Southwest Airlines Flight Question

[VandVsmama]

You'll be fine. Don't sweat it.

 

[DopeyDame]

You'll be fine.
There's really not a huge difference between most airlines on time performance in the US. So if your individual flight gets cancelled or delayed, it's just luck on the actual plane and weather when you're flying. I've found southwest to be really good about rebooking quickly and easily, and they're also very generous with their waivers for rebooking in advance in the event of predicted weather.
Here's the 2017 numbers (couldn't quickly find the 2018 numbers, but I'm sure they aren't all that different)

U.S. Airlines Ranked by Punctuality

• Delta – 82.76%
• Alaska Airlines – 81.06%
• United – 79.86%
• American Airlines – 78.97%
• Frontier – 78.91%
• Southwest – 78.55%
• Spirit 76.97%
• JetBlue – 71.74%

 

[jo-jo]

You are correct, the flight you're looking at is cancelled 40% of the time. However, I have to echo what previous posters have said. I've had flight delays on Southwest, one cancellation (the one and only time I've had a flight cancel was on Southwest), and they've gone way above and beyond in terms of customer service. I just got home on Wednesday from Florida, and had a 4 hour delay due to lightning storms in the area. Although they were under no obligation to do so, they issued a $200 voucher to everyone on board for the inconvenience. Delays/cancellations can happen on any airline, but Southwest does everything they can to avoid them, and will really take care of their customers when they arise.

Wow we have flown SW the last 12-14 years once or twice a year to disney and it seems almost every flight home, there are delays by hours. We have never gotten anything. Our biggest delay was about 12 years ago, we were delayed about 8 hours. Some people bailed and left mumbling about sure glad we got insurance, but others rallied together for the kids. I had crayons and stickers and paper, we had about 8 -10 kids sitting around a table doing art work. Another parent had a 17 inch laptop and dvds....set it up and moved chairs, so some sat on floor, some sat on chairs, someone else made snack run into the food court. SW did nothing at all for us.

 

[leebee]

I love Southwest. Now let me tell ya about American.......

DITTO!! We almost always fly Southwest, but we have a 2-4 hour drive to the nearest airport from which they fly. As we are going to a wedding in Nov and only have the weekend, I booked American out of Bangor (20 mins from home, no long trip to the airport, no worries even if the roads are bad). Well... American just changed our flights. We now have a 30 min layover in DCA (this was available when I booked at a lower rate but I specifically didn't choose it) or a 52 minute layover in PHL (flight from Bangor has a 67% on time rating, and we're connecting to the last flight of the day). Either way we are in a pickle, and as American changed our times by 31 mins and 39 mins, we can only rebook in the fare category and they are under no obligation to reschedule us anywhere else. They say sorry, shouldn't have booked basic economy. I say sorry, you shouldn't have changed my schedule after I gave you MONEY for this. Grrr... now I'm annoyed that I didn't say "the heck with the weather" and book Southwest out of Portland!

 

[KPeterso]

I would take the opposite view. Southwest is, by far, the worst airline out there IMO. Not surprised if I see a cancellation rate of 40%. I know there are plenty of people who love them, but I fly relatively frequently and will avoid using them if I can. Nothing but a mess.

I am also not a fan of Southwest at all. I do not understand all the love for them. I have flown them a couple times, but just don't even look at them. And I find their flight prices from SNA or LAX always seem super high for anywhere I am looking to go. I am paying $384 round trip (LAX to MCO) for Comfort Plus on Delta, and when I looked at Southwest, they are $250-300 one way. I will be sticking with the better fares I can find on the legacy airlines for the routes I am interested in.

 

[RangerPooh]

Delays happen because of weather all the time. I'm not sure where you're flying from, but we've flown SW from (WA) SETAC/GEG to (CA) SNA/LAX, and (TN) MEM/BNA to (FL) MCO many times without issue. Delayed flights happen but we've always been rebooked quickly if the flight isn't going to leave within two hours. I've had worse experiences on other airlines.

 

[nkereina]

I am also not a fan of Southwest at all. I do not understand all the love for them. I have flown them a couple times, but just don't even look at them. And I find their flight prices from SNA or LAX always seem super high for anywhere I am looking to go. I am paying $384 round trip (LAX to MCO) for Comfort Plus on Delta, and when I looked at Southwest, they are $250-300 one way. I will be sticking with the better fares I can find on the legacy airlines for the routes I am interested in.

I think people like myself, who do not live near major cities, appreciate Southwest for their nonstop service from the smaller cities. None of the major carriers offer nonstop service to Orlando from Buffalo, so our options are limited to Southwest and JetBlue. Southwest usually offers more nonstop flights per day and the times are better than JetBlue, so Southwest it is for us. Since they offer multiple per day, and since its a quick 2.5 hour flight for us, it makes any issues more tolerable. I think its easier to have a favorite airline and to write off other ones when you have more options at your disposal.

 

[RangerPooh]

I think people like myself, who do not live near major cities, appreciate Southwest for their nonstop service from the smaller cities.
/QUOTE]

This! When we lived in rural Washington state our best options were often Southwest and Alaska/Horizon for flying. Sure we had more options out of Seattle, but you had to get there first. Even flying out of Memphis TN we have like 4 or 5 options, but for our family SW is usually the best one.

 

[msjprincess]

I prefer SWA because it usually comes out cheaper, once I add in baggage costs, seat selection on other airlines... Plus I like being able to change flights or rebook for free and get a credit when prices drop. My daughter flew to Florida over Spring Break. The price dropped by almost $100. That paid half her trip back to Florida this month.

SWA and Frontier are the only airlines from my local airport. But even if I have to go further and fly out of LGA or EWR I prefer SWA.

 

[mamamary]

Delays happen because of weather all the time. I'm not sure where you're flying from, but we've flown SW from (WA) SETAC/GEG to (CA) SNA/LAX, and (TN) MEM/BNA to (FL) MCO many times without issue. Delayed flights happen but we've always been rebooked quickly if the flight isn't going to leave within two hours. I've had worse experiences on other airlines.

Leaving from BWI on a 635 am nonstop flight.

 

[bcla]

I am also not a fan of Southwest at all. I do not understand all the love for them. I have flown them a couple times, but just don't even look at them. And I find their flight prices from SNA or LAX always seem super high for anywhere I am looking to go. I am paying $384 round trip (LAX to MCO) for Comfort Plus on Delta, and when I looked at Southwest, they are $250-300 one way. I will be sticking with the better fares I can find on the legacy airlines for the routes I am interested in.

You either think their humor is OK or not. Some like their boarding policy while others think it’s like riding a bus.

However, I haven’t seen any massive delays that were any different than possible from other airlines and there’s the two check-in bags included as well as no change fees. The last time I flew on business I booked myself and expensed to the company. It was $133 round trip OAK-LAS, which was on par with other airlines or cheaper. When the price dropped to $123 I got a $10 credit because there was no penalty. If I need to cancel I can do so up to the time of the flight and have full credit. And in my case I checked in baggage to bring over some equipment and bring it back to the office. I also threw in my carry on for the return trip so I wouldn’t have to schlep it through the terminal.

That would have been at least an additional $25 each way, although I could have taken my carry on in the plane back home. But I appreciate that I’m not being nickel and dimed for everything. If I needed to check in two bags, most airlines charge almost as much as that airfare. And when I’ve called customer service I’ve actually reached an American call center rather than an overseas one.

 

[bcla]

Delays happen because of weather all the time. I'm not sure where you're flying from, but we've flown SW from (WA) SETAC/GEG to (CA) SNA/LAX, and (TN) MEM/BNA to (FL) MCO many times without issue. Delayed flights happen but we've always been rebooked quickly if the flight isn't going to leave within two hours. I've had worse experiences on other airlines.

Try SFO. I don’t like their fog delays. It’s not really takeoffs, but landings can be done simultaneously because of the runway spacing. They just back up when there’s fog. The other area airports face similar fog issues, but they don’t have the same amount of traffic and can operate fine with a single runway. San Jose has two large runways, but I understand the use them for simultaneous takeoffs and landings on different runways.

 

[bcla]

They are cutting a lot of west coast routes because of the lack of equipment and because they're going heavy on equipment for their Hawaii service.

https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/sfo-oak-route-maps-cities-airlines-14364095.php

 

[DebbieB]

I’ve been flying SW for about 15 years and had 1 long delay - they compensated us with a $100 travel voucher. Love the free bags and free changes.