Southwest Airlines....

[KTrain15]

Please tell me your experiences. It's been a looooooooong time since I've used them. We purchases early bird passes. Looking forward to your responses!

 

[Alexle2007]

It's the only airline I have flown in a long time. With the exception of our flight home from Orlando in May when we had a 3 hour delay, our flights have always been on time or arrived early. We have always had excellent on board service. Most of our yearly flights are to Orlando and Phoenix (to visit the in-laws).

 

[auntmeme7577]

We love them, thought we would hate them, but we love them. We fly SW at least 4 times a year.

 

[Turts8]

We love them.

Some people are put off by the lack of seat assignments and the cattle-herding boarding process, but, whatever...

The staff is nice. They are accommodating with changes. They are family-friendly. There are no hidden fees. They are nearly always on time in my experience. I prefer SW over any other domestic airline.

Oh, and BAGS ARE FREE. I think it's absurd that you have to pay to bring your luggage on other airlines. I'm sure we're "paying" for it in the fare but with their prices, it sure doesn't seem like it.

 

[Blondeynurse]

Love them!! We fly southwest whenever possible!!

 

[ICanDis]

We always fly Southwest. You purchased the early bird check-in so you should get a good boarding position.
I've had a few flights that we're delayed (they seem to be the ones going to Disney instead of the ones coming home..lol)

The staff is always courteous and wonderful. The last flight I was on I was by myself with the kids and the flight attendants were so nice. We were asked by another family to re-arrange our seating configuration to help accommodate another family, and the flight attendants kept giving extra snacks throughout the flight as a thank you.

 

[KTrain15]

Sounds encouraging!! I get a bit of claustrophobia on flights so sitting by the window helps. Hopefully it won't be too much of a hassle.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

I love southwest! I think it's interesting that people refer to SW as "cattle call" boarding. I fin the SW boarding process less so than the legacy carriers. Yes, you have to line up by number but I've always found on the legacy carriers there's a hoard waiting to be the first on for their zone and a herd of people rushing the gate area.

 

[gncntry]

We love Southwest! I love being able to check 2 bags for free. Their rewards program has no blackout dates.
Their customer service is very responsive if you do experience a problem.

 

[OhMari]

I had ne bad experience, and that was coming home from Orlando. Our flight was delayed 45 minutes, then we waited another 30 minutes after we boarded, because the toilet was broke. They couldn't fix it, but allowed the plane to fly. We had a group of high school kids on the plane, and there was a line down the middle the whole flight home with everyone wanting to use the bathroom. the flight attendant gave up, telling kids to sit down. Then we waited another 90 minutes out on the runway inches forward waiting our turn to fly out of Orlando. Not once did the pilot come over the speaker and tell us what was going on. About two hours into the flight, I asked the attendant what time we would get into Milwaukee, she asked the pilot and he gave her a response, "when we get there." She told me he was a jerk, and she was frustrated with him. We finally landed in another hour. Sometimes the flight between Milwaukee and Orlando can be as short as two hours. I know a broken toilet is rare, and being stuck out on the runway isn"t Southwest's fault, but the pilot could of been communitive with the passengers.

 

[dcfromva]

Their customer service is very responsive if you do experience a problem.

I had ne bad experience, and that was coming home from Orlando. Our flight was delayed 45 minutes, then we waited another 30 minutes after we boarded, because the toilet was broke. They couldn't fix it, but allowed the plane to fly. We had a group of high school kids on the plane, and there was a line down the middle the whole flight home with everyone wanting to use the bathroom. the flight attendant gave up, telling kids to sit down. Then we waited another 90 minutes out on the runway inches forward waiting our turn to fly out of Orlando. Not once did the pilot come over the speaker and tell us what was going on. About two hours into the flight, I asked the attendant what time we would get into Milwaukee, she asked the pilot and he gave her a response, "when we get there." She told me he was a jerk, and she was frustrated with him. We finally landed in another hour. Sometimes the flight between Milwaukee and Orlando can be as short as two hours. I know a broken toilet is rare, and being stuck out on the runway isn"t Southwest's fault, but the pilot could of been communitive with the passengers.

OhMari,
Was this a recent experience? I would have called customer service--as gncntry mentioned above, they are generally very responsive.

 

[jreed]

I love Southwest...Ive flown with them twice this year and both times were great experiences. One flight we purchased earlybird and one we did not. It's a gamble either way but Ill probably do earlybird checkin next time as well.

 

[pittsburghmom]

Another Southwest fan here! We have flown with them 3x in the last 3 years. I love their sales and how easy it is to book your flights with points and there are no change fees or baggage fees. Last year, I had booked flights to MCO for around $112/pp (I cannot remember what the points equivilant was) and a couple of weeks later the same flight dropped to $99/pp. It was so easy to rebook and get the difference of those points put back into my account. This past trip, we were traveling on dd3's birthday. The lady at the ticket counter noticed it was her birthday and gave her a sticker or something....but the nice surprise was as we were standing in line waiting to board, one of the attendants announced that it was her birthday and came over with a big birthday certificate and a huge bag of snacks and treats, etc. The certificate and snacks were sent by that same woman down in ticketing!

 

[tink9702]

we like southwest. free checked bags is huge for us as a family and no hidden fees we like as well. we've always had very nice flight attendants and pilots too. I don't love their boarding system but I can put up with that because of the other positives.

 

[kydisneyfans]

Another SW fan here. They are the first I look to when booking travel. We have flown 5 RT in the past year+ and the 3 of us have never had a problem sitting together without buying early boarding. Free bags is another perk. I will say that we have been unlucky with delays though. I had a 5 hour delay in Chicago last April, our Orlando delay was over 2 hours. One of our hardside luggage bags was cracked during the last flight, they gave us a $100 voucher to replace it.

My wife had to change a business flight due to a meeting change with United. She was charged $200. That's another reason we stick with SW.

 

[OhMari]

OhMari,
Was this a recent experience? I would have called customer service--as gncntry mentioned above, they are generally very responsive.

Yes it was in February-we went downstairs to Customer Service in Milwaukee for Southwest and they just said to put it in writing and sign and document the incident. Haven't heard a word back.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I love southwest! I think it's interesting that people refer to SW as "cattle call" boarding. I fin the SW boarding process less so than the legacy carriers. Yes, you have to line up by number but I've always found on the legacy carriers there's a hoard waiting to be the first on for their zone and a herd of people rushing the gate area.

I couldn't agree more. Whenever we fly fly USAirways most passengers stand near the gate so much so that it's hard to determine who is actually in line and who is just hanging out there waiting to be called. You can't even find the end of the line to get in it.
I'll take SW any day. We have their cc and earn a one way to MCO roughly every 1-2 months. Their points system is very flexible. For example if I don't have enough pts for all of us to fly RT for free I can book all of us one way with pts and pay cash for the cheaper leg. With USAirways and United one would have to have enough miles to book RT.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

I prefer Southwest to United, which is usually the only real competition for the flights I need. Main reason is that I think Southwest seats are more comfortable and less cramped.

The way SW has everyone line up and board in a specific order--it's nothing like how it used to be when it was just first-come, first-served. It now is no more of a cattle call than United where everyone crowds the boarding area to be first in their group so they can get overhead space.

I have not experienced any delays with Southwest that were not weather-related and out of their control. If it's storming in Houston and the plane you are supposed to get on is coming from Houston, not much can be done.

 

[tinkerbell615]

I have been watching a flight for DH and myself in October. Honestly, I have only flown one time and my DH has never flown before. We always drive with the family to WDW. I checked today and the flight is $60.00 more than it was two days ago. Is is like to go down again? I don't know how all of this works and now I wish I would have booked a couple of days ago. We are really trying to keep the trip economical, as I am sure is everyone else. We are hoping to spend our 30th anniversary with the Mouse.

 

[tooh8ful]

Keep checking, Southwest flights can very by several dollars every day. I would also suggest booking each leg separately, as a one way. That way if one leg goes down in price you can get a credit and not have to see both legs of a rt go down to get the credit.