Southwest Airlines Travel App Review (iOS, Free)

Description

Traveling with Southwest Airlines is now even more convenient with our new iPhone app. We’ve kept the same convenient features but totally redesigned the experience. So, whether you’re on-the-go traveling to that next big meeting or just on the couch daydreaming about a vacation, the Southwest app gives you access to what you need.

Features include:

•Book, change or cancel air reservations
•Book or cancel rental car reservations
•Check in for your flight
•Check flight status and setup text notifications
•Add EarlyBird Check-In to an existing reservation
•Enroll in and access your Rapid Rewards account
•View travel and weather alerts
•Access helpful airport information
•View & book the latest DING! deals

Customer Reviews

• Needs work

  by staggerlee41

  Not bad but needs work. No passbook is a huge miss. Get with the times.

• Good for check in

  by Big D From Da U.P.

  All I need it to do is check me in so I'm happy with it.

• It does what you need

  by OurLittleSnowStorm

  So I don't understand why everyone's hating! You can change your flight, check status, and check in. What else do you need?? Works great!

• It does what you need

  by OurLittleSnowStorm

  So I don't understand why everyone's hating! You can change your flight, check status, and check in. What else do you need?? Works great!

• Good

  by speakso

  Worked well for me! Nice app with good features and access to needed flight information.

• It could be better...

  by smfish999

  You really need to provide a way to have boarding pass on iPhone. Need to be able to add flight info to my iPhone calendar. It would be nice to have Passbook integration. You are behind the majority of major airlines...time to step up!

• Why all the bad reviews???

  by Cegleitz

  I don't really care about passbook or ding. The app was perfect for everything I needed to do. I booked my entire flight, checked the status and even checked-in. The app was very easy to use! I never write reviews but when I saw the bad ratings I had to.

• Great airlines app

  by Bring LC Back!

  Not sure why this app doesn't have greater reviews. This app is wonderful and it's extremely simple to use. I wish southwest would have the option where you can view fares for the month and view the cheapest like the website. Besides that I love the app.

• Stop B!tching

  by Davidsav2288

  It works for me. Don't be a whiny b!tch

• Please add aircraft

  by Jt bicker

  Can you please add what type of aircraft it is like if it's a 737-300 737-500 737-700 or 737-800 that would make my day and where it's coming from and a tracking map for it thanks SWA

• What were they thinking?

  by April410chance

  I've used this app before the ios7 update and it was awesome. But now I can't even check in or book flights because I'm not connected to wifi? Well guess why southwest, there's not always wifi everywhere and being a mobile app, this app should be easier for a user to well USE. I don't want to be struggling to find a great network of wifi. Even with my 4g LTE on, I can't get in the app. Well done southwest, you screwed up this great app and made this a lot more difficult.

• Still no Passbook support

  by MattWylde

  Almost every other airline offers Passbook support, or at least a form of digital boarding passes. Southwest is way behind the curve on this and it is frustrating to have to find a printer to obtain your boarding pass before getting to the airport.

• Ding

  by alhailey

  Setting up ding alerts does not work.

• Poor Design

  by Thurston217

  It has everything you need but they put it in the most odd format. The homepage doesn't even include your upcoming flight status! That's like step #1 for this type of app. How could they possibly miss this?!?

• Ding

  by Yabbey

  This app works well to check the status of my flights, points and airfare cost. However, it's frustrating Ding has never worked. I hope they get this figured out soon!

• Did Not Work Again

  by Abilene Christian 80

  Just returned from a week long trip to Chicago using Southwest. Again, a total and complete failure for this piece of garbage app. Both times I tried the simple task of checking in, the app kicked me out and required another log in. On the return flight, I never could get logged in just to attempt to check in. This weekend, I will use Delta to fly to Atlanta. I have never had a problem with Delta's app plus it has a mobile boarding pass. One click o check in and one click to have a boarding pass. Southwest executives should be ashamed to have their names associated with such a garbage app.

• Worst app of any airline

  by hk94

  What a let down this app is after years of using far superior apps from half a dozen other airlines. No electronic boarding pass? Get with the times. I'm flying today and have to stand in line at the kiosk at the airport, even though I already checked in. I can check in, but the app will make me log in 30 times. No easy way for me to check gate status of a flight I'm checked in to. I have to type in the flight number in a different screen and log in to do that.

• Not representative of Southwest's core mission

  by mattv123

  I love southwest for their customer service and overall flying experience (I'm a devote A-List member), but this app puts a black-eye on all of that. The ux is laggy and slow, requiring a strong network connection for it to work. I constantly get a 'Session Expired, would you like to remain logged in?' message which resets me back to the homepage no matter what I was doing. Why even ask this question?? Of course I want to stay logged in! Why, oh why, can't the app tell me a flight update for the trip I am booked on? Why do I have to go through the flight status page and fill out the form instead of having a one-click capability of doing so? The UI is ok, but the UX needs a lot of loving and should become native. As a multi-billion dollar airline with a central vision and mission to provide unparalleled customer service, I think you guys have the resources and the requirements to build a native app with enterprise connectors/endpoints instead of relying on a crap MADP (Verivo). It's time to listen to these app reviews if you want to thrill your customers: the mobile path you're on is not a good one...

• Check Flight Status

  by Kimpossible5

  I am a big SWA fan, an A List Preferred customer, but they changed their app NOT for the better. I fly almost every week and its VERY frustrating that while you are looking at your upcoming travel, you can no longer go straight to "get flight status". The link now takes you to a place to enter your number for text alerts rather than to the flight status as you would expect. VERY frustrating to a frequent traveler.

• Absolutely Terrible

  by Just2Fitz

  Couldn't book a flight when I needed to book a flight. Went with United instead.

• Not even worth the review...

  by Geomz

  This app is not even worth reviewing. There is really only one word for it, terrible! I could write a 3 page review of just how bad this app is, but others have already more than adequately stated the giant glaring problems with it. Com'on Southwest, I know you can do better!

• Can't book my flights

  by Heychau

  When I try to purchase the ticket, the system asks for a phone number. When you enter the phone number it does read it and won't let the transaction go through. I was able to check in on another flight.

• Unreliable

  by I like it so far

  This app doesn't work well. It gets an intermittent error (something about omniture) and then insists that I don't have an internet connection. I have to kill the app and sometimes even have to reboot before it will work again. Until it's fixed, I'm just using the mobile web site. Same functionality without the bugs.

• Flight status, iPad native...

  by Mherb24

  Getting flight status for a flight that is already booked should be just a click away, I shouldn't have to fill in airport and flight info. Where is native ipad support? Why does the app time me out? I only have to click a button to log back in, but why not just leave me logged in. Where is paperless boarding?

• Glitchy

  by AGirlis3

  App won't even let me choose my home city when it shows up in the list. How am I going to get updates if they don't know where I fly from?

• Fix. The. Ding.

  by Kelnay

  Seriously, make your app work.

• Useful but Ding doesn't work

  by AJTex02

  The app is useful for flight status, check in, and booking but never been able to get Ding to startup. Must be a bug. Hope they fix it.

• Not improved.

  by Teej724702

  Previous release was more user-friendly than current release. (1) No longer retains last location when switching out or between apps, so can't just refresh info. (2) Takes longer to process/load between selections and screen navigations. (3) "Waiting" graphic is too washed out so you can barely see it. (4) Even when logged in with member information, shortcut or 1-click options aren't helpful (I.e., try checking flight status of your current/next flight (w/in 24 hours) and you still have to re-enter all flight info every time). I wish apps would stop trying to make the graphics so fantastic and spend more time understanding MOBILE user tasks and workflows. Stop making me go through 4 different screens to complete a task.

• Seriously no mobile boarding passes

  by Dynomate

  Couldn't believe this app still makes you print the boarding pass. Back to the 90s for you Southwest.

• Why is paste disabled for passwords?!

  by rus_sel

  I don't understand why it is so difficult for app developers to understand that people may use various password apps...so we can use complex, secure, and unique passwords. Please stop blocking the ability to paste passwords into apps...

• Ding would be nice

  by Lenin1991

  Pretty poorly executed all around with slow loading and odd behaviors

• My complaint is simple

  by Cheezedawg

  They don't let me paste in my password to log in. I manage my passwords using a password manager program, so my passwords are 20+ characters long and very tedious to type by hand on a little iphone. In most apps I can copy the password from the password manager app and the paste in the login screen. Not this one, and consequently I rarely use it.

• My complaint is simple

  by Cheezedawg

  They don't let me paste in my password to log in. I manage my passwords using a password manager program, so my passwords are 20+ characters long and very tedious to type by hand on a little iphone. In most apps I can copy the password from the password manager app and the paste in the login screen. Not this one, and consequently I rarely use it.

• Boo

  by Saluki PA-C

  Ding will not work. Difficult to navigate through flight options. Overall.... 2 of 5.

• Horrible UI design and not reliable

  by mikepanhu

  The UI design of this app is just horrible. Its color scheme makes every text difficult to read. Sometimes only part of my bookings will show up in the app.

• Horrible UI design and not reliable

  by mikepanhu

  The UI design of this app is just horrible. Its color scheme makes every text difficult to read. Sometimes only part of my bookings will show up in the app.

• Eh...about to delete

  by Theresa Tran

  As many times as I've updated my cities and have logged in, I have never received any notifications about Ding fares. I have even checked my settings and all is correct. I will just rely on the emails I get and Ding fare updates on my laptop.

• Did Not Work

  by Abilene Christian 80

  Flew to Southern California this past weekend on Southwest. Love the airline, but the app was a total failure. For my return flight, the app had signed me out and I was unable to check in until I spent 30 minutes trying to find my log in information. I have learned my lesson and will not rely on the app again. Of course, there is still no boarding pass. One agent told me that they have been told to tell customers that improvements are coming although they all no what a total disaster the entire SW computer system is. She said they she would be surprised if it ever works well.

• Horrible

  by kra

  Checking in with the app is a joke. App shows up - tap check in. Wait, don't notice the almost invisible spinner (you guys know there's a grey one btw?). Ah, new screen. With a check in button. Wat? I just tapped that button. Allright, tap checkin. Invisible spinner again (you guys are jokers!) New screen, with a check in button. Wait. What? Do i really have to tap "check in" 3 times to check in?!? What's the next step, adding an alert asking "are you sure you want to cancel!"

• Poor response from SWA re: this app's failure

  by Mmm3013

  "Please submit your review to apple, it won't damage Southwest's image anyways" - Roxanne, an agent with Southwest. This app will not let you check in so that you are able to obtain A boarding group. I attempted to use the app to check in right at the 24 hour mark. It failed for about 5 minutes before I decided to use my phone browser to check in. Southwest acknowledged that the app has significant limitations, and offered the quote above. I do hope they are able to work out their bugs. But, until that happens, use the app with caution.

• Poor design, Needs to be a NATIVE app

  by Dustin_UT

  Suggestions for a better app: 1. Native app, written for both iPhone and iPad. Not just a web app that is ported from your website. Either hire new app designers or contract it out. 2. Updated design that meshes with iOS 7’s simplicity and elegance (take a look at Delta’s app, 4 stars vs the 1.5 that SWA has). 3. Passbook integration! 4. New icon… the gradient is tacky and doesn’t represent SWAs marketing well. As are the gradients within the app, all those diagonal lines on the buttons need to go!

• No desktop icon and can't delete

  by Jmp010101

  Downloaded shows as a purchase. No icon. Can't open app. Can't delete app.

• Annoying session expired message

  by Justas LV

  If you need to keep checking if your flight is delayed, the app logs you out and you have to re-enter your flight details again - aggravating

• Useless App

  by jsh123123

  I'm a frequent business traveler and fly on several airlines and this is the most useless app I've used for any airline. A basic function as storing your itinerary isn't allowed and can only be done with a rewards number tied to the app. All other airlines (Delta, United, Air Canada) allow you to store reservations that aren't tied to the frequent flyer account. (Useful for companions flying with you who don't have a frequent flyer account or for the business traveler who doesn't have authorized access to the frequent flyer account from their company). Don't waste your time with this app until they update it to make it more user friendly. (Hey Southwest, do yourself a favor and look at your competitions apps to learn how to make it better...Ding!)

• Horrible App

  by Charlie the Cav

  Don't waste your time with this update. It doesn't work! Bring back the older version, it was much better.

• Usability and functional issues

  by Minicooper360

  While the app has an improved visual design, there are numerous issues. I was not able to book my flight because of them.

• No pasting of passwords into login

  by The Duuuuude

  Doesn't allow me to paste password in from lastpass. Banks let me do it.

• Really?

  by st.danny

  Compared to the other airline apps, this is by far the worst. In general, it isn't leveraging all that iOS has to offer. Here's an idea to the developers- download the American app, and learn from it. At a minimum, I should be able to add my mobile boarding pass to Passbook. That would make the app worth it in my opinion.

• Cancelled flight does not show as cancelled

  by Yessamp

  Why would you call this a company app if it did not cover at least the basics of communication between you and the customers. I tried to check in for a flight and it would not let me. Then logged via webpage and found out the flight was cancelled. I had not gotten an email or a text message. Finally called SWA and asked why they have my email. They claimed they had sent me a text because I had chosen text as method to communicate for the flight. Why wouldn't you have a popup in the app, why wouldn't you use text and email. I like that I csn buy a ticket, but not sure if they deserve a whole star for that one feature that works. Please for the sake of the great pilots, stewards, agents and ground team, "Fire the IT guys at SWA!!!!!'"

• Just freezes up

  by Medammit

  Can't do anything once I'm signed in, just freezes up!

• Waste of Battery Power

  by Blue H20

  This App is never fully loads it just sits at the man screen loading.

• horrible app

  by jksez

  how a great airline like southwest releases this I have no idea. ... every update is marginal, basic functionality like trying to search for a standard booking fails. I'm trying to book a round trip and it keeps adjusting the dates to be consecutive days no matter what I choose in the drop down month icon.get a new app developer

• A monkey could make a better app

  by Hot knickles

  Can't even check out.

• I'm i being punked?

  by Bloooowme

  The app doesn't save my confirm number even after Checking In. I apparently have no upcoming travel. You would think Southwest would be on top of this.

• Why All the Bad Reviews??

  by ACU 80

  Because most people want to have an app that works! This app is a total failure of functions that do not work, and yes, most people want a mobile boarding pass. Southwest is a great airline with the absolute worst app in the airline industry!

• Eh

  by Douglass Lewry

  Its alright, has problems updating and not very user friendly. I fly delta, too, and their app is quite good. Southwest could learn a thing or two from them.

• Please add Passbook!

  by Disease: Farts

  This is my #1 request in the app. Other than that the app is amazing. I give you 2 stars because Passbook is such a big part of airline applications. Add Passbook and this review will instantly be a 5 star. If you are looking to manage your flights, this app is great!

• Not happy

  by Iambjp

  #1 need app for iPad customers #2 passbook integration is a MUST #3 please correct these issues immediately -save the trees go paperless

• Results are unreadable

  by casey3339

  The app may be just fine but I'll never know because it doesn't allow pinch - expand to enlarge the text. Maybe it's me but I have never had this issue with any other app. Did a flight status update easy enough but couldn't read the result without a magnifying glass. Too bad great company.

• No Passbook..

  by Ska2lee

  Please add iOS Passbook integration. A lot of other airlines are on top of this already.

• Bare bones.

  by Releasethedogs

  This app would be really great if it was 2009. It does only very basic things so don't expect a lot. I love Southwest, they are the only domestic airline is ever use (I use Turkish or Qatar air for international) but the app need some serious modernization. It needs Apple Passbook functionality. Please!

• No Boarding Pass?

  by Kitcloudkicker1

  The whole reason I downloaded this was to have a digital boarding pass... This is the only flight app I've used for any airline that doesn't have one. Bummer.

• Isn't working

  by GoFrogs2

  App isn't working, just loads constantly

• Buggy, Slow

  by MQSullivan

  While I LUV Southwest Airlines and am an A-List Preferred flyer, this app is crummy. Buggy, slow and less than user-friendly. Certainly not what I would expect of Southwest Airlines.

• SLOW!!

  by vetteman82

  I have google fiber (1Gbps) and I couldn't even search flights it was so slow. Seeing as it masks your mobile webpage I tried that and it was just as slow.

• Please add paste option to password field

  by Bikdave

  On the login screen you can only paste into the username field and not the password field. Paste is needed for those using a password manager, where passwords are long and complex. With this version I am forced to paste my password I to the username field and re type the 20+ characters into the password field. Please fix.

• Ding signup doesn't work

  by jonwchgo9

  Never registers your chosen airports so you go round n round

• Ding signup doesn't work

  by jonwchgo9

  Never registers your chosen airports so you go round n round

• Ruined A Good App

  by Chuck1968

  The upgrades upgrade you made to this app have made it impossible to use fluidly. Having to login after 2 minutes of idle time are not ideal. Please fix.

• Low fare calendar

  by Jenylyte

  The purpose of the app is to use the app. I should not have to go to the website for certain features. Please add low fare calendar and other features the consumers are requesting ! Keep ur customer happy

• Ding! still broken

  by So sad in STL

  They claimed to have fixed Ding! but I still get the same error msg to restart it. Disappointing.

• Crap for app at odds with in-person experience

  by BioJamie

  To echo others: 1) complicated login/checkin 2) NO MOBILE BOARDING PASS?! 3) dismal GUI shared by mobile site Same complaints since 2010 would seem to indicate a curious lack of interest in staying abreast of the times, for a company that plans on continuing to fly. App development really doesn't cost that much compared to operational expenses, and irritating your customers by being cheap seems unwise in the short, mid, and long runs.

• Disappointing

  by MusicFucker

  Southwest Airlines seems to struggle in regards to technology. Get on top of it, you guys are falling behind the competition.

• Chock full o' errors, and NO developer support

  by Ohhhdear

  Here's the error message I get upon opening the new version on my iPad with a 5 star Verizon connection. 1. Entered my SW account # and password (also tried to login as Guest with same error message) 2. Error message: API Error Invalid Argument SWAOmniture.ConfigureAppMeasurement 3. Then received this error message: ERROR Device has no wifi or mobile connectivity. Please try the connection after establishing connectivity. 4. Closed the app using the home button and swiped up, retried, same results. 5. After tapping OK on the error message box, the progress indicator just churned around with no progress. Closed out the program completely. 5. Got into a wifi zone, and golly, gee... The app worked and I could enter my SW id & pw, login, and check my flight. 6. Worked through all the levels to find someplace to send the error reports, but all roads lead to SW.com's flight data, or how to submit a complaint about a flight-related issue. No webmaster link. 7. Returned to the App Store to find the developer's link for the app, but this link goes straight to SW.com's complaint/comment/info form, not to a website developer. 8. FAIL.

• Time for a rewrite

  by Spock-out

  Pass on this its not like you guy can't afford real web designers. Also not very stable crashes often

• Ding fix???

  by Fred65432

  Where is it??? Still not working

• Disappointed...

  by Me farm

  The app works well for ticket purchase and flight check ins, but Ding fares keep erroring out. When is this going to get resolved?

• Keeps freezing!

  by Airgreg2

  App keeps freezing. I have to delete it and try it again and it keeps freezing.

• Still Useless

  by ACU 80

  Southwest told us they listened to the customer's complaints. Obviously they didn't! The app is still useless and does not work most of the time. Does not remember login information, no flight updates, no mobile boarding pass, and on and on. Still the worst app in the airline industry. Only wish I could give it 0 stars. Not worth taking up the space on your phone!

• This app is horrible

  by Cheerdragon

  I liked the older version of this app much more. My company books most of my flights so therefore I don't have access to the credit card info. You can't add your rapid rewards number on this app after the company purchases it. You can't add it to my travel. It's no where to found even after checking in on the app. You can look up flights and check in but other than that this app is useless, it's not user friendly. Everyone should fly delta now because this app is so bad! Deltas app is much easier and user friendly plus they actually help their customers!!!

• This app is horrible

  by Cheerdragon

  I liked the older version of this app much more. My company books most of my flights so therefore I don't have access to the credit card info. You can't add your rapid rewards number on this app after the company purchases it. You can't add it to my travel. It's no where to found even after checking in on the app. You can look up flights and check in but other than that this app is useless, it's not user friendly. Everyone should fly delta now because this app is so bad! Deltas app is much easier and user friendly plus they actually help their customers!!!

• Crashes all the time

  by Brigolf300

  I cannot search for flights as the app freezes and crashes every time is open the app. Horrible

• Pretty awful

  by DR

  No native code, UI is dated and clunky. Check-in is not saved, so every time you open the app it will welcome you to check into the same flight again. No mobile boarding passes or passbook. Just pretty awful. The AA app was once this bad and they made huge strides, so really hoping that SWA replaces this thing wholesale with no shortcuts. Spend the money--it's worth it.

• Not Worth The Time

  by WildRile

  Requires you to login everytime, but doesn't allow you to paste in your password. It doesn't really give you anything really useful. Maybe once it saves passwords and Southwest allows for passbook boarding passed this will be worth it.

• What gives?

  by Bajacalla

  For some reason, when I try to check in for a flight, the app defaults to a booked flight MONTHS from the one I'm trying to check in for, and there's no way to actually check in to any other one. Yet using the browser app (Safari) to go to the web site immediately takes me to the check in page that allows me to enter the CONFIRMATION NUMBER of the flight I'm actually checking in for. This glitch makes the app useless for me. It did NOT use to do that!! Fix it, or I will have to delete the app. Disappointed in you, SWA.

• Epic Fail

  by bpsbps

  Southwest is a great airline, but this app is absolutely terrible and poorly represents the company. I can't even use it for more than a minute before it freezes up on my iPhone 5s. It's a complete waste of time and I'll look elsewhere for my airfare needs.

• No Passbook, Poor User Experience

  by kevindeluca1

  There NEEDS to be a passbook feature. This is one if the worst user experiences I have used since the App Store launched in 2008.

• No Passbook, Poor User Experience

  by kevindeluca1

  There NEEDS to be a passbook feature. This is one if the worst user experiences I have used since the App Store launched in 2008.

• Great until you NEED it

  by Pattonluks

  This weekend we had flights cancelled due to weather. The app says that it will help you re-book, but where it says "Click Here" there is no response. I tried calling the 800 number but that was an hour wait. Finally decided to give the website a try. That worked. Several hours later the new flight was also cancelled and, again the app failed to let us, but the website worked. What is the point of having the app? Also, confused about why "Alerts" don't notify you when a flight is cancelled. We had to look it up online to see that. Other airlines manage to notify us. Why can't Southwest? And, finally, Ding does not work. The new version says it is fixed, but it isn't.

• Bad

  by Befrzz

  Frustrating to have to enter my flight number and airports for a status when the app has my reservation info!

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