The night before her flight was canceled, she got a text message from Southwest Airlines that said her flight had been canceled. Ms. Laskowski and her cat were back in Brooklyn after four days.
She was able to look into her other travel options after she received a text message from Southwest. The next available flight was not until January 11. She bought a new plane ticket for $478 through the airline that got her home on the 30th. Southwest will reimburse Ms. Laskowski for her original ticket, as well as her JetBlue receipt. Southwest has offered 25,000 points for her troubles.
She works as a marketing manager for Partners Coffee. $600 is a lot of money for a young person living in the most expensive city in the country.
In December, Southwest Airlines canceled thousands of flights due to bad weather. Southwest's computer systems were so bad that many of its customers were stuck for days. Some people rented cars to finish their journeys. Debt was incurred by travelers when they had to pay for hotel rooms on other airlines. Travelers are still dealing with the financial repercussions of having to make alternate plans while the Southwest chaos is still going on.
Chris Perry, a company spokesman, wrote in an email to The New York Times that Southwest is giving refunds and reimbursements for flights that were canceled or delayed more than three hours during the Christmas and New Year's holidays. The points are worth a lot of money.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation website, airlines are required to give refunds to customers who have their flights canceled or changed. Southwest is required to give vouchers when a cancellation forces customers to wait three or more hours for a new flight, free hotel accommodations for those affected by an overnight cancellation and complimentary transportation to and from a hotel.
Daily business updates The latest coverage of business, markets and the economy, sent by email each weekday.Dan Hughes might not be able to get a refund because his travel plans were outside of reimbursement dates.
Mr. Hughes was stuck in Denver on the 21st. You say you are on your own until the 24th.
Mr. Hughes and his wife were going to fly from Nashville to Denver and then onto Portland. The flight from Nashville was stuck on the tarmac in Denver for nearly two hours before being canceled. He booked two flights, one on Southwest and one on a different airline.
Mr. Hughes booked a flight on United Airlines to connect to Seattle. The couple were stuck in Las Vegas. The couple drove home to Oregon after flying on a Southwest flight. They spent about $1,700 on the experience and still haven't gotten their luggage back. Southwest contacted Mr. Hughes and said his luggage had been found.
Mr. Hughes said that he and his wife spent money at their restaurant because they had to pay employees to do their work when they couldn't be there.
He said that it turned out to be more of a financial hit than they had thought.
Suzanne Durham used her bonus to pay for her travel disruptions. After her flight from Boston to Nashville was canceled, she booked a new Southwest flight and moved it to Tuesday. She worried that it would be canceled and that she would have to buy an American Airlines flight.
She was reimbursed $183 for her return trip on Southwest, after she spent about $1,200. Southwest gave her 25,000 points.
Ms. Durham said she would be putting her gym membership on hold for a couple of months. I don't want to accumulate debt.
JR Jones and his fiancée were going to fly on Southwest to see her family in Seattle, but the flight was delayed and they were not able to get there. The couple rented a car for the 13 hour drive to Seattle after Southwest changed their flight. They wanted to return to avoid the drive again.
Their return flight was canceled and they had to get another car to get back to Sac. Up to $1,000 was added to the cost of the extra travel. The couple have only received flight credits from Southwest so far. Mr. Jones and his fiancée were able to get a loan from their fiancée's family, but they are hoping for a refund.
Mr. Jones said that the rest of the money would come from the wedding fund. We will end up putting a little bit of extra stuff on credit cards until we can recover those costs.
Michael was going on a trip with his family for Christmas. His daughter wanted to go to Legoland with her friend. He borrowed his sister's car to drive so his family could take the vacation they were supposed to take.
He and his family couldn't abandon their car because Southwest wouldn't let them keep the second leg of their flight. The full cost of their flight has been paid for. The family had to book a hotel room on the way back after spending over $500 on gas. The family lost $450 from missing the first night in a resort because of the long drive and $130 on a car rental that was no longer needed.
The costs wouldn't have a big impact on the couple's finances, but they did say that the experience had taken a toll.
The man said that it still hurts. We lost two days of vacation.
Mr. Baxter's wife sent an email to Southwest explaining their situation and was told they wouldn't be reimbursed. The couple are going to contact Southwest again now that they have calculated the full cost of the hassle.
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