Review Insights · App Store
Southwest Airlines: Travel App
Southwest Airlines Co. · 7,005,794 ratings · ★ 4.8
4.8
★★★★★
7,005,794 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 49 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"boarding"
17 negative reviews mention this · 35% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Check in BS. Check in at 24 hours prior on the dot and still boarding group 7. Traveling with others who checked in after us and ate in boarding group 5. Scammy!" - DEK 4
2
"flight"
15 negative reviews mention this · 31% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Seating is terrible. I am a rapid rewards member, I booked my flight and my husband’s flight and they would not let us choose seats next to each other because we ended up with 2 different reservation numbers because I paid for my ticket with rewards points. Wha…" - LLLAAAAME
3
"southwest"
12 negative reviews mention this · 24% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Junky App. This app is junk when it comes to following links from outside and even worse when it comes to the most basic aspect of all: look up your info from a confirmation code. Good luck, particularly if you booked through an outside source. Intera…" - wadesterk
4
"check"
10 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Check in BS. Check in at 24 hours prior on the dot and still boarding group 7. Traveling with others who checked in after us and ate in boarding group 5. Scammy!" - DEK 4
5
"seat"
10 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Seating is terrible. I am a rapid rewards member, I booked my flight and my husband’s flight and they would not let us choose seats next to each other because we ended up with 2 different reservation numbers because I paid for my ticket with rewards points. Wha…" - LLLAAAAME
6
"pass"
10 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Junky App. This app is junk when it comes to following links from outside and even worse when it comes to the most basic aspect of all: look up your info from a confirmation code. Good luck, particularly if you booked through an outside source. Intera…" - wadesterk
7
"seats"
9 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Seating is terrible. I am a rapid rewards member, I booked my flight and my husband’s flight and they would not let us choose seats next to each other because we ended up with 2 different reservation numbers because I paid for my ticket with rewards points. Wha…" - LLLAAAAME
8
"boarding pass"
8 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Junky App. This app is junk when it comes to following links from outside and even worse when it comes to the most basic aspect of all: look up your info from a confirmation code. Good luck, particularly if you booked through an outside source. Intera…" - wadesterk
9
"seating"
7 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Seating is terrible. I am a rapid rewards member, I booked my flight and my husband’s flight and they would not let us choose seats next to each other because we ended up with 2 different reservation numbers because I paid for my ticket with rewards points. Wha…" - LLLAAAAME
10
"airline"
6 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Horrible airline. Wish Spirit was back in business. Charge you for everything. Used to be a decent budget carrier, not anymore." - Scottywet
11
"been"
6 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I don’t like what’s happening at Southwest. I have been a loyal SW customer for decades but the changes you’ve made are not good for us and people are angry. We used to get 2 bags for free… now it’s only 1 and ONLY if you are a RR member or have the SW Visa. And paying for seats? NO.…" - Cheriei57
12
"customer"
6 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I don’t like what’s happening at Southwest. I have been a loyal SW customer for decades but the changes you’ve made are not good for us and people are angry. We used to get 2 bags for free… now it’s only 1 and ONLY if you are a RR member or have the SW Visa. And paying for seats? NO.…" - Cheriei57
📋 All 49 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Horrible airline
Wish Spirit was back in business. Charge you for everything. Used to be a decent budget carrier, not anymore.
Check in BS
Check in at 24 hours prior on the dot and still boarding group 7. Traveling with others who checked in after us and ate in boarding group 5. Scammy!
Seating is terrible
I am a rapid rewards member, I booked my flight and my husband’s flight and they would not let us choose seats next to each other because we ended up with 2 different reservation numbers because I paid for my ticket with rewards points. What a racket. They wanted me to pay an extra $80 to get a seat next to him. They don’t care about families sitting next to each other.
Confusion
Rated 1 star because the update is very confusing to find features such as the “CHECK-IN” feature. Overall, the app is more focused on selling product than being “user friendly” like before.
You guys sick now
I’m just on this flight so I can burn up whatever credit I have. After that, I’ll just be going back to United or AA, or delta
Go Back to the way things were!
I’m disappointed that you changed the way you manage business. I have been a loyal customer and for a long time and your greed is insane
Bate and switch
Bought priority upgrade on direct cross country flight. Then SWA cancelled flight without warning for Dallas connecting flight and stuffed in middle seats on both legs. Jammed between large men
Boarding pass not showing
Frustrating as the boarding pass is not showing up keeps getting an error message
Seating
I specially called to change the seat and give two seats together 24 hrs before check in and they said it’s done but boarding pass says differnt
Formerly great company; now a horror show
Had been a loyal Southwest customer for 20 years. So loyal that on some routes I wouldn’t even check other airlines’ fares; would just reflexively book Southwest.
And then they changed their seating policy.
On a recent flight, I end up with a middle seat. Flight is half empty. I wait until the seat belt light goes off, then move to a seat in an empty row. Someone comes over to tell me I can’t sit there because it’s an exit row. Annoying, because it’s a completely empty row, but OK fine no problem - so I move to a non-exit completely empty row. Someone comes over again to lecture me about changing seats, telling me next time I have to stay in my original seat. To be clear, there are at least 50 empty seats on this plane.
After we land, another employee comes over to harass me as I’m walking off the plane. She says she’s going to put a note in my file.
What is this, an elementary school? Is Southwest now in the business of handing out demerits for leaving your seat without a hall pass?
Horrendous customer experience. This formerly loyal customer will never fly Southwest again. They lost me for life.
And then they changed their seating policy.
On a recent flight, I end up with a middle seat. Flight is half empty. I wait until the seat belt light goes off, then move to a seat in an empty row. Someone comes over to tell me I can’t sit there because it’s an exit row. Annoying, because it’s a completely empty row, but OK fine no problem - so I move to a non-exit completely empty row. Someone comes over again to lecture me about changing seats, telling me next time I have to stay in my original seat. To be clear, there are at least 50 empty seats on this plane.
After we land, another employee comes over to harass me as I’m walking off the plane. She says she’s going to put a note in my file.
What is this, an elementary school? Is Southwest now in the business of handing out demerits for leaving your seat without a hall pass?
Horrendous customer experience. This formerly loyal customer will never fly Southwest again. They lost me for life.
Boarding
Your new boarding policy and assigned seat policy sucks. You’re now just another airline. I no longer prefer Southwest
Boarding now
Liked old system 100 times better. Now just like every other carrier.😞
Nunca más volaré con southwest
Te roban los créditos y no se hacen responsables
Ruining a good thing.
I’ve been traveling with SW for over 50 years. Always my first choice. Of course, the 1st bag flies free was always a great perk. No longer. I was charged $45 for my first bag on your mobile app. Basically, your mobile app is no longer helpful. I had to call SW to get my reservation. My return flight only had my boarding pass from my incoming flight. Had to call SW again to get a boarding pass to return home. My boarding pass has now disappeared and your app says it’s expired and to start over.
Get your act together. My trip has been frustrating and aggravating. I always thought SW was the best. Not anymore.
Get your act together. My trip has been frustrating and aggravating. I always thought SW was the best. Not anymore.
I can’t download boarding pass
Unable to download boarding pass.
Lame
New process is lame. Charging extra for seats! SWA is now horrible
💙❤️💛 = 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻
Use to be my go to airline. Not anymore. Boarding and checked bag is a scam. They aren’t even competitive anymore. Lost me as a customer and closed my CC.
Login
I have tried multiple attempts to login into my account for Southwest and unable! Anytime I fly, I have to continue as Guest in the application.
Southwest
Bad app and bad unreliable airline
Biggest downgrade
Absolutely despise your new seating policies and bag policies! After being an avid, die-hard Southwest customer with Rapid Rewards credit card for over a decade (which apparently holds no weight to this new CEO and no longer has any worthy perks), I will no longer be flying Southwest ever again. You will continue to lose loyal customers with this new setup - wish you the best of luck but it sounds like yall may be the new Spirit Airlines… ouch.
Flight changes
We made flight changes in John Wayne airport with counter agent from flight #WN153 to 4272/3399 May 4. The agent issued tickets for May 11, did not provide paper confirmation for us to confirm. When we tried to sign in for flight discovered the agents error in the dates. We are extremely disappointed and upset with the error and no reduced fees due to SW agents error and lack of documentation.
App is hard to use
Bought a flight and then the seats I selected weren’t available
This app is garbage
Total garbage app. Southwest do better, use AI, hire someone, do something
Mr customer
It’s so hard to use the app. You can t find the in flight entertainment easily
Fix your boarding group
There is zero reason to check into a flight with your new boarding group process. Clearly you are not valuing your long time customers. 15-20
Flights a year and still have to fight for an over head bin. I’ll move back to Delta and earn status.
Flights a year and still have to fight for an over head bin. I’ll move back to Delta and earn status.
Clunky
When paying for bags, why does it launch a webpage that you have to log into again?!?!?!
Mobil Boarding Pass
My mobile boarding pass will not display on the app. It keeps giving me an error screen.
App doesn’t work
It consistently won’t let me check in, even though I am within 24 hours of my flight
Canceled Flight
The app is showing a direct flight from Orlando to OKC is available to purchase but I am unable to change my cancelled flight on 5/2 to the nonstop on 5/3.
Horrible app and airline
Checked in, no boarding pass so how will I get through security. Never will I fly southwest again.
Seat assignment
Seating arrangement sucks
New check in sucks
Your new check- in system sucks. I will permanently be given poor seats because I’m not paying for anything more than your “basic” rates. I will always be relegated to boarding group 8. My carry-on will always have to be gate checked. None of these things make me happy.
Seats
This seat selection is a goat rope of the severest magnitude
Straight up Scam
I tried to book a flight on the app and it said there was an error so it didn’t go through, but I still got charged on my bank account. So I had no flight but they took my money. I called and they confirmed I didn’t have a flight, so WHY did I get charged!? Apparently this has been happening to other people. I searched it up and there’s multiple people complaining about this. I don’t understand why it hasn’t been fixed.
Horrible
I checked in twice right on time with preferred seating upgrade of $90 and still got boarding group 8! WTF
Southwest airline app
Can’t get TSA pre check on boarding pass! Very bad app!
Glitchy seat assignment
The App is now terrible. I’m a frequent flier and the glitches are now cumbersome
Sucks
Used to be able to see many trips on one screen. Hate the boarding and seat assignments.
Not receiving texts
Not receiving texts to get notices. Reinstalled gave permission per AI. No one to ask for help
Junky App
This app is junk when it comes to following links from outside and even worse when it comes to the most basic aspect of all: look up your info from a confirmation code. Good luck, particularly if you booked through an outside source. Interacting with this app for a boarding pass is not different from wrestling a snake in water. Info continually slips away and just when you think you have stopped it wrapping round and round it kicks you back to the head and here you go again. Experience has taught that Southwest has a punitive approach when you fare to book outside of their system and the app most definitely exudes that very same attitude.
I don’t like what’s happening at Southwest
I have been a loyal SW customer for decades but the changes you’ve made are not good for us and people are angry. We used to get 2 bags for free… now it’s only 1 and ONLY if you are a RR member or have the SW Visa. And paying for seats? NO. I guess if you want to be like the others… but that’s one of the things that made you special. Now to get a free seat, I have to wait til 48 hours before my flight and set my alarm 3 different times (and don’t forget the time changes!) to pick a free seat (depending on availability…) And layovers are longer and I have to fly east to go west!! I’m done.
I’d like to choose
I don’t like SW choosing my seat. I need an aisle seat for my injured left knee. I need to be able to stretch it out.
Baggage checkin
Why can’t this be done in the app? It’s a pain in the rear to be transferred to the website.
Apple wallet issues
I was unable to utilize my apple wallet. Would not allow me to download my boarding passes
Clunky App
The app is very clunky. At times when I try to update a reservation, it leaves the app and takes me to the website, but doesn’t pass my flight info or account credentials so I either have to log in all over or I have to enter my confirmation code to look up the reservation that I just had open in the app. Not very smooth at all
In person purchase experience
I went in to purchase ticket at counter two days before travel and received rates almost half off the online prices across airlines. The issue was the agent would not add my rapid rewards information and therefore I have not been able to add my flight to my account causing baggage, seating and accessing my TSA pre check information. The price was great but unpaid for it with having to wait in the general TSA line.
Fees for one bag without reduction in prices
Southwest benefits are diminishing
Mediocre at experience. Seems to nickle and dime you for hundreds to sit with a companion.
Poor experience
Checking bag info
Under “my trips” the option for checking a bag “>” icon does not work! So where’s the option to check bags online prior to departure?
Sentiment summary
97%
Positive (4-5★)
1%
Neutral (3★)
2%
Negative (1-2★)