help me pick a flight

[janischa]

hi, we're treating my niece on a holiday to WDW and now i'm looking to book her flight tickets. The only problem is, she'd be flying from Los Angeles to Orlando and i, being european, have very little clue about any american airlines. So i need your opinions. Looking at flight times etc, I have 3 options for her flight. Which of the following would you recommend: Southwest, Air Tran and American Airlines, if you'd consider the following points:
* chances of flight being cancelled
* safety; reputation of the airlines in terms of quality of their fleet and previous accidents
* timeliness
* friendliness

Seat pitch and width are not so important since she's tiny and would curl up anywhere Food not so important either, because we'll likely be overfeeding her in disney anyway

Finally, any suggestions where to book my flights best ? i usually look at kayak or the airlines'own websites

 

[goofy4tink]

Book with SW. They seldom make changes to their flight times once they are put out there. Mechanical or weather are pretty much the only things that would cause them to make any changes.
They have a very good safety record. I fly with them often and am very pleased each time.
I would suggest booking with them directly. The other thing I would do is to get your niece the Early Bird Checkin..that way she doesn't have to worry about checking in, online, at the 24 hr window. She will be checked in by SW 36 hrs before flight departure and she can just go to the airport, and check her bags and get her boarding pass then.

 

[MHSweb79]

Southwest, hands-down!

We pretty much use them exclusively now. VERY easy to make changes, friendly and helpful if you call them on the phone, and very nice flight attendants. No hidden charges or nasty surprises.

Not so great on food/ snacks, so make sure she brings something with her to munch on.

 

[rwdavis2]

One other site to check is hipmonk.com. It displays flights grapically and if you click on one you get the type of plane, length of layover if the flight is a connecting one and total time. The airlines here are so safe there's really no point in even trying to find the data. The difference will be insignificant.

The only catch with Southwest is that they do not assign seats. You have to check in at least 24 hours in advance to get your seating group (A,B,C). Go their web site and read up on the process. Also, you may want to consider Ealry Boarding Check In for Southwest. It's $10 per flight but they check you in automatically 36 hours before hand. It's very convenient and saves you from having to do it.

 

[goofy4tink]

The whole issue of 'not being able to choose your seats' with SW is not what it would seem. Actually, if you're in the A group, you stand a better chance of getting seats you really want vs booking with a 'regular' airline and choosing seats at the time of booking. I have never had an issue getting seats that I have been happy with when flying SW.
From what I can see, the OP is booking for their niece, just the one person, so it shouldn't be an issue.

Really, if you buy EBCI or get online right at that 24 hr mark, you should be fine.

 

[janischa]

thanks all of you
i'm going to book her SW and also get the early bird check in, not because of seat assignments (she's alone, so that indeed doesn't matter) but because of ease having her checked in already and also a little to be sure, she'll be in faster in case the flight is overbooked.
yieha, can't wait for may to come around the corner !!!