<p>We are planning a trip and are not big flyers. I am seriously considering booking with Southwest due to chatter I’ve read here on CC. The trip is Detroit to Portland this summer and all fares still seem awfully high (sigh).</p>
<p>I think I’ve heard that Southwest does not charge for flight changes (if you switch a day? Time?). I’ve heard that you get an additional bag free. I think there is something with if a bought ticket can’t be used that you can not get refunded but have that “saved” for use at another time by that same registered person (?). This is important because we are slightly uncertain about my S and his ability to travel depending on his summer job.</p>
<p>So please share - why or why not Southwest . Specifically what are the booking perks. I notice they don’t participate in the Kayak searches and perhaps others.</p>
<p>Yes, you have a year (from the originally booked flight date, I believe) to use your banked “credit” if you’re not able to take that flight. Southwest isn’t my preferred airline, just because of the available routings to our most common destinations . . . but if there’s ever ANY question as to whether or not we might need to make a change, I wouldn’t use anyone else! No change fee, no penalty - just use the original payment to make another reservation.</p>
<p>With two kids in college a long distance from home, I have to book flights for them fairly frequently. You might want to sign up for fare alerts from Southwest, because they can have some good deals.</p>
<p>When flights are similar in price from other carriers, I consider the 2 free bags Southwest offers. S flew home for winter break on Delta and flew back on US Airways, and we had to pay $25 each way for his suitcase to fly.</p>
<p>Our experience with Southwest is that they rarely change flights - we have had other airlines change our flight times by several hours. We have rebooked flights when the cost went down or our plans have changed. They changed a few years ago to allow credit to only be used for the original person (used to be available for anyone) but it is great when plans change and we need to change the day we fly. It is very easy to use reward points to book as well.</p>
<p>Southwest was our GoTo airline for years, we now live several hours from their nearest airport so have not used them much the last 5+ years, but they had great baggage policies, great change policies, great on time service, great employees. I never minded the unassigned seat cattle car loading, but some people really dislike that.</p>
<p>I had to rebook a trip on SW three times this summer for family reasons. It was easy peasy. </p>
<p>If you don’t like to have to sit by your computer to check in, for $10 each way you can have it done by SW with a guaranteed A boarding slot. That is what we do.</p>
<p>Two free checked bags, ability to bank ticket money if your plans change, ease of changing flights. AND we found that SW will actually HOLD connecting flights if their incoming flights are delayed.</p>
<p>The no change/no penalty can be great if you are unsure of plans. Just note that you do have to pay any difference in ticket prices. If you make a last minute change it is sometimes cheaper to just buy new tickets on another airline. My son did that recently and just banked his ticket on SW. SW doesn’t fly everywhere we need, and is not always a great price, but definitely has some big perks.</p>
<p>This may be asking a lot , but what if I booked today and the price of the flight goes down in 2 weeks - will they accommodate those changes in any way??</p>
<p>I usually pay the $10 thumper talked about so that I do not have to remember to check in in the 24 hours prior to flight. We live near a SW hub, so it is our most-used airline. My husband flies it all the time. They also run on time much of the time.</p>
<p>I would call and ask that question, a basket. I double-booked my son on flights two days in a row for Thanksgiving and the canceled one. I have the credit for that flight, but they would not credit my credit card.</p>
They’re usually the cheap option for the airports I fly into and out of.
If there’s a price drop between when I book and when I fly, I can rebook at the lower price with no change fee or other penalty, and use the credit towards a future flight.
In the past, I could use that credit towards anyone’s future flight (so if my sister had credit, she’d just give me the code to use towards my ticket, for instance). Now it’s passenger-specific.
If you miss your flight, but show up at the airport within a reasonable window, you can fly standby on later flights on that day to that same destination at no charge.
No fee to change flights, and if you change to a cheaper flight, you get to keep the credit towards future travel
I personally prefer open seating (you board roughly in the order you did online check-in, and can sit anywhere that’s not already taken) to reserved seats. I’ve been on a completely full Southwest flight where the last people on were a woman and an elementary-aged kid, and the flight attendants bribed people with free drinks to open up two seats together, so “I might sit at the opposite end of the plane from my toddler” really doesn’t happen. We do online check-in not less than 23 hours before the flight (but don’t pay extra for Early Bird check-in), and have never been so far back that we haven’t had a choice of totally open rows.
Southwest doesn’t fly out of multiple terminals at any airport I’ve flown through. I remember one memorable Delta flight that involved a mad dash from one end of the terminal to another, then a crowded bus, then another mad dash, then a walk out on the tarmac and up the rolling staircase, while juggling an exhausted airsick toddler, a gate-checked carseat, and a backpack. With Southwest, you are always on exactly the same size plane (because they only have one), and the gates are usually within a few steps of each other, so a delay or short connection doesn’t cause problems.
You always fly in a full-size plane.
Two free checked bags per person. I try not to check bags on the way out, but it’s nice to check everything but snacks and entertainment on the way home without having to decide whether it’s worth the checked bag fee.</p>
<p>I don’t know if any airline will give you money back anymore for price drops. I think SW used to, if you just wanted the same flights (had to call customer service), but I doubt that still happens. I do like booking with points when I have them, because those just go back into the point total with no expiration date.</p>
<p>No, they will not do a price adjustment if the fare goes down. And Mamabear is right - even the airlines that offer adjustments (such as JetBlue) just give you a credit for the difference, and not an actual refund.</p>
<p>DD used SW for her winter break travel. We considered the free checked luggage an extra $50 savings. When she asked me to change her outbound flight, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the fares had gone down when I made the change. There was no credit to my card, but she has a credit on her account. I am also curious to know if they make price adjustments.</p>
<p>Edit: crossposted with the above. Thanks for the info!</p>
<p>Early in the college process, a friend tried to convince me to get my son to eliminate schools in non SW cities. Her kids went to Penn, WashU and Vanderbilt. She said Vanderbilt was her favorite of the three because of the numerous nonstop SW flights from our city to Nashville. She was so obsessed with SW as a way to choose colleges that I couldn’t get her to discuss academics. </p>
<p>Luckily, my kids did end up in cities serviced by SW. The no-change fees and rebooking policies have saved us hundreds. (One year my S changed his Thanksgiving flight three times.) But their fares are not as great as before, and I really miss being able to transfer credits between family members.</p>
<p>^lol, NP, that’s one college selection method I’ve never heard of before!!
I love SW for all the reasons that everyone lists above. I’ll also add, that they seem to run on time, weather permitting, and if they do take off late they really try to make up time in the air.</p>
<p>One other thing I love about SW is that the people who fly on Southwest know the program, nobody expects special treatment. There aren’t 8 types of special classes of people who get to pre-board. It’s an egalitarian airline, and the passengers get that. Airline travel these days is just glorified bus travel. The more people’s expectations are in line with that reality, the more pleasant the experience is for everybody involved.</p>
<p>Ditto to all the positive comments above. S flies Southwest when he comes home for longer breaks. Being able to check two free bags is incentive enough for less convenient flight times. And I’m happy to get all that laundry… :rolleyes: When we noticed a lower fare, H called and we received a credit toward a future flight.</p>