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After Christmas, Wisconsin educators Marcus and Andrea Grasenick were set to travel to Florida, where they would board their dream honeymoon cruise — until Southwest Airlines canceled thousands of flights due to software failures and extreme winter weather. The newlyweds missed their cruise, effectively losing $4,000. Southwest has yet to provide any help.
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On the Monday after Christmas Day, the couple flew to Nashville, where they then waited for word on their Southwest Airlines connecting flight. The Grasenicks cooled their heels for hours before they learned that the flight was canceled and there was no other way to reach Fort Lauderdale in time for their honeymoon cruise. The pair had no choice but to make the long drive back home.
Thousands of people across the United States were affected by Southwest canceling thousands of flights during this period. The social media fallout for the airline has been severe, with people expressing outrage online and calling out the airline for failing to provide better customer service.
Speaking to Milwaukee’s WTMJ, Andrea Grasnick said this is the only time she and her husband have the same holiday break, “so we can’t even go a different time and make it up, because this is the only one. This is the one shot we had.”
While Grasenick expressed gratitude that Southwest recently indicated they’d be giving refunds and travel credits for passengers like her, she told TMJ that this was lost “time, and you can’t give that time back. You can give our $4,000 of cruise [sic] that we spent. If you could do that, great. But, the memories that we were going to make with each other and with our friends, that’s not something that you can put a price tag on.”
Southwest posted an update on its website Thursday night. It read:
In light of the travel disruptions, we understand that many Customers may wish to rebook. All Customers traveling through January 2, 2023 are able to rebook in the original class of service or travel standby (within 30 days of your original date of travel between the original city-pairs and in accordance with our accommodation procedures) without paying additional charges; please know available inventory is limited during the holidays.
