<p>Wish the other airlines would pay attention to SW’s business model! Love the airline!!</p>
<p>Good news for those of us who live in Boston, too. I fly a lot, mostly internationally where the choices are decent, but domestically, I’d love to take SW instead of USAir or Delta.</p>
<p>we’re using the new route to Minneapolis in April…H’s mother and brother live in Minnesota.It’s routed through Midway in Chicago.We live on Long Island (suburban NYC) and Southwest flies out of Islip airport (also known as McArthur)near us.Its a pleasure to use as opposed to LaGuardia or Kennedy.Like a small town airport,close in parking, hardly any security lines, fast baggage,all one terminal. I would even reccomend it to travelers needing to go into Manhattan.Theres a shuttle from Islip airport to the Long Island Railroad station which brings you into Penn Station in midtown.</p>
<p>For those not familiar with New England; Everything is close together. Manchester to Boston is about 60 miles. Providence to Boston is about the same. Shop for the best fares and be aware of alternant destination airports.</p>
<p>If you have a kid in a NE college you probably need to be frugal. Expensive and worth it!!</p>
<p>cathymee - I have flown into Islip before, and loved it. From time of landing to picking up bags and getting out the door, it’s usually ten minutes or so… unbelievable.</p>
<p>BigG - again, for those who do not have a car, which many college kids in Boston do not, those alternate airports are not feasible. And like I said earlier, now I’m at a point where it’s useless for me to rent a car because D lives in an area that’s permit parking only. </p>
<p>And you not only need to keep in mind the best fares, but the additional costs of checking bags, for which Southwest allows two bags free, and transportation to/from the airport (the T is cheap). But one of my favorite reasons to fly Southwest is their on-time rate.</p>
<p>SW’s Rapid Rewards program gives college students double credit for flights. Free tickets rack up very quickly. <a href=“https://www.southwest.com/rrenroll/college/[/url]”>https://www.southwest.com/rrenroll/college/</a></p>
<p>For those in Boston, Flightline has a shuttle from the Sullivan Square T station to MHT for $19 and from Logan for $29.</p>
<p>Southwest is great. The issue will be where West Coast folks will have to connect through. I am not sure if they will have direct flights from California. Right now Virgin America is the cheapest non-stop between BOS and LAX. We like JetBlue as well out of Long Beach but their cost tends to be about $100 more roundtrip. American is good if you book way in advance.</p>
<p>Southwest is great at making sure folks do not miss their connections. When I and a bunch of other folks were delayed at Manchester for an hour or so due to the infamous air traffic control meltdown, Southwest held their planes at the gates at Midway just enough for all of us to make their connecting flights (10-20 min). The flight attendants on my plane checked if everyone was on board, and then we took off.</p>
<p>Thanks for the New York tips. I took Southwest to BWI, and caught the MARC train to Union Station, then down to DC to pick up son at a summer program. So cheap, and I love riding the train! MARC only runs on the weekday, though. Sister in Virginia uses the VRE to do a similar DC run.</p>
<p>Check for WANNA GET AWAY and WEB ONLY fares. I’ve made round trips to Houston and Birmingham from New Orleans, for less than 150 bucks. Much less than gas in those days. And I earned two flight credits, to boot!</p>
<p>Also, check their rental car specials. Some partners will offer double, triple, even quadruple flight credits for multi day rentals, with GPS added on. These are great when trying to visit multiple colleges in a small geographic area.</p>
<p>I think that’s easier to do at Manchester as it isn’t a busy airport.</p>
<p>Southwest has been very smart in buying space outside busy metros and paying less. They’ve also been pretty smart in their fuel purchases (they were hedged when jet fuel prices soared).</p>
<p>I checked out Virgin America from LAX to BOS and the price si $188 one-way. I’m holding out for $99 one-way, ie later booking. Has SW ever been this low? $99 one way from one coast to another?</p>
<p>Yes, my last flight Seattle to Manchester (end of Augist) was $220 RT.</p>
<p>Montegut - Yes, and for heaven’s sake, we should remind folks to download the DING application to their computers!</p>