SouthWest questions

[jdisnut]

And that is exactly what my family has done. I can find comparable prices on Delta with much shorter travel times. Southwest has gone crazy with not only the layover times, but the flight starting times as well.

I seriously value nonstop flights. That's easy for me to say, since my home airport is Newark, but I'd never choose a connection on one airline if I could fly nonstop on another. (Unless the nonstop is on Spirit. I am a civilized person, after all.)

 

[Farro]

I'm looking at flights out of Midway (Chicago) and they have plenty of non-stop options. Sure hope they don't get rid of those!

If I were going May of this year, we could fly round trip, non-stop for $383 for the both of us.

Crossing my fingers for similar prices for next May!

 

[Tigger2ntinkerbell]

Just tried booking my dates in September 25 to October 2
Was unable, had to call.
SW stated the October 2 date is not available to book , but shows up online.
SW said I had to wait until March 13.

 

[Tigger2ntinkerbell]

What Airline travel website do you use to track fares.
Kayak.com seems limited to just AA,United,Delt only.
It would be nice to see all Airlines that fly in and out of Detroit.

 

[focusondisney]

Just tried booking my dates in September 25 to October 2
Was unable, had to call.
SW stated the October 2 date is not available to book , but shows up online.
SW said I had to wait until March 13.

Flights are only released until October 1st. That’s why you couldn’t book online & “had to call”. And why the agent couldn’t book Oct 2nd either.

 

[sam_gordon]

What Airline travel website do you use to track fares.
Kayak.com seems limited to just AA,United,Delt only.
It would be nice to see all Airlines that fly in and out of Detroit.

Google flights (www.google.com/flights). They'll have everything BUT Southwest (who doesn't allow 3rd parties to list their flights.

 

[Fangorn]

I'm looking at flights out of Midway (Chicago) and they have plenty of non-stop options. Sure hope they don't get rid of those!

I wouldn't worry about nonstops going away from Midway. For any route, let alone MCO. Southwest doesn't use a traditional "hub and spoke" model that the legacy airlines use, but they do have "Mega Stations" that you can think of as hubs. Midway is one of those. In terms of the number of daily flights, I believe it's #2 after Las Vegas.

Steve

 

[tnolan]

My DH does not see why a 2 and a half hr trip from NYC to MCO should have a layover, so he is not too keen on Southwest either. We usually fly Delta even though they are a bit more expensive.

 

[extreme8]

I recognize that many users of this forum have decided to fly Southwest exclusively. I question that rationale. If Southwest doesn't have flights available on your days of travel, you would undoubtedly be better served looking for flights on another airline like Delta.

I have no way to know if it's the case with the OP but for me it's all about the points.
In the last 4 years I have flown from CT round trip;

My family of 4 to Disneyland
Wife and I to San Francisco
Son to Disneyland
Me to Orlando
Me to Kansas City
Daughter to Orlando
Son and I to Miami
Wife to New Orleans
Daughter to West Virginia

All for the cost of taxes and airport fees, never more than $10 per ticket.
It may not be for everyone but in my circumstance a little bit of a layover seems like a small price to pay

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I have no way to know if it's the case with the OP but for me it's all about the points.
In the last 4 years I have flown from CT round trip;

My family of 4 to Disneyland
Wife and I to San Francisco
Son to Disneyland
Me to Orlando
Me to Kansas City
Daughter to Orlando
Son and I to Miami
Wife to New Orleans
Daughter to West Virginia

All for the cost of taxes and airport fees, never more than $10 per ticket.
It may not be for everyone but in my circumstance a little bit of a layover seems like a small price to pay

Technically you still have to pay the 9/11 security fees which amount to $5.60 per way per person.

 

[siren0119]

I have no way to know if it's the case with the OP but for me it's all about the points.
In the last 4 years I have flown from CT round trip;

My family of 4 to Disneyland
Wife and I to San Francisco
Son to Disneyland
Me to Orlando
Me to Kansas City
Daughter to Orlando
Son and I to Miami
Wife to New Orleans
Daughter to West Virginia

All for the cost of taxes and airport fees, never more than $10 per ticket.
It may not be for everyone but in my circumstance a little bit of a layover seems like a small price to pay

This is why I tend to get SW if I can - my points do SO much more for me than with any other carrier. They really make rewards points worth earning.

 

[BLLB]

I tend to fly Southwest exclusively because of the points. But, they stopped flying out of the closest airport. Then eliminated nearly all of the non-stops out of the next closest airport. I may be looking elsewhere next year.

 

[FCDub]

Layovers are never fun, but they've very rarely been a deal-killer for me. Different strokes for different folks!

 

[Debbie Jean]

My last Southwest flight will be in May. Newark to Orlando with a change in Nashville. Coming home direct on Jet Blue.

There are no more direct EWR/MCO flights on Southwest and the only reason I am doing the May flight is to use up a credit from a December flight they cancelled. The best they could do for me then was to reschedule two days later on a flight through... wait for it... Austin, Texas! That's right... Orlando to Austin, Austin to Newark, over 9 hours! I cancelled and got on a direct Jet Blue flight that day. I knew then that Southwest had likely lived out its utility to me.

Both United and Jet Blue run multiple direct flights a day from Newark to Orlando. Honestly I looked at the connecting flights on Southwest which are mostly through Chicago, and the prices were no cheaper and in many cases more. So until/unless something changes radically with Southwest, they are no longer an airline I consider booking.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My last Southwest flight will be in May. Newark to Orlando with a change in Nashville. Coming home direct on Jet Blue.

There are no more direct EWR/MCO flights on Southwest and the only reason I am doing the May flight is to use up a credit from a December flight they cancelled. The best they could do for me then was to reschedule two days later on a flight through... wait for it... Austin, Texas! That's right... Orlando to Austin, Austin to Newark, over 9 hours! I cancelled and got on a direct Jet Blue flight that day. I knew then that Southwest had likely lived out its utility to me.

Both United and Jet Blue run multiple direct flights a day from Newark to Orlando. Honestly I looked at the connecting flights on Southwest which are mostly through Chicago, and the prices were no cheaper and in many cases more. So until/unless something changes radically with Southwest, they are no longer an airline I consider booking.

When connections are the only ones that make sense I do try to not go in crazy routes though. I think all airlines have stuff like that where the connections are completely out of the way.

When we went to Jamaica we opted to fly in a day earlier than originally planned. Originally we were going to connect through Ft. Lauderdale but the day before that wasn't a feasible option so we connected through BWI which we don't think about it but BWI is pretty dang close to being parallel to my area. In any case it felt weird having to go there then go south but that's the way it worked. On the way home we did connect through Orlando though-which was sad seeing everyone leaving or coming in Disney gear and being unable to go to the parks

When we went to Hawaii points-wise with Delta because of when we booked we had to do 2 stops on the way home rather than just 1. On the way there we connected in LAX. On the way home we did LAX to MSP to KCI. I think that was worse because of the time change between Hawaii and my home and taking an overnight flight out of Hawaii.

That said 9 hours is quite long for a travel duration. I'm guessing the issue there was the flights were full and that was the option left so close to that travel date.

 

[Debbie Jean]

That said 9 hours is quite long for a travel duration. I'm guessing the issue there was the flights were full and that was the option left so close to that travel date.

They cancelled the flight... and I was more than pissed. They listed it as delayed and I got ready to board DME at AKV. Left my room and by the time I got downstairs they had cancelled it. Yes, they had to reschedule everyone but I sat on the phone for over an hour watching flight after flight sell out with no way to rebook online. By the time I got an agent there was nothing that day and it was late the following day with a 9 hour journey to Newark through Austin. I told them to book it and get off the phone so I could call another airline.

Interestingly, it was raining in Newark... no one else cancelled flights. And I was lucky to get on a Jet Blue flight later that day.... which was late, nothing new for Jet Blue, but which ran without incident. BTW, I've had Jet Blue cancel flights... they automatically rebooked me and I got an notice of my new flight information. Southwest was like "your flights cancelled"... good luck with that.

Even if they reinstate the direct flights Newark Orlando, I have to be concerned with what will happen if they cancel the flight... they simply don't have anything reasonable anymore covering the route.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

They cancelled the flight... and I was more than pissed. They listed it as delayed and I got ready to board DME at AKV. Left my room and by the time I got downstairs they had cancelled it. Yes, they had to reschedule everyone but I sat on the phone for over an hour watching flight after flight sell out with no way to rebook online. By the time I got an agent there was nothing that day and it was late the following day with a 9 hour journey to Newark through Austin. I told them to book it and get off the phone so I could call another airline.

Interestingly, it was raining in Newark... no one else cancelled flights. And I was lucky to get on a Jet Blue flight later that day.... which was late, nothing new for Jet Blue, but which ran without incident. BTW, I've had Jet Blue cancel flights... they automatically rebooked me and I got an notice of my new flight information. Southwest was like "your flights cancelled"... good luck with that.

Even if they reinstate the direct flights Newark Orlando, I have to be concerned with what will happen if they cancel the flight... they simply don't have anything reasonable anymore covering the route.

No I knew they cancelled the flight. What I was meaning is I was guessing the issue was the other flights flying out were full and that was the option left so close to that travel date that led you to having a 9 hour travel duration. Now mind you I wouldn't take that time duration even if I had no time constraint on normal circumstances (meaning not a situation where it's a cancelled flight) but I sure know people who do book those things on their own volition rather than it being the option left to them.

When you say no way to rebook online was the website or app (both using your phone) unable to do that or was the only option to rebook a cancelled flight was by calling (or I guess if already at the airport talking to the gate agent)?

 

[mcd2745]

SW is always our first choice, but we are absolutely open to other airlines. Case in point, we just booked Jet Blue down to Fort Lauderdale for the end of August as there are no longer any non-stop flights on SW. We're still waiting to book a return flight (prices are very high at the moment). Like others here, I also all but refuse to book a connecting flight between Florida and NYC. When we went out to Seattle for an Alaskan cruise a couple of years ago we had no issue with a layover at Midway - that's a totally different story. Unfortunately, it looks like going forward, we may have to start flying other airlines more frequently as SW seems to be eliminating many non-stop flights to all FL airports - not just MCO. And even where they still have them, particularly to/from MCO, the only flights seem to be very early in the morning and then in the evening.

 

[Debbie Jean]

No I knew they cancelled the flight. What I was meaning is I was guessing the issue was the other flights flying out were full and that was the option left so close to that travel date that led you to having a 9 hour travel duration. Now mind you I wouldn't take that time duration even if I had no time constraint on normal circumstances (meaning not a situation where it's a cancelled flight) but I sure know people who do book those things on their own volition rather than it being the option left to them.

When you say no way to rebook online was the website or app (both using your phone) unable to do that or was the only option to rebook a cancelled flight was by calling (or I guess if already at the airport talking to the gate agent)?

There was no way to rebook a cancelled flight online which meant calling or going to the desk at the airport.

I definitely think that today most flights are flying full and this is where the issues come with a cancellation. Where do you put people?

Service between Newark and Orlando is now very poor on Southwest. United and Jet Blue both have more than 6 direct flights a day so if something happens your options rebooking are a little better.

I actually like Southwest so the change in flight schedules has been disappointing.