Southwest Airlines Shops

I'm thinking about requesting one of the Southwest Airlines shops that reimburse 50% of the airfare but I thought I'd see what others thought who had done it. I looked at the form and it didn't look too bad, but I know it can be deceiving sometimes. I'd be taking the flight whether I do it as a shop or not, so it's not like I'd be traveling for no reason and paying to do it, but trying to see if it's worth the trouble.

Any insight is appreciated!

Shopping central Arizona.

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I thought the form looked easy too however, you have to comment and quote examples for many questions. There was a lot of detail I had to remember. Things happened fast and even though I could fill out the form as they happened, I did find it stressful. That said, I would choose to do another Southwest assignment if I had to fly again.

I've done one, and am signed up t do another. I didn't find the report to be too bad. The hardest part was not sleeping on the flight!

@jgoodwin wrote:

I've done one, and am signed up t do another. I didn't find the report to be too bad. The hardest part was not sleeping on the flight!

Lol. I don't have to worry about that....I aim to sleep every time I fly, but it never happens.

Shopping central Arizona.

I thought I remembered reading you had to go to the bathroom multiple times. Is that still in the guidelines? I got a giggle out of that.

No I didn't have to visit the restroom (I did it in April of this year).

I have not done these but flew back from a conference with three shoppers who were experienced doing them. They all said that it was well worth the time and effort.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

I did one in May. I was not able to get a non-stop flight on my return. Therefore, i had to do 3 reports. I didnt have to visit the restroom. You do need to listen to all the announcements being made. The first flight i was scared. The 3rd flight i had the process down. I filled out each section of the report as i went a long. The report is no worse than an apartment shop. I recorded the majority of ghe shop, until all the flight announcements were done. I was in the back of the plane and it was real noisy, but i was still able to hear most of the recording. I used my cell. The best piece of advice i can give is to work through each section of the shop individually. Get yournotes and descriptions written down, before you move on to next section. I wouldnt hesitate to do another. But,, i would make damn sure i booked non-stop flights both directions. Having to do an extra shop without additional compensation was stupid of me, but thats all i could get last time cause ii booked at the last minute.

Shopping up and down the Colorado Rocky Mountain front range.

I printed it out and had it discretely tucked in a crossword puzzle book and would take notes that way. The worst part was not passing out but it was a cheap way to visit my family over a weekend.

Thanks for the input everyone!

One more question...I can't tell exactly how I'm supposed to apply. Can anyone shed some light?

In one area, it looks like I'm supposed to request the shop(s) first. But then in another area, it looks like I'm supposed to email the MSC my prospective flight itinerary off of the SW website first.

Thanks again!

Shopping central Arizona.

Send your itinerary to the email address listed on their website. Either copy and paste or send a screenshot. They will send you a form that you put your cc info in and sign, then fax/email back to them.

(I know there's a thread for this somewhere, but I couldn't find it in the search.)
Long, but simple, report that should take you <1 hour per. As CO posted above, one report per leg. I talked with a SW exec who said the most important thing in his view was the flight attendant getting the individual, verbal "yes" from the people in the exit rows. If you can get a seat close enough to hear that, do try to do so. If you're just bringing carry-on and use the kiosk to get your boarding pass, you can skip a whole section. The majority of stuff is things you'd notice anyway. Do document anything negative. It is extremely difficult to get rid of a "bad" employee unless the company has repeated, written proof and the employee has been
repeatedly counseled. With the merging of AirTran, the company has picked up some employees with a less-than-Southwest attitude (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz0o9clVQu8).

The big negative is that the trip gets booked with the scheduler's points. That means no changing to an earlier flight, no compensation for canceled flights or long delays, and no earned points for your Rapid Rewards account.

Now scheduling travel shops for the day after Christmas through mid-January.

I thought we had to visit the check-in counter regardless of whether we checked in and got our boarding passes online or through through the kiosk. I had to check my bags regardless because I was gone for almost 3 weeks, but it was a very short section regarding the check-in process. They definitely want some specific timings in the report about announcments and stuff like that.

@PasswordNotFound wrote:

With the merging of AirTran, the company has picked up some employees with a less-than-Southwest attitude (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz0o9clVQu8).

So funny and so true. Ever try to get one of them to work anytime from Friday to Sunday in retail? It's impossible. They always call in sick.

JAS, maybe it's changed in the last few months. I reported on the kiosk use for my last one. Also, I'm looking at the report I last sent and there are no specific timings in it -- the word "approximately" shows before the timing questions. Interesting. I'll have to email the scheduler before taking another. Lately I have been using points, but I'm almost out again.

Now scheduling travel shops for the day after Christmas through mid-January.

Well, they ask for the time you checked in and the time you took off, to begin with. I was also going by the sample report when I completed the report, which shows specific timings listed in the sample narrative, such as what time a specific employee said what, what time the final walkthrough commenced, etc. Also, there are questions like "How long after take off was the drink service announcement made? (Hour:minute:second)" That's all available to view on their website. With free checked luggage up to 2 bags, I like to take a small carryon and check 2 bags. I never take short trips, and being a girly girl, I always have lots of hair products and other stuff that are liquid items well over the size of what's allowed in carryon luggage. Using the kiosk only whether it's allowed or not would never be a viable option for me!

I just (almost) did a Southwest job the day the computers shut down..so I was stuck forever in the airport and it would have been a real bear of a job had I accepted it. But I just wanted to let shoppers know that not all SW flights have wifi. I was booked on an "old" plane for my return so no wifi. If you are doing your report while flying keep this in mind and plan accordingly.

@sandyf wrote:

I just (almost) did a Southwest job the day the computers shut down..so I was stuck forever in the airport and it would have been a real bear of a job had I accepted it. But I just wanted to let shoppers know that not all SW flights have wifi. I was booked on an "old" plane for my return so no wifi. If you are doing your report while flying keep this in mind and plan accordingly.

I am really glad that I was not doing a shop that day. My status got me a big voucher and a discount code. Both worth far more than a 50% off a flight + a report.

Wow I didn't know that Southwest Airlines did M.S. I am going to have to try and find out the company who offers the M.S. for them.

pegleg, it's 1/2 off your flight. You pay for the flight and then they reimburse you 50% after they accept your report.

Sandy, they do give the shopper a couple of days to do the report, which is nice.

@JASFLALMT thanks that sounds good. I don't know the company doing it though so hopefully I can figure it out one day.

@pegleg2000 wrote:

@JASFLALMT thanks that sounds good. I don't know the company doing it though so hopefully I can figure it out one day.

Googling something like 'company you want to shop's name mystery shopping,' turns up some pretty good hints most of the time.

pegleg, it is a MSC that is listed on this site, and I can give the hint that the name of the company starts with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet.

@pegleg2000 wrote:

@JASFLALMT thanks that sounds good. I don't know the company doing it though so hopefully I can figure it out one day.

You can search the forum for "airline". I'm sure that more than one company does airline shops. If you search, you can sign up with the two(?) listed.

Now scheduling travel shops for the day after Christmas through mid-January.

that's an even better hint.

@PasswordNotFound wrote:

The big negative is that the trip gets booked with the scheduler's points. That means no changing to an earlier flight, no compensation for canceled flights or long delays, and no earned points for your Rapid Rewards account.

This was going to be my question...I'm out.

@btemps wrote:

@PasswordNotFound wrote:

The big negative is that the trip gets booked with the scheduler's points. That means no changing to an earlier flight, no compensation for canceled flights or long delays, and no earned points for your Rapid Rewards account.

This was going to be my question...I'm out.

Me too. In the last 30 days, I have almost $700 in flight credits from delays and voluntary bumps.

@btemps wrote:

@PasswordNotFound wrote:

The big negative is that the trip gets booked with the scheduler's points. That means no changing to an earlier flight, no compensation for canceled flights or long delays, and no earned points for your Rapid Rewards account.

This was going to be my question...I'm out.

Yah that's one of my hangups with the program too. Still deciding whether to sign up or not. Hmm....

Shopping central Arizona.

@SoCalMama wrote:

@btemps wrote:

@PasswordNotFound wrote:

The big negative is that the trip gets booked with the scheduler's points. That means no changing to an earlier flight, no compensation for canceled flights or long delays, and no earned points for your Rapid Rewards account.

This was going to be my question...I'm out.

Me too. In the last 30 days, I have almost $700 in flight credits from delays and voluntary bumps.

I was flying back home over the weekend and was ready to take a bump if needed (in Vegas) and alas they didn't need one. I was hoping their problems last week would still linger into the weekend. They lingered, but not enough to overbook.

Using their credit card and partners the points pile up way too easily.

I've done 2 of these assignments and they are pretty straightforward and if you keep notes along the way, the forms are fine. As others have said, the hardest part is staying alert for the whole flight. I will say, the MSC is really great and the reimbursements comes within a week from your final report (if doing a round trip). I did get caught in that mess with the computer shut down and although my flight was not directly affected, I had to abandoned parts of my report as waiting on that crazy line of people trying to reschedule would have caused me to miss my flight. They weren't very pleased about that but were understanding about it. I wish I had taken a picture, they would have understood better why there was no way I could have waited on that line and made my flight lol. Overall, its a great program and I recommend it if you are flying anyway.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2016 05:16PM by MysVal.

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