StrwLady
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2000
I live in the Dallas area and have always enjoyed flying to New Orleans via Southwest. But we were always limited because of the "Wright Amendment".
(The Wright Amendment of 1979 is a federal law governing traffic at Dallas Love Field, an airport in Dallas, Texas, USA. It originally limited most non-stop flights to destinations within Texas and neighboring states. The limits began phasing out in 1997 and 2005. In 2006, the amendment was repealed leaving some restrictions intact until 2014 but with an added restriction on the number of gates allowed)
So now we can fly Southwest to Orlando without having to deplane, collect luggage and check in again in a neighboring state.
Looking up airfares the other day I found Dallas to Orlando 1 stop no change plane for $250. This is a really good fare nowadays. At one time that was top would I would pay for direct but with airfare getting so ridiculously high, I was happy to see this fare. AA flights for the same time were over $400. While I have paid that before I just hate the thought of spending that much. So even though the Southwest flight will add 1 hour to our travel time, the cost, no fee for first checked bag, the convince of Love Field and not having to deplane makes up for that. Plus often you get fun crews with Southwest.
Now what makes me love Southwest even more is the no change fee! After I booked the flight and Disney portion I realized that we could possibly make the trip one day longer. (when you have pay to fly why not have as much time in between flights as possible
) Not only was there no fee to change my flight but it was so amazingly easy.
My last flight to Orlando my experience with AA and its management was horrible. I was wheelchair bound because of Achilles Tendon reconstruction and well to put it nicely I am "Pooh" sized. They way I was treated for needing help was not only disrespectful but also insulting. I swore to never fly AA again. But knew I might have to cave because of flights to Orlando. I am so happy with my Southwest booking that I think AA is a thing of the past
(The Wright Amendment of 1979 is a federal law governing traffic at Dallas Love Field, an airport in Dallas, Texas, USA. It originally limited most non-stop flights to destinations within Texas and neighboring states. The limits began phasing out in 1997 and 2005. In 2006, the amendment was repealed leaving some restrictions intact until 2014 but with an added restriction on the number of gates allowed)
So now we can fly Southwest to Orlando without having to deplane, collect luggage and check in again in a neighboring state.
Looking up airfares the other day I found Dallas to Orlando 1 stop no change plane for $250. This is a really good fare nowadays. At one time that was top would I would pay for direct but with airfare getting so ridiculously high, I was happy to see this fare. AA flights for the same time were over $400. While I have paid that before I just hate the thought of spending that much. So even though the Southwest flight will add 1 hour to our travel time, the cost, no fee for first checked bag, the convince of Love Field and not having to deplane makes up for that. Plus often you get fun crews with Southwest.
Now what makes me love Southwest even more is the no change fee! After I booked the flight and Disney portion I realized that we could possibly make the trip one day longer. (when you have pay to fly why not have as much time in between flights as possible
) Not only was there no fee to change my flight but it was so amazingly easy.My last flight to Orlando my experience with AA and its management was horrible. I was wheelchair bound because of Achilles Tendon reconstruction and well to put it nicely I am "Pooh" sized. They way I was treated for needing help was not only disrespectful but also insulting. I swore to never fly AA again. But knew I might have to cave because of flights to Orlando. I am so happy with my Southwest booking that I think AA is a thing of the past
I lucked out this past Nov though and also again in early Feb. I kept checking airfare for both trips every night and one night AA dropped their fares for Nov to $258.00 (still the most I've ever paid). I grabbed them though. Two days later they were back up to over $400.00 and never went down. A few weeks later the same thing happened for our Feb trip and I was able to grab them for $178.00. The next day those went up to over $400.00 and never came down. Southwest, Delta, and Continental never went below $400.00. I've also been watching airfare for my upcoming May, Sept, and Oct/Nov trips. I've been checking every day and they are staying around $400.00. A few weeks ago, someone posted that in mid March Spirit is starting to fly DFW to MCO (nonstop flights). I am a little leary of their bad reviews, but even with all the fees they charge their $163.00 flights are still alot cheaper than everyone else's over $400.00 flights. I caved in and bought tickets from them for my May and Sept trips. However, they've already changed my May flight times and I am now losing over 6 hours of my trip, so don't think I'll book them for my Oct/Nov trip and wished I hadn't booked them for my May and Sept trips. I'm still checking all the other carriers (includining Southwest), but thus far haven't found anything reasonable. If I could get decent times on Southwest for $250.00, I'd grab them. I like to fly out early and fly in late though.
