Preferred Airlines

[DonMacGregor]

They are definitely not the cheapest. But they've intentionally been trying to differentiate themselves as something more than just mass transit, and they've been moderately successful at it. I'm in a place in my life where I don't mind being a little bougie when it comes to travel. For example, I get grouchy when an airport only has a Priority Pass lounge, and not a proper SkyClub.

Preach, brother.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

Darn thats what I was hoping I feel like we're going to
be swapping for universal a lot

They used to deliver to Universal before Covid I guess, but their warehouse is really close to MCO. They operate 365 days a year, and we just Ubered from MCO to the warehouse, picked up our lockers, threw them in the Uber, and went to Universal. Then we loaded the lockers into an Uber XL and went over to WDW DVC for the second half of our trip, and they picked up the lockers at WDW DVC so we didn't have to worry about the dropoff on the way home. Their customer service is excellent. They had our lockers ready by their front register/desk for us to pick them up, no waiting for them to get them out of storage.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Darn thats what I was hoping I feel like we're going to
be swapping for universal a lot

Apparently, it has something to do with the Loews Hotels specifically. Owner's Locker has something like 300 hotels in their pull-down menu that they will deliver to, all over the greater Orlando area, but specifically none of the Loews-run Universal locations.

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

We're based out of Chicago and are loyal to AA. We have status and the credit card that gets us into the lounge....so we never really have to pay for any add ons. They also usually have 4-6 nonstop flights a day so pretty convenient. We will sometimes jump to UA if prices are super low....but with no status and just their basic credit card we get less perks flying them.

 

[Psymonds]

So Southwest was my preferred airline until their awful policy changes.

I know this is subjective to where one lives, but what are your airlines of choice? I am on the hunt for a new one to be loyal to and I'm not sure if any of them offer no change fees, but that is what i miss most. Extra points if yours has that with an economical price.

With me being a super stalker im looking for an airline with flexibility for when those waitlists go thru!

This really depends on your home airport.

if you live in Seattle, Alaska and Delta are maybe your best options.

In SFO, Alaska and United, etc.

in the end, I try to fly Alaska because I have status from work travel with them, but Southwest and united are cheaper sometimes too.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Yeah it does depend heavily on where you live. Don’t want to say where I live but Delta has such an overwhelming blatant dominance over our international airport I’m wondering who they paid off to make it happen

 

[beccasmom]

Ours is American 90% of the time. They have many non-stop flights from our airport (PHL, which is a hub for AA). It has mostly worked out well. We have their credit card, so bags are free. We once used SWA about equally with AA, but non-stops from PHL are now few and far between and the fares haven’t been all that great either. Delta has no-stops from here either, but our experiences with them have been so-so anyway.

I well remember the days (early 2000’s?) when my mom (now deceased) would call me at work telling me about a great SWA fare so we could plan a last-minute WDW trip (booking DVC last minute was easier then too). She disliked the no-assigned seating policy, but we got some awesome fares back then. Now we have a good number of miles, but they’re usually reserved for longer-distance trips.

 

[Lorana]

JetBlue is our airline of choice. I travel a lot for work, so always hit Mosaic status every year which has some nice perks. They have more leg room than most coach seats, and a good selection of free snacks, and we just overall like them a lot.

When we first started going to WDW, we flew Delta a lot, and then Southwest (but we didn't like the no assigned seating policy when traveling with young children; it added to the stress), but we've been regularly flying JetBlue for the last decade or more and love them.

We're fortunate that they fly out of 4 airports near us, including two of the smaller airports, so we have a lot of options too and can avoid the city if we want.

 

[Girlstar30]

I'm not loyal to any airline. I'll chose whichever airline has nonstop flights to my destination and have the best times that work for me. To Orlando, that's usually Southwest (there's also Spirit but I will never book a flight with them). Flying to LAX in September and only chose United because I had travel credit on my account. From personal experience, Southwest's customer service is better than United but who know how long that will be true with the new changes.

They're being extra nice right now

 

[RuntheMouse]

I just royally messed up a Delta flight modification and a lovely agent sorted everything out for me via chat. I was something that should have cost me money to remedy but she fixed it no fee. Never mind the fact I’m only a lowly silver medallion member. They truly have never let me down, this is why I’m so loyal to them.

 

[airjay75]

I haven't read through all the posts, but I'll put my plug in (sort of) for American Airlines, but I'll caveat that by saying I live outside Philly, and at PHL, AA is pretty much the name of the game. During COVID, all three of the big legacy carriers basically made it so you can achieve status with credit card spend alone. So, I have every AA credit card there is - earned lots of sign-up bonuses - I use their SimplyMiles offers, their shopping portal, even did some of the Miles for Opinions surveys for miles, have booked some hotels through their hotel site, when I rent cars, I use Avis because you can earn bonus AA miles. I've been Executive Platinum (their highest status outside Concierge Key which is by invite only) going on two years in a row. I believe Delta and United have similar ways to rack up miles - if I lived near one of their hubs, I'd probably look into their miles ecosystems.

So, I earn lots and lots of miles. The absolute best thing about having so many miles, is that when you go to book your flights, you have a TON of flexibility. You can cancel and rebook any time the miles redemption goes down. You can cancel and have your miles reinstated up until the plane takes off. On our most recent trip to MCO, I booked two different flights for our flight down - one on Friday night, one on Saturday afternoon - that way, if my Friday flight got cancelled (not unusual in the middle of summer for the last flight of the day if thunderstorms have kicked up on the East Coast), I'd already have a back-up flight the next day. Once my flight took off on Friday night, I canceled our Saturday flight and miles were immediately reinstated.

And, when you're using miles to book flights, it doesn't really feel like you're paying cash. Of course, I gave up the cash back I could have earned (and if I were diligent and set all that cash back in a savings account, I'd probably come out ahead that way). But, I enjoy playing the game to earn miles and get status.

Most of the perks that go with airline status these days are not worth it because so many people achieve status with credit card spend. But, if you're willing to put in some work, I think it can create a much more enjoyable experience booking and flying - I mean, you're still flying U.S. airlines, and none of them offer that great of a domestic service compared to airlines outside the U.S. - but, it is slightly better when you have status.

 

[matt_in_nh]

My airport has southwest as the major airline. We churn points and the changes are not significant me is. We don’t check bags and still can since we have the credit card. I am getting flights this year for 4000 to 12000 points to various locations. Mht to Mco direct I always get flights under 10k points and I have companion pass. If you use points you get full refund and points don’t expire.

 

[J-Dog]

Here's my order of preference, but I usually go with ideal flight times first, then price, then specific airline company:

1) Delta
2) United
3) American
4) Alaska
5) Southwest
6) Everyone else

 

[Brian Noble]

Most of the perks that go with airline status these days are not worth it because so many people achieve status with credit card spend.

Delta recently made this much harder---and made qualification harder in general. A lot of people were unhappy, but the changes were long overdue. If you want to hit Gold (the lowest useful tier) with only credit card spend, you'd need to rack up north of $75K in a year on their highest tier card. Because that card is not overly generous otherwise for rewards, it's not a particularly good value.

 

[airjay75]

Delta recently made this much harder---and made qualification harder in general. A lot of people were unhappy, but the changes were long overdue. If you want to hit Gold (the lowest useful tier) with only credit card spend, you'd need to rack up north of $75K in a year on their highest tier card. Because that card is not overly generous otherwise for rewards, it's not a particularly good value.

Interesting. That's what you have always needed on American to get to Platinum (which is their second tier, first tier is Gold which only takes $40k). Will be interesting to see how these programs evolve and what adjustments they make to spend requirements for each status level. I know I hear speculation each year about them increasing the amount required for one or more of the levels but, so far, American has not done that - they've actually added in some additional rewards at a couple of levels (which are not worth very much, but still nice to see additions rather than subtractions).

 

[Brian Noble]

Delta has definitely decided to cull the herd. I don't think they are wrong.

 

[dcfromva]

We'll see how the next Southwest phase pans out starting tomorrow (29 July) with the next schedule extension (and the opportunity to pay extra for a seat assignment for flights 27 January and later).

DH and I will wait and see how it goes.

 

[Simba's Mom]

DH and I will wait and see how it goes.

You're lucky you can wait! I'll be right there tomorrow, trying to book a flight from WDW back home. But DH predicts that after a few/several months of all these new rules with Southwest, it'll just be common-place.

 

[dcfromva]

You're lucky you can wait! I'll be right there tomorrow, trying to book a flight from WDW back home. But DH predicts that after a few/several months of all these new rules with Southwest, it'll just be common-place.

I figure it is a matter of making/learning new business rules on my part. One such rule is not booking basic fares with cash-only use points if I book a basic fare. Another is I won't use gift cards for refundable tickets.

The big question mark is if they will make changes to the companion pass.

 

[SteveH]

Alaska (and now Hawaiian) first then then Delta/American/Untied.