Bye SouthWest, Hello SouthEast?

[Braque]

Now that we have been disappointed with Southwest's prices on their recently released schedule: $290/RT from Albany - we are looking into flying with SouthEAST out of Newburgh, NY (still, they are at $260/RT but closer to home.

Someone elsewhere on these boards had pointed out one concern with the charter flight might be that they don't have the same obligation when a flight is cancelled to reassign you for a flight on that day with another airlines. WE have to catch a cruise, so this is a concern. I have emailed SouthEAST directly but response may take 2-3 days.

Has anyone had flight cancellations due to mechanical difficulties on SouthEAST?

 

[CarolA]

I am not sure what you expect SouthEast to say.... It's not like they know they are going to have problems?

The issue is that charter airlines have no interline agreements with other airlines so if they don't fly they would have to pay whatever the airlines wanted to get you there. And I doubt they would do it.

It will be interersting to see what they say.

 

[Lewisc]

Southeast owns 8 planes.
http://www.flyseal.com/newsroom.asp?news_id=3 gives you their policies. They can change the flight times, add a stop or a connecting city and they have no requirement to offer you a refund. Major changes in which the DAY changes will allow you to get a refund. I wouldn't consider them unless you are flying the day before your cruise.

Basically they can change your flight so that you land the same day but too late to make your cruise and you're not entitled to cancel your flight and get a refund.

Then can decide not to fly from Newburg to your city and you get a refund which may not be enough to pay for a flight on another airline.

For $30 I'd fly SW and just keep looking to see if the fare goes down.

 

[treehugger]

We have flown Southeast out of Newburg and Southwest out of Albany. I really liked Southeast in Newburg. Assigned seats at check-in and Stewart Airport is easy to handle. I do prefer Southwest though. Southeast usually only has one flight a day out of Stewart and if I remember correctly it now leaves about 6:00 pm arrives at 9:00 PM. Also, I just read that Stewart has one of the worse on time records, though we did not experience this (we went in March when the flight was 11:00 AM and less prone to weather related delays) Southwest's Albany schedule is much more extensive, so if for example a flight is cancelled due to weather or other problems you have a much better chance of going out that day. Plus they have a great frequent flyer program. And most importantly, Southeast flies into Sanford (which is also a nice airport) and ground transportation is a real problem. Most of car rental companies close about 5:00, though I have heard they will open sometimes to accomodate late flights. Also town car companies really charge a premium for pick-ups at Sanford.

 

[poohstx]

Southwest is adding a THIRD daily non-stop flight from ALB to MCO on Nov 30th. I don't think you can beat that. Currently a roundtrip on Mon-Tue-Wed-Thu-Sat is only $115.

 

[Donalds_best_pal]

I wouldnt fly SouthEast. I am student pilot so have lots of access to online files with the FAA and they have a very shaky maintence record. They have been accuesed of forcing pilots to fly with maintence issues or they would be fired. There have numerous news stories on them in florida were they are based. I jsut wouldnt fly them because of there complaints. They have investigated by the FAA 4 times in the last 3 years! 2 out of 4 they were fined 1.2 million for not following proper maintence requierments. I wouldnt fly them. IMHO
Matt

 

[d4est]

Originally posted by poohstx
Southwest is adding a THIRD daily non-stop flight from ALB to MCO on Nov 30th. I don't think you can beat that. Currently a roundtrip on Mon-Tue-Wed-Thu-Sat is only $115.

It must differ, though, depending on your dates. I checked southwest for Feb 19, return 26th and the price is 176 each way, Albany to Orlando...

 

[CarolA]

One of the reasons SouthEast is quoted above as having "maintance issues" is that the FAA tends to monitor these start up airlines very closely which is actually to your advantage.

I would not fly them just due to the 8 planes issue and the fact that you are stuck if they change things.

 

[autumnfae]

I flew out of Stewart on Southeast in December and will do so again in January. We left around 11a, got into Sanford at 2p-ish, and got to WDW just in time for check-in. In January we are flying out at the same time but our flight leaves WDW to come home at 4.30p or something. I didn't see any major problems with the way the airline worked. I mean, the plane wasn't squeaky clean, but neither were the Delta or American Airlines planes I've been on. The flight attendants did not look as neat and tidy as on other airlines, but they were nice and friendly all the same. Sanford airport is really nice. It's like Stewart, only a bit bigger and not as bumpkin-ish. And it's cleaner. And they have food at the terminals that is open in the morning.

 

[Braque]

Bumpkin-ish (with the chance of drive-by shootings) and I live in Newburgh! All kidding aside. I think you all have made some very good arguments. We plan on flying the day before the cruise departs so that gives us a little bit of leeway in case of . . . .
the inbound SE flight would not get in until 10PM, how do I get a rental car when all the counters at Sanford are closed at that time?

It seems like for an extra $50 per RT ticket, I could buy SW $176/OW fully refundable tix to MCO and hope for a future sale on my dates and have a greater sense of comfort that we would not have a transportation problem to start off our vacation.

Rats

 

[Lewisc]

Someone posted that Dollar is supposed to stay open until the last flight gets in, their website says they close at 10:00p most nights

 

[mochabean]

One other thing to consider is the potential cost differential between a rental at Sanford and one at MCO. Since Sanford is smaller and served by fewer car companies, rentals there might be more expensive, and this could negate any savings you get by flying Southeast.
Analogously, as another poster mentioned, the premium that twoncar services charge to go to Sanford needs to be factored in to the poetntial cost savings.

 

[bonilla]

Matt,

What is your opinion of Continental Airlines? I am a very, very nervous flier, and the only non-stop flight out of Cleveland to Orlando is Continental? Please tell me they have good safety records!

 

[Braque]

Thanks for everyone's input. I thought some might want to see the direct reply from SouthEAST regarding my original question:

We do everything within our power to ensure passengers reach their destination on time. However, delays do occur. We would in the case of any delay, transport passengers as soon as possible the same day, either by repairing aircraft if needed or providing additional aircraft. We have no provisions for flying passengers on other carriers. Although we are a public charter, these are scheduled flights, and we are obligated to transport passengers to their destination. For more information on our Public Charter, please see our website. Thank you for choosing Southeast Airlines.
Deanna
SEAL-CSR