SouthWest Air???

[tinkerme1]

Can I ask why you prefer to fly WN?

 

I'm with slidergirl in being able to pick a seat I want, not having to FIGHT for a seat. And that zoo at the Southwest gates is just amazing. Re-accommodation on another airline is a REAL BIGGIE if you absolutely, positively have to be someplace. You won't get that on WN.

 

Terminal 4 in Phoenix is also US Air's big terminal So you get Southwest and US all in one terminal. The US Air gates-everyone is sitting, waiting patiently most of the time. The Southwest gates-everyone standing around I guess HOPING they can be first in line. I have no idea what they are all doing but it sure doesn't look comfortable-crowded and confusing.

 

And don't anyone bring up free luggage on WN. Almost every airline now has a credit card that offers free luggage (at least one bag, some of them two). So that is not even a valid reason anymore.

 

I have been treated so poorly by Southwest in the past, I refuse to book any flights on WN for myself, my employees or my customers. And that happy, happy, party atmosphere by the FA on WN is very irritating to a lot of business fliers who are trying to prepare for an important meeting. May be great on vacation but I prefer my FA to be professional and quiet, not all bubbly, telling jokes and singing. JMHO

 

Wow, it is clear you have issues with SWA. I have never had a bad experience on SWA. I think their safety track record is amazing, I check in early and always seem to find a nice seat, the stewards/stewardess employees are always smiling and very friendly, their credit card perks are good and my luggage always gets to where I am going.

 

I used to work as a stewardess for Delta. I've flown many miles on United and let me tell you, never again! Rude personnel and attention to safety is not their strong suit IMHO! If we ever meet, I'll be glad to tell you why! We all have different experiences......these are mine.

[whitshel]

American has flights as low as $220 that day.

 

Ya saw those too. Thanks for the reply. I check kayak every day. Most of those are either really early or really late. I saw a flight on virgin that leaves at 935. Im a little leary that early. Ill keep waiting, its still early. I hope :rolleyes:

 

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[GSD4ME]

Well right now Southwest isn't being very nice to me. I'm trying to get home from FLL on April 6th, to San Diego and darn, they want over $500 OUCH!! I was hoping when they opened their schedule to April they would have some good fares, but nope. We are flying into Orlando to do a day at Universal before our cruise, and we got that for $141 one way. Coming home on a Sunday is seeming to be a little more expensive.:eek:

 

Same thing I am finding for my March cruise out of NOLA. I think all the flights are upped in price during spring break (March and April). Best thing to do is wait for a SWA sale. They come up about every 4-6 weeks. Prices are definitely better (unless airport or dates are blacked out) than every day prices on the website.

 

Also, I never book Friday or Sunday (especially Sunday) flights as I have found these to be extremely overpriced. In fact, I've noticed sometimes it is less expensive to stay over an additional night at a hotel rather than pay the Sunday flight prices.

 

Good job locking in the $141 outbound....now all you have to do it wait for a sale and snag the homebound leg. Good luck!

[FlyerTalker]

Best thing to do is wait for a SWA sale. They come up about every 4-6 weeks. Prices are definitely better (unless airport or dates are blacked out) than every day prices on the website.

So, you have some advice to wait....what do you say about those blacked-out dates and cities? Waiting for Southwest can turn out like waiting for Godot. (Maybe we should create a new show and open on B'way?)

Also, I never book Friday or Sunday (especially Sunday) flights as I have found these to be extremely overpriced.

Did you ever consider that it's a supply and demand situation and the limited supply of "cheap seats" had already been sold? Remember those other 3000 people on your ship who you had so much fun with? They are your competitors for "cheap seats". Plus those on the other dozen ships in port that day.

 

Assuming 2000+ people times a dozen ships. Add in some rotating crew and you have roughly 25,000 people that need to leave the SoFla area on cruise day (and the same number arriving to replace those going home). They are all competitors in the ticket market.

Good job locking in the $141 outbound....now all you have to do it wait for a sale and snag the homebound leg. Good luck!

I'll echo the good luck part. As is said by another regular, can you afford to wait and have the price go up? If you can, then it becomes a reasonable exercise in game theory. If you can't, then you have no option to cover a rise rather than your hoped-for price drop.

[kenish]

I think their safety track record is amazing

 

The safety record of all US and many non-US airlines is amazing. But compared to their peers, SWA really doesn't stand out. They've had two accidents, one fatal, where they overran the end of the runway. Add to that the recent landing accident at LGA which may have the same root cause...the emphasis on abrupt approaches and landings to minimize taxi time to the terminal. They've had two inflight fuselage ruptures...it was a testament to Boeing engineering that the planes didn't disintegrate in mid-air.

 

Again, their record is remarkable but SWA has a trend of accidents and incidents where the cause is repeated and not a problem with other carriers where the pattern is generally random.

[Zach1213]

In my learnings as someone who works in aerospace engineering, many issues also stem from their older planes, harking back to the days when Southwest flew a substantial number of short flights (more than the legacy carriers did). The constant pressurizing and de-pressurizing caused serious stress on the airframes. The same thing caused the Aloha incident where the top of the fuselage over the front came off mid-flight.

 

Southwest has plenty of longer flights now so I would guess their cycles (one takeoff and one landing, meaning one pressurizing and one de-pressurizing) are down, but I would guess (again guess) it's still higher than most legacy carriers. This can cause fuselage stress on their newer planes too. Time will tell.

 

Southwest is incredibly safe and I have no fears flying them. But I've never feared any airline in the US. Or the world. Aside from the time I had to fly domestically in the D.R. Congo. But I'm still alive to report back...

[tinkerme1]

The safety record of all US and many non-US airlines is amazing. But compared to their peers, SWA really doesn't stand out. They've had two accidents, one fatal, where they overran the end of the runway. Add to that the recent landing accident at LGA which may have the same root cause...the emphasis on abrupt approaches and landings to minimize taxi time to the terminal. They've had two inflight fuselage ruptures...it was a testament to Boeing engineering that the planes didn't disintegrate in mid-air.

 

Again, their record is remarkable but SWA has a trend of accidents and incidents where the cause is repeated and not a problem with other carriers where the pattern is generally random.

 

Fuselage ruptures were due to Boeing manufacturing issues and not a result of SWA employees or company. This was years ago and the NTSB took planes out of service for repair.

 

I'm not saying all is perfect with SWA, I just prefer them. Their policies are what sets them apart and I'm happy to fly with them.

[kenish]

Fuselage ruptures were due to Boeing manufacturing issues and not a result of SWA employees or company. This was years ago and the NTSB took planes out of service for repair.

 

Agree with you and Zach that the SWA fuselage problems were the result of aging aircraft. There's some misinformation in your post though. The Aloha incident resulted in an "aging aircraft" program. The two SWA planes (one fairly recent) were supposed to be part of that program, and SWA was found to be lax in complying with FAA inspection mandates. IIRC, some heads rolled at SWA maintenance (I could stand corrected on this).

 

FYI the NTSB has no power to take planes out of service or mandate anything. They can only make recommendations. Only the FAA has that power, and sometimes the two agencies are at odds.

 

That said, I would fly SWA without any concern for safety.

[marco]

We have only flown SW once, because only once were they cheaper (actually they were the same price as another line, but bags flew free on SW). Every other time I checked out fares, SW was higher. Also, JetBlue as really good fares, if they service OP's airport, check them out. They just opened today for bookings through June 18, 2014.