Southwest Good for Cruise?

Haven't really taken them before. Using them on my cruise in November, possibly on my August cruise. Have you had a positive or negative experience when you used Southwest for a cruise?

Thanks to all who can help!

Happy Cruising!

Southwest does cruises now? ;)

How can you use BWI and not take Southwest? It is one of their major hubs.

Southwest lets you check suitcases for free. They usually arrive on time if not early.

Southwest does cruises now? ;)

They might. I book my own travel.

How can you use BWI and not take Southwest? It is one of their major hubs.

 

 

 

Southwest lets you check suitcases for free. They usually arrive on time if not early.

I have once about 9 years ago to Orlando. Travel didn't mean anything to me 9 years ago. It was just a flight, and I didn't book it. Now when i travel, I usually use Kayak, and that doesn't bring up southwest flights. but I will be using them much more, for the direct flights to Dallas to see family, San Juan to board a ship or go to PR, Miami/FLL/Tampa/Orlando for cruises, and also for the new international service to Aruba, Montego Bay, Cancun, Nassau and San Juan (-:

Southwest is typically on time and your luggage flys free

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Southwest is the only airline we fly. We used them for our April cruise and had no problems. I love that we don't have to pay for luggage. Do you have any specific questions about them?

Southwest is a fine airline. They will fly you to your cruise, as long as the cruise starts within the Continental US, and a couple of Caribbean locations. Not good for any cruises in Europe, Asia, or even Hawaii.

They are a horrible cruise line. The food sucks, and the boat sinks...

Use them all the time 2 bags fly free and if you have to cancel or change a flight there is no charge for it

Ignore the fact that you get two bags for free, it's a gimmick designed to fool people into thinking they're getting the best deal. Look at the total cost for your particular itinerary.

Southwest release fares much later than the legacy carriers and whilst they may offer lower fares at that time the cheaper fares on the legacies may be long gone.

Look through the marketing schtick.

Wouldn't fly Southwest if the flight was free.

They have no interline agreement with any other airline. What does that mean? If your flight is cancelled for any reason and there is a flight with 100 open seats on another airline at the gate next door,,,,,, Southwest will not put you on that flight. Legacy carriers do this for each other. If you're flying somewhere that has a connection on a different airline to your final destination,,,, Southwest will not check your luggage all the way through to your final destination. You would have to claim your luggage, then recheck with different airline.

Free checked luggage, I already get free checked luggage on my airline of choice. I also get bumped up to First Class for free 60% of the time. Not getting bumped up on Southwest. Change Fees? My airline doesn't charge me change fees. Price drops? My airline issues immediate credits.

They usually arrive on time if not early.

Southwest is typically on time

From the DOT for ontime performance:

AIR TRAVEL CONSUMER REPORT

September 2014

KEY ON-TIME PERFORMANCE AND FLIGHT CANCELLATION STATISTICS

Based on Data Filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics by the 14 Reporting Carriers and Tarmac Data Filed by All Carriers

Overall

75.6 percent on-time arrivals

Highest On-Time Arrival Rates

 

1. Hawaiian Airlines – 93.3 percent
   
2. Delta Air Lines – 86.3 percent
   
3. Alaska Airlines – 84.1 percent
   

Lowest On-Time Arrival Rates

 

1. JetBlue Airways – 65.8 percent
   
2. Southwest Airlines – 69.4 percent
   
3. American Airlines – 72.3 percent

So much for usually on-time

From the DOT for ontime performance:

So much for usually on-time

I only fly southwest and have only been late once. Most of the times, I have gotten to my destination early. They asked for those who have flown Southwest experience. I have them mine. They get me where I'm going on time if not early that is my experience with them.

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Wouldn't fly Southwest if the flight was free.

They have no interline agreement with any other airline. What does that mean? If your flight is cancelled for any reason and there is a flight with 100 open seats on another airline at the gate next door,,,,,, Southwest will not put you on that flight. Legacy carriers do this for each other. If you're flying somewhere that has a connection on a different airline to your final destination,,,, Southwest will not check your luggage all the way through to your final destination. You would have to claim your luggage, then recheck with different airline.

 

Free checked luggage, I already get free checked luggage on my airline of choice. I also get bumped up to First Class for free 60% of the time. Not getting bumped up on Southwest. Change Fees? My airline doesn't charge me change fees. Price drops? My airline issues immediate credits.

May I ask who your carrier is. Sounds wonderful. I love the idea of no change fees. Good to know about Southwest not having interline agreement.

I only fly southwest and have only been late once. Most of the times, I have gotten to my destination early. They asked for those who have flown Southwest experience. I have them mine. They get me where I'm going on time if not early that is my experience with them.

 

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That's fine and good for you. But it's definitely the fact that southwest is just about worst in the country for on time, and OP needs to know that. Southwest is really, really bad in this.

Wouldn't fly Southwest if the flight was free.

They have no interline agreement with any other airline. What does that mean? If your flight is cancelled for any reason and there is a flight with 100 open seats on another airline at the gate next door,,,,,, Southwest will not put you on that flight. Legacy carriers do this for each other. If you're flying somewhere that has a connection on a different airline to your final destination,,,, Southwest will not check your luggage all the way through to your final destination. You would have to claim your luggage, then recheck with different airline.

 

Free checked luggage, I already get free checked luggage on my airline of choice. I also get bumped up to First Class for free 60% of the time. Not getting bumped up on Southwest. Change Fees? My airline doesn't charge me change fees. Price drops? My airline issues immediate credits.

My guess is that Klfrodo does a lot of flying and has status on the airline he uses if he gets bumped up to First class 60% of the time.

OP,

Southwest has champions and people who hate it. If you can get a non-stop flight on Southwest for a good price when you need it, and you are flying the day before, all should be well. I fly them all the time, on non-stop flights when the legacy airlines require at least one transfer and much longer to travel. Southwest leapfrogs their planes across the country rather than a hub and spoke type of arrangement. If your plane has trouble and you are in the wrong place, they don't have another immediate replacement, but that is true of most airlines in most places.

No, they won't interline you if there is a problem, but the legacy airlines don't always interline immediately either. I was to fly United in August and the plane had a mechanical problem, no flight available. The entire flight had to be rebooked. United refused to interline me, even though I could see flights available on Kayak. They told me it would be the next day before they could transport me. I finally rented a car. In July, friends going to Bermuda were delayed by 28 hours. Delta didn't have another plane going there from Atlanta that day, and finally flew them all over the northeast looking to connect. It was crazy! Even crazier, they had started at O'HARE!

If you are the occasional flyer, find the flights you like and be happy.

I had always thought their biggest problem was a poor on time record which would scare me for a cruise flight.

If you are going the day before & it's "the deal" book it.

For us, it's usually a connecting flight which I also try to avoid when cruising.

I had always thought their biggest problem was a poor on time record which would scare me for a cruise flight.

 

This and the no interline agreement would make me hesitant to book for time sensitive travel.

I flew Southwest this weekend. Outbound flight was 10 minutes late, return was 45 minutes late. Also, the fact you can check two free bags makes the baggage drop/check in lines insanely long. Consider parting with $5 or so and check in at the curb, if possible to save aggravation and time.

Despite past experience of other posters, as noted in post #12, Southwest's on time performance is now one of the worst in the US.

Haven't really taken them before. Using them on my cruise in November, possibly on my August cruise. Have you had a positive or negative experience when you used Southwest for a cruise?

 

Thanks to all who can help!

 

Happy Cruising!

I have had very good luck flying Southwest Airlines when cruising. They are my go-to airline.

OP,

Southwest has champions and people who hate it. If you can get a non-stop flight on Southwest for a good price when you need it, and you are flying the day before, all should be well. I fly them all the time, on non-stop flights when the legacy airlines require at least one transfer and much longer to travel. Southwest leapfrogs their planes across the country rather than a hub and spoke type of arrangement. If your plane has trouble and you are in the wrong place, they don't have another immediate replacement, but that is true of most airlines in most places.

 

No, they won't interline you if there is a problem, but the legacy airlines don't always interline immediately either. I was to fly United in August and the plane had a mechanical problem, no flight available. The entire flight had to be rebooked. United refused to interline me, even though I could see flights available on Kayak. They told me it would be the next day before they could transport me. I finally rented a car. In July, friends going to Bermuda were delayed by 28 hours. Delta didn't have another plane going there from Atlanta that day, and finally flew them all over the northeast looking to connect. It was crazy! Even crazier, they had started at O'HARE!

 

If you are the occasional flyer, find the flights you like and be happy.

The voice of reason!!

You are SO correct about legacy airlines being very hesitant to interline in case of delays. The legacy cheerleaders love to use that as an "argument" against WN and for the legacy carriers, but in reality it doesn't happen very often.

I totally agree about comparing total price including luggage fees with other airlines, but even then the total price on WN can be (not will be or always is!) lower than on the legacies, and yes even if the tickets on those legacy carriers were bought before WN published their fares and schedules. I don't know of any other airline that has no change fees for everyone and if the fare decreases gives you a credit for the full amount of the decrease (vs. for the amount of the decrease less a hefty change fee with most airlines).

Comparing and doing research are key. Flying into your cruise departure city a day ahead is always good advice regardless of who you are flying with.

The voice of reason!!

 

You are SO correct about legacy airlines being very hesitant to interline in case of delays. The legacy cheerleaders love to use that as an "argument" against WN and for the legacy carriers, but in reality it doesn't happen very often.

 

I totally agree about comparing total price including luggage fees with other airlines, but even then the total price on WN can be (not will be or always is!) lower than on the legacies, and yes even if the tickets on those legacy carriers were bought before WN published their fares and schedules. I don't know of any other airline that has no change fees for everyone and if the fare decreases gives you a credit for the full amount of the decrease (vs. for the amount of the decrease less a hefty change fee with most airlines).

 

Comparing and doing research are key. Flying into your cruise departure city a day ahead is always good advice regardless of who you are flying with.

Yeah, to be honest, the interline thing doesn't bother me about Southwest. In practice, I have really only been re-booked on to a non-allied carrier once, and that was several years ago. Otherwise, every time I have been rebooked has been on either a codeshare or alliance partner. But even that doesn't happen often, and that's considering how much I fly each year.

My issues with Southwest are (a) their on-time statistics seem to drop year after year, and (b) my personal grudge that, even with all my travel, Southwest is the only airline to destroy a bag of mine, and gave absolutely no cares or concerns about it. I give them very little of my business as a result of their bad customer service in my personal experience. But I do still fly them a couple times each year...when I can do carry-on ;)

i have never had a bad experience flying with southwest. i usually fly to vegas on them from bwi. they are one of the only direct flights to vegas.

as far as cruising i have flown twice on southwest the day of the cruise and never had a problem.(knock on wood). i just booked a round trip direct flight on southwest from bwi to fll. for my upcoming cruise on the glory. it was $200 a person round trip. i always make sure i book an early direct flight if i fly the same day as the cruise. also on the upcoming trip i made sure there were 2 more flights that left after mine that would get me there in time if something happened to my original flight.

I live in Bowie and I fly Southwest about 10 times a year. About every 10 or so times you get a free flight. The prices can be the lowest or not depending on the day of travel and the route. The planes are like most others except I guess no entertainment system. I can't see a little TV anyway and carry my own so that doesn't bother. 2 bags fly free. I never take but one but have been known to throw my duffle bag of dirty clothes in the hold coming back from cruise. Boarding is a little different and you should look at the boarding procedure on You Tube so you know what to expect -- called Boarding School. Yes lots of 'Bad Jokes". Chase Sapphire does 1:1 point redemption so imagine will have even more free trips.

Frequent business flyers have built up status on their favorite legacy airlines and I understand their frame of reference.:)

But for someone who only does leisure travel, Southwest (WN) makes a lot of sense. Here is my take on WN:

Good -- WN makes almost no changes to their schedule after publishing; Bad -- that schedule comes out four to eight months prior to flights.

Good -- WN is many times cheaper compared to legacy lines; Bad -- during high demand windows, WN is more expensive than legacy lines.

Good -- Changes to tickets with WN are easy and refunds can be used for future flights; Bad -- ???

Good -- No charge for checked bags; Bad -- lines at some airports can be very long for check in.

Good -- Morning flights are usually on time; Bad -- because WN does "point to point" routes, as the day goes on, flights tend to run behind schedule.

Good -- From many airports, WN has more non-stop options; Bad -- from point A to point B, you may have to make two stops.

Good -- If you purchase "Early Bird Boarding" you will board in the first third and have not problems with good seating and over-head space; Bad -- go online late and print boarding passes, you will be in the last boarding group and may have to sit in a center seat and your group will not sit together. Early Bird will cost you $12.50 per person one way.

Good -- Corporate culture of WN is employee centered and they tend to be fast, pleasant and fun: Bad ???

Good -- For frequent leisure travelers who have a Southwest VISA card, free fights with no blackouts are very, very common. Bad ???

Good -- Dallas Love, Houston Hobby, Chicago Midway…, Bad -- LAX, DEN, FLL…,

I have 14 flight segments coming up in the next six months; 13 will be on Southwest and one will be on Delta (leaving out of MIA). I also fly Alaska Air when headed west, Mexico and Hawaii. I like British Airways to Europe, but that could change at any time. Not impressed with American and United since their mergers and my miles with them expired. Jet Blue looks interesting, but they don't work for me at this time.

Enjoy!

Kel:)

Excellent comments Kelmac. Lack of international service and relationships with other airlines are not a plus.