What This App Is Built To Do
The Southwest Airlines app is the official companion for anyone flying the airline, covering booking flights, hotels, cars, and Getaways vacation packages, plus day-of-travel tasks like checking in, viewing boarding passes, and tracking gate changes. It also ties into Rapid Rewards, letting members earn and redeem points on qualifying purchases. It’s aimed squarely at Southwest flyers, from occasional leisure travelers booking a Vegas package to frequent flyers who just want a fast way to grab a boarding pass at the gate.
Where It Actually Works Well
When the app behaves, users say it does the core job: tracking a flight and pulling up a boarding pass. One reviewer with 113 useful votes called it solid for tracking flights and boarding passes, and said anyone flying Southwest should download it. The booking and Getaways package tools, which bundle flights, hotels, and rental cars into one purchase, match what reviewers who had smooth trips described, and the mobile boarding pass integration with Google Wallet is a genuine convenience when it loads correctly.
The Check-In Loop That Frustrates Users
The most repeated complaint, by far, is that the app forgets you’ve already checked in. Multiple reviewers describe having to re-check in every single time they open the app just to see a boarding pass, with one calling it ‘cumbersome’ and noting pop-up ads appear on top of that annoyance. Another reviewer said the ‘Manage Reservations’ section shows up blank and requires re-entering trip info, and that leaving and returning to the app often resets everything and forces a reload. This isn’t a one-off glitch — it’s described as persisting for years and surviving a full app rebuild, with one user writing that the ‘brand new’ app still has the ‘same issues’ as the old one.
Ads, Crashes, and Price Changes Mid-Booking
Beyond the check-in bug, reviewers flag intrusive marketing. One user was frustrated that after turning off sales notifications through a buried settings menu, they still got hit with multiple promotional pop-ups a day. Making changes to an existing flight is another sore spot: one reviewer said the app crashes every time they try to modify a booking, forcing a 30-minute phone call, and that in one case the quoted price changed within a minute of selecting a seat. Others mention the hazardous materials warning screen blocking access to boarding passes on newer phones, and a lack of real-time updates — one reviewer said they never got notified their flight was cancelled and only found out because they were traveling with a large group.
Who Should Actually Install This
If you’re boarding a Southwest flight soon, you still need this app — there’s no real substitute for mobile boarding passes and gate updates on the day of travel. But go in with tempered expectations: treat check-in and reservation management as flaky, screenshot your boarding pass as a backup, and don’t be surprised if you need to re-enter trip details or call an agent for changes. Casual users booking a single getaway package will likely have an easier time than frequent flyers juggling check-ins, cancellations, and rebookings, based on the pattern of complaints above.
