Southwest Lovers..I am starting to HATE Southwest

[jskacoc]

I know it's not a popular option with a lot of people but this is why we fly Spirit out of AC. My flights for September are $59 plus tax each way. I've learned how to pack light to avoid baggage fees and don't pay for seat assignments. We also like that it's a smaller airport. I've never had a problem with them.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

The think I dislike the most about SW is trying to figure out when the schedule is coming out.

For years I would plan a year out when I would be going to WDW and getting the times I want, like the PP's early in late & late out requires monitoring unlike the legacy carriers which have the schedules out farther ahead.

Now we can't plan that far out and our last trip if the bags weren't free it would have been a wash USAir out of Scranton/ Wilkesbarre or SW out of Philly.

 

[MichelleVW]

Meh. I live in Wisconsin and we never have direct flights. It's really not getting your undies in a bundle over IMO.

Flying out of Dallas is the same. We never get direct flights, but I still use them if the price is the cheapest.

 

[antree]

I know it's a drive but have you looked at flights out of BWI?

I keep asking everyone how about we fly from BWI, but my DH isn't a fan of having to drive there.


As far as AirTran goes, Did they drop the fee bag if you book from SW? I know as of last year they still had the fees on their site. Now that they are on SW site is the fee gone?

Does anyone know when the next leg of flights open with SW?

We have flown Spirit years ago, as I recall they were not too bad.

Like I said I am a worry wart, and I am comfortable with SW because I have been flying with them since my DS was born. SW has been really good with his allergy. I just wish their flights were not so limited in Philly.

I am weighing all our options and checking all flights everywhere. I am gathering on the info and hope to know what to do by the time SW opens the rest of Nov.

 

[Brocktoon]

With Philly, if you're not going Southwest/Airtran, then you need to look towards US Air to MCO. That could be a whole other problem if you're booking for later in the year as US Air becomes part of American Airlines. I've got a feeling you'll see all sorts of flight changes with US Air as the merger closes. For that reason I'm not booking any US Air flights past this summer. Basically that only leaves Southwest / Air Tran as the only game in town for Philly to MCO until the mergers are sorted

 

[lurkernj]

I keep asking everyone how about we fly from BWI, but my DH isn't a fan of having to drive there.


As far as AirTran goes, Did they drop the fee bag if you book from SW? I know as of last year they still had the fees on their site. Now that they are on SW site is the fee gone?

Does anyone know when the next leg of flights open with SW?

We have flown Spirit years ago, as I recall they were not too bad.

Like I said I am a worry wart, and I am comfortable with SW because I have been flying with them since my DS was born. SW has been really good with his allergy. I just wish their flights were not so limited in Philly.

I am weighing all our options and checking all flights everywhere. I am gathering on the info and hope to know what to do by the time SW opens the rest of Nov.

I just flew on Airtran booked through Southwest and the bags were free.

Problem is that since you are not assigned a seat until you get to the gate, there is a chance you wont get a seat, like me. I was bumped to a later flight and am now going between Airtran and Southwest to see who is responsible for compensation for denied boarding.

 

[Joan1]

I have never flown Southwest and heard many good things about them. We were excited they were going to start service at EWR but then when they finally did all flights were connecting. I don't want to connect on a two and a half hour flight. Also their prices out of my local airport are not any better, sometimes higher, than our normal airline

reading this post makes me glad we didn't get a chance to even use them as they seem to be getting greedy / changing a lot from what most people love them most for

 

[emilymad]

We are long time SW flyers out of Philly as well. We recently booked our October trip and were very disappointed with the schedule. Originally we booked on an Airtran flight down and a SW flight home. Thanks to reading information on the DIS I realized the issue with not being able to pick seats on the Airtran flight. This is a major issue for us as DH is tall and needs an aisle seat. We usually buy EB's and never have an issue. Luckily we are far an enough out to change both flights to be SW flights. We are still flying on miles and not cash. Once we run out of miles I think we will to consider every airline before we book. It is sad that it seems to be going so down hill. We have HATED every flight we ever took on Airtran. The planes have always been small and dirty.

 

[brettb]

I just flew on Airtran booked through Southwest and the bags were free.

Problem is that since you are not assigned a seat until you get to the gate, there is a chance you wont get a seat, like me. I was bumped to a later flight and am now going between Airtran and Southwest to see who is responsible for compensation for denied boarding.

When did you check in? Did you check in online at 24-hours out?

If you meet the requirement for involuntary denied boarding, I would have thought you should have been compensated on the spot but I don't know much about IDB.

SWA says: "Customers will follow the existing boarding procedures for the carrier operating their flight (the Operating Carrier)."

AirTran says: "Can I change my seat assignment?
Passengers using the online flight check-in program will be able to select their seat assignment during the online check-in process. To change an existing seat assignment, from the itinerary page of the program, click on the link for currently assigned seat number to get to the seat map and select another seat."

This doesn't seem much different, functionally, from SWA except you pick your seats when you check-in rather than when you board the plane. Either way, you'll be picking seats from those left after people who paid extra (EBCI or for assigned seats) or those who checked in online before you did.

This biggest problem for us with this is the return flight. In the past, we've balanced the cost of EBCI against the inconvenience of taking time out to check in ourselves. $145 in baggage fees (to book the return through AirTran) is a lot more than $37.50 for EBCI (which isn't an option anyway).

 

[msjprincess]

I just flew on Airtran booked through Southwest and the bags were free.

Problem is that since you are not assigned a seat until you get to the gate, there is a chance you wont get a seat, like me. I was bumped to a later flight and am now going between Airtran and Southwest to see who is responsible for compensation for denied boarding.

I thought seats were assigned when you check in online at 24 hours.

Q: When can I check in?

A: You can check in and print your boarding pass up to 24 hours before the departure of your first flight. If you are flying on a Southwest segment, you will be assigned a boarding group (A, B or C) and position (1-60+) upon check in. Available Southwest boarding passes will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis upon check in. Please remember, the earlier you check in, the lower your boarding group and position will be for the Southwest-operated segment of your trip.


Q: Is it possible to purchase an advanced seat assignment for the AirTran segment of an itinerary that was purchased via Southwest channels?

A: Advanced seat assignments are not available on shared itineraries purchased via Southwest channels. Customers who purchase an AirTran segment on Southwest channels will be assigned a seat at the time of check in.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

I've only flown AirTran once and didn't have a problem with it (though much prefer Southwest.) But in terms of not liking the fares, as other have said in other SWA threads, definitely keep checking. Seven days ago we booked Chicago to MCO on Southwest, and it was pretty steep. Much steeper than the prices we had seen on Southwest's website only a few days prior. On Friday we checked again and the prices had dropped significantly, so we rebooked ourselves (on the exact same flights going and returning) and ended up saving $81 a ticket.

SWA lets you change your itinerary without any penalty. The only caveat is you can't have your savings refunded if you originally booked at the lowest (unrefundable) fare category. In that case, the money stays tied to your original reservation number and name, and you have up to a year to use it. That's fine if you plan on additional travel via Southwest. For us, the savings on our WDW itinerary will make our next DLR itinerary via Southwest cheaper. Your air miles may vary

 

[taymorel]

When we lived in Alabama, we only flew Southwest since it was so much cheaper, but since moving to Atlanta, we have flown Airtran to the Caribbean a few times and will be using it to Orlando next month. The one thing I didn't like about Southwest is not having assigned seat numbers--and with Airtran we have that. I hope when they finally merge, they keep the seat assignments that Airtran has. I would pay extra for that.

 

[cwhite92]

I'm flying from PHL or AC in August and I am dissapointed in both SW and Spirit! Last year I flew the same week for $140 round trip and now I am going to be lucky to get less than $250... with the early flight there and late flight back

 

[Echo queen]

We usually fly SW, in January we flew Delta to MCO with a plan Chang both legs

I just booked JetBlue through Hotwire nonstop for a lower rate than Delta and SW.

 

[lurkernj]

When did you check in? Did you check in online at 24-hours out?

If you meet the requirement for involuntary denied boarding, I would have thought you should have been compensated on the spot but I don't know much about IDB.

SWA says: "Customers will follow the existing boarding procedures for the carrier operating their flight (the Operating Carrier)."

AirTran says: "Can I change my seat assignment?
Passengers using the online flight check-in program will be able to select their seat assignment during the online check-in process. To change an existing seat assignment, from the itinerary page of the program, click on the link for currently assigned seat number to get to the seat map and select another seat."

This doesn't seem much different, functionally, from SWA except you pick your seats when you check-in rather than when you board the plane. Either way, you'll be picking seats from those left after people who paid extra (EBCI or for assigned seats) or those who checked in online before you did.

This biggest problem for us with this is the return flight. In the past, we've balanced the cost of EBCI against the inconvenience of taking time out to check in ourselves. $145 in baggage fees (to book the return through AirTran) is a lot more than $37.50 for EBCI (which isn't an option anyway).

I checked in right at the 24 hr mark. Since I booked through southwest, I had to check in with them at the 24 hr mark, but since the flight was operated by Airtran I wasn't given a boarding order. I was given a boarding pass, but it had a dash in the seat assignment spot. I also couldn't do airline checkin at my Disney resort (art of animation), so I had to drag my bags with me to the airport and wait on line to check them. I tried to get my seat assigned at this desk, but she said to go to the gate for seat assignment. When I got to the gate (1.5 hrs before my flight), I was told there wasn't a seat for me. I was given the denied boarding brochure and asked if I wanted a check or flights, I chose the check and signed a paper stating this. After waiting 15 minutes he came back and said they couldn't issue me a check siince I booked with points. He gave me a number to call to book the free flights. I knew this to be untrue since I had an issue in the beginning of March(with the same flight) and started a thread where more knowledgeable people chimed in about flyer rights and denied boarding procedures.

Here's the link to that thread if anyone is interested.
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3073804

I thought seats were assigned when you check in online at 24 hours.

I think the confusion here is that I booked through southwest, but the flight was operated by airtran, so neither procedure seems to be in effect.

 

[DebbieB]

When we lived in Alabama, we only flew Southwest since it was so much cheaper, but since moving to Atlanta, we have flown Airtran to the Caribbean a few times and will be using it to Orlando next month. The one thing I didn't like about Southwest is not having assigned seat numbers--and with Airtran we have that. I hope when they finally merge, they keep the seat assignments that Airtran has. I would pay extra for that.

They have already said that they will be using the SW system. Everything is going to be the SW way so no business class, no bag fees, no change fees, no seat assignments, etc.

 

[msjprincess]

I checked in right at the 24 hr mark. Since I booked through southwest, I had to check in with them at the 24 hr mark, but since the flight was operated by Airtran I wasn't given a boarding order. I was given a boarding pass, but it had a dash in the seat assignment spot. I also couldn't do airline checkin at my Disney resort (art of animation), so I had to drag my bags with me to the airport and wait on line to check them. I tried to get my seat assigned at this desk, but she said to go to the gate for seat assignment. When I got to the gate (1.5 hrs before my flight), I was told there wasn't a seat for me. I was given the denied boarding brochure and asked if I wanted a check or flights, I chose the check and signed a paper stating this. After waiting 15 minutes he came back and said they couldn't issue me a check siince I booked with points. He gave me a number to call to book the free flights. I knew this to be untrue since I had an issue in the beginning of March(with the same flight) and started a thread where more knowledgeable people chimed in about flyer rights and denied boarding procedures.

Here's the link to that thread if anyone is interested.
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3073804



I think the confusion here is that I booked through southwest, but the flight was operated by airtran, so neither procedure seems to be in effect.

I actually copied that from SWAs website FAQ about Airtran flights. That's why I was questioning it.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

We were once very loyal fans of Southwest, too, but have started using other airlines. It is great the "bags fly free", but in some cases the addition of bags on other airlines comes out to be the same. And the perk of flying other airlines is that we could get a non-stop flight.

I think our biggest complaint about flying Southwest is that our family is three people. We fly WGA fares....by the time we get on with a later A boarding or even one of the first B boarding, we generally find that 1 person sits in the middle of a row to block it off for others for about the first 3/4 of the plane. We would gladly pay $10 a person to block off 3 seats together.

 

[expeditioneverestgrl]

Our vacation is the same time and we fly out of Philadelphia to Orlando too. We always leave early for Orlando and go to a hotel the night before and we are planning to get the 7:15 flight if it stays the same for November.

 

[TamaraQT]

Meh. I live in Wisconsin and we never have direct flights. It's really not getting your undies in a bundle over IMO.

Hmm...seems like people in the midwest have very limited choices as opposed to those traveling from northeast to southeast. If you live in an AREA that ALWAYS had to settle for whatever is available and YOU are OK with that, then good for you. But for those of us who live in more highly populated areas, we ALWAYS had NONSTOP flights available to us with Southwest and with desireable flight times. So considering you never had that option, no need to chime in. I mean really, what is the point?

In the end, I think we know how to put our BIG UNDIES on and deal with it. We just use another carrier. At least we have options. Unfortunately for you....well.....i digress.