Southwest Airlines: Flight Delay/Cancelation Compensation and Passenger Rights
When Southwest delays or cancels your flight, it is easy to panic. It is important to keep calm, though, to ensure that you receive any compensation you’re eligible for and that your passenger rights are followed.
Typically, United States domestic flight disruptions do not carry compensation rights, but you are entitled to other rights – and, in some instances, compensation is still on the table.
File for CompensationUnderstanding Southwest Airlines compensation policies
For domestic flights within the United States, Southwest Airlines is not required to compensate passengers for flight disruptions, delays, or cancelations. However, in certain cases, Southwest passengers are entitled to rights, as governed by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Southwest’s Contract of Carriage.
Still, compensation is possible. Use our free compensation eligibility checker to understand if you should file a claim.
Typically, passenger rights are extended to passengers only in the event that the flight disruption is controllable and significant, meaning Southwest is at fault for the delay or cancellation.
These rights are a combination of U.S. DOT protections and passenger commitments made in the Southwest contract of carriage, which the carrier is held accountable to by the DOT. In fact, all of this information is laid out by the DOT in its Airline Cancellation and Delay Dashboard, which is a great resource when comparing airlines or traveling.
What is a controllable delay?
A controllable flight delay is a disruption that the air carrier is at fault for. Think:
- Aircraft maintenance issues
- Absent flight crew
- Paperwork or boarding delays
Southwest, and every airline for that matter, are not always transparent about the cause of a flight delay. If you're unsure why your flight is late, check out .
What is a significant delay?
Delays must also be significant, meaning you, unfortunately, don't have rights to compensation if you're only delayed by an hour, for example.
Significant delays start at:
- 3 hours or more for domestic flights
- 6 hours or more for international flights to Latin America, South America, or the Caribbean
Policies and compensation for Southwest delays
Southwest offers the following assistance in the case of a delayed or canceled Southwest flight, which may include:
- A refund
- Complimentary rebooking on the next flight
- Meal vouchers
- Hotel accommodations if your delay lasts overnight
Right to a refund
Southwest passengers are entitled to refunds in the case of certain flight disruptions:
- Delays: Southwest is required to refund passenger fares during substantial delays if travelers opt not to travel. These cases are handled on a case-by-case basis, and there is no DOT regulation that defines when a delay becomes substantial.
- Cancelations: Passengers are always entitled to refunds if they opt not to travel after a cancelation, regardless of whether the disruption was deemed controllable or not.
Complimentary rebooking
If Southwest is at fault for a significant delay, then you are entitled to being rebooked on the next available flight, including those with different connection cities.
Since Southwest does not belong to the SkyTeam, oneWorld alliance, or any other partnerships, they cannot be held accountable to rebook passengers on other carriers, like Delta and United can.
Meal vouchers
In cases where Southwest delays hit three hours of length, passengers are promised meal vouchers that can be used to cover airport meals. No specific amount is provided in the contract of carriage, but it should cover a reasonablemeal (save the steak and lobster for later). In the fine print, it does note that the voucher will be provided upon request, so it may not be proactively offered to you. You should know that, if Southwest does not offer them proactively, meal reimbursement is possible. Just save the receipts and complete this reimbursement form.
Complimentary hotel accommodations
Get flight delay compensation from Southwest
LUV voucher compensation can be yours if:
- Your flight disruption was Southwest’s fault (controllable delay)
- Your flight was cancelled within 8 days of your departure
- You landed at your destination three hours or more late
- You complete Southwest’s Delay Form
- Your flight date
- Airport
- Flight number
- Confirmation number
- Origin city
- Destination city
- Your name
- Phone number
- Rapid Rewards account number
- Address information
- Your name
- A description of the incident
- File a complaint with Southwest directly
- File a complaint with the Department of Transportation
- File a claim with us and we’ll work with Southwest for you, faster and more effective than relying on the DOT
- By mail: P.O. Box 36647-1CR, Dallas, TX 75235
- By phone: (800) 435-9792
- By social media: @southwestair on Instagram, @SouthwestAir on X
- ✓ Boarding passes with flight number
- ✓ Booking confirmation
- ✓ Alternative transportation tickets
- ✓ Vouchers
- ✓ Documents of additional costs
- ✓ Photos with timestamp of flight board or screen
- ✓ If possible, written confirmation / statements from the airline regarding the reasons for the flight delay
These vouchers are valuable because they are transferable to other people and will be at least $75 in value.
Completing Southwest’s Delay Form
The good news is that the form shouldn’t take any more than 5 minutes of your time to complete. As of March 2025, this form will only ask for:
Compensation offered
LUV vouchers are most used to respond to customer complaints following flight delays and cancellations, though they are not Southwest’s only approach to customer service. Refunds and travel credits are also used on occasion, refunds to compensate passengers after delays in which they opt out of a trip and choose not to fly.
If this happens, Southwest may at first offer you credit towards a future flight. But with the news that credits will once again expire on Southwest starting in May 2025, we recommend that you always exercise your right to a refund to you original payment method instead.
Frequently asked questions
You probably still have questions about Southwest’s flight delay and cancellation policies. Here are some answers.
1. What does Southwest provide in delays it is not responsible for?
Unfortunately, Southwest is not responsible to provide anything to passengers for flight disruptions caused by weather, air traffic control, or other “acts of God.” There are times, however, when the carrier does grant meal vouchers and other conveniences if delays are lengthy enough, though this is more of the exception than the rule.
2. What if Southwest does not grant you your passenger rights?
If Southwest does not abide by rights outlined by the United States DOT and its own contract of carriage, then you have the grounds to file a complaint and seek compensation. You have three distinct paths forward at the point:
Southwest Airlines contact information
In the event that you need to reach United Airlines, please find the below informtation: