancellation on Southwest Airlines  If any passenger voluntarily cancels or changes their reservation, it should be executed 10 minutes prior to its scheduled departure. It applies on non-refundable fares as well, where the funds can be used to change the travel date valid one year from the date of purchase.  However, in recognition of the current Coronavirus situation, Southwest change flight extension policy will come into the picture :  Customer’s travel credit which was expiring between March 01, 2020, and September 07, 2020, will now expire on September 07, 2022.  Travel credit which was created upon cancellation of flight between March 01, 2020, and September 07, 2020, will now expire on September 07, 2022.  For any recently canceled tickets and newly created travel funds, it may take 5-7 business days for the expiration date on your existing reservation to change to September 07, 2022.

6. Southwest Flight Change Policy For Rapid Rewards Members  Southwest airlines have added a new benefit to the Rapid Rewards program. Members who have travel funds which are set to expire or created between March 01, 2020, and September 07, 2020, will have the option to convert their travel credit into the Rapid reward points at the same rate at which any member would purchase a ticket.  Rapid Rewards Membership provides much flexibility as the rewards point never expire, and do not have any Southwest Change Flight Fee.

7. How To Change Southwest Flight? Southwest Change Flight can be accomplished from the airline portal itself. Do the following :  Log on to Southwest.com and click on ‘Change/Cancel’ tab  Enter your six-digits confirmation number along with the first and the last name of the passenger. Make sure that the booking details should be correct in order to retrieve the travel information online.  Click on the checkbox ‘Change flight’ and hit the confirm button.  Choose the flight option that needs to be changed. You can enter the new destination points and the travel date.  Click on the enter button and choose the new flight from the list of options available.  Once done, pay the fare difference, if the new flight price is higher than the existing one. Passengers do not pay any Southwest change flight fee and can change their reservation as many times as they want.  Once the payment is done, you will get the changes confirmation message at the last page.  At the same time, check your inbox to see Southwest change confirmation email. Verify your new flight details to see if they are correct or not.