Southwest Airlines

[Candy Girl]

With Southwest, people either love 'em or hate 'em. You won't know which you are until you try 'em.

 

As for best fares, you did not say when you were going, but have you checked on United? I saw April fares for less than $200. But it all depends on when you are flying.

 

You can check at farecompare.com and farecast.com for an idea of what fares are or will be. You can check at kayak.com or sidestep.com and check all airlines except Southwest at once. Good luck.

 

I'm leaving Feb 22 and Ret Feb 26 so as you can see that's right around the corner

[cruisingjon]

Please tell me you're kidding...or maybe you've never been stranded in Atlanta or Cincinnati...(I have - in both) thanks to "Eldta"...

 

LL

 

Have been to both places but never stranded, We all have our own opinions, I say delta is the best.

[surfklutz]

Southwest begins with the assumption that its passengers are primarily interested in low fares and on-time service and then its management and employees do everything possible to deliver on both.

 

Southwest does not make any long-hauls and so its fleet and routes are adapted to that: all its planes are 737s (so all its crews and mechanics are qualified to work on all its planes which is a great cost-cutter and time saver). On the one hand, you'll probably have to change planes (which is good since who wants to be cooped up in a 737 for more than two hours) at Love Field or McCarren. On the other hand, unlike the "legacy airlines," you won't get held up at those hubs while they scramble to find a pilot or a mechanic whose qualified to work some odd-ball plane that was picked up during some ill-conceived, debit-saddling merger in their past. And short hauls totally eliminate the need to provide any in-flight meals on any of their flights. (They do have beverage service.) You can forget about flying them to Hawaii, Alaska or Vancouver which sucks if you want to use them for catching up with Carnival Spirit.

 

As for the "service," you could say it doesn't exist but you'd be missing the point. Given that the flights are so short and the planes are so full, there's not much they can do except work as efficiently as possible. So instead of some smartly attired "stewardess" serving a gourmet meal, you'll have a flight attendant in shorts passing out pretzels. But, because the job security is so good and because of the corporate structure, you can feel that the employees actually seem to enjoy their work.

 

And their sense of humor is legendary.

 

Which airlines serve gourmet meals?

[cherylandtk]

I'm leaving Feb 22 and Ret Feb 26 so as you can see that's right around the corner

AirTran today has flights on your dates for $178, RT, one stop on way down, NS on return. Whatever you do you will probably need to book ASAP, many flights have advance purchase requirements of 21 or 14 days, and farecast 'predicts' prices to increase in the next 7 days.

[greatam]

I must be looking at the wrong websites... for example, I just checked a RT from PHX to Islip NY on Southest in May for $188. The same dates on AA from PHX to JFK cost $329.60 (cheapest fare). Two of the legs on AA were turboprop toy planes. At least all legs on SWA were on a Boeing 737.

 

Looks like more than perception to me...

 

LL

Not perception in the least.

 

I fly PHX/NYC or LAX/NYC once a month. I just checked PHX/NYC. The CHEAPEST I can get a Southwest ticket for my next trip (Feb. 27-March 4th or 5th) is $426.00 + taxes ( I will NOT take the late night into Islip-too many transportation hassles). ISLIP requires another $65-70 in transportation costs to get to Manhattan (unless you take the train). My AA ticket was $249.62,, purchased Dec. 10 for my travel date. In fact, I just checked AA-the price is slightly lower if I book right now for the same dates. From the AA website:

1 Adult

 

203.00 USD

 

41.60 USD

 

244.60 USD

 

Don't know what you were looking at, but AA service out of PHX is either to ORD or DFW, connecting to either JFK or LGA. 757 or MD 80 service out of PHX. I don't pick the ORD/JFK flight on the regional jet (it's not a turboprop). Usually 757 or MD80 service out of Dallas or Chicago. You have NO choice on WN. AND on AA, there is first class, priority security line, lounges to wait in, and FF miles that don't expire in one year.

 

To make my point even more precisely-Girl's night out in Las Vegas last year. I volunteered to make everyone's air reservations, since I do logistics planning for a living. 5 women, coming from all over the country-2 from Florida, one from Kansas City, one from Boston, and one from Texas. Only ONE flight-Kansas City-was cheaper than the legacy airlines.

 

You continue to fly Southwest all you want. I'll stick to a real airline, not Greyhound.

[greatam]

Which airlines serve gourmet meals?

 

British Airways, EOS, MaxJet, Singapore to name a few. Air Pacific even has pretty darn good meals in coach.

[traveler/]

Sign up for Southwest DING program, and read about specials daily.

[parody]

Sign up for Southwest DING program

 

Some have argued that given the onerous restrictions now being placed on Ding! specials, they are hardly worth monitoring anymore. When Ding! was first released they had attractive sales--unfortunately, not so true anymore. As mentioned earlier, it's all perception now.

[joelmarj]

Please tell me you're kidding...or maybe you've never been stranded in Atlanta or Cincinnati...(I have - in both) thanks to "Eldta"...

 

LL

 

And I was stuck for 24 hours in Islip waiting for a SW flight. It happens with every airline. Personally,I'm not a fan because I hate the cattle call of no assigned seats. Plus, its not always the cheapest anymore. Give me Delta, Jetblue or United over SW anyday.

[MRF777]

Continental is my favorite...they fly everywhere!

[traveler/]

Flight Cost is obviously important. However, I also factor in, among other things, the value of the frequent flier program, and possible cancellation policy of the ticket. On SouthWest, it is possible get a price reduction on your flight if the price drops.(bit of a hassle though)

I like them for short flights that are n/s.

[45014]

My husband thinks Southwest is the best airline. When we go to FLL for our cruise, he is flying on a FREE ticket and I am flying FREE on my Southwest companion pass. Can't beat that for a good airline price!

 

As you can see by my previous post, I can't get better Air Fare.

[mollyeilis]

I adore Southwest.

 

One of the reasons is that my brother and sister in law both use them for corporate travel, their companies allow them to keep the Rapid Rewards, er, rewards, and they can't possibly use them all. So they often let us use them, and RR tickets are a BREEZE to use. Last minute? No problem. Gotta change your reservation b/c your dad just went into the hospital? Less than no problem.

 

As long as I know that I'm traveling a couple months out, and as long as I'm not going during official vacation time, I'll always find their $99 each way fares.

 

That's another aspect. When I was in the mode to think about other airlines, their one way tickets were always far more than their roundtrips. Ridiculous. But with SW, you just book each way, and if you don't happen to be coming back the other way, it's not a problem! Love it!!!

 

Right now the May 10 thing is a fluke. On another post someone who seemed to know said that they are changing out planes and changing airports as well, so they can't yet schedule further than that. But soon it will be changing so I can look at fares beyond mid-May. Yay!

 

But it's not a decrease in service thing, according to the Rapid Rewards guy I talked to today and the person on the post, there's a good reason behind it.

 

 

I would, however, look around their website, find out about them. I personally don't understand the cattle call comments...check in online 24 hours ahead, be one of the first in your line...get on board, pick your own seat! To me that's more picking a seat than being assigned something (and then having it changed, more often than not for me, when you check in at the counter) by another airline!

 

 

Just today I was thinking the unthinkable, and was checking my old US Air account...they had held onto old miles since 1996, but just 8 days ago their policies changed, and I lost my 23K miles (without notice...I receive their update emails, but got NOTHING about this change) just like that. Seemed to be the universe, telling me to turn away from others and just be patient with SW. teehee.

[mollyeilis]

I will admit, however, that I've never even HEARD of AirTrans (looking at their website now) until this post, and I didn't know until yesterday that Jet Blue flies out of Seattle (thought they were east coast only still).

 

Editing to add. OK, just looked at the AT route map. Unless I feel like going to Atlanta, they aren't doing much for me from Seattle! Zoiks! Thought I'd found a good way to go to San Diego, but it doesn't really look like they'll stay on my Favorites list long!

[oceanlvr1016]

I always fly Southwest because out of Kansas City, it's the cheapest. I'm terribly frustrated with this May 10th date. I need to book for the next week and keep being told it will open up "soon". I've never flown AirTran, but the fares are compreble to SW and I'm beginning to worry about fares going up soon. Each day I hope SW will open up the dates and each day am disappointed! Does anybody have any "inside" info on this?

[jetexpress]

Yes, southwest does have SOME low fares. We can debate all day about which airline has the lowest fares, but the truth is it varies from place to place and day to day. Sometimes a discount carrier is the lowest, sometime a major carrier is. Each airline has advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes you can find lower fares on southwest but if you want to book ahead of time, look to other airlines.

 

Everyone should find a good comparison website to check all airline websites and online travel "discounters" to find airfare. Another drawback with southwest is you must go to southwest.com to see their fares. All other airlines are listed on sites such as http://farechase.yahoo.com and http://kayak.com

[parody]

All other airlines are listed on sites such as http://farechase.yahoo.com and http://kayak.com

 

Unfortunately, not all. Both sites do not include Allegiant Airlines and USA 3000. Probably not a big deal to most cruisers, but as an example, it is useful to note that only USA 3000 flies nonstop between Bradley Field and Cancun Mexico, but neither Farechase or Kayak will show it. However, it is shown on another metasearch site: http://www.sidestep.com.

 

P.S. Good description on low fares.

[parody]

Both sites

 

Actually, it should have said "www.farecompare.com and kayak.com"

[joelmarj]

I personally don't understand the cattle call comments...check in online 24 hours ahead, be one of the first in your line...get on board, pick your own seat! To me that's more picking a seat than being assigned something (and then having it changed, more often than not for me, when you check in at the counter) by another airline!

 

 

You make it sound far more simple than reality. First, there are some who get there 1-2 hours before hand, and then you get to sit on the floor lining up like a bum, or just stand there for 1-2 hours "holding my place"? If you don't get there that far in advance you are at minimum 50 people away from selecting prime seats. (Yes, I do check in online to get the coveted A boarding) Oh, and my favorite - the one guy on line in A in the first spot who suddenly has 12 of his closest relatives join him just as boarding begins! No thanks. A more civilized version is go on line, print my boarding pass with the seat I have personally researched and selected. Then have a nice cup of coffee or a drink in the bar while waiting for boarding to begin. Stroll up to the gate and proceed with boarding once my zone is called (or preboard based on status). Then I walk up to my selected seat and enjoy the rest of the flight.

 

Not hard to pick which is better. (Oh, and it's cattle call, because you have cattle wandering aimlessly in a field with no assigned destination - just the way SW makes you feel)

 

Does it mean I never fly them? Nope. I'll check to see fares and convenience, but it really is usually a last resort.

[oceanlvr1016]

Guess what, Southwest opened up the summer dates! Yeah! I'm booked!

[relaxin_mom]

I'm waiting for their November schedule to open up!

USAir wants $360 per person for Philly to Miami! I know Southwest will be cheaper flying into Ft. Lauderdale!

[annie46]

What I hate about Southwest is when you check prices for 1 adult you might get a great internet fare but if you want more than 1 ticket you are out of luck. Last year I had to book 3 different times for 3 tickets and they were all different prices. I called them about it and she said sometimes they just open up 1 seat. sheesh

[FlyerTalker]

I'm waiting for their November schedule to open up! USAir wants $360 per person for Philly to Miami! I know Southwest will be cheaper flying into Ft. Lauderdale!

Have you looked at AirTran for PHL-FLL? Or try United -- they codeshare on the US flights PHL-FLL and often have cheaper fares than US, for the same flight.

In general (and I know that is fraught with pitfalls), fares into FLL are lower than those into MIA. But you can take other airlines than WN and still get a good rate.

[Globaliser]

What I hate about Southwest is when you check prices for 1 adult you might get a great internet fare but if you want more than 1 ticket you are out of luck. Last year I had to book 3 different times for 3 tickets and they were all different prices. I called them about it and she said sometimes they just open up 1 seat.

Same with all airlines.

 

But at least you know the trick: You can get that one seat at each of the lower prices if you book them one at a time.

[Smiles3usa]

Southwest has both good and horrible points.

 

Good: those Ding fares initially were outstanding! I went to a Cubs game last year and the baseball tickets cost more than the roundtrip airfare ($56 including all taxes from Providence) The Ding fares have gone up considerably since their introduction--and the period to use them now is much more restricted, so no long range plans.

 

Also very good is that you don't lose any $$$ to change your tickets if your plans change. One of the reasons that I don't mind booking SW is because I know I can always change my mind and book a different flight at a different time without losing any money.

 

Horrible: It is cattle car mentality on SW. Hurry up and wait if you want to have your choice of seats. And then you really don't have your choice because the pre-boarding has gotten ridicously long.

 

Also horrible is there is no entertainment. While it doesnt matter on a short flight, it makes quite a difference on a longer one. I have a direct flight from Phoenix to Providence coming up, it's 6.75 hours. There is no radio, no movie, no TV, and if past performance is any indicator, plenty of screaming kids. I would gladly pay JetBlue an extra $100 for that entertainment. Unfortunately I have to fly SW to use up my other flights I cancelled so I don't lose the $$$. I brought a ticket on AA for the flight out.