Southwest verses Delta?

[serenitygr]

We've always been Delta fans, and are in their frequent flyer program. But I keep reading everyone waiting for Southwest to release their prices for our dates, and am wondering if they are really THAT much better/cheaper. We are just waiting for Delta to hopefully lower their rates - our dates are 9/29 thru 10/13, flying from Minnesota, and right now they are at 382/person. REALLY high. And no free bags checked, so carry on only.
Tell me about Southwest, please. We are a family with 4 young kids (ages 9-12) so we definitely want to be seated together. (might only be one parent flying with) Free bags checked is nice, but not mandatory. Our main priorities are being able to sit together, and also a good price. I'm looking for as much information as possible before tomorrow, because I know that's the release date everyone is talking about. Thank you so much!!

 

[sam_gordon]

We've always been Delta fans, and are in their frequent flyer program. But I keep reading everyone waiting for Southwest to release their prices for our dates, and am wondering if they are really THAT much better/cheaper. We are just waiting for Delta to hopefully lower their rates - our dates are 9/29 thru 10/13, flying from Minnesota, and right now they are at 382/person. REALLY high. And no free bags checked, so carry on only.
Tell me about Southwest, please. We are a family with 4 young kids (ages 9-12) so we definitely want to be seated together. (might only be one parent flying with) Free bags checked is nice, but not mandatory. Our main priorities are being able to sit together, and also a good price. I'm looking for as much information as possible before tomorrow, because I know that's the release date everyone is talking about. Thank you so much!!

If you want free bags on Delta, have one person sign up for the Delta American Express card. That gives every person in your party 1 free checked bag. No, that's not the two that SW offers, but how much do you REALLY need to pack?

If you want to sit together on SW, sign up for EBCI (an extra $12.50pp/each way, so $25pp round trip). That will GREATLY help your odds of being able to sit together.

Also know when flying Delta (or any other "legacy" airlines), even with assigned seats, a change in planes can result in you being separated. There's no guarantee you're sitting together until the boarding door is shut.

 

[PCFriar80]

Also you need to take in to account that Delta offers nonstop service RT from MSP to MCO and Southwest does not. Most likely stops and plane changes in Chicago, Baltimore or Atlanta.

 

[woodynjessiesmomma]

I'm a huge SW fan. It's my favorite airline and I've flown AA, United, NW, Delta, TWA (years ago), and British Air (actually BA is my favorite, but I rarely get to use them).
Southwest does have the unassigned seating but we've never had a problem with getting seats together as three and three. Also I've always run into nice passengers that offered to move when seating was more limited. You can pay the early check in fee and should get to board earlier.
2 free bags per person plus a carry on and a personal item.
They do still serve peanuts if you have an allergy concern.
SW is always the cheapest from our smaller airport but we almost always have a layover.

I'm super excited to book our flights on SW tomorrow!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

With SWA if the price of your flight goes down after you purchase it, you can apply for a refund. The refund will be in the form of a travel voucher that is good for a year from the original purchase date. If you want to switch your flights you do not have to pay a change fee. But of course if the flight you are switching to is higher you will have to pay the fare difference. You get two free bags. Right now if you apply for the SWA CC and spend $2k in 90 days you get 50K rapid rewards points which can get you about 2 free r/t tickets. Love the customer service they offer. We were on a layover in Nashville when a nasty storm rolled in and delayed us for a few hours. The staff brought out pop/water and bags of chips for everyone in the waiting area.

Oh good luck on Delta lowering their prices. That is a holiday weekend that you are travel on.

 

[MillauFr]

I would fly Delta. The non stop is a huge benefit. Southwest used to have one of the best ontime percentages in the industry and they now have one of the worst.

In 2014 Delta was ranked #2 for on time arrivals of major US airlines trailing only Alaska airlines. Southwest was ranked #10 and last.

http://www.flightstats.com/company/media/on-time-performance-awards/

 

[serenitygr]

With SWA if the price of your flight goes down after you purchase it, you can apply for a refund. The refund will be in the form of a travel voucher that is good for a year from the original purchase date. If you want to switch your flights you do not have to pay a change fee. But of course if the flight you are switching to is higher you will have to pay the fare difference. You get two free bags. Right now if you apply for the SWA CC and spend $2k in 90 days you get 50K rapid rewards points which can get you about 2 free r/t tickets. Love the customer service they offer. We were on a layover in Nashville when a nasty storm rolled in and delayed us for a few hours. The staff brought out pop/water and bags of chips for everyone in the waiting area.

Oh good luck on Delta lowering their prices. That is a holiday weekend that you are travel on.

I'm confused how 9/29 is a holiday weekend? Both our flight days are on Tuesdays??

 

[Brian Noble]

In my market (Detroit), fares seem to be roughly comparable throughout the year between Delta and Southwest. Note that I have status with Delta, so I don't pay for bags. Delta has a much richer and more convenient set of flight schedules---Southwest flights almost always include a stop somewhere, if not a connection---so I tend to fly Delta most of the time. Once upon a time, the AirTran vs. Southwest competition kept fares to MCO lower, but now that they've merged they tend to follow Delta's pricing rather than put pressure on them from here. I'm not sure if the same is true at MSP or not.

However, during peak get-me-out-of-the-cold-to-Florida weeks (President's Week, Spring Break) fares out of DTW on DL are astronomical, and fares on SW are merely ridiculous. For those weeks, we'll often fly out of a nearby smaller aiport on SW where the prices can be much better: FNT, CAK, or CMH. Even for CAK/CMH, which usually involves one extra hotel night because of the drive time, the savings is substantial, plus the flights are nonstop. We've also found that fights to LAX for those weeks (for Disneyland) are often less expensive than flights to MCO.

On SW, I always pay for EBCI, and just count that in as part of the costs.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I see that you are traveling Sept 29 - Oct 13 Well Oct 12 is Columbus Day holiday hence the high flight prices.

 

[serenitygr]

I would fly Delta. The non stop is a huge benefit. Southwest used to have one of the best ontime percentages in the industry and they now have one of the worst.

In 2014 Delta was ranked #2 for on time arrivals of major US airlines trailing only Alaska airlines. Southwest was ranked #10 and last.

http://www.flightstats.com/company/media/on-time-performance-awards/

This has convinced me Delta is the way we're going to go. I was already thinking that, but now I know - thank you!

I see that you are traveling Sept 29 - Oct 13 Well Oct 12 is Columbus Day holiday hence the high flight prices.

Actually this isn't true- I changed dates so they aren't even close to that weekend, and they all remain at 382 from MN. So just because the Monday of our week of travel is Columbus Day, that really hasn't done anything to rates. Looking at alternate dates, it seems to be more a matter of how far in advance we are trying to book.

 

[pixiemama91]

We usually just travel on whatever airline we find that is the cheapest with the best flight times. I am very willing to pay more for a more convenient time or a non stop flight than go for the absolute cheapest. We signed up for the Delta American Express last year when they were offering 40,000 bonus points. We use the card often to earn more points which as of now gives us about a $450 discount on our next trip. We also get 4 free checked bags.

I have found here in Boston that SW is comparable to other airlines as far as pricing.

 

[jmkjr72]

After my last experience with delta never again with kids
we booked when the flights first came out 6 tickets 3 adults and 3 kids
noted that we were traveling with kids
choose our seats 3 and 3
Go to do online checkin and guess what not even any side by side seats they had us spread through the whole plane
called delta they said too bad unless you want to pay extra you have to wait till you get to the airport never fun when it's the first flight out of the day at a small airport
It did get sorted at the airport passing off everyone in line behind us because it took the lady a while
she also looked at what they did to our return flight they screwed the pooch there too
she sorted it and said she locked us in and gave us a print out
and guess what again when we get to the airport to check in they separated us all over the place this time we were told it would have to be taken care of on the plane if people would swap

 

[MillauFr]

Every time I have ever booked Delta you just chose your seats when you are making a reservation. Did your original flight get changed?

 

[maxiesmom]

After my last experience with delta never again with kids
we booked when the flights first came out 6 tickets 3 adults and 3 kids
noted that we were traveling with kids
choose our seats 3 and 3
Go to do online checkin and guess what not even any side by side seats they had us spread through the whole plane
called delta they said too bad unless you want to pay extra you have to wait till you get to the airport never fun when it's the first flight out of the day at a small airport
It did get sorted at the airport passing off everyone in line behind us because it took the lady a while
she also looked at what they did to our return flight they screwed the pooch there too
she sorted it and said she locked us in and gave us a print out
and guess what again when we get to the airport to check in they separated us all over the place this time we were told it would have to be taken care of on the plane if people would swap

Did you chose your seats when you purchased them? You need to go through and pick seats for each person for each flight. At that time you can also upgrade to Economy Plus if you want.

No matter what airline you are on, it is always wise to keep an eye on your flights. If the flight times change even a little, or if the airline changes the airplane you are flying on, you may lose your seat assignments. None of the airlines care if you are flying with family or not, if the type of aircraft changes, then they will move people around to fit the new configuration.

 

[jmkjr72]

Yes we picked our seats at time of purchase and checked them several times in between no changes

our return flight was the same number same style of plane and the seats were fixed 10 days before the flight and I had a printout from the airline desk

Its funny years ago the airlines did care about there customers and kept parties seated together and did tell you of its going to be extra if you want to sit together and every time one of the legacy carriers gets larger there customer service gets worse they know there is less compition and you have fewer choices

It's funny that in this day and age we put up with piss poor customer service we belive that it's our only option but it's not

 

[maxiesmom]

So did your time or aircraft change for the flight down? I'm not sure what happened, but something did. Delta does not randomly decide to move people around. They will, but if there is an aircraft change or time change. They wouldn't move people around for no reason, because it makes more work for them, besides being aggravating for the customer.

It also sounds like your issues were fixed before you flew, so it sounds like you had good customer service. Your seats were messed up, but they fixed them for you. They messed up, but fixed the problem. That is not poor customer service. It is called a screw up, and every business does so from time to time. Not just Delta.

 

[sam_gordon]

Yes we picked our seats at time of purchase and checked them several times in between no changes

our return flight was the same number same style of plane and the seats were fixed 10 days before the flight and I had a printout from the airline desk

Its funny years ago the airlines did care about there customers and kept parties seated together and did tell you of its going to be extra if you want to sit together and every time one of the legacy carriers gets larger there customer service gets worse they know there is less compition and you have fewer choices

It's funny that in this day and age we put up with piss poor customer service we belive that it's our only option but it's not

Even the same types of planes (737, 767, etc) can have different seating arrangements. The flight number really means nothing when it comes to seating. There was probably a plane change (for whatever reason) and a computer when through and fit people where it could. This is not unusual on flights with assigned seating.

 

[lgpav1]

I like to pick my seats! I would go with Delta, even with their changes in Skymiles. No airline is on-time all the time. But, Southwest seems to schedule 30-40 mts between arrival and the next departure - 90% of the time on a mid-day or evening flight - they are late. Maybe my experience is not the norm - but that is what I have experienced and it has gotten worse over the last couple years. Plus with Southwest - you better check-in as soon as your window opens (24-hours from your flight time). I checked in on my last flight about 22.5 hours before the flight and was B40-something. If I would have been later, our travel party would not have been together. Kind of like cattle herding...

 

[jmkjr72]

So did your time or aircraft change for the flight down? I'm not sure what happened, but something did. Delta does not randomly decide to move people around. They will, but if there is an aircraft change or time change. They wouldn't move people around for no reason, because it makes more work for them, besides being aggravating for the customer.

It also sounds like your issues were fixed before you flew, so it sounds like you had good customer service. Your seats were messed up, but they fixed them for you. They messed up, but fixed the problem. That is not poor customer service. It is called a screw up, and every business does so from time to time. Not just Delta.

sure the trip down was fixed they said they fixed the return trip and when we went to return it was all fubar again and they wouldn't do anything about it they said all you can do is ask people to swap around.

It shouldn't matter if they change planes there records show that there were 3 children under 10 and 3 adults all that extra crap you have to fill in to fly
they have the the information and not just once but 3 times on the same reservation they screwed it up
when I called the first time the only way they would have fixed it was if I paid them more money that's bull
they did fix it in person at the airport but then changed it again after the person at the counter locked it I should not have had the issue again

just face it we won't agree on this I know a company that doesn't care about customer service when I see one just wait keep dealing with them and you will be on the unfortunate end of there poor service

 

[maxiesmom]

sure the trip down was fixed they said they fixed the return trip and when we went to return it was all fubar again and they wouldn't do anything about it they said all you can do is ask people to swap around.

It shouldn't matter if they change planes there records show that there were 3 children under 10 and 3 adults all that extra crap you have to fill in to fly
they have the the information and not just once but 3 times on the same reservation they screwed it up
when I called the first time the only way they would have fixed it was if I paid them more money that's bull
they did fix it in person at the airport but then changed it again after the person at the counter locked it I should not have had the issue again

just face it we won't agree on this I know a company that doesn't care about customer service when I see one just wait keep dealing with them and you will be on the unfortunate end of there poor service

I won't be as upset as you because I know the Contract of Carriage. Your seats are not guaranteed. And I am also aware that children as young as 5 can fly without an adult. So while it may not be ideal for a child who is almost 10 to not be seated next to a parent, it is not a catastrophe either. And if asked nicely, many people on an aircraft would change seats so that they could sit next to a parent.