Southwest airlines????

[Guest carlogesualdo]

I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't have my firstborn- will ya take my second:D

 

That's the diesel price.

 

More good:

1) If after booking your flight they come out with a lower fare for your flights, you can get a credit for use on future flights,

2) They do not charge a fee to make changes to your reservations. Yes, if you change dates and the fares you originally paid aren't available on your new dates you have to pay the higher fare, but there is NO FEE to make a change,

3) If you make a reservation and then, within 24 hours of making the reservation, decide to cancel, they will issue a full refund.

 

More bad:

1) They do not interline with other carriers - meaning if you have cancellations/problems they do not work with other carriers to get you on their flights.

 

I have one to add to the good list: one-way tickets that cost half what the round-trip tickets cost. What other airline prices out that way? All the others charge more for one-way tickets than they do for round-trips.

 

I agree. I think it's because the OWN the airline! It's a good business model: makes the employees motivated.

Not sure where you got your information....LUV is a publicly traded company on the NYSE.

 

As for employee ownership, that was tried at United with their ESOP. Basically, it pitted one labor group against another. Disastrous results that put UA into a tailspin that it's still fighting.

 

Anyone who's ever shared a plane with Herb Kelleher, original owner/president of Southwest, will understand why the employees are so great. He's great! He's hilarious and it's obvious he puts his employees first. I cruise out of Galveston to avoid having to fly - I'm deathly afraid of flying. But of all the times I have had to fly (which is A LOT), that is the flight I remember.

 

(On a flight once, I told a group I wished I liked the taste of alcohol...it sure would might the flight go easier.)

[SelectSys]

As for employee ownership, that was tried at United with their ESOP. Basically, it pitted one labor group against another. Disastrous results that put UA into a tailspin that it's still fighting.

 

The situation regarding LUV shares held by employees is completely different than that of UA. LUV shares were awarded as options and purchased while the company grew rather than being some reorganization gimmick. Some of these long term employees made a good score on the stock and have additional loyalty to the company as a result.

 

I have heard that a split does exist between long term employees who benefited from LUV's ramp up in value and those that came after who are looking for higher salaries.

 

I have one to add to the good list: one-way tickets that cost half what the round-trip tickets cost. What other airline prices out that way? All the others charge more for one-way tickets than they do for round-trips.

 

I think most airlines operate this way for domestic flights at least. I know AA, AS, and DL show and price tickets on a segment by segment basis. Someone lmay know more, but I believe the Saturday night stay is largely bannished from the pricing equation. It just shows how strong WN has been in terms of changing industry practices.

 

 

Anyone who's ever shared a plane with Herb Kelleher, original owner/president of Southwest, will understand why the employees are so great. He's great!

 

I have never met or seen Herb Kelleher, but I have often thought of SWA's strategies and practices in my own business ventures. His model of creating a differentiated, non-convential offering rather being a "me too" competitor is key for any startup. I have never really viewed WN competing on price alone as much as having a completely different business model. Going head to head with the legacy carriers would never have worked.

[boom op]

Check foxnews.com bus. section about Southwest fuel hedging.

[pcur]

Check foxnews.com bus. section about Southwest fuel hedging.

 

Actually, it's foxbusiness with the dot com after it.

 

Great article! I was wondering how they did it, but I didn't know they were buying contracts to go 10 years in the future!!! :eek:

 

We are waiting for our next free roundtrip award from our Visa card in a few weeks, and it will take care of our air for our cruise next March. Love Southwest!!!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Frankly I don't care how SW does it I am glad they still treat their customers like people and with a smile. We are flying home free from FLL in December courtesy of our Rapid Rewards. I have both United and SW Visa and have given up on United. They find every way they can to not allow you to use their miles.

Thru this thread there have been posters that want to bash SW but they are the same people that look for any good reason to bash most everything.:rolleyes: While I might not be a weekly flyer I do average at least 8 flights a year and most are with SW

[Copper Lanterns]

Nice to see that the SW bashers haven't found this thread yet.

I too like SW and travel them as often as possible. They are definitely my airline of choice. :D :D :D

[FlyerTalker]

Not a basher....just one who points out that WN has its own style of operation. If you are willing to accept the parameters that WN sets forth, go for it. I'm all for free choice. Just know that there are definite downsides to flying Canyon Blue Herb-birds....it's not all peaches and cream.

[ohioNCLcruiser]

I don't like how they do their flight numbers. For example flight 126 from CLE-LAS. Then you get to the airport and find out exactly what cities you are flying to before you get to las. CLE-MDW-STL-LAS. I don't 100% hate flying on them anymore since they have that new boarding style.

[sunlover5]

MyDD and grandson just flew them home. First time anyone in our family has flown them. Would love to get better prices on them but never seem to get them at the great deals I hear about.

Anyways, she loved them! Said it was the best and most polite crew she has ever had. Being able to have 2 bags each is a plus when you have a 3 yr. old.!! (She flies over once a month)

[msmayor]

I don't like how they do their flight numbers. For example flight 126 from CLE-LAS. Then you get to the airport and find out exactly what cities you are flying to before you get to las. CLE-MDW-STL-LAS. I don't 100% hate flying on them anymore since they have that new boarding style.

 

When booking, though, they clearly tell you how many stops you'll make...even if its the same flight number.

 

We had that situation on our trip to Vegas in June. One flight number, but it listed one stop. All I did was phone SW and ask where the stop was, and how long.

 

I have it again for our inbounds when we return from our cruise. Once again, I just called SW and they told me we'd make a 30 minute stop in Tampa and then continue.

[pcur]

I have nerve damage in my lower back and left leg that is aggravated by long periods of sitting. I love the fact that I can get off the plane with SW and walk in between flights, which is the best thing for my problem.

[KLLund]

I like the fact that if there is one stop and you don't like the seat you had on the first leg .. you are free to roam about the cabin choosing a new seat before the next passengers get on . that won't happen with assigned seating.

[ohioNCLcruiser]

I like the fact that if there is one stop and you don't like the seat you had on the first leg .. you are free to roam about the cabin choosing a new seat before the next passengers get on . that won't happen with assigned seating.

 

That can also be a really bad thing though. Lets say you checked in right at the 24 hour mark and got group A number 2. The aircraft arrives from two other cities and all the good seats are already taken even though you are in group A.

[G'ma]

Ok the good, the bad, and the ugly. Do they charge for bags as well, I know I can search their website but to be honest all of this airfare crap has given me a headache. I will now lean on my CC friends for advice!!

 

Nope, no charge. Here, from their website:

 

Baggage Allowance: Beginning January 29, 2008, Southwest will allow two (2) checked pieces of baggage per ticketed Customer. Size and weight limitations apply.

 

Excess Baggage: Effective January 29, 2008, you may check a third bag for a charge of $25. Your 4th through 9th bag or item will incur a charge of $50 per piece, and any bag or item thereafter will be $110 per piece.

 

Weight and Size Allowance: Maximum weight is 50 pounds and maximum size is 62 inches (length + width + height) per checked piece of luggage. Effective March 1, 2005, overweight items from 51 to 70 pounds will be accepted for a charge of $25.00 per item. Items weighing from 71 to 100 pounds and oversized items in excess of 62 inches but not more than 80 inches (i.e., surfboards, bicycles, vaulting poles) will be accepted for a charge of $50.00 per item. Any item weighing more than 100 pounds must be shipped as Air Cargo. However, Customers cannot use SWA Cargo unless classified as a Known Shipper as defined by the TSA or TSA approved Indirect Air Carriers (IAC). For full details about shipping cargo, visit swacargo.com.

[KLLund]

That can also be a really bad thing though. Lets say you checked in right at the 24 hour mark and got group A number 2. The aircraft arrives from two other cities and all the good seats are already taken even though you are in group A.

 

I have thought about that possibility but so far it has not ever happened to me .. usually at least half the plane gets off .. but I do see that it could happen.

[Sparkylok6]

When I get the nerve up to fly...I love SW. You can't beat their Rapid Rewards program either.

 

My boss has like 4 million Amex Reward Points, and we have one employee that flies often. I transfer my boss' Amex points into his RR account (usually 10 tickets at a time) and use them for the employee. Another great thing is any Rewards that are in your account can be used for anyone. Also, if you fly 10 times (or transfer 10 tickets in a year) like I do for him, you get a free companion pass good for a whole year. My boss' wife flies free with him where ever he goes. Once my boss has secured his companion pass and future transfers go to my RR acct. until I get my Companion Pass. My husband can fly with me for free for 1 year where ever I fly. It takes 24,000 Amex Rewards to get 1 SW ticket.

 

They are the friendliest crew I have ever encountered. On shorter flights the snack service just gives peanuts and beverage. On longer flights they give you a snack box with 3 or 4 different snacks. Oh and drink coupons....if you set up a profile for your Rapid Rewards account and check the box that you want drink coupons, whenever a reward is issued you get drink coupons for alcoholic drinks...at least 4 per reward.

[greatam]

When I get the nerve up to fly...I love SW. You can't beat their Rapid Rewards program either.

 

I have to laugh. Rapid Rewards is the biggest RIP in FF programs there is.

 

You have to fly 8 RT to get a free ticket. Average price-maybe $250. So spend $2,000 to get a free $250.00 ticket, limited to Continental USA flights. FF miles are valued at roughly $.02 per mile. So a $300, even a $400 trip on SW is FAR below the value of miles on other FF programs. And when you start using FF miles on other airlines for first class/business class upgrades or international award tickets, the value increases tremendously.

 

Using any other frequent flier program, that same $2,000 will get you enough miles to fly to Alaska or Hawaii, sometimes even to Europe. Or upgrades to first class/business class on flights.

 

If your boss has 4 million Amex Reward points, you should seriously start looking at transferring points to other airline FF programs. In my book, a first class trip to Paris/London/China or even a ticket to Hawaii is much more valuable than a "Greyhound of the skies" trip from Kansas City to Phoenix.

 

I have a stack of SW vouchers sitting on my desk from canceled/delayed trips my employees have taken. I am hard pressed to use them. My employees look at FF miles as a bonus to go someplace they normally would not or could not go. None of them want to fly SW because a free trip to Memphis to see Grandma is NOT exactly a vacation.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I have to laugh. Rapid Rewards is the biggest RIP in FF programs there is.

 

You have to fly 8 RT to get a free ticket. Average price-maybe $250. So spend $2,000 to get a free $250.00 ticket, limited to Continental USA flights. FF miles are valued at roughly $.02 per mile. So a $300, even a $400 trip on SW is FAR below the value of miles on other FF programs. And when you start using FF miles on other airlines for first class/business class upgrades or international award tickets, the value increases tremendously.

 

Using any other frequent flier program, that same $2,000 will get you enough miles to fly to Alaska or Hawaii, sometimes even to Europe. Or upgrades to first class/business class on flights.

 

If your boss has 4 million Amex Reward points, you should seriously start looking at transferring points to other airline FF programs. In my book, a first class trip to Paris/London/China or even a ticket to Hawaii is much more valuable than a "Greyhound of the skies" trip from Kansas City to Phoenix.

 

I have a stack of SW vouchers sitting on my desk from canceled/delayed trips my employees have taken. I am hard pressed to use them. My employees look at FF miles as a bonus to go someplace they normally would not or could not go. None of them want to fly SW because a free trip to Memphis to see Grandma is NOT exactly a vacation.

See there is always some one out there that does not have a clue or is out to bash something they have not understood how to use.

First off try using OTHER FF miles. I have well over 100,000 FF miles with United, when ever and where ever I want to go they cannot be used or you have to go for the 50,000 miles. Lots of restrictions, they cannot be used for one way....the same goes for Delta, NW and American.

Truly the only way to use Rapids Rewards is to have a Rapids Rewards Visa and pay absolutely everything you purchase with that card and pay it off monthly like I have done for years.

Oh and BTW you can now fly to Hawaii on SW ;)

[parody]

Rapid Rewards is the biggest RIP in FF programs there is.

 

I don't think I would go quite that far. I suspect that there is not a single FF program that is good for everyone. Being segment based, WN's program allows one to earn points by making short distance trips and using the award ticket for a longer distance trip. Many other airlines have caught on to this and now have eliminated the minimum miles that can be earned on a flight. The WN points have a life of 2 years, which certainly beats the 1 year in place by jetBlue. Many of the legacy carriers require activity within one and one-half years. A FF ticket earned on WN is automatically deposted in one's program for use at anytime. Many other carriers require a complex, torturous process to redeem miles and up the ante to twice as many miles to eliminate blackout periods. A WN FF ticket can be transfered to a "friend". This is usually not possible with FF tickets from other carriers.

[greatam]

See there is always some one out there that does not have a clue or is out to bash something they have not understood how to use.

First off try using OTHER FF miles. I have well over 100,000 FF miles with United, when ever and where ever I want to go they cannot be used or you have to go for the 50,000 miles. Lots of restrictions, they cannot be used for one way....the same goes for Delta, NW and American.

Truly the only way to use Rapids Rewards is to have a Rapids Rewards Visa and pay absolutely everything you purchase with that card and pay it off monthly like I have done for years.

Oh and BTW you can now fly to Hawaii on SW ;)

 

Let's look at the particulars:

 

Not a clue??? I fly AA (and partners) over 100,000 miles per year. I fly LAX/NYC once a month. I USED to fly SW from Phoenix (pre 2003) to connect to the AA LAX/NYC nonstop on a 767 redeye. I fly business on the redeye so I can sleep and be ready to work in NYC when I arrive.

 

SW jacked me around SOOOOO many times out of PHX, I said NO MORE. The security lines in T-4 at PHX are enormous. The Security lines in T-1, LAX are a joke. And the afternoon flights were CONSOLIDATED so many times that I missed my 9:00PM flight out of LAX TWICE.

 

Then I tried US Air. A little better, but they jacked me big time twice-once in Reno, wouldn't let me board the plane even though I had a ticket. Said they had closed out the flight and there was NO WAY my luggage would make it. Luggage made it to PHX on the early flight, I did not. I now drive to LAX (129 miles from my office to PHX, 189 to LAX)

 

And I absolutely HATE "Greyhound of the Skies". Find your own seat, no first class, cutesy announcements and flight attendants, unruly, drunk passengers with everything they own in their suitcases???? Not in my book.

 

I have almost a 1,000,000 AA miles on the books. I have no problem using

my miles. You need to expand your horizons on how to use your United miles. You also need to get a subscription to Expertflyer ($5.00 per month) to actually be able to SEE award ticket availability. A little flexibility and irregular routings will generally give you an award ticket. Trying to book nonstops, prime flying time on SPECIFIC dates with NO flexibility-not likely in this day and age. Why would an airline GIVE AWAY their best flights when the chances of selling those very seats are high???

 

PS-Since ATA went out of business, you can no longer get a RR ticket to Hawaii. So essentially you are STUCK with Continental USA. FF miles used properly have a MUCH higher value than a ticket even from LAX to ISP on SW.

[KLLund]

And I absolutely HATE "Greyhound of the Skies". Find your own seat, no first class, cutesy announcements and flight attendants, unruly, drunk passengers with everything they own in their suitcases???? Not in my book.

 

 

And you have said that so many times in telling those of us that appreciate SWA that we have no taste and are pretty much without Knowledge about our preferred airlines and our OWN travel patterns that I actually believe you. I don't share your opinion and I think it is pretty closed minded but I do believe you.

 

And it is fine with me if you hate SWA. Nothing worse than sitting next to a stranger on an airline and having them pick it apart the entire flight.

 

Maybe you should start passing out those RR tickets that you somehow accumulated and never use.

[greatam]

I don't think I would go quite that far. I suspect that there is not a single FF program that is good for everyone. Being segment based, WN's program allows one to earn points by making short distance trips and using the award ticket for a longer distance trip. Many other airlines have caught on to this and now have eliminated the minimum miles that can be earned on a flight. The WN points have a life of 2 years, which certainly beats the 1 year in place by jetBlue. Many of the legacy carriers require activity within one and one-half years. A FF ticket earned on WN is automatically deposted in one's program for use at anytime. Many other carriers require a complex, torturous process to redeem miles and up the ante to twice as many miles to eliminate blackout periods. A WN FF ticket can be transfered to a "friend". This is usually not possible with FF tickets from other carriers.

 

Transfer tickets-any other program-just book the FF ticket in whatever name you want. There is NEVER a problem using your miles for XXX booking (at least not on AA or US)

 

18 months activity-donate a few miles to Soldier Miles, buy an I-Tune (thanks wrp96), buy a magazine subscription, buy flowers, shop at the airline "mall" for normal, everyday stuff-all counted as activity AND you get additional miles (except obviously for the donation)

 

Short segments-I fly AA and partners-still 500 miles mini per segment, even on something as short as DAL/SAT. (DH and I racked up 72,000 miles each flying DAL/SAT a couple of years ago when AA had a promotion. 3 days, about $500 pp-enough miles for first class upgrades to Asia-about $5000 worth of upgrades for $1000). Sure can't do that with RR.

 

Most people have NO idea how to use their FF miles. They try to book a nonstop from FLL to ANC on a specific date at a specific time and then say there is NO availability unless they use double miles. There ARE award tickets and upgrades out there. Just have to be flexible and think out of the box. Partner awards overseas are often overlooked, but are generally available.

 

The VALUE of RR is poor.

[greatam]

Maybe you should start passing out those RR tickets that you somehow accumulated and never use.

 

I've tried to give them away. Find no takers out of Missouri.

[greatam]

And you have said that so many times in telling those of us that appreciate SWA that we have no taste and are pretty much without Knowledge about our preferred airlines and our OWN travel patterns that I actually believe you. I don't share your opinion and I think it is pretty closed minded but I do believe you.

 

 

How can you not say that SW is not like Greyhound???? Pick your own seat, stuff everything you own in the overheads. Switch seats at stops.

 

I just took one of my employees last night to SkyHarbor (PHX). T-4 is both US Air and SW. I walked with him and waited with him at security until he was getting close to the clearance point (I have a pass to enter the terminal when not flying). The amount of "stuff" the SW passengers had was considerably more than the US passengers had. About every 5th SW passenger was sent to the penalty box to repack, check, do something with all the excess carry on stuff. I only saw 2 US Air passengers sent away in about 45 minutes.

 

One lady with two kids had two roller bags, two strollers (one of the kids was about 8), 4 other bags (like messenger bags/diaper bags), three shopping bags and a camera case. She REALLY thought she could take all that on.

 

It just seems to happen over and over on SW.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

greatam, you obviously had a few bad experience with SW and trust me you will run into those same bad experiences with another carrier at another time because trust me the airline industry is ALL the same some just works better for other. You can drop your complaining because there are many here that love and trust SW and have had absolutely no problems with them. I just tried pulling up a flight to go to my home town for possibly attending a Class reunion in a few weeks and on top of them wanting 50,000 miles they will also charge me $100 ....yup that is a bargin:rolleyes:

My guess a year from now you will have yet another airline to complain about on your list.