Long line for Southwest ticketing at MCO

[Chicago526]

I don't know United you fly on but I have seen all those things expect no advance seats when I flew United.

Haven't you ever stood in the very very long lines at O'Hare to get through security? Sure you may not have to wait for United's schedule but you are going to see all those other things with almost every carrier out there at one time or another.

I fly quite a bit and have seen some people that would have been perfect for that show but they weren't flying Southwest.

Actually, I've never waited more than 10 minutes in any line at O'Hare, not even to check bags. Maybe I'm just lucky. And while all airlines do over book, those airlines that offer advance seats bump those without seats first. This means if I have a seat assignment, the odds of getting bumped are almost zero. I admit I'd like to do without the schedule changes, but since that's the only big negative with United (in my experiance), I can live with it.

I have flown SWA twice, once it was on time and the other with a 1 hour delay due to mechanical (no biggie, it happens! and I don't WANT to fly on a broken plane). Both times it was uneventful (except the delay). But they were also 1 hour long flights and I didn't need to be anywhere at a particular time, so if I had been bumped it wouldn't have been the end of the world. But most of the times I fly, I do have to (or want to) be on time, and I dont' want to worry about being bumped, getting up at midnight to print a boarding pass, or have a mile long line to stand in when I do get to the airport.

As for SWA's passengers, you're right, I'm sure the keep the "best of the best" for the show. 99% of the passengers are nice, normal people I'm sure. But watching that show sure is a big turn off!

 

[CarolA]

Reason #10027 I will never fly SWA! I'd rather pay more for my ticket than fly with them. Their employees are great, it's their policies I can't stand. No advance seats, they oversell and bump like MAD, long check-in lines, you have to wait for them to release their schedule (although this does mean no schedule changes, I'll admit that part is nice), and have you seen "Airline"? I really don't want to fly with some of the people they've shown...

I know there are a lot of SWA fans here, and that's fine for you. I know that most of the time, most people don't have problems with SWA. But I'll pay $200 r/t Chicago-Orlando on United and not have to worry so much about all of the above, thanks.

Well, if oversold like mad is your reasoning... you are on the wrong airline. I have never even been on an oversold flight on SW and have been on LOTS of them with the other airlines.

I would not suggest you use "Airline" as your basis for judging an airline.

 

[C.Ann]

I flew Southwest out of Orlando in February and again in April (during the extended spring break period).. Lots and lots of passengers, but was able to breeze through the lines in no time flat..

I love SW!!! For $49 each way - and a direct flight from upstate NY to Orlando and back again (not to mention the "entertaining" attendants on the airplanes) I'll stand in ANY line they want me to, spend the night in the airport if necessary - and then grab a folding chair on the wing...

 

[Charleneluvsdisney]

Last year my family arrived at the MCO airport later than we were supposed to and almost missed our flight returning home. The line for curb-side check-in was long, but the line inside was even longer. The sky cap outside told me to go inside even though the line looked longer. He said it will move much faster than the curb-side because they have many more agents inside than out.

I really didn't believe him, but he was right! We were through in no time and did make our flight. So, even if it looks really long, I always go inside now.

 

[3Aumillers]

I had a friend who missed her Southwest flight out of MCO on May 15. She was told that a cruise ship was several hours late getting in on Saturday which caused thousands of people to miss their flights. Therefore, those several thousand people were in line on Sunday morning trying to get home. If that is true it is certainly no fault of Southwest.

 

[Pocahantas]

We heard the same rumor about the cruise ship coming in late earlier in the day on May 15 when we were standing in line.

 

[pooh2001]

What happened to SWA ?
We always fly them - but haven't in 2 years.
We left 2 hours early from the WDW resort and did not stand on a line to check in for an hour. We even got 'A' seats and were the 2nd group of people in the 'A' line gate row. I do not remember what day of the week
it was - but I think it was a Friday we went home from WDW.

Was is a Saturday or Sunday when the lines were very long at SWA ?

Would a week day be better to fly SWA ? Maybe even fly on a Friday ?

I am getting a bit concerned now with our favorite airline.
And we will not be able to log on and get pre-boarding passes on-line.
I heard it's a midnight on the day of your flight to get them.
We get up at 3 am to drive to the airport. I really do not want to wake up
at midnight just to do boarding passes.
And at WDW - there is no place for me to log on and print out boarding passes at mid-night.

 

[threeboysmom]

I too am very confused about this. I have NEVER had to stand in a line to check-in for Southwest at either Manchester or MCO. What has happened? Did this just happen on one particular day (May 15) or is it now a common occurance with Southwest??

 

[threeboysmom]

Pooh 2001 - don't worry about printing your boarding passes right at midnight. I have printed mine out at 6:00 or 7:00 when I've woken up and have always gotten "A" passes for my whole family. I don't think online check-in has caught on yet with the majority of the people flying. Just print them at 3:00 a.m. when you get up and you'll be fine! Just don't forget!

 

[3Aumillers]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the extreme lines that were noted on Sunday, May 15 were an out of the ordinary situation. If in fact a cruise ship was late returning to Port Canaveral on Saturday .. that would indeed cause for long delays on Sunday. I will continue to fly Southwest ...

 

[TammyC]

What happened to SWA ?
We always fly them - but haven't in 2 years.
We left 2 hours early from the WDW resort and did not stand on a line to check in for an hour. We even got 'A' seats and were the 2nd group of people in the 'A' line gate row. I do not remember what day of the week
it was - but I think it was a Friday we went home from WDW.

Was is a Saturday or Sunday when the lines were very long at SWA ?

Would a week day be better to fly SWA ? Maybe even fly on a Friday ?

I am getting a bit concerned now with our favorite airline.
And we will not be able to log on and get pre-boarding passes on-line.
I heard it's a midnight on the day of your flight to get them.
We get up at 3 am to drive to the airport. I really do not want to wake up
at midnight just to do boarding passes.
And at WDW - there is no place for me to log on and print out boarding passes at mid-night.

Sunday May 15th around 2:00 pm.

 

[CarolA]

What happened to SWA ?
We always fly them - but haven't in 2 years.
We left 2 hours early from the WDW resort and did not stand on a line to check in for an hour. We even got 'A' seats and were the 2nd group of people in the 'A' line gate row. I do not remember what day of the week
it was - but I think it was a Friday we went home from WDW.

Was is a Saturday or Sunday when the lines were very long at SWA ?

Would a week day be better to fly SWA ? Maybe even fly on a Friday ?

I am getting a bit concerned now with our favorite airline.
And we will not be able to log on and get pre-boarding passes on-line.
I heard it's a midnight on the day of your flight to get them.
We get up at 3 am to drive to the airport. I really do not want to wake up
at midnight just to do boarding passes.
And at WDW - there is no place for me to log on and print out boarding passes at mid-night.

I got an A boarding pass 1 hour before the flight on one of those days with the worst lines I have ever seen.

Personally I think only in very RARE cases do you need to get up at midnight.

Also, I have flown them quite often out of Orlando and Sunday morning May 15 was the worst line I have ever seen. It's really not always that bad!

 

[princesspumpkin]

I bet if there was a show that highlighted United or Delta, there would be a lot of the same drama!

 

[CarolA]

I bet if there was a show that highlighted United or Delta, there would be a lot of the same drama!

It might even be worse! LOL!

I have seen some really entertaining things... There was the man who cussed out a gate agent in Atlanta since the airport was closed due to a storm. (Lightning was hitting all around the airport, you could see it.) Not sure, but maybe the gate agent was just suppose to wave her hands and part the clouds?

There was the guy in Charleston who was SO drunk he walked into the line of new Marine recruits and just bounced off them and tried again. (Denied boarding LOL!)

There was the woman with the 4 year old who tried to pretend the child was under two so he qualified as a lap child... Busted when the child told the gate agent he was four!

There was the man who claimed our flight was delayed because he was African American and it was racism.

There are always people making up outrageous lies to try to get bumped to first class.

It never ends... some people get to an airport and just become monstors!

 

[dgcampagna]

We experienced the never ending line on May 7th. We were down for the press event and ME was just starting. The bus driver was confused and ended up going to the Dolphin to pick people up. Consequently, we got to the airport only an hour before our flight. We had to stand in that line - and although it moved continuously, it took at least an hour for us to get up to the counter. We were surrounded by people who missed their flights - us included. The people at the counter were very polite and did get us seats on the next available flight. It was fortunate for us that we had already missed our flight by the time we reached the counter - 15 other people got stuck in security and were put on standby for the next flight.

We already have tickets on Southwest for June 3, but we will not be checking luggage this time and we will be avoiding ME. I'm sure they are working out the kinks in the program, but with a party of 10, I don't want to be part of an experiment gone wrong.

 

[Gary M]

We flew SWA from Indy to Vegas on May 19. They were overbooked and "rewarded" several people to give up their seats. I do fly SWA to most cities, but not to MCO again. The trip to Vegas had one preboarder, a lady in a wheelchair, who was by herself. The couple of SWA flights we took from IND to MCO, had at least half of the plane preboard. Kids with their entourages and white haired people, with golf tans, out numbered the total in the A, B & C lines. The white haired people were in good enough shape to hurry down the jetway. We saw some of them in the exit rows even though if you preboard you're not suppose to sit in exit rows. I was about the only white-haired person that didn't preboard. I do like SWA except for the MCO situation.

 

[LeftCoaster]

Personally I think only in very RARE cases do you need to get up at midnight.

QUOTE]

I REALLY want to agree with this. If I'm up at midnight, I'll check in online. if not, I'll just do it first thing in the morning. I fly Southwest about once a month on average and have always managed to get an A boarding pass.

 

[poohbear7]

We just returned from our trip and when we checked in with SWA the agent said they were adding more agents to curbside checkin and the total of counters will be 14 should be in the next week or so. They had a departure checkin counter set up in the arrivals in terminal A that had hardly no line. This is were the skycap took us as the bus dropped us off at arrivals. She said it was closing next week as they were adding more checkins at curbside.

 

[mommic32]

This is exacytly what happaned to us! We were told to always book a seperate reservation for my children and I and then we can hope to get a "A" boarding pass,, since our last flight we were the 2nd to last people to board,, not fun when it was out shildrens 1st flight and we all had to sit apart!

My DH has a very common name. He ended up on the "no fly" list. We can no longer get our boarding passes on line or do curb-side check in. The line at Southwest is long but it does move fast. Makes me glad I hyphenated my last name.