Never again Southwest

[inkkognito]

Being the "greyhound of the skies" is not necessarily a bad thing. I am amazed at the fares I've been getting on SW lately. With ATA mostly gone from Chicago, the fares went up quite a bit, but now they have dropped back down to unreal levels...way LESS than I ever payed on ATA. Sure, I don't have an assigned seat, and their planes can't even begin to compare to the plush 757-300s that I was used to. But when I think of it as a "flying bus" and remember what I'm paying, it suddenly looks a lot more appealing.
Barb

 

[gw_lit]

Just so you know, people that work at the airports call airlines like Southwest, the Greyhound of the skies. A big bus that flies, the fares might be cheap, but you get what you pay for, a bus ride in the sky. Jetblue is a big step above Southwest, new planes, leather seats, TV's at evrey seat, reserved seating and you can make reservation way longer in the future than Southwest.

Maybe true that others call Southwest the Greyhound of the Skies, but I call them "profitable" or "in the black", something not many other airlines can call themselves. And I know JetBlue is in the black as well. I still don't understand the Greyhound of the Skies thing though, other than having assigned seats, I get nothing more on American, Delta or Continental than I get on Southwest. (In fact, I usually get better service on Southwest and I'm a Platinum frequent flyer on American.)

 

[MandM-Mom]

We also love to fly southwest, if we could not fly at such a discount we probable would not vacation to such places as Disney. We vacation when the "airfare gods" say they are having click and save sales. Oh well I would not turn away $46 flights unless I was traveling in the cargo area with the goats and sheep!!! So hello "Greyhound of the Skies" !

 

[waltsdouble]

I checked Southwest for reservation close to where I live, yesterday, April 25, can not book beyond September 12, Jetblue is taking reservations in January 2006. My next trip is with two grandchildren, three children, one daughter in-law and my wife. It's nice to know we all be sitting together, with the grand kids sitting between family members, can Southwest promise the same, six months in advance. the $30.00 per ticket more is well worth it.

 

[digskat]

My 7YO was tagged for additional security on both legs of our trip this past February. He's not exactly high risk either, but this is the world we live in today. If it helps to keep us safer, I'm all for it.

When a child is tagged for additional security reasons, do they allow a parent to go with them? I think it would be frightening for a child of 7 to have to go alone for security checks, or is it the same as a minor flying alone they have a specific airline attendant/seucrity person take them off and bring them back to the parent. If not then I would seriously consider ever flying!

 

[riu girl]

Being Canadian I am unfamiliar with the TSA extra checks. If I or someone in my family had to do an extra security check, can someone tell me what that would involve? I have a special needs DD8 who might be frightened by all of this. Going through regular security she did very well out of BUF and MCO 12/2004, but if we were to fly an open jaw 12/2005 and she was picked to do an extra check, I would need to tell her exactly what would be involved.
Being wanded, having to take off her shoes, having her carryon toy bag looked through would be fine but if they were to remove her from us to do anything else that would be too frightening for her.

Any info. would be greatly appreciated.
Suzy V.

 

[waltsdouble]

The TSA agent will take the selectee aside and use a hand held wand, a metal detector. Most of the agents are pretty good with the travelling public, but human nature being what it is, give them a hard time, and you will be delayed. Most secondary checks take less than a couple of minutes.

 

[dangler]

Just wondering if you were allowed to go in the same extra security line as your son? I am hoping they wouldn't make him go himself?

 

[debster812]

Just wondering if you were allowed to go in the same extra security line as your son? I am hoping they wouldn't make him go himself?

When my DS got pulled, the TSA agents insisted that either my DH or I stay with him at all times.

 

[digskat]

Just wondering if you were allowed to go in the same extra security line as your son? I am hoping they wouldn't make him go himself?

That'll make you feel better about booking your trip Kat

 

[Pinnie]

Personally I don't care what they call SWA, I call them FANTASTIC. Try flying out of DTW on the "legacy" carrier NWA. See how many times your flight will change from the time you book it. See how much extra $$$ you will pay for a seat assignment. See how often that NWA flight will be on time. And extras? LOLOL NWA serves no more than SWA does.

Give me a SWA flight anytime. I know that when I book it, it will NOT be cancelled unless there is a weather or mechanical problem.

Give me SWA's Rapid Reward program anyday. I can fly with my free RR ticket on ANY flight that has a seat save about 4 days during the year. I have 50,000 world perk miles on NWA that are worthless in my book!

Can't compare JetBlue since they don't fly out of DTW or anywhere around me. (As to the leather seats...SWA is installing them on all their planes)

We also don't have AirTran in Detroit either.

pinnie

 

[inkkognito]

I was definitely impressed how SW mixes and matches aircraft when there are delays. I recently encountered a weather delay on SW that turned into a mechnical delay when they switched us to another aircraft. No problem...they're all 737s! They drummed up another one and we were on our way...sure, we were late, but there was no helping the weather and they did the best they could in a messy situation.
But I'm not impressed with Rapid Rewards, probably because ATA spoiled me. For every three roundtrips, they gave a free companion ticket with NO blackouts, even on holidays. But all those freebies didn't do me any good when they bailed out of Chicago.
Barb

 

[mrslur]

When we had this happen last year we all stayed together. They just took us off to the side and had him take off his belt, his shoes, empty his pockets, etc.

 

[riu girl]

When do you actually know that you have been identified as a passenger who must under go an extra security check? If by the remote chance one of the kids has to undergo extra security check I would like to give them some information ahead of time regarding this.
Suzy V.