Just back...first time using SWA

[MaryAnnDVC]

We always used Delta Express for our trips to Orlando, but since they are no longer, we flew SWA.

Our flight left Providence an hour late on Tues, Nov 25. (Our Delta flights were never more than 20 minutes late.) But one of the flight attendants was so absolutely hilarious, we got out of our grumpy moods quickly.

The cost, for whatever reason, was the highest we've paid for flights to Orlando in the 7 trips we've taken in the last 6 years.

With Delta, we had assigned seating, which I really like, esp since there are 5 of us (DH, me, 3 kids) and I don't want to be distributed throughout the plane. This trip, we arrived 2 hours early, and got "B" seating. Since I had done almost NO research ahead of time for this trip, and none about SWA, I had no idea what that meant...we arrived, plopped down in chairs to wait, then noticed after a while people lining up, and then noticed the "A,B,C" line designations. We did get seats near each other...3 together and 2 together.

Coming home from Orlando yesterday, we experienced a comedy of errors getting to the airport, and arrived just over an hour early. We got "C" seating. We lined up immediately, because we wanted to be at the front of the C's to have a better shot at being together. We ended up in the very last seats...a group of 6...3 and 3 facing each other. It was lots of fun! We had a party atmosphere back there, and the 6th person was a nice, friendly young woman. The only thing I didn't like was that there were no trays, and since we were facing each other, we kept bumping into each other's legs/feet. The flight attendants weren't "funny", but very pleasant.

All in all, it was a pretty good experience. The kids are getting older, so we're less inclined to worry too much about not sitting together.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

An hour late??? Wow, did they give a reason? They are usually so incredibly on time.
So, do you think you would fly them again?
All airfares are high these days, tis the economy and the time of year you flew.

 

[Candice30]

what is this about facing each other? are all of their planes like that? i am traveling with 2 kids and am used to the assigned seats. i'm not sure i could do the a,b,c thing.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

We were late because the flight coming in (with our plane) was late.

We always fly this time of year, and always had cheaper flights, but yes, it must be the economy.

The only grouping of seats that were facing each other that I noticed were a grouping towards the front, left side, and the last two rows of seats in the back, left side. There may have been others. We had the very last 2 rows, which was fine, particularly because we had so much stuff (brought lots of snacks) to gather up and I hate getting in people's way.

They did ask if there were people willing to move seats to accommodate those traveling with small children.

Would I fly them again? I've never flown by picking an airline...just a combination of the timing of the flights and the price. I'm sure SWA will be our best bet at times; last summer we went to Orlando and flew USAir. Whatever works!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by Candice30
what is this about facing each other? are all of their planes like that? i am traveling with 2 kids and am used to the assigned seats. i'm not sure i could do the a,b,c thing.

Not all the SWA planes have the facing each other seats, aka:lounge seating. As they are being refitted, they are eliminating the lounge seating. And, the new planes don't have it either.
Many people do the ABC with kids thing without any problems. Get there early and get an A or B pass and you should not have a problem, and....if you are traveling with kids 4 and under, you can preboard.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by MaryAnnDVC
We were late because the flight coming in (with our plane) was late.

We always fly this time of year, and always had cheaper flights, but yes, it must be the economy.

The only grouping of seats that were facing each other that I noticed were a grouping towards the front, left side, and the last two rows of seats in the back, left side. There may have been others. We had the very last 2 rows, which was fine, particularly because we had so much stuff (brought lots of snacks) to gather up and I hate getting in people's way.

They did ask if there were people willing to move seats to accommodate those traveling with small children.

Would I fly them again? I've never flown by picking an airline...just a combination of the timing of the flights and the price. I'm sure SWA will be our best bet at times; last summer we went to Orlando and flew USAir. Whatever works!

the fares for our flight in Jan are a bit higher than I am used to, but, still not too bad. 353.00 rt/ns/bdl to mco all taxes and fees for two people.