ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Lambert International Airport is still a mess on Tuesday.
A total of 122 flights were canceled by Tuesday night and 118 of those were on Southwest Airlines, according to Flight Aware.
These last few days have been a nightmare for travelers, especially those flying with Southwest Airlines.
“It can be overwhelming. We have never experienced anything quite to this extreme and then you throw in holiday travel, and it really is devastating,” President of Brentwood Travel Stacey Acree said.
Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan sent out an update Tuesday night that said the biggest reason it is taking so long to get back to normal is because a large number of flights simultaneously froze, which disrupted the entire network.
“With our large fleet of airplanes and flight crews out of position in dozens of locations...and after days of trying to operate as much of our full schedule across the busy holiday weekend...we reached a decision point to significantly reduce our flying to catch up,” Jordan said.
If you were on one of those canceled flights, then Michelle Couch-Friedman, who is a consumer advocate and president of Consumer Rescue, said it is best to take a full cash refund and nothing less.
“It does not come with restrictions, and it doesn't come with an expiration date, but that voucher does. A lot of people don't understand the terms of the voucher, and they'll take it because what happens is the airline will give you more than what they would give you in cash,” Couch-Friedman said.
Acree said the best way to get any kind of help, whether it is with baggage, refunds or other assistance, is to show up to the airport and get in line to talk with someone directly.
“If you get to a certain location and your bag doesn't come up, you need to file a claim with the airlines. It would be a form you'd fill out. You can sometimes do them online,” Acree said.
You may have to wait a few days for your luggage to show up.
“You can buy things that are necessities and then you submit that to the airline, and they should reimburse you for those things,” Couch-Friedman said.
If your luggage is lost entirely, then you are entitled not only reimbursement for the things you had to buy, but everything the airline lost.
To have less of a headache, experts said it is best to get travel insurance or work with a travel agent who typically has more access to airlines.
You can also check with your credit card companies who may have built in travel insurance.
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