Southwest Cancelled My Flight Just Hours Before

I love Southwest Airlines. I love the companion pass (see past posts for how to earn a companion pass). I love that I can change or cancel flights whenever without penalty. I love their casual vibe onboard. 

So imagine my surprise when just 2 hours before my flight, I receive an email announcing my flight had been canceled. 

I clicked on the link and Southwest prompted me to buy a day of ticket for a later flight. The cheapest ticket left was priced at $175. I had paid $69 for my flight originally. When I continued through the booking process, the website was going to apply my $69 towards my flight. 
I called Southwest and a nice operator answered and proceeded to book me on another flight. She offered a 9pm flight, but when I asked her about the 1:30pm earlier flight listed on the website, she agreed to rebook me on that flight. 
What about the price difference. She checked with her manager and was able to rebook me on my original $69 ticket. 
So the bottom line is sometimes it helps to call and talk to a real live person. And by the way, I still love Southwest. Next post, United's horrible cancellation policy.