Airlines....

Since 95% of cruisers fly....maybe this off topic post will survive.

We use to fly Delta and AirTran,

Our choices are fewer....

What are your opinions on Southwest?

On no reserving seats?

And quality of service?

It's just another airline. "quality of service" on an airline? I can't imagine a more subjective or vague question:) Seats thing works out OK.

Not sure what you really expect here, you could end up with lots of people who love SW and lots who don't. Will random internet opinions on a cruise forum really impact your decisions?

Southwest is our first choice.

You may also want to post in the Cruise Air forum:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=128

First choice as well for me, based on price

I used to hate Southwest because of their bare bones service (no meals, etc.), but now that all the airlines are like that I LOVE Southwest. If they fly to my destination I will always choose them. They sometimes are not the cheapest, but if you factor in having to pay for checked bags on other airlines it will come out the same or cheaper.

As for seat selection, I just make sure to check in exactly 24 hours prior to my flight, get in at the tail end of the A group or the beginning of the B group, and I always get a seat I am happy with.

I set an alarm for 24 hours prior to my flight so I can get a good seat number. Years ago, it was much more chaotic, but the new number system is VERY organized and I love not having to pay for bags!

Once upon a time I only flew Delta. After watching the show "Airline" on A&E in the early 2000s (reality show about Southwest employees and customers), I thought I would never fly on Southwest.

Then in 2009, I wanted to fly from FLL to Orlando following a cruise. Southwest, at the time, offered that flight whereas Delta did not. (Also, this is when Delta started charging for the 2nd checked bag.) I flew to FLL on Delta, from FLL to MCO on Southwest, and back home from MCO on Delta.

Today Delta no longer offers direct flights to FLL or MCO from my home airport, and I now fly Southwest and/or JetBlue.

On Southwest, there are no assigned seats and no baggage fees for the first 2 checked bags. For an extra $12.50 per flight per person ($25 roundtrip pp) is Early Bird. Early Bird automatically checks you in approx. 36 hours before your flight and gives you a better boarding position, most likely in the "A" group. I always choose this option to get on the airplane toward the front of the line, get choice of seat, and overhead bin space for my carry-on.

On Freedom of the Seas two years ago I did the Luggage Valet program. For an extra $20 charged to my SeaPass account, my Southwest boarding pass for flight home was printed and waiting in my stateroom, along with special luggage tags from ship and the Airline luggage tags. On the last night of the cruise, I put the ship luggage tag on along with the Southwest luggage tag on each suitcase and placed them outside my stateroom like I normally would. Didn't see my luggage again until the baggage carousel at my home airport, it was nice :D.

Since 95% of cruisers fly....maybe this off topic post will survive.

We use to fly Delta and AirTran,

 

Our choices are fewer....

 

What are your opinions on Southwest?

 

On no reserving seats?

 

And quality of service?

AirTran is now part of Southwest.

Quality of service on Service is great. Flight attendants are more casual and sometimes offer a little comedy during the flight safety speech at the start of the flight.

No beverage cart to bump your elbow if in an aisle seat. Flight attendants write down drink orders, prepare them in the galley, then return with your drink on a tray. Snacks are pretzels or peanuts. No meals for purchase are offered.

Edited to add that Southwest does not change flight times. On Delta, and JetBlue, I've had flights changed on me to an earlier time (not good post-cruise). Last time I flew Delta 4 years ago, they changed my direct flights to/from MCO to a connecting flight out of Detroit. Took many phone calls to get my seats back on the direct flights. Southwest only has their bookings out no further than about 6 months in advance to prevent unnecessary changes to flight schedules.

Once upon a time I only flew Delta. After watching the show "Airline" on A&E in the early 2000s (reality show about Southwest employees and customers), I thought I would never fly on Southwest.

 

Then in 2009, I wanted to fly from FLL to Orlando following a cruise. Southwest, at the time, offered that flight whereas Delta did not. (Also, this is when Delta started charging for the 2nd checked bag.) I flew to FLL on Delta, from FLL to MCO on Southwest, and back home from MCO on Delta.

 

Today Delta no longer offers direct flights to FLL or MCO from my home airport, and I now fly Southwest and/or JetBlue.

 

On Southwest, there are no assigned seats and no baggage fees for the first 2 checked bags. For an extra $12.50 per flight per person ($25 roundtrip pp) is Early Bird. Early Bird automatically checks you in approx. 36 hours before your flight and gives you a better boarding position, most likely in the "A" group. I always choose this option to get on the airplane toward the front of the line, get choice of seat, and overhead bin space for my carry-on.

 

On Freedom of the Seas two years ago I did the Luggage Valet program. For an extra $20 charged to my SeaPass account, my Southwest boarding pass for flight home was printed and waiting in my stateroom, along with special luggage tags from ship and the Airline luggage tags. On the last night of the cruise, I put the ship luggage tag on along with the Southwest luggage tag on each suitcase and placed them outside my stateroom like I normally would. Didn't see my luggage again until the baggage carousel at my home airport, it was nice :D.

I wish San Juan could do this luggage valet, it would solve the issue of what to do with my stuff until a 6pm flight!

I like Southwest and it is my first choice for flights. I also set my alarm for exactly 24 hours to get a good letter. The only reason I did not go with them for my October cruise was the flight from South Carolina to San Juan had a connection in Baltimore. I couldn't see adding three hours to my travel time, but I will miss the free baggage.

It's just another airline. "quality of service" on an airline? I can't imagine a more subjective or vague question:) Seats thing works out OK.

 

Not sure what you really expect here, you could end up with lots of people who love SW and lots who don't. Will random internet opinions on a cruise forum really impact your decisions?

Just a question for the CC forum police, since you are a self appointed member. If you do not like the topic of a thread, why not move on to one you are more interested in? The OP was asking for opinions from other cruisers, I believe he/she expects to hear what other people think about Southwest. This thread will probably be moved, but I also like to hear opinions from others.

Love Southwest! We have a SW credit card and accumulate points with purchases and usually are able to fly at least one way on points.

We buy the early bird option $12.50 each and we have always been one of the first few on the plane with our pick of seats. Flight attendants are friendly and we have not had any problems on SW.

Tickets prices are always cheaper - they run a lot of sales and if you keep looking you can get great prices. If you have to cancel your trip for some reason, the $$$ revert to points so that you can fly later.

It's a win-win for us!

I've never seen flights go down in price on southwest. Keep in mind about the cancellation policy: it's much better than other airlines, given that there is no fee to cancel and change. However, you have 1 year to use the value from when you PURCHASE the ticket. Since I often buy well in advance, sometimes I've had issues with this.

Now, that I am retired I usually fly Southwest. For over 30 years I had to fly all the legacy carriers. As we all know flying today is just horrible. Wednesday, I purchased my flights (Southwest) for my upcoming cruise leaving Baltimore. Last week I used all my remaining American Airline frequent flyer miles to purchase a one way flight (First/Business) to San Juan for a cruise later on this year. A few days later, I used the last of Delta Sky Pesos to purchase my return flight from San Juan, again first/business. I am just happy to get rid of those miles. I went from flying two to three times a week to two or three times a years. Southwest works for me. I have always had fun on their flights, sort of like how it was years ago.

Another thing SWA will do is give you the lower price if your fare drops. The difference in price is saved for you to use for a future flight. As the poster said, you do have to use theses credits (meaning you have actually travel, not just book) within a year from your original purchase date. I just did this the other day and now I have a nice credit to use for our yearly flight to Portland, OR next year. And you don't even have to call them. You can do it all online.

Like other posters, we like the 2 bags fly free policy and take advantage of the Early Bird check-in option. Using EB we (DW, DS, and I) are always in the same row and are rarely further back than the 5th or 6th row. It always seems SWA's schedules work out best for us and the fares are normally lower than the legacy carriers. Fortunately, SWA is the biggest carrier at our home airport with routes to almost everywhere we normally travel.

Since 95% of cruisers fly....maybe this off topic post will survive.

We use to fly Delta and AirTran,

 

Our choices are fewer....

 

What are your opinions on Southwest?

 

On no reserving seats?

 

And quality of service?

I'll just stick my nose in here as one who really dislikes WN. Other than a fare sale and all the hype, WN is very often higher priced than the legacy airlines, even adding in baggage fees (which are very easy to get rid of with an airline credit card).

Why, you might ask. Because the Southwest' business model is to be the CHEAPEST on the day they open the schedule. BUT other airlines have been selling cheaper tickets for about 3 months.

I run an international logistics company. We book at least 600 tickets per year for our trade show customers. I personally fly over 100,000 miles per year. The two biggest trade shows domestically are in San Francisco and NYC. Lots of airports to choose from with departure from any place in the country. There are a couple of smaller trade shows in Florida, so covering most of the bases for cruisers. We have huge databases full of past flight prices. And using our computer modeling analyst's figures, WN is more expensive when they open their schedule 78% of the time. The cheaper seats have been sold by other airlines months before WN opens their schedule.

In addition, you get Rapid Rewards. Oh, goody, a trip to Islip NY or Fargo, ND. May be where you want to go but sure isn't the pizzaz of flying to Europe, Alaska or South America with another carriers award tickets.

And the seating situation-ugh. I want to be able to pick a seat, not have to pay extra to get in a line to HOPE you get a good seat. Try getting on a WN flight at a stop. The seats are 1/2 full and you are left with the dregs of what is left over. Happened to me in Baltimore on a flight from Kansas City to Providence. When I boarded in Baltimore, there were only middle seats left. Yuck.

Never in my life have I seen so many rowdy, drunk passengers with waaay too much crap as carryons. PHX Sky Harbor, terminal 4, which houses both WN and US, is like a big block party. People getting smashed before they get on the plane. And most seem to wander to the WN gates.

And the FA-they can keep their happy, happy comedy routine for some other time. Just sets the wrong tone when their message should be safety. Glad there aren't too many incidents where people need to bail out of planes because most are not paying attention to the FA during the safety briefing. They are waiting for the comedy and wouldn't have a clue how to get the doors open or the chutes deployed. Years ago, on a WN flight from LA, the FA allowed a couple of party hardy 16 year olds to sit in the exit row. When I brought it up, I was told their Dad was sitting behind them. So put Dad in the exit row and them behind him. Well, he has a 9 year old. What an unsafe situation. Thank goodness, it is only an hour flight.

I like my first class (available free on most domestic flights because I fly AA a lot). I like being able to buy the CHEAPEST ticket I can find and still end up in First Class. I like the drinks, I like the food most of the time. I like Priority boarding and Priority security lines. Even if I fly coach, I still get free luggage and Priority boarding. I don't want to fly into NYC (once a month trip) and end up in Islip NY, 50 miles from my NYC office. LaGuardia doesn't have enough flights to fill demand. And they can't produce more flights unless they buy slots from another airline

I like the way AA bends over to make my trips very, very pleasant. WN kept cancelling the 7AM flight from PHX to LAX some years ago. After being consistently late for meetings in LA, I said NO MORE. There was no compensation for all the canceled flights and they sure didn't act like they cared about my business, even though I was flying to LA at least 3 times per month on the same flights.

Keep drinking that blue kool-aid. It really isn't all its cracked up to be.

I wouldn't fly WN if the ticket was free.

Don't have to fight people to sit in an open seat because someone is "saving" a seat.

There is a 100% chance that you will NOT be upgraded.

My bags already fly free.

My airline also refunds (in the form of a credit) if my prices go down.

Guaranteed that my luggage will arrive within 20 minutes of door opening.

 

Guaranteed that my luggage will arrive within 20 minutes of door opening.

What airline is that? Does the pilot go onto the Tarmac to remove your luggage for you?

What airline is that? Does the pilot go onto the Tarmac to remove your luggage for you?

Alaska guarantees luggage at baggage claim within 20 minutes of gate arrive. The guarantee is backed up with miles or future credit

WN is not the "cheapest" airline most of the time out of my home airport; DL and AA beat them out. I already get free bag (if I ever check) on DL. And, I get to choose my seat ahead of time.

I just don't like the "festival seating" feature. I don't like having to "set an alarm" to get the bottom A/top B herd ticket or else have to pay extra for the Early Bird. And, like Greatam, I've been the victim of getting on a flight that originated somewhere else and only had a choice of middle seats as a B herd ticket holder...

My home airport has a lot of families with anywhere from 2-6 kids each that always seem to be flying where I want to fly. Nothing like a flying preschool.

And, I love using my accumulated FF miles to fly Business Class to Europe, Hawaii and the South Pacific!!! Can't do that with WN…

Alaska guarantees luggage at baggage claim within 20 minutes of gate arrive. The guarantee is backed up with miles or future credit

And at least in Seattle, Delta matches that.

DL is doing that at SLC also… If they don't deliver in 20 min, you get some SkyPesos tossed your way.

To the OP: When looking at these responses remember what is right for one person is not correct for another. This is especially true when people starting mixing in there status flying one airline versus another. If one has sufficient status, free upgrades, free trips, preferred boarding and free baggage are are possible. If you don't have this status, then all of these things are non-factors and shouldn't enter your mind for selecting an airline if you only fly infrequently.

A second key consideration is where you live and where you want to go. Different airlines have a different level of presence in cities. Where I live, SWA operates about 50% of the flights and in certain markets almost have a monopoly status.

Other considerations are price, seat comfort, on boards services and other fees. Some airlines such as Spirit base their strategy on making money for charging these services and not providing much on board comfort. However, these fees can add up real fast and what on the surface looked like a good deal really isn't there in the end.

So how do I personally feel about SWA? I find them to usually more expensive than other options when considering flying on either Alaska or American. However, their frequency of service and number of non-stop destinations makes flying on them in certain cases where I live. The seating has never been that big a deal for me. The fact that they have so many flights means that if one of your flights has a problem they usually are also pretty good about rerouting you on another flight to get you to your destination.

My favorite domestic airline these days is Alaska. I personally think they provide a good product at a good price for most of the places I want/need to go. For international travel, I am really uncertain. I flew for many, many years on American but now not really locked in other than my frequent flyer status. I am actually intrigued by products such as Norwegian's premium economy product for Europe travel from LA.