Southwest not direct from Seattle to Orange County anymore?

[Choirmom]

This was our go-to airlines for flights to Disneyland. We would take the direct early morning flight from Seattle and have most of the first day in the park. DD and I went in September and even made rope drop! Looking into flights for my upcoming September trip with DS, I noticed they are no long flying direct from Seattle. This also mean no more inexpensive flights as the direct flights are cheaper, and it seems all the other airlines charge bag fees. Any suggestions on alternatives? BTW, I hate LAX.

 

[Geemo]

Depending on your travel days JetBlue might have something for you.

I got ROUND TRIP (Jan 31/ Feb 1) on JB for $33 each way. Not bad $66 RT from PDX to LGB.
The taxi was the most expensive part of my trip.

Geemo

 

[alisonleigh21]

I had this problem when I booked my April flight from PDX. No nonstops! I had always flown to and from SNA, but I ended up going to LB on one way and using Jet Blue for the way back. Try plugging in both airports and checking Jet Blue AND Southwest.

 

[djk]

Depending on your travel days JetBlue might have something for you.

I got ROUND TRIP (Jan 31/ Feb 1) on JB for $33 each way. Not bad $66 RT from PDX to LGB.
The taxi was the most expensive part of my trip.

Geemo

Wow! JetBlue is our favorite, and I feel we have always gotten good prices, but nowhere close to $33! Any secrets to finding those deals? How far in advance do you find it is best to book with JetBlue?

 

[Imdboss]

We always fly Alaska Air SEA-SNA

 

[rachelsmom97]

We are going in March and I noticed that there were no non stops on Southwest anymore. However, Delta just started non stop service to SNA. My husband is platinum and we had a $200 credit with Delta so booked with them. Prices were the same or better than Alaska depending on timing.

 

[allsaintsatx]

This was our go-to airlines for flights to Disneyland. We would take the direct early morning flight from Seattle and have most of the first day in the park. DD and I went in September and even made rope drop! Looking into flights for my upcoming September trip with DS, I noticed they are no long flying direct from Seattle. This also mean no more inexpensive flights as the direct flights are cheaper, and it seems all the other airlines charge bag fees. Any suggestions on alternatives? BTW, I hate LAX.

Right?!?!? I was gearing up for our annual summer DLR trip, trolling the SWA website, and I'm like "where are all the direct flights?" and we live in TX!! So it seems to be a "thing" now with SWA and SNA which is kind of a bummer cause my wife HATES flying and she pretty much will only fly SWA and this is majorly messing with our plans.

This especially sucks because we are somewhat equidistant to DLR and WDW and we can fly to Orlando for around $100 each way, a direct flight, and WDW picks us up at the airport and brings our luggage to the room. DLR is now 2 flights over 5 hours, and paying for a car service. Are we turning into WDW People? I blame you SWA!!

 

[STLstone]

This was our go-to airlines for flights to Disneyland. We would take the direct early morning flight from Seattle and have most of the first day in the park. DD and I went in September and even made rope drop! Looking into flights for my upcoming September trip with DS, I noticed they are no long flying direct from Seattle. This also mean no more inexpensive flights as the direct flights are cheaper, and it seems all the other airlines charge bag fees. Any suggestions on alternatives? BTW, I hate LAX.

As someone who also hates LAX, I was very disappointed to see they no longer have a direct flight between St. Louis and Orange County.

 

[MillauFr]

This was our go-to airlines for flights to Disneyland. We would take the direct early morning flight from Seattle and have most of the first day in the park.

You are flying out of Seattle and not using the hometown airline???? I never pay for bags on Alaska. There is no reason to fly any of the out of town airlines. You really need to watch this video a few times to get your head screwed on straight...

 

[jsilvers]

We are going in March and I noticed that there were no non stops on Southwest anymore. However, Delta just started non stop service to SNA.

Not a coincidence. Unusually, SNA has capacity caps - and Southwest lost some of the authority it was using as others ramped up operations. See http://www.ocregister.com/articles/flights-739245-southwest-city.html.

 

[Choirmom]

You are flying out of Seattle and not using the hometown airline???? I never pay for bags on Alaska. There is no reason to fly any of the out of town airlines. You really need to watch this video a few times to get your head screwed on straight...

Wow! Just wanted to get some ideas on airlines from Seattle. I have flown Alaska in the past, but they have consistently been more expensive than Southwest. Didn't think I'd get attacked for expressing an honest concern.

 

[JanJan324]

Wow! Just wanted to get some ideas on airlines from Seattle. I have flown Alaska in the past, but they have consistently been more expensive than Southwest. Didn't think I'd get attacked for expressing an honest concern.

I'm flying Alaska this time, but only because I got a spectacular deal flying out of Yakima. Usually it's cheaper to drive and park rather than fly. I'm a huge fan of both SW and JetBlue, with Alaska being a distant 3rd. No complaints about them, but I'm all about the $$$$. And not paying for bags with Alaska? Only if you're elite mileage or a credit card holder. Don't worry about what they said, I'd have been peeved too had someone spoke to me that way about airline preference!

 

[MillauFr]

Wow! Just wanted to get some ideas on airlines from Seattle. I have flown Alaska in the past, but they have consistently been more expensive than Southwest. Didn't think I'd get attacked for expressing an honest concern.

I guess I can let you slide for using Southwest occasionally... Now if you went over the dark side and flew on Delta then I really would have to have a word with you.

 

[HuskyGal]

I'm considering ditching my southwest credit card and switching to something else. Our awesomely cheap nonstop flight to Orange County suddenly was non existent and they offered us to fly into lax. I declined and went with Alaska.

 

[Choirmom]

I guess no matter how I look at it, I'll be spending more to fly to Disneyland.

 

[bcla]

Not a coincidence. Unusually, SNA has capacity caps - and Southwest lost some of the authority it was using as others ramped up operations. See http://www.ocregister.com/articles/flights-739245-southwest-city.html.

The really odd thing about Southwest losing the slot to Seattle was that they just started it June 2015.

http://www.ocair.com/newsroom/news/2015/nr-2015-02-192

I do remember when Alaska had a nonstop OAK-SNA flight. I found one round-trip pair where I get a ridiculously low price. Right now only Southwest flies this route. Still - I live close enough that it makes more sense to just drive, even if that means renting a car.

 

[djk]

I'm flying Alaska this time, but only because I got a spectacular deal flying out of Yakima. Usually it's cheaper to drive and park rather than fly. I'm a huge fan of both SW and JetBlue, with Alaska being a distant 3rd. No complaints about them, but I'm all about the $$$$. And not paying for bags with Alaska? Only if you're elite mileage or a credit card holder. Don't worry about what they said, I'd have been peeved too had someone spoke to me that way about airline preference!

How/where did you find a spectacular deal flying out of Yakima? Like you said, it is usually cheaper to drive and park. Do tell...

 

[JanJan324]

How/where did you find a spectacular deal flying out of Yakima? Like you said, it is usually cheaper to drive and park. Do tell...

Had to have been luck! Prices were generally pretty high for our return flight regardless of what city we were flying into, and somehow it was cheaper to fly into Yakima rather than flying into Seattle. Which is nuts considering they like to charge $95 each way just to fly to Seattle from Yakima.

 

[lk2500]

Wow! Just wanted to get some ideas on airlines from Seattle. I have flown Alaska in the past, but they have consistently been more expensive than Southwest. Didn't think I'd get attacked for expressing an honest concern.

I think maybe that post was in jest? Check into the Alaska Airlines companion fare Visa. If you fly once a year the card will more than pay for itself and last year Alaska's fares into SNA from Seattle were very nice.

 

[Indiana Scott]

We fly Alaska From Seattle every time. They are always the cheapest direct flight.