I want to know if southwest airline is good?

Could someone tell me is southwest airline any good? Please e mail let
me know. Thank you

In article ,
(Susan Lussier) wrote:

Could someone tell me is southwest airline any good? Please e mail let
me know. Thank you

How do you define "good".

Could someone tell me is southwest airline any good?

Depends on what you mean by "good". If you mean, will they get you
where they promise to get you around the time they're supposed to get
you there, they're as about the same as any other airline.

If you're asking whether they're particularly confortable, or cheap,
or have food, or anything else, the answer is no. The provide minimal
service at fairly low prices.

Regards,
John Levine, , Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://iecc.com/johnl, Sewer Commissioner
"I shook hands with Senators Dole and Inouye," said Tom, disarmingly.

[ courtesy copy emailed ]

Susan Lussier wrote:
Could someone tell me is southwest airline any good?

Sure, for various meanings of "good".

They're much easier to deal with than most airlines, friendlier, and with
more flexible ticketing terms. Fares are average, though often much better
than the traditional airlines if you're booking at the last minute. Their
legroom is also average.

They serve drinks and peanuts and occasionally little snackwiches but never
meals. There is no on-board entertainment, and seats are on a first-come,
first-served basis - no advance reservations for a specific seat.

Personally, I enjoy their no-nonsense approach and they are generally my top
choice unless another airline can get me there with fewer stops or out of a
more convenient airport.

Please e mail let me know. Thank you

I sent you a copy by email but it's generally considered rude to pop into a
newsgroup and ask for answers emailed to you, rather than to come back and
look for them here.

miguel
--
Hundreds of travel photos from around the world: http://travel.u.nu/

"John R. Levine" wrote in message
...
Could someone tell me is southwest airline any good?

Depends on what you mean by "good". If you mean, will they get you
where they promise to get you around the time they're supposed to get
you there, they're as about the same as any other airline.

If you're asking whether they're particularly confortable, or cheap,
or have food, or anything else, the answer is no. The provide minimal
service at fairly low prices.

If you have never flown on Molly's Eireflop you don't know the meaning of the
word "minimal". Compared to RyanAir, Southwest is wonderful. (And by any
standard they are OK).

JohnT

The provide minimal
service at fairly low prices.

################
Actually, I don't think their prices are ALL that great. I have compared their
prices to other airlines going from LAX to Midway and they are really very
pricey..and they state their quote as one way ...times two.
BK

BillKirch wrote:
The provide minimal
service at fairly low prices.


################
Actually, I don't think their prices are ALL that great. I have compared their
prices to other airlines going from LAX to Midway and they are really very
pricey..and they state their quote as one way ...times two.
BK

For last minute tickets they are usually lower. For advanced purchases
they are generally comparable to other airlines in the market for their
loweest fares, BUT... it seems to me that due to the perception that
they will be cheaper, their cheapest seat sell out quicker so I often
see the other carrier has the cheaper seats left while Southwest has
sold out of theirs. To the casual oberver, this makes it seem as though
Southwest costs more. When you did the fare comparison, where you
looking at the tickets that were currently available, or did you look at
the cheapest fares on the website? I like the website in that it shows
all of the fares for the city pair, even the ones that are sold out, in
a table, so you will know what the lowest fare possible would have been.

mtravelkay wrote in message .com...
BillKirch wrote:
The provide minimal
service at fairly low prices.


################
Actually, I don't think their prices are ALL that great. I have compared their
prices to other airlines going from LAX to Midway and they are really very
pricey..and they state their quote as one way ...times two.
BK

For last minute tickets they are usually lower.

Yup.

For advanced purchases
they are generally comparable to other airlines in the market for their
loweest fares, BUT... it seems to me that due to the perception that
they will be cheaper, their cheapest seat sell out quicker so I often
see the other carrier has the cheaper seats left while Southwest has
sold out of theirs.

Yup.

To the casual oberver, this makes it seem as though
Southwest costs more.

Well, technically, to the casual observer, it does. More
to the point, your success or failure will depend upon what
your typical advance purchase time frame is. If it is far
enough in advance, it may be good, if it is not, you may
typically do better with other airlines.

When you did the fare comparison, where you
looking at the tickets that were currently available,

Typically, yes.

or did you look at
the cheapest fares on the website? I like the website in that it shows
all of the fares for the city pair, even the ones that are sold out, in
a table, so you will know what the lowest fare possible would have been.

Which I never seem to be able to get. I don't personally fly them
since my one and only experience with them. However, friends and
relatives are forever asking me if I can "find them anything cheaper".
So I am frequently checking various sources with which I have success.
Never, ever, have I found WN to be cheaper. The only time I took them
was a relatively last minute trip that someone else booked. I am
presuming it was because it was actually cheaper instead of them
presuming that it was.

It could also be a "city pair" issue. There's boat loads of
competition outta here on a whole buncha low cost carriers. And
I am frequently flying between "hub" cities.

Could someone tell me is southwest airline any good? Please e mail let
me know. Thank you


It's "good" for short-haul (1-2 hour) trips, when you can read a book
or magazine and then the flight is over, and other "full service"
airlines wouldn't give you any more amenities than Southwest would
anyway, but not so "good" for long-haul cross-country flights in which
a mealtime inevitably occurs and all they serve is a small box with
cheese and crackers, some pretzels or cheeze-its, and a drink. But if
you think to bring your own food in a bag and can tough it out, then I
guess its fine.

It's not like the other "full service" airlines provide much more than
Southwest on cross-country trips anyway. USAirways now makes you pay
for their food! I mean, when flying domestically for pleasure, we
pretty much distinguish airline seats by price and not much else -
they've become like a commodity product.

Also free tickets are fairly easy to earn on Southwest, it used to be
you could earn one after taking four roundtrips (all booked online)
but now I guess it takes about 5 1/2 roundtrips. Still not too bad.
I don't really travel that much, and I've earned three free tickets on
Southwest these past three years. You get the same amount of frequent
flier credit for a trip regardless of whether its a short hop or
cross-country.

Last piece of advice/info with regard to Southwest: they don't assign
seats so if you want an aisle or window seat, GET TO THE AIRPORT EARLY
AND CHECK IN ASAP!

It always surprises me how little people understand what has happened in
the airline industry since the arrival of the cut-rate airlines. Still
out there are those willing to pay, oh, say $2000 for a flight from
Montreal to Miami in first class - guess there might still be a market
for that type of flyer, but it is shrinking faster than a hemoroid in
acid.

I have flown to Paris and London and paid $580 round trip on Air France,
saving the money for the vacation there, instead of the backalounger in
the sky, with the accompanying price tag.

Not a problem. Most airplanes are not comfortable, surprising discovery,
usually. Oh, they fly well, but are not made for you to lounge about.
You sit, walk, stretch, whatever, and it doesn't really matter to me if
it is a 737 (Southwest's only plane), or a 747 coach. It flys, and the
plane lands at the same time, no matter where you sit on it.

Flying is a duration contest, akin to sitting in a dentist's chair. Food
- forgetaboutit - try buying something at the airport - that's what all
those stylish food stalls and coffee bars are there for. Whoops, forgot,
they actually charge money for the food and coffee, many airline
passengers think they should get Starbucks or Seattle's Best and a meal
for free upstairs in the clouds.

Now, I will admit that Air France 747 service is impeccable, but the
purpose of flying today, in most cases, is to get you from here-to-there
as quickly and cheaply as possible. That is what the flying public
wants. What the airline wants is as many of those passengers as
possible, spending the least amount of cost-per-air mile as possible.
Southwest delivers on both ends.

In that respect, Southwest turns their planes around super-fast, and
abandons airports where they can't do that. Might take off 10-minutes
late - usually caused by those who just can't seem to make up their mind
on which seat to take, but they make the time up in the air fast. And,
it constantly surprises me how many people seem to have a problem flying
on, or sitting in, a Boeing 737 airplane - the most popular aircraft
every made.

With Southwest, just go over to the airport the day before your flight,
and insert your frequent flyer card in the stand-alone check-in, and you
always get an A-Boarding Pass - shesh - just a tiny bit of pre-planning
when traveling by air brings huge benefits and a choice seat.

Most seem to forget that, and want to show up at the last minute, get
upgraded to first class - and think they deserve the co-pilots seat. I
got upgraded to first class on Delta by accident going to Houston from
Atlanta, and ended up next to a screaming baby. Would have been
perfectly happy in coach - and it was a Delta 737 Shuttle (yep, the
famed majors fly the same plane Southwest does - and actually consider
seats on the darn thing to be first class, LOL).

The airlines may still advertise that way - comfort, style, grace,
safety in that order, but they sure don't give you service in that order
anymore, they don't have the capability to do so. Consequently cut-rates
like Southwest and Jet Blue, American West and others are eroding the
base of the majors day in and day out.

If Southwest is at your local airport - they are going to end up with
the majority of traffic in and out of the place, because the American
traveler has discovered it is just as easy to fly, as it is to drive now
- due to the cut-rates - and load up the baby, kids, camping gear, golf
clubs, grand kids, whatever, and climb aboard.

In quick one-stop 1-2 hour flights, Southwest beats everyone in America.
Cross-country, bit cramped on those 737's but I can stand it. Are they
good - they are burying the majors, think about it and you have answered
your own question.

And the famed business traveler who has to get from Chicago to San
Francisco to Houston to Atlanta over a 3-day period - check the prices.
Each flight probably is going to be $700-$800 on the majors vs.
Southwest's $350. Try submitting your business travel voucher for that
jaunt on Delta or American to the beancounter in the company backroom,
and I guarantee you are flying Southwest in today's market.

Are they good - yep - they understand the airline marketplace and
outperform almost everyone else in it. The fact that you can no longer
fly cheap AND upgraded in an Air Force One-type atmosphere on the majors
without paying an arm, leg, and your first born as the fare, just makes
some flyers angry, and long for the old days. They are gone - get used
to it.

When we saw American, United, Delta, Northwest and Continental take the
September 11th subsidy money from the government and give it to their
executives as bonus, instead of the pilots, flight attendants,
mechanics, or add flights and lower fares for the passengers - that is
American aviation today.

That the classy and comfortable Delta, an airline I always used to go
out of my way to fly, could go from the world's best airline in 1999 to
about its worst today - case closed. Southwest is nothing more than
another fine, regional airline that upgraded to national, and just gets
you there, Piedmont.

Southwest, Jet Blue, ATA, American West - they added flights, and
lowered fares, instead of lining their pockets with government money -
and the results in increased passenger's and profits today are stunning.

Some companies understand their market and function, some don't, and
many in the flying public continue to yearn for the majors who don't
understand the flying public today, and can't even figure a way to catch
up. Their day is done.

Is Southwest good? They don't even have to be good, just half azzed to
put the majors to shame, and the majors are desperately copying exactly
what makes the cut-rates so popular. Delta, for instance, again, trying
to compete against 737's of Southwest with big Boeing 757's called Song!
Right. The majors just happen to be a decade behind, and unwilling to
think future, and a lot of the flying public mentality thinks like the
majors, while many others boost WN, Jet Blue, ATA, et al profts by
climbing aboard every day.