Our 12/23 flight from MDW to MIA was cancelled last minute but fortunately I had booked a one way rental with no cancellation fee a couple of days in advance when I watched the storm predictions. We couldn't leave earlier because my kids had finals and we couldn't leave later because the cruise would have left without us. When it didn't cancel by Friday morning I assumed we were safe but kept stalking the inbound flight and when that cancelled, called to rebook but there was nothing that would get us there. My USNA-hopeful and I headed to hertz to get the rental and the other 2 kids threw everything edible into a bag and we left for Miami. Drove 24 hrs straight through icy, hilly, unmarked backroads and threw a check engine light in the Tennessee hills but we made it to Miami with about 10 minutes to spare before the ship would have left without us. We boarded ready to relax knowing we'd be flying home. Until Tuesday morning at 5am when I got the text from SWA that our 12/29 flight home was cancelled. Tried to rebook and there was not a single available flight from any airport anywhere close to MIA and into any airport even close to MDW. I tried calling since my random guessing wasn't working and got hung up on 3 times (really grateful I bought the internet package onboard!!) Ended up booking Delta flights as well as another one way rental car as a back-up. On our way home, we connected in ATL after getting a message that there may or may not be water there when we arrive. And when we landed, I got a text from SWA that they rebooked us on a flight the next day (which we obviously didn't need). I tried cancelling it in the app but couldn't, so I called. She couldn't have been nicer, the poor thing! She was as confused as I was because she could see the reservation but no tickets. So we weren't actually on the flight...well, my free companion was but not the other 3 of us. We got home, our bags made it and I submitted a request for them to reimburse my alternate expenses through their website. We'll see if they do.
I'm a big SWA fan -- A-list, free companion, fly a couple times a month most months and sometimes more. The Delta flight was comfortable with the TV screen and charging port. The food on board option was nice too. But I'll be back on SWA a week from today, a few days later, later this month and probably for the rest of my life because it's really hard to beat SWA luv and free bags. I even prefer the open seating. But I sure won't be mad if they want to throw out a few nice incentives to re-earn our trust.