Southwest is not always cheaper

[elainesj]

WOW! You'd pay over $500 (for your party) extra for the NS? That pays for at least one (if not multiple) nights at a Disney resort. Not me!

To each their own.

I will too. I only get very limited time off work and the time is precious to me so we will pay more to get the extra time. I'm a crazy pennypincher so I weigh all the costs to decide if the extra time savings is worth it to me. For this next trip, it is. For some trips, not so much.

I check fares quite obsessively and while spirit is the "cheap" carrier out of DTW, I usually still end up on Delta due to prices and flight times. For my current trip, we got Delta tix for $150 per ticket and Spirit was quoting $300. Of course I could get it for $90 if I was willing to cut my trip short by a few days and fly midweek at inconvenient times.

But I try to fly close to the weekend after work and then return in the afternoon at the beginning of the week. This way I manage to squeeze 10 days at Disney with only 7 actual work days off.

 

[Tisha_PA]

We are also flying out of DCA for our May trip. We usually fly Airtran out of Richmond, VA, but the prices were quite high. I got my DCA Delta flights for $165 each! I was happy about that.

But Delta has changed my flights twice. I am NOT happy about that.

And I had no idea that if you have a Delta Amex card that our bags would be free. I am looking into that ASAP! Is it a perk for anyone with a card or do you have to book it through a special promo? And do you get one bag free per ticket or is just a certain number of bags per account??

Thanks in advanced!! So gald I headed over here to the transportation boards...

My Delta flights have also changed but only by 15 minutes - both earlier (great for the trip down, not too bad for the trip home). The Delta Amex lets you check 1 free bag for yourself plus 1 free bag for each person in your party (must be on the same itinerary) up to 8 people. Just find the application info on the Delta website for their skymiles amex. Also, if you apply through the skymiles bonus link - you can get 30,000 bonus skymiles if you charge $750 on your card within 3 months (equivalent to 1 free ticket). When you apply for the card, make sure you include your skymiles number. It will then link to your skymiles account and you will get free baggage.

 

[NotUrsula]

WOW! You'd pay over $500 (for your party) extra for the NS? That pays for at least one (if not multiple) nights at a Disney resort. Not me!

To each their own.

For me, it's worth it because of the time (DH gets very limited time off), and because if we arrive at 10 am, then that is one less hotel night that I have to spend on (one less rental car day as well). If I have to route through ATL there is no way that we can arrive before 5 pm, so that's essentially a whole day shot, and with DH limited to no more than 4 days, diminishing returns set in REALLY fast if there are any delays.

 

[uva185]

For me, it's worth it because of the time (DH gets very limited time off), and because if we arrive at 10 am, then that is one less hotel night that I have to spend on (one less rental car day as well). If I have to route through ATL there is no way that we can arrive before 5 pm, so that's essentially a whole day shot, and with DH limited to no more than 4 days, diminishing returns set in REALLY fast if there are any delays.

I'm not arguing with the logic to pay more for convenience, but how on earth does a connection in ATL add SEVEN hours to your travel time?!?!?

 

[bytheblood]

Even if Southwest were more, I would still pay it based on principle. American charges us $60 each way per person for 2 bags. For a 10-day vacation, that is $180 each way and a total of $360 on bags. I would much rather pay Southwest more for the ticket than pay America, Air Tran, Delta or any of those other airlines for bags. It is never $360 more for all of us - so it is still a win!

Also, Southwest has awesome customer service and will change your schedule if needed for no fees - can't say that about the other guys.

 

[Gina]

Out of Houston (Hobby) SW is usually the most expensive, often by a very great deal. And I can't even tell you the last time I saw a Ding! between HOU-MCO. We usually end up on Delta. I had been pricing fares daily for months, was watching when SW's fares opened up for February, and they never went below $300 RT p/p. Delta had a sale, and I got our tickets for $390 total. It's just DS & I, and we only check one bag, so bring on the extra $50 bag fees, no problem!

Delta has changed our schedule a few times so far, but only by a few minutes mostly. They did make one change that had us getting in about 40 minutes later, so I went to the website and saw that there was a flight that got in at the same time but left MCO an hour later. I figured, if we're going to get in at the same time, I'd just as soon has another hour at WDW! I called, the lady was SO nice, and switched me over to that flight with no hassle and no charge.

 

[1tufgt]

It just depends on where you are flying out of. For us SW is the only carrier to fly non-stop to MCO from SDF and they are usually cheaper.

 

[sam_gordon]

Even if Southwest were more, I would still pay it based on principle. American charges us $60 each way per person for 2 bags. For a 10-day vacation, that is $180 each way and a total of $360 on bags. I would much rather pay Southwest more for the ticket than pay America, Air Tran, Delta or any of those other airlines for bags. It is never $360 more for all of us - so it is still a win!

According to AA.com, you only have to pay if you check a bag... $25 for the first (per passenger) and $35 for the second. There's your $60. Do three people NEED six suitcases? I would think I could get three people into three suitcases and each person checks 1 bag ($75 one way, $150 RT). As I pointed out, even with Delta's bag charge, it's still cheaper than SW (especially if you consider we might need a hotel on either side of our trip since SW doesn't serve our "home" airport).

I also don't understand the "based on principle"? Basically with SW, you ARE paying for bags... it's included in your rate. They're not truly "free". Other carriers used to do the same thing. Other carriers then decided to charge extra if someone checks bags. So if I'm taking a short trip or otherwise don't need to check a bag, I've got the option to save some $$.

 

[sam_gordon]

as long as you're happy you've gotten a bargin

im sure you have most excellent credit, or you wouldn't be discussing an AMEX card, but i'll point out that anytime you do apply for a credit card it is a 'hard pull' on your credit & it will take a DING (pun intended).

again, i am not personally referring to your situation or passing judgement on your strategy, just mentioning it as im a realtor & have seen people denied mortgages for taking out new lines of credit before closing.

So noted on the credit... but we're not planning on moving anytime soon (like maybe in 15 years when youngest DD is out of the house ), and the only debt we've had for ~15 months is the house.

My Delta flights have also changed but only by 15 minutes - both earlier (great for the trip down, not too bad for the trip home). The Delta Amex lets you check 1 free bag for yourself plus 1 free bag for each person in your party (must be on the same itinerary) up to 8 people. Just find the application info on the Delta website for their skymiles amex. Also, if you apply through the skymiles bonus link - you can get 30,000 bonus skymiles if you charge $750 on your card within 3 months (equivalent to 1 free ticket). When you apply for the card, make sure you include your skymiles number. It will then link to your skymiles account and you will get free baggage.

My flights have changed since I booked, but I was able to switch to better flights (arriving at 6:30p instead of 10p). Also, the current offer for skymiles (in addition to free bags) is 25,000 miles when you spend $1,000 on the card in the first three months. The offer keeps changing.

For me, it's worth it because of the time (DH gets very limited time off), and because if we arrive at 10 am, then that is one less hotel night that I have to spend on (one less rental car day as well). If I have to route through ATL there is no way that we can arrive before 5 pm, so that's essentially a whole day shot, and with DH limited to no more than 4 days, diminishing returns set in REALLY fast if there are any delays.

I also don't understand ATL adding 7 hours of delay, unless maybe you're coming from the far West Coast and have a 3 hour layover.

I'm not knocking anyone's choice of a N/S and would love to do one. However, I'm not willing to pay much more than $20/ticket to do so. Also, since SW doesn't fly out of our home airport, I could pay extra for N/S on another carrier and have them change it to a flight with layovers (has happened before).

 

[Telcogirl]

Also, Southwest has awesome customer service and will change your schedule if needed for no fees - can't say that about the other guys.

This, along with no charge for bags, is worth the extra money to me. We just went thru a situation where we got fantastic airfare from Delta. We booked it because it was initially 'cheaper' than Southwest.

We had a situation arise where we had to change our departure date. The cost per ticket to do that was $150 per person. That was more than we paid for the original airfare.

For us, it wasn't cheaper in the long run.

 

[NotUrsula]

I'm not arguing with the logic to pay more for convenience, but how on earth does a connection in ATL add SEVEN hours to your travel time?!?!?

Not just the connection; the scheduling as well, and the time zone difference. For the most part the layover itself is around 2.5 hours, but I can't leave home as early on those airlines. If I'm headed to Orlando I'm flying behind the time difference, so that adds an hour, too.

 

[cm8]

We are also flying out of DCA for our May trip. We usually fly Airtran out of Richmond, VA, but the prices were quite high. I got my DCA Delta flights for $165 each! I was happy about that.

But Delta has changed my flights twice. I am NOT happy about that.

And I had no idea that if you have a Delta Amex card that our bags would be free. I am looking into that ASAP! Is it a perk for anyone with a card or do you have to book it through a special promo? And do you get one bag free per ticket or is just a certain number of bags per account??

Thanks in advanced!! So gald I headed over here to the transportation boards...

Basic Cardmembers with a Gold, Platinum, or Reserve Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express may check their first bag for free on all Delta and Delta Connection® flights. The benefit applies to up to 9 people traveling in the eligible Cardmember’s reservation


Benefit is limited to Basic Cardmembers (not Additional Cardmembers) with the Gold, Platinum or Reserve Delta SkyMiles Credit Cards. Reservation must include the Basic Cardmember’s SkyMiles number. Fee waiver also available for passengers traveling in the same reservation as the Basic Cardmember. Maximum nine waivers per reservation.


You can find more info here http://www.delta.com/traveling_checkin/baggage/checked/first_bag_free.jsp

 

[MistressMerryweather]

We try to fly southwest whenever we can. Mainly, because of the no change/cancellation fee. We typically get $69 each way tickets and if/when flights go down, we can switch to the same flight with the better fare and get money back for another flight. Just did that for our February trip with just dh and I and we are up $60 from our original tickets. Plus, the baggage is a huge plus for us. We travel with 5 altogether, and starting in June we add an infant to the family. Baggage is a big must have for us as well as being able to change our flight or cancel if we need to. I guess it also really depends on where you live by southwest. We just moved from NH and flights out of Manchester and Boston to Orlando where mostly cheap. Now, in Pittsburgh, they are cheap here too.

 

[brooke1]

Well out of Birmingham,AL Southwest is the only carrier that is direct and also the cheapest..

But for some reason there are no cheap flights from any carrier out of Birmingham to Orlando. I always end up paying around 600.00 to 650.00 (roundtrip) for just two people.

Brooke

 

[happymommy]

We are SW fans, however this year we are checking out other options. Flights from Baltimore/DC to Florida for the Spring are almost double from this time last year. Add that to the higher costs of a rental car and you really have to rethink things! We keep hoping, but fares are 139 each way the entire month.

I'm having a hard time too! We're going in March and usually fly out of BWI. It just jumped $40 coming back and a couple dollars going, so it's about $300rt. I've seen JetBlue for much less out of Dulles, so for a 30 min further drive, it's tempting.

I hate the back and forth with rates. And just finally got a car with USAA for $230 or so for 8 days.

 

[katallo]

I'm having a hard time too! We're going in March and usually fly out of BWI. It just jumped $40 coming back and a couple dollars going, so it's about $300rt. I've seen JetBlue for much less out of Dulles, so for a 30 min further drive, it's tempting.

I hate the back and forth with rates. And just finally got a car with USAA for $230 or so for 8 days.

We are thinking about doing the same thing....or simply cancelling the trip this year. It so disheartening to see SW rates from BWI at 149 one way (even midweek). It's a lot to think about with rental car rates and higher gas prices. I can honestly say I haven't seen a DING offer from Baltimore to Orlando in a year.

 

[katallo]

Happymommy, thank you SO much. Jet Blue has March and April flights from Dulles to Orlando for $64 - $74!! Since we are paying to park at either airport the trip to Dulles will be worth it for us.

 

[AKL LOVER]

Happymommy, thank you SO much. Jet Blue has March and April flights from Dulles to Orlando for $64 - $74!! Since we are paying to park at either airport the trip to Dulles will be worth it for us.

FYI: I got round trip Delta tickets out of National (DCA) for $160 each in May. Perhaps their March/April flights are just as cheap??

 

[chamonix]

I absolutely hate Southwest and quite frankly you could not pay me to fly them.... That said they have an amazing marketing division, they have most successfully convinced a majority of the leisure flyers in this country that they are the cheapest even though they are not!

My thoughts exactly. It's amazing they have been able to do so! No one airline will always be cheapest. Fare sales happen on all airlines. I fly American because I love their frequent flier program (as a Platinum elite on AA my bags are always free though i dont check bags anyway, lol) Unfortunately I am now missing the nonstop STL-MCO (thanks to that SWA marketing that convinced folks they were always cheaper so AA's flights lost too much business).

 

[happymommy]

Happymommy, thank you SO much. Jet Blue has March and April flights from Dulles to Orlando for $64 - $74!! Since we are paying to park at either airport the trip to Dulles will be worth it for us.

Glad I could help! I just wish Jetblue was as good about changing plans like Southwest. I'm afraid to book anything until tomorrow.

Jetblue looks very comfortable!