Is there anything wrong with this plan?

[Bobo912]

I need to fly to San Francisco near the end of June. There will be two of us traveling. I was planning to fly roundtrip on SWA, but I'm not very happy with their fares at the moment. I found a considerably cheaper roundtrip fare on Delta, but their return flights don't fit our schedule. So I'm thinking about flying to SFO on Delta and return on SWA. These are the fares for two people:

SWA flight to SFO $502.80 (layover at LAX)
Delta flight to SFO $340.80 (layover in Detriot)
SWA return flight $546.80


I'll have one large bag that we'll need to check and a smaller bag that we can carry on. So that's another $23 added to the Delta fare, for a total of $363.80, which will save me $139. I have $84 in ticketless travel funds I can use for the return SWA flight. There's always the possibility that the SWA fare may go down, but I doubt that is will go down enough to make the Delta fare unattractive. Even if it does go down, I could still rebook the return flight and get half the benefit. My main concern is, why is the Delta fare so much lower than I can find on any other airline? There are two cheap Delta flights from Nashville to San Francisco on my travel date. Both are DC-9's and both go through Detroit. Is there something undesirable about the plane or the airport? I've never flown to or through Detroit. I have flown on a DC-9 and it was fine, but it was back in 1982. The Delta flights with layovers in Atlanta or Minneapolis have much higher fares. TIA for your input.

 

[Zerosinthecloset]

Have you checked into Oakland. We always fly into OAK rather than SFO because SWA has nonstops into OAK from ABQ, but not into SFO. Not sure what your dates are, but there does appear to be at least one nonstop from/to OAK the last week of June. The nonstop from BNA to OAK on June 24 comes in at $319.40 for two.

OAK is only 4 BART stops from downtown San Francisco and SFO is something like 12.

I would book SWA and wait for future sales. Good luck.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

When Delta merged with Northwest, they took over Northwest's fleet of "ancient" McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30, DC-9-40, and DC-9-50 aircraft. Some of these aircraft are over 40 years old.

Despite the age of the aircraft, I would not hesitate to fly on them.

The seating is typical of economy cabins on domestic legacy carriers. The interior is like the more widely used MD-80, MD-83, MD-90, and Boeing 717 aircraft (and other variants derived from the DC-9). In economy, there are 2 seats on one side of the aisle and 3 seats on the other.

Detroit was one Northwest's major hubs (along with Minneapolis), so it's now a major Delta hub. Delta's Detroit terminal is a snazzy, 21st century facility that opened in 2002.

In addition to considering the cost of checked bags, also consider four other factors as you make the comparison with Southwest:

• The cost if you need to change your flight for any reason (including illness). It depends on your fare rules for your discounted flight, but Delta usually charges a $150 fee per ticket in addition to any fare difference. With Southwest, you only pay the fare difference.
• The airline's track record for making schedule changes. Delta likes to change flight times, flight numbers, and aircraft types. Southwest waits longer to release flights, but then normally sticks to their schedule.
• Assigned seats. Delta provides advance seat assignments. Southwest does not.
• Connection vs. single-plane service (even if the plane makes one or more intermediate stops). Most connections work out, but there's always the possibility of missing your second segment if the first segment is delayed.