Experience with Southwest Airline?

[bcla]

Southwest has started test flights for Hawaii, No passengers just part of the process for approval

Found this. First validation flight from Oakland to Honolulu is tomorrow.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/trav...waii-service-first-proving-flight/2769704002/

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Southwest rarely has full overhead bins because of their included checked-in bags. But I've been on plenty of full flights on other airlines where every single passenger seemed to have a standard carry-on to avoid the baggage fees. They'll usually do a once over of the passengers and maybe start offering free gate check-in 30 minutes before departure. I remember on one flight I didn't hear the message but figured it out later. By the time I was boarding I asked if it was too late for a gate check-in, and I was told that they had enough volunteers that there should be plenty of overhead bin space. I've also been on a flight where we got there just in time, and since there was no available overhead bin space they told us we had to have our carry-on gate checked.

I've experienced full or maybe precautionary "we're running out of overhead bin space" messages with SWA. There's been times where they may say before boarding "we're looking for 6 (or 10) passengers that will gate checked their bags". Honestly, that's usually a passenger issue because people are so reluctant to put their personal item under the seat in front of them to begin with combined with people who have snuck past with more than 1 personal bag and 1 carry on or their carryon is much larger than it should be (combined with how the passenger puts their bag in the overhead bin space).

I think the way they board, and this is all my opinion, is that people still want on board to get the seat and/or overhead bin but it's not a mob of people crowding the gate. It's been moved into a line that is fairly straight forward (in its present state) as there are electronic signs saying what boarding group and what side of the line you should be on (for 1-30 or 31-60) and their numbers are clearly listed in terms of what side of the pole you should be on and then of course going in sequential order. Certaintly not everyone likes lining up that way though.

 

[longboard55]

we do the LA to frisco southwest a lot and they are always out of bins for C class. The newer planes do have bigger bin space so you can but roll ons on edge, can't remember which airline has it, I think it was the 737 e

 

[bcla]

I've experienced full or maybe precautionary "we're running out of overhead bin space" messages with SWA. There's been times where they may say before boarding "we're looking for 6 (or 10) passengers that will gate checked their bags". Honestly, that's usually a passenger issue because people are so reluctant to put their personal item under the seat in front of them to begin with combined with people who have snuck past with more than 1 personal bag and 1 carry on or their carryon is much larger than it should be (combined with how the passenger puts their bag in the overhead bin space).

I wonder if it would work better if they would enforce that nothing other than what would reasonably be considered carry on sized should go in the overhead bin. I know they do that on other airlines - especially Spirit where there's a carry on fee.

I do remember being on a Southwest flight two decades ago where it was jam packed. This was well before other airlines started charging routine baggage fees. I was given a carry on full of delicate electronics and was told that under no circumstances would it be checked in. That was crazy. I checked in my own carry on and brought on board two tote bags filled with schwag I got at an electronics convention in Vegas. Everything was full and in the end I recall placing the carry on under the seat and piling the bags at my feet. But they let me on with all that junk.

 

[wilbret]

Most recently with Delta, on at least one of the flights my husband was zone 1 and over half the plane had boarded by that time and I was in zone 2 because I was flying on miles. Very difficult to find overhead bin space even for him. Part of what can make it longer getting off the plane is bags not located right by the owner of the bag. Can't say that's all the time it does happen (on any airline though). I guess my point is a seat on Delta for example is great because you have an assigned seat. But it doesn't absolve other issues. In terms of the boarding process people crowd the gate wanting to get on the plane to get settled and get that coveted overhead bin space right by them. Of course it may not matter to you whether you're first or last but can you tell that to the other passengers too

You should have boarded together... they wouldn’t have stopped you. (In my experience)

 

[wilbret]

Southwest doesn’t limit the early birds they sell. You could buy it, and still be in the B30s.

I just prefer to have a seat guaranteed.

 

[wilbret]

Southwest rarely has full overhead bins because of their included checked-in bags. But I've been on plenty of full flights on other airlines where every single passenger seemed to have a standard carry-on to avoid the baggage fees. They'll usually do a once over of the passengers and maybe start offering free gate check-in 30 minutes before departure. I remember on one flight I didn't hear the message but figured it out later. By the time I was boarding I asked if it was too late for a gate check-in, and I was told that they had enough volunteers that there should be plenty of overhead bin space. I've also been on a flight where we got there just in time, and since there was no available overhead bin space they told us we had to have our carry-on gate checked.

Every. single. Southwest flight. I’ve been on has full bins. They end up gate checking people. I just flew them to Vegas and back. I guess it depends on the route.

I once had to fly from Atlanta to Grand Rapids by way of Orlando thanks to work travel booking rules.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I wonder if it would work better if they would enforce that nothing other than what would reasonably be considered carry on sized should go in the overhead bin. I know they do that on other airlines - especially Spirit where there's a carry on fee.

I do remember being on a Southwest flight two decades ago where it was jam packed. This was well before other airlines started charging routine baggage fees. I was given a carry on full of delicate electronics and was told that under no circumstances would it be checked in. That was crazy. I checked in my own carry on and brought on board two tote bags filled with schwag I got at an electronics convention in Vegas. Everything was full and in the end I recall placing the carry on under the seat and piling the bags at my feet. But they let me on with all that junk.

I'm sure they could enforce it I just don't know if they feel like going through the hassle of checking each and every person's carry on and personal item that looks like it could be over the limit unless it started really impacting their ability to get off the jetway quick enough. I'm sure they do a cursory check mind you so I don't think they are letting these big huge bags on board all the time but def. there are bags that are bigger than SWA dimensions for both carry on and personal item.

 

[NotUrsula]

The closest equivalent UK airline is probably FlyBe, but SWA has more lenient refund policies and more generous bag allowances.

SWA is a dependable major airline with nearly full-service: the only traditional option they do not offer is interline accommodation for baggage on a connecting flight from another airline, or emergency accommodation on a different carrier in the event of mechanical failure. (Mechanical delays are very rare on SWA. They more often have issues with weather delays because they route a lot of their flights as milk runs that hopscotch across the US during the course of the day; that means that weather at any one of those stops can cause a ripple-delay effect. Note that SWA will not actually create itineraries that include more than 2 stops, and those are uncommon. If you really wanted to do several takeoffs and landings on the same aircraft all day long, you would have to go out of your way to book it that way on purpose.)

Also note that SWA doesn't have a monopoly on weirdly routed domestic itineraries. Delta will commonly fly you from Texas to Louisiana via Atlanta, and from Harlingen, TX, getting to New Orleans on Delta will take you through Minneapolis! The US "legacy carriers" (United, Delta, and American) use a hub and spoke plan, which actually usually creates more overflys than SWA's point-to-point style on *most* routes. (The standard joke in the South is that if you take Delta to hell after you die, you'll have to go through Atlanta to get there.)

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You should have boarded together... they wouldn’t have stopped you. (In my experience)

We like to try to play by the rules

Southwest doesn’t limit the early birds they sell. You could buy it, and still be in the B30s.

That's likely why they upped the fee for it and made it dynamic based on demand and route.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The closest equivalent UK airline is probably FlyBe, but SWA has more lenient refund policies and more generous bag allowances.

SWA is a dependable major airline with nearly full-service: the only traditional option they do not offer is interline accommodation for baggage on a connecting flight from another airline, or emergency accommodation on a different carrier in the event of mechanical failure. (Mechanical delays are very rare on SWA. They more often have issues with weather delays because they route a lot of their flights as milk runs that hopscotch across the US during the course of the day; that means that weather at any one of those stops can cause a ripple-delay effect. Note that SWA will not actually create itineraries that include more than 2 stops, and those are uncommon. If you really wanted to do several takeoffs and landings on the same aircraft all day long, you would have to go out of your way to book it that way on purpose.)

The bolded is a large reason why we try as hard as possible when a connection is required to stay out of TX.

We just don't seem to be able to get around there without a delay both coming in, connecting and leaving lol. We're needing to book a flight to LAX at the end of this month and the last non-stop out there just won't work because of my husband's work obligations so we're stuck with a stop. It was either Houston or Las Vegas. We both immediately were like nope not Houston even though Houston's was staying on the same plane and Las Vegas was switching planes.

It's also the reason why my husband's flight home from BWI to KCI would every so often get delayed. The flight would originate I think often in Las Vegas, connect in TX (I forget where), go to Charlotte, then BWI then to KCI (which would be its last stop). If I noticed a delay I would often see a bunch of storms over TX with it showing the flight in TX as delayed. Sometimes they would pick up good time though. One time though I was coming home from visiting him. The weather was so bad in TX it caused such a bad delay that they took a plane that was coming from Orlando and used that one when it landed to get us passengers home to KCI. The flight was delayed but they were able to make good time up and I think I landed back home about 20mins later than I originally should have.

So in other words TX is just not our friend (though I'm happy that they added non-stop to Austin and to San Antonio from my airport).

 

[Squirlz]

I almost never travel for work and never fly American so I have zero status with them. I had to take them for a rare work flight and wasn’t about to pay to upgrade to first on a work ticket, but did upgrade to economy plus or whatever as it was cross country. So I was “zone 1” but because I was taking what was obviously a popular business route, by the time they got trough all the triple diamond ultra platinum ruby black belt members on down there were like 5 people left at the gate when they called zone 1

I keep thinking about this...

 

[meggiebeth]

Thanks everyone for your advice - we have booked with Southwest after all, flying from Nashville.

When it comes to the boarding groups, is there really a risk that the lower boarding group you’re in, the more likely you won’t get on the flight if it’s overbooked? We haven’t paid for the early check in as of yet (it seems an awful lot on top of the standard fare) but if it really guarantees no issues with boarding then maybe it is worth considering?

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

For the past 20 years or so we have flown SW an average of a couple of times a month and have had very, very few problems. But if it would give you peace of mind to sign up for the early bird fee, I would do it. Early bird also means that you don't have to worry about making sure to check-in online precisely (and I do mean precisely) 24 hours prior to your flight to get as far up in the queue as possible. It also virtually guarantees you would never be bumped. Unless the plane is particularly packed, early bird should get you A boarding passes, or at least early B's - both should give you an excellent choice of seats.

If you decide not to pay the early bird fee, just make sure that you hover over your computer exactly 24 hours ahead of your flight to check in online. Personally I almost never choose the early bird option, but I don't mind obsessively hovering! I usually end up in the B group - sometimes near the beginning, sometimes closer to the end of it. So far I've never been in the C group, but I suppose it could happen. The people who are in the most danger of being bumped on oversold flight (which are rare to begin with) are those who check in less than 24 hours ahead of the flight, and are at the end of the C group. SW does try hard to pay people to take other flights and they usually do a pretty good job of avoiding actually bumping anyone. Anyway, as long as you're not flying during particularly busy periods, you should be fine.

 

[bcla]

Thanks everyone for your advice - we have booked with Southwest after all, flying from Nashville.

When it comes to the boarding groups, is there really a risk that the lower boarding group you’re in, the more likely you won’t get on the flight if it’s overbooked? We haven’t paid for the early check in as of yet (it seems an awful lot on top of the standard fare) but if it really guarantees no issues with boarding then maybe it is worth considering?

No. Southwest doesn’t overbook as a matter of policy. They say they might be oversold in case of equipment change, as there are differences in the number of seats available on different aircraft configurations.

https://www.southwest.com/html/generated/help/faqs/overbooking_faq.html

 

[bpadair32]

SW is awesome. We often fly as a family of 5 and never have an issue sitting together.

 

[china mom]

Thanks everyone for your advice - we have booked with Southwest after all, flying from Nashville.

When it comes to the boarding groups, is there really a risk that the lower boarding group you’re in, the more likely you won’t get on the flight if it’s overbooked? We haven’t paid for the early check in as of yet (it seems an awful lot on top of the standard fare) but if it really guarantees no issues with boarding then maybe it is worth considering?

Southwest has instituted a policy of not overselling/overbooking flights. This can be done in the event of flight cancellations but not as a regular over sell situation. Therefore, your likelihood of being involuntarily denied Boarding is greatly minimized.

Your boarding position assignment is made based on the order that passengers check in online staring at 24 hours before the flight (36 hours before the flight if you have paid for Early Bird Check In (EBCI))

The last couple of passengers to check in online may get a "See Gate Agent" instead of a boarding position. Also, those who don't check i until they actually get tot he airport may get the same. This means that if, for some reason, the flight is overbooked (maybe a plane change to a smaller plane).

Those are the folks who would get bumped if someone has to get bumped.

I haven't heard SW call for volunteers in years.

 

[BrianL]

Well, 5 pages in, but I'll just add that I love Southwest and will use them whenever possible. They are great! There's a lot of Southwest love in this thread.

 

[Floridaman999]

I know a few members of their pilot group and they all have wonderful things to say about them as a company and their quality of life. This same group has had some horrendous things to say about some other airlines they've all flown for as well. I feel pretty confident that if the pilot group is happy, then the organization as a whole is probably pretty happy. That also leads me to believe that it is a well run airline and their prices are pretty darn good as well. I've flown with them often and have never had a bad experience with them.

 

[tex1989]

I have not read all the responses but will jump on the bandwagon endorsing SWA. For a family from the UK flying one leg on SWA I am not sure you will fully understand the love that many of us have for the airline. For us the first thing we love is it is a Texas based, Texas born company. (gotta understand Texans to fully understand this) Secondly, for trips to WDW it is wonderful. We have a Chase SWA Visa and get airline points for all our spending. We fly out of Houston Hobby Airport which is 15 minutes from our home as opposed to all the other airlines that fly from the big airport in North Houston. Big plus here for us. The discussion I read centered somewhat upon luggage and carry ons which we pay no attention to. The reason is because since we do ME at WDW once we drop our bags at the beginning of our trip we don't see them again till they are in our room at Disney. We just pack our backpacks so when we hit WDW we go straight to the parks. Coming home we check the bags at the resort and don't see them till we claim them in Houston again. Yeah given that you are doing things 24 hours before your flight it is sometimes hard to log in an claim your boarding position so we generally splurge and pay for A group boarding. We have always been in the A group. Through our credit card we get 4 upgrades to front of line boarding (A-1-A-15) a year and save those for when we miss checking in when we don't buy A group seating. We also get $75 a year in travel credit. Finally since it is just the wife and I we sometimes book trips Tuesday to Tuesday because there are times those flights can be had for as little as $39 per person one way. We have gotten round trip airfaire to WDW for the two of us for $199.

Part of the whole carry on issue stems a lot from the history of the airline which I have flown on since the 70"s. It was a Texas and limited states airline for a long time and most trips were short business overnighters and no one checked their baggage. The bread and butter of this airline for many years was flying people from Houston to Dallas as they had flights leaving each city every 30 minutes from 5:30 am till 10:00 pm. (This is also a reason that SWA has lobbied heavily for many years to prevent the building of high speed rail between Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio)So most people did carry on and their baggage holds were usually full of packages because they made a lot of money on freight. Now in an era of extra charges people still think they need to carry on stuff but the reality is there is no charge for bags so why carry on? People in a rush to get out of the airport I guess. I'm on vacation and Disney is taking care of the bags so I don't care. Just my opinion.

So yeah SWA is a great airline in my book and if it fly's where we are going we take it. That ends my rant about how great an airline I think it is.

EDIT to add: And yes I know several pilots for SWA and they love flying for them and make very good money doing it.