@ucbalumnus
My kid got a hotel, taxi and food voucher from United when she missed her connection at OHare. No problem. And her next day flight was re oozed by the time the late plane landed.
SW couldn’t get my kid to her destination. The delayed getting to the gate resulted in missing her connection. Midway has cots etc. SW gave her nothing…and it took a long time on the phone with customer service to deal with the flight my kid tried to bank. All solved in the end, but took a lot of time.
I like SW…I do. But this particular trip was a bust with them.
United left my daughter stuck in Michigan for 2 days. They cancelled the flights completely because pilots weren’t available. They offered nothing. All airlines suck, it’s just the degree of suckiness.
We try to fly SW whenever possible. H and I are in the phase where we’ve been taking a number of cruises. Boy oh boy does the SW baggage policy come in handy.
That said. D just experienced a 3 hour delay coming from the LA area to the Bay Area. It was made even more frustrating by the fact that all the SW gates at Burbank had planes parked at the gates, ready for the next day, while she was told they were ‘waiting for the aircraft’. But, then again, she’s taken this particular route numerous times over the past year without a hitch. I’m sure it depends on the day.
H has had no problems in several years with his regular flight from Bay Area to Pacific Northwest. He’s made flight changes the morning of the travel day without fees or problems.
I personally like the fact that you can get a relatively normal, functional human being on the phone when you call their customer service line. I’ve also never had much of a wait when trying to call.
United is the WORST. We just had the most surreal experience. S was flying international and bringing his expensive bicycle. He and I had made numerous calls to United to determine EXACTLY how to pack the bike, what the baggage fees would be, and more importantly - how to insure for excess valuation. (One particular call was humorous because the agent couldn’t see the difference between excess weight charges and a excess valuation charges) Long story short… when we arrived with the bike at the United counter at SFO…you’d have thought we were trying to ship a three headed green martian along with said martian’s UFO. They acted like they had never heard of such an absurdity. After 45 minutes of phone calls to baggage central (Chicago), the domestic terminal (supposedly the repository for excess valuation billing), local international manager and a few other departments…it was determined that all the info we got on the phone was wrong. Best part…the agent states…the website has had issues since the merger…some parts are not updated…Um…the merger was February 2013!!!
Southwest crew used to be more laid in the late 90s/early 2000s, which I really appreciated. It set them apart from the sterile, corporate feel of the other airlines… Crew members used to crack jokes over the intercom, pilots playing with passengers heads, flight attendants wearing shorts and polos… it was great.
I still prefer Southwest by a large margin over other airlines; love their A-B-C boarding process as opposed to everyone congregating near the gate with American and United airlines. I do wish they would ease back some on the corporate “professional” feel though and return to their more laid-back roots.
The issues mentioned by the OP seem relatively new to SW. Not a good sign. However, when you do have college kids moving things back and forth for breaks, etc., the two free checked bags are nice.
Love SW. Never have had a problem. I just booked my Feb. trip to Florida. $360 rt. Could have gotten cheaper $189 rt but it’s worth it to me to spend extra for a non stop - especially in winter.
Here is what I like about their boarding process: when they call your “group” on other airlines, everyone is jostling for position as they approach the gate door. It is a herd that narrows down to a line, but there are always 1 or 2 bozos pushing to the front (usually people with huge carry ons who don’t want to pay the bag fees on those airlines). With SW, you know where your spot is in line, and it is an orderly process.
Speaking of carry ons, my recent experiences have been that there are fewer people trying to carry all their stuff on when you fly SW. Some, but a lot more people check because it is free. IMHO, that is a plus – fewer people wrestling bags in the aisle and fighting for overhead space makes for a better experience.
Also, as you can pick your seat, you can often avoid the screaming baby or the armrest/seat hog that you can’t see if you pick a seat ahead of time.
Here is another thing I like: they don’t use those #%^* drink carts, so the aisle is not blocked during the flight. They take your order, then bring the drink on a tray. And… the topper for me, you can sometimes get Cheese Nips on a longer flight (and even sometimes if you ask on a shorter one).
One thing I make sure of is that I pick a SW leg, not an AirTran one on the site. AirTran is horrible, and I can’t believe they merged the best airline with the worst one. Hoping AirTran’s crappy culture does not run off on SW…
I just realized that I had posted a similar thread in January 2014 that described … identical issues. Accordingly, I would think that the recent issues started to develop about 2 years ago, if not earlier. Around that time, Southwest plummeted in the rankings of “on time” airlines and were actually dead last in airports such as Midway.
Obviously, it is natural for all of us to have different experiences, I have had wonderful flights and horrible flights on the same airline and on the same flight. That is the way it works.
This said, while we might disagree on the benefits of the boarding and service when problem arise, I doubt that anyone will applaud how Southwest handles their delays and processes reboarding. To be mild, they are shuffling their decks all the time to load planes without much concern for the expected arrival of the original passengers. That is why they close doors early, delay planes routinely, or cancel unfilled planes without second thoughts.
The numbers I quoted on this issue are not figment of my imagination. For instance, the later flight between the Bay Area and West Texas is routinely late … very late. How much fun is there for your parents to arrange a pick up at 11PM and see a plane landing at 2 or 3AM all the while having hardly any updates because of the crummy SW online system. One better be prepared to have the full reservation details and … following plane changes that might occur at the last minute.
I totally understand the attraction of the bad policy as I used to benefit from it for years, This said, if the policy pays few dividends for me I don’t think I should ignore that Southwest is often the priciest airline on the routes I fly. I read that some here have scored great prices. I am well-versed in finding those deals when they exist, but suffice it to say that Southwest prices have risen steadily and that the great deals seem to be available in a different part of the US.
In the meantime, I dread my return tomorrow and this despite having booked the first plane out. As I found out, even those experience delays.
And Southwest is hardly the best airline … for the reasons debated above, starting with the “democratic” seat assignments and lack of boarding passes. Fwiw, the worst airline in Mexico (VivaAerobus) has the same policy as Southwest. Take away the free baggage (again mostly a buried fare) and what do you have left?
I don’t consider the free baggage to be a hidden fare. It’s easy enough to add the cost of bags, if one is planning to take them, to the other airlines’ fares to find the true comparison. Or not add anything if one isn’t planning to take checked bags.
I also don’t consider the free baggage a hidden fare. But- if it is, I still prefer it that way. I don’t like to beat myself up over checking bags and spending the extra money. I like the ease of just handing over the bag. I have had very good customer service from Southwest on many occasions. There are slip-ups with any business, and most certainly with airlines. Frequently, we, as customers, do not know the real reasons behind delays or cancellations and who is really to blame.
I have been dissatisfied with several airlines. SW has worked as well or better for us than others. I do agree that their frequent flyer program isn’t as good as it used to be.
Southwest did refund my “early boarding” charge when I complained that we found ourselves in line behind people who had not paid for that feature. They often have the best price for where I need to travel, and at least the seating line reduces the “survival of the fittest” rampage that used to happen at the gate. (I once witnessed real violence following a gate change announcement!)
Most frequent flyer programs deteriorated as airlines realized that it costs them more $ to offer these perks than they get in return from the customer loyalty. Planes leave without a single empty seat, and the customer is looking for the lowest price…
Is there any airline with terrific service? No. You just have to do the best you can for price and service. To be honest, they all have poor something.
