“Y’all don’t tell Southwest”: Woman says she’s never paid for a drink on a flight. But how?
What was once standard on many airlines now only comes with an additional charge. For example, checking in two 70-pound bags for free used to be relatively common in the airline industry. Today, checked bags are limited to around 50 pounds and usually are only allowed at an additional charge.
As ticket prices for airlines increase past the rate of inflation, flyers are growing frustrated with the continual nickel-and-diming that airlines are performing on their customers.
Some have taken to social media to vent this frustration. For example, some users have shared hacks for getting free checked bags. Others have simply lamented the fact that flyers are often charged radically different prices for the same flight.
Now, a user on TikTok has sparked discussion after claiming that she’s never paid for an alcoholic beverage on board a Southwest flight. But how?
How is this Southwest flyer getting free drinks?
In a video with over 1.1 million views, TikTok user Madison Reed (@_madisonpamela) writes, “Y'all don't tell southwest but i have never paid for an adult beverage on board.”
“Every flight i get a little wine or gin and they never actually charge me,” she writes. “southwest..... do y'all have a little crush on me??”
So, how does something like this happen? It’s unclear, but viewers have theories.
“My friends a flight attendant and she said she ‘forgets’ to charge people who are kind to her and her crew mates,” wrote a user.
“Girl don’t say too much cause management will yell at us but I have never charge anyone for anything my entire time of being a flight attendant,” added another. “If anyone asks the card reader is broken.”
Commenters weren’t the only ones to make such claims.
Flying forums are filled with similar allegations. Then, on Reddit, a user asked if Southwest still charged for drinks as they weren’t charged for them on two different flights. In response, one user wrote, “A lot of the time they’re unable to connect to the charging software and the other times they usually only charge [expletive]. Having to ring up drinks is inconvenient so it’s much easier to just give them out. But if you’re a troublemaker or rude prepare to pay cuz they’ll go the extra mile to make sure you’re charged.”
How do airplane charges work?
One of the users speculated that this could simply be due to errors with credit card charging. It’s important to discuss how charges on airlines actually work.
In general, card transactions on flights work one of two ways.
In some cases, credit card transactions are processed in real-time, with information about the charge being verified as it is happening. And in other cases, credit card payments are held, then processed after the plane lands. Southwest appears to use a system in which transactions are held, then processed in batches mid-flight.
For Reed, this could mean that she swiped her card, then an error prevented it from actually being charged. Or, as speculated by viewers, it’s possible that the flight attendant really just wanted to give her free drinks.
In an email to the Daily Dot, a Southwest spokesperson shared the following: “Our Flight Crews have discretion to occasionally give Customers a free beverage for various reasons and we also have free drink holidays on certain days throughout the year.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Reed via Instagram direct message.
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