at 1.5 cents. That means Southwest has sent out around $750 million worth of Rapid Rewards points to customers who suffered through the holiday travel nightmare, which led to more than 16,000 flight cancellations and left thousands of customers stranded in airports across the country.
The points, which don't expire or have blackout dates, are on top of any refunds or compensation, and customers have until March 31 toWhile it appears the 25,000 points are a good chunk of change, the deadline for redeeming the code adds a step the consumer must go through to obtain the free points — and it's possible not every customer will actually use them. Southwest pegs the retail value of the 25,000 points at around $300.
It seems the points could be buying some goodwill with customers who were burned over the holidays by the airline's service failures: Southwest told Insider on Thursday that it is seeing strong point redemption this month, saying it is a"positive sign that customers are sticking with Southwest." An airline spokesperson also said its March bookings are strong despite the reservation cancellations by customers and the slow rate of bookings in January and February.
The decision to offer free frequent flier points was an effort by Southwest to repair the damage created by its poor December performance. While the carrier managed to secure a $723 million profit for the full year despite the chaos, it says it expects the lingering impact from the meltdown will cost another $300 million to $350 million in the first quarter.Subscribe to push notifications
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Winter storm cancels hundreds of US flights, with Southwest again hit hardest | CNN BusinessBad weather canceled hundreds of flights on Wednesday, with Southwest Airlines once again hit particularly hard.
Source: CNN - 🏆 4. / 95 Read more »
DOT Probes Southwest Airlines Scheduling After Holiday-Travel MeltdownBreaking: Southwest Airlines is under investigation by the Transportation Department over its flight scheduling in the wake of its holiday meltdown last month This should be investigated, but Pete Buttigieg should be investigated for causing all planes to be grounded recently. Since it won’t be investigated, I’ll just let you know that it was due to his inaction and being completely unqualified to head up Transportation. LOL, this is the pot calling the kettle black, seeing what happened with the aged out NOTAM system. Southwest Airlines is being investigated because of its ties to conservative companies by Biden's Left Wing Transportation Department; Southwest is one of the most efficient airlines in the country
Source: WSJ - 🏆 98. / 63 Read more »
Southwest Airlines is subject of federal probe after holiday meltdownThe U.S. Transportation Department is probing Southwest Airlines Co.’s scheduling in the wake of its holiday meltdown last month, examining whether...
Source: MarketWatch - 🏆 3. / 97 Read more »
DOT Opens Probe Into Southwest Airlines’ Holiday Flight DebacleWhat went wrong for Southwest Airlines this past holiday season? The Department of Transportation is on the case. Mayor Pete to the rescue lol
Source: thedailybeast - 🏆 307. / 63 Read more »
DOT investigating if ‘unrealistic scheduling’ at Southwest Airlines led to meltdownU.S. Department of Transportation officials are investigating Dallas-based Southwest Airlines over whether the carrier’s holiday meltdown was caused by...
Source: dallasnews - 🏆 18. / 71 Read more »
U.S. investigates Southwest Airlines' December flight cancellationsThe U.S. Transportation Department said Wednesday it is investigating whether Southwest Airlines deceived customers by knowingly scheduling more flights in late December than it realistically could handle
Source: latimes - 🏆 11. / 82 Read more »