Southwest Airlines?

On Feb 5, 11:56*am, Steve wrote:
Thanks everyone for the help and advice. I booked our flights with
Southwest this morning. We had planned to fly down the day before but we
decided, at the last minute, to fly down the morning of the cruise. A
few of you mentioned the on time record of Southwest, we paid for trip
insurance, and, since leaving Saturday morning would be easier for us
anyway, that's what we did.

Hi, Steve,

Congrats on getting your airline arrangements settled. I think you may
have heard a collective (low) groan from the bleachers when you said
you were flying in the day of. That's probably okay, especially since
May air systems aren't usually subject to weather delays, but there's
always the million and one things that fall in the "stuff happens"
category. Please be sure you make some notes that Thursday or Friday
what backup flights on Southwest or other you'd turn to if
something happened Sat. and you weren't on that flight. Having some
basic familiarity with your options will help in a "panic" situation.
And on your trip insurance, I assume you booked third party coverage.
If you booked the cruise line's insurance, you will likely find no
help on your flights.

Anyway, not to put a damper on your fun! I'm sure everything will go
like clockwork.

Did I miss another thread where you told us what ship and itinerary?
We'd love to weigh in on all of the great things in store for your
port onboard and in your ports of call!

Diana Ball
Austin, TX

D Ball wrote:
On Feb 5, 11:56 am, Steve wrote:
Thanks everyone for the help and advice. I booked our flights with
Southwest this morning. We had planned to fly down the day before but we
decided, at the last minute, to fly down the morning of the cruise. A
few of you mentioned the on time record of Southwest, we paid for trip
insurance, and, since leaving Saturday morning would be easier for us
anyway, that's what we did.

Hi, Steve,

Congrats on getting your airline arrangements settled. I think you may
have heard a collective (low) groan from the bleachers when you said
you were flying in the day of. That's probably okay, especially since
May air systems aren't usually subject to weather delays, but there's
always the million and one things that fall in the "stuff happens"
category. Please be sure you make some notes that Thursday or Friday
what backup flights on Southwest or other you'd turn to if
something happened Sat. and you weren't on that flight. Having some
basic familiarity with your options will help in a "panic" situation.
And on your trip insurance, I assume you booked third party coverage.
If you booked the cruise line's insurance, you will likely find no
help on your flights.

Anyway, not to put a damper on your fun! I'm sure everything will go
like clockwork.

Did I miss another thread where you told us what ship and itinerary?
We'd love to weigh in on all of the great things in store for your
port onboard and in your ports of call!

Diana Ball
Austin, TX

Thanks, Diana.
Our insurance is Travel Guard. We had this on our first (and only other)
cruise and we were led to believe it was pretty good coverage. (Does it
always include flight trouble, or should I check?)
Southwest does have one other flight out of Albany that would get us
there on time. That doesn't mean there would be room for 4 more people
but I'll also check other airlines in the days before we go. We will be
traveling (about 3 hours) to the Albany area the evening before and
we'll stay in a hotel near the airport to minimize our chances of
getting there too late. Our flight is scheduled to arrive in Ft
Lauderdale at 11:30 AM and is non-stop. As long as we get on the plane,
we could tolerate quite a delay and still get there in time.
We are booked on the Carnival Freedom out of Ft Lauderdale on May 23rd
for the 8 day Eastern Caribbean itinerary.
" Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean: Ft Lauderdale, FL ; Fun Day At Sea ;
San Juan, Puerto Rico ; St. Thomas, USVI ; Antigua ; Tortola, BVI ; Fun
Day At Sea ; Nassau, Bahamas ; Ft Lauderdale, FL "

Steve

In article
, D
Ball wrote:

I think you may have heard a collective (low) groan from the
bleachers when you said you were flying in the day of. That's
probably okay, especially since May air systems aren't usually
subject to weather delays, but there's always the million and one
things that fall in the "stuff happens" category.

I groaned when I read that. Flying in the day of is a stressful way to
start a cruise. And there is the potential for severe thunderstorms in
Albany in May.

--
Charles

On Feb 7, 12:01*am, Steve wrote:
D Ball wrote:
On Feb 5, 11:56 am, Steve wrote:
Thanks everyone for the help and advice. I booked our flights with
Southwest this morning. We had planned to fly down the day before but we
decided, at the last minute, to fly down the morning of the cruise. A
few of you mentioned the on time record of Southwest, we paid for trip
insurance, and, since leaving Saturday morning would be easier for us
anyway, that's what we did.

Hi, Steve,

Congrats on getting your airline arrangements settled. I think you may
have heard a collective (low) groan from the bleachers when you said
you were flying in the day of. That's probably okay, especially since
May air systems aren't usually subject to weather delays, but there's
always the million and one things that fall in the "stuff happens"
category. Please be sure you make some notes that Thursday or Friday
what backup flights on Southwest or other you'd turn to if
something happened Sat. and you weren't on that flight. Having some
basic familiarity with your options will help in a "panic" situation.
And on your trip insurance, I assume you booked third party coverage.
If you booked the cruise line's insurance, you will likely find no
help on your flights.

Anyway, not to put a damper on your fun! I'm sure everything will go
like clockwork.

Did I miss another thread where you told us what ship and itinerary?
We'd love to weigh in on all of the great things in store for your
port onboard and in your ports of call!

Diana Ball
Austin, TX

Thanks, Diana.
Our insurance is Travel Guard. We had this on our first (and only other)
cruise and we were led to believe it was pretty good coverage. (Does it
always include flight trouble, or should I check?)
Southwest does have one other flight out of Albany that would get us
there on time. That doesn't mean there would be room for 4 more people
but I'll also check other airlines in the days before we go. We will be
traveling (about 3 hours) to the Albany area the evening before and
we'll stay in a hotel near the airport to minimize our chances of
getting there too late. Our flight is scheduled to arrive in Ft
Lauderdale at 11:30 AM and is non-stop. As long as we get on the plane,
we could tolerate quite a delay and still get there in time.
We are booked on the Carnival Freedom out of Ft Lauderdale on May 23rd
for the 8 day Eastern Caribbean itinerary.
" Itinerary: * * * Eastern Caribbean: Ft Lauderdale, FL ; Fun Day At Sea ;
San Juan, Puerto Rico ; St. Thomas, USVI ; Antigua ; Tortola, BVI ; Fun
Day At Sea ; Nassau, Bahamas ; Ft Lauderdale, FL "

Steve- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Steve, you did your homework, all looks good!

That is a great itinerary. Now that you lay it out, I think you talked
about the Freedom in another post and I suggested you join the Cruise
Critic Roll Call, check out the Ports of Call forum. (Middle-aged
brain!)

Diana

I fly SW almost exclusively - the seat selection has never been a
problem - flight attendents are always nice.

[Default] Thus spake Steve :

I'll be needing to arrange travel from the Albany NY airport to Ft
Lauderdale for my family of 4 (all adults) for our cruise in May.
Southwest Airlines happens to be the only direct, non-stop flight
between those 2 airports so naturally I'm considering them.
I've never flown on Southwest before. I recall that some people feel
they deserve a poor reputation. Do I also recall that they don't assign
seats in advance? If that's true, would there be kind of a free for all
with us trying to get on quick to grab some seats together?

On the plus side, Southwest proudly points out that they have no hidden
fees. http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/pod_chart.html
We would have to factor in the charge for any checked bags that other
airlines charge. For an 8 day cruise, there's no getting around each of
us checking a bag.

I saw an ad on TV from some major (I think) airline saying they were no
longer charging for the 1st checked bag. I can't remember which airline.
Anybody know?

Steve


Yes, they desreve their bad repuation. Best on time performance.
Number two in fewest lost bags. Number one in lowest customer
complaints per passenger. No fees other than the abhorent but
unavoidable tazes and such. Free drinks and snacks. Friendly flight
attendants. Happy atmosphere.

Yeah, you have to check in the night before (it used to be midnight,
now it's 23 hours and 59 minutes before) to get an A sheet. They are
now refining the boarding procedure a little by giving out numbers at
actual check in so you don't have the mob scene or people standing in
line an hour in advance.

A few years back, I was flying to Indy via Hobby. On the HOU to IND
leg, the head attendant thanked us by say "Aloha and mahalo for flying
Southweat." So, of course, I had to have a brief (very brief, given
my knowlege of the language) conversation in Hawai'an. He used to fly
for Hawai'iam.
--

- dillon I am not invalid

Hi, I'm Michael Phelps and Olympic Gold isn't the only
Gold I'm thinking of.

Hi, I'm Michael Phelps and when I'm on Maui, Wowwie.