Southwest disappointment

[sam_gordon]

Once again, I'm truly puzzled by how averse this board is to connecting flights.

I've got to agree. Is a non-stop flight preferred? Sure. But a connecting flight is still better (IMO) than driving.

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

Both of my October flights were changed. Going down not a big deal only 10 minutes. Coming back instead of direct Orlando to Baltimore 2 hour 15 min they had us going to New Hampshire then Baltimore 5 hours 30 min. First thing this morning got on website and changed it back to direct flight.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Southwest took away the nonstop flight from ATL to MSP that I liked to take when going to visit Mother. So now I'm back to using Delta on that route.
I've got a flight to Orlando in Sept. on Southwest that has changed twice. I'm keeping an eye on it because so far the time will work but if it goes to a time that won't I will be changing it.

I have already decided to drive to Orlando for the 50th Anniversary weekend. I'm not in the mood to deal with all the flight changes plus I will stop and see my son on the way home.

I miss the days of Southwest not having many flight change times!

 

[FCDub]

The point was that they keep changing our flights (date was changed also) and we have jobs and my niece is in school. If we can't guarantee when we will get back, yes we will drive and no need for a rental car. No need to be snarky, it is a personal decision. Also we wanted non stop as that is what we booked and charging us 3 times the amount for non stop is ridiculous along with having to add a rental car.

Milwaukee to Orlando is 19 hours each way driving. I just can't fathom a situation where that's preferable to spending like, two or three hours max in a connecting airport. I think your solution is knee-jerk – just my opinion.

 

[FCDub]

We're adverse to connecting flights because it converts 2 hour flight into a 5 to 7 hour flight. DH is pushing to become 'drivers', which just 'drives' me around the bend.

SW does seem to be changing flights frequently - sometimes by minutes. When I do see a change from NS to a connecting flight I immediately correct it on their website. We like to purchase AM flights just because they seem to have the most chance of not being delayed.

And how long would it take to drive? If it's more than you'd be spending sitting in the airport, that's likely a losing proposition.

 

[EACarlson]

We had nonstop from Milwaukee to MCO and changed with layover down in Atlanta which wasn't too bad, but coming back layover in Baltimore? All the other nonstop flights tripled in points. We are thinking of driving instead.

Price of other flights doesn't matter when the airline changes or cancels yours. They will put you on a non-stop flight if you call them. They will also allow you to do a layover just about anywhere else if you know where you'd prefer. Other options rather than driving to Orlando from Milwaukee, drive the 120 minutes to MDW and get a non-from there. You could also drive the 90 minutes to ORD or the 90 minutes to ATW and get a non-stop with another airline. I'm in Oshkosh, and I've driven the 3+ hours to MDW to get a non-stop to MCO, so has my wife on a separate trip.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

I also want to join the list of those whining about Southwest.

I have about 100,000 points banked right now to use with SW, but their flight schedule has become unpredictable at best. They used to have nonstops to PHL and I used to fly there to see family, but they no longer have that. At one point they had nonstops on Wednesdays to PHL, but that was the only day of the week with nonstops.

Months ago, I booked my daughter and her family flights (on points) to visit us over Labor Day and SW changed the times and layovers so many times that my kiddo finally decided to just cancel the trip here. The last change was getting back into PHL at 11:55pm on Labor Day. Originally it was a non stop, 3 hour flight getting them back home around 4. Sigh.

I used the SW shopping portal when shopping for work to really amp up my points game for years, but now I'm using the United portal. I'm banking United points which is something that I never thought I'd do.

 

[georgina]

Once again, I'm truly puzzled by how averse this board is to connecting flights.

I'm not. Connections mean your first flight could be delayed and you miss your connection, extending the trip even more. I have had luggage not make the connection even when I did. Pain to deal with. I really don't enjoy spending 5 or 6 or 7 hours traveling when a nonstop takes 2. These days the SW times with connections are long.

 

[sam_gordon]

I'm not. Connections mean your first flight could be delayed and you miss your connection, extending the trip even more. I have had luggage not make the connection even when I did. Pain to deal with. I really don't enjoy spending 5 or 6 or 7 hours traveling when a nonstop takes 2. These days the SW times with connections are long.

My aunt had a non stop flight on some airline (maybe American, but that's immaterial) and her luggage didn't make it. We get it, non stops are preferable. I don't think anyone would argue that. However, acting like having a connection is the worst thing in the world (not saying that's what you're saying, but that's the feeling that comes through this board) is nothing but hyperbole.

Now, I'm sure there will be the "I stress about flights and I can't take multiple takeoffs and landings" and "I don't want to wait in an airport". Rent a private plane. Then it's TOTALLY on your schedule.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

First let me say I know airlines are having problem with staffing, and making many cuts. I get it.

But I'm still really disappointed and miffed that my 7 pm non stop flight home has been changed to a 3:10 pm with a 4 hour layover. So we loose almost a whole park day.

Just needed to whine a bit.

I have a AMERICAN AIRLINES flight from PHX to MKE that was changed to a 3 hour earlier departure. It more or less means wake up and go to the airport. Now, my ride will be smack in the middle of morning traffic which is a NIGHTMARE around Phoenix. I purposely chose my departure to avoid AM traffic. Not happy but don't have much choice but to accept it.

 

[cjsmom5]

I have a AMERICAN AIRLINES flight from PHX to MKE that was changed to a 3 hour earlier departure. It more or less means wake up and go to the airport. Now, my ride will be smack in the middle of morning traffic which is a NIGHTMARE around Phoenix. I purposely chose my departure to avoid AM traffic. Not happy but don't have much choice but to accept it.

I know our amazing Phoenix rush hour can be horrendous - now on weekends with new construction - yuk!

 

[cjsmom5]

I got notice today that an October flight has been changed - both there and return. They adjusted times when it is leaving. At least I have ample time. And, Southwest has gotten much clearer with their email that this is a time change for an upcoming flight.

 

[FCDub]

I'm not. Connections mean your first flight could be delayed and you miss your connection, extending the trip even more. I have had luggage not make the connection even when I did. Pain to deal with. I really don't enjoy spending 5 or 6 or 7 hours traveling when a nonstop takes 2. These days the SW times with connections are long.

Out of the hundreds of flight segments I’ve taken over the course of my life, exactly two have resulted in a missed connection. Sure, it happens, but you could also be stuck on a ride at Disney World all day and miss your flight.

I will always prefer a nonstop flight but connecting flights are fine. People are overreacting as usual.

 

[Donna M]

Both of my October flights were changed. Going down not a big deal only 10 minutes. Coming back instead of direct Orlando to Baltimore 2 hour 15 min they had us going to New Hampshire then Baltimore 5 hours 30 min. First thing this morning got on website and changed it back to direct flight.

They changed our Oct. outgoing nonstop flight to make a stop in Baltimore. We are in New Hampshire and don´t want to stop in Baltimore! We cancelled and booked nonstop on Delta. Connecting flights don´t work well with two preschoolers.

And to update.....Delta cancelled its nonstop that we changed to, but I was able to get their earlier n/s that leaves at 7am!

 

[kristenrice]

[QUOTE="kristenrice, post: 63219740, member: 1139

Now...I am just waiting for them to mess up our return flight. We are planning a park day on our last day because we are booked on the 7pm flight home. The next one before that is at 4:50....and before that (with availability) is 11:30am! UGH! My friend that is travelling with us is booked on a flight around 7ish on another airline and I would love to switch and travel with her *IF* SWA moves us to something much earlier, BUT, since I booked us with points, I won't have any cash available to rebook us so we are pretty much stuck with SWA at this point. I just have to keep my fingers crossed that they don't *bump* us. I did buy EBCI when I booked us, if that makes any difference. I did NOT buy it for our outbound leg.
[/QUOTE]

Well, it happened…I got the email this morning that our return trip has been changed to a 3:10 departure with a 4-hour layover. It is the last flight of the night so there is no option to switch to AND since I booked on points, cancelling and booking with another airline is not an option. My friend is still flying out at 7pm so now she has 4 hours without us AND we won’t be able to go to a park on our departure day. We won’t really lose a day on our tickets because we had planned on avoiding a park on the day we were going to Boo-Bash, but now, we can just go in to the MK early that night. It stinks, but it is what it is and there isn’t really anything I can do about it at this point.

 

[clickv]

I’m so sorry that this happened to you and that there aren’t good alternatives. We had our flights changed twice but at least the new flights were acceptable.

Oddly enough, my dad had a flight changed by SW and they actually changed the departing city! He was scheduled for a layover in FL but they decided he should start there instead. Which is a long drive from NY…

 

[mamamelody2]

So our October 30 return flight just got changed. We were on a 7:05-9:55 AM nonstop flight. Wasn't happy with the early hour, but the other options were worse. They switched us to a 8:25 AM- 2:55 PM flight with a layover at Midway. I was able to switch us to a 1:10-3:55 PM nonstop flight that wasn't available before. That will make our last morning MUCH less stressful.

Our outgoing flight was changed from a 10:25 AM-1:05 PM nonstop flight (which is really perfect) to a 6:45-11:25 AM with a layover at Midway. I could have switched us to a 4:30 PM nonstop flight, but then we would have no park time on the first day.

 

[NotUrsula]

If the airline makes a substantial change, they will usually move you to a flight of your choice at no charge. Before saying "all the other non stops are too expensive", you should get in contact with the airline and say "You've changed my flight, it does not work for my schedule. Can you put us on flight <flight number>, leaving at <departure time>, and arriving at <arrival time>." If there's a connecting flight, give that information too.

You're absolutely right, but just lately it has become more problematic to get the scheduling you want if you are moved within 14 days of departure. Since flight capacity is still reduced, getting switched to a multi-segment itinerary can easily slice 2 full days off a trip, assuming that there are seats available. Last month we had a last-minute cancellation (24 hours out) that had really nothing left for a party of 3 after the original flight, except an option that cut a full day off of a 4 day trip and caused difficulty with rental car availability. Luckily, our schedules were flexible enough that we were able to drop everything and leave the night before, but not everyone has that much job flexibility.

Americans in general dislike connecting flights because we tend to have such tight vacation allowances that spending 2 entire days in transit is problematic for a lot of people. Add the post-9/11 security environment, and the distance the average American has set as the fly vs. drive cutoff has gotten a lot greater. I used to drive instead if the drive took less than 4 hours; now I'm up to less than 6, and less than 7 if the only flights that I can afford are indirect. With current rental car shortages driving up costs, I'm flirting with less than 10 if my destination is not well-equipped with convenient public transit (of course, exhorbitant rental car prices have more of an impact on longer trips.)

Of course, one's attitude about time behind the wheel has bearing as well. My cutoff threshold is longer than DH's, but he hates to drive, whereas I find it relaxing. I also find sitting in airport gate areas for hours to be annoying (especially during a pandemic), whereas it really doesn't bother him that much.

 

[EACarlson]

Americans in general dislike connecting flights because we tend to have such tight vacation allowances that spending 2 entire days in transit is problematic for a lot of people. Add the post-9/11 security environment, and the distance the average American has set as the fly vs. drive cutoff has gotten a lot greater. I used to drive instead if the drive took less than 4 hours; now I'm up to less than 6, and less than 7 if the only flights that I can afford are indirect. With current rental car shortages driving up costs, I'm flirting with less than 10 if my destination is not well-equipped with convenient public transit (of course, exhorbitant rental car prices have more an impact on longer trips.)

Add in all of the padding that airlines have put into the schedules to save fuel and the timing changes too. What used to be a 45 minute flight MSP-MDW is now 90 minutes.

My calculus is about 10 hours. Between my 90 minute minimum drive to get to a major airport, security time, gate time, flight time, waiting at baggage claim, then getting to my final destination. With a non stop flight I'd only save 90 minutes to two hours. In that case I'd rather drive.

 

[FCDub]

Y'all are wild. 10 hours!? More power to you.