South West you never be stuck in a small jet

SmitteyB said:
You got it!

Flying public only cares about bottom line price.

Albany to Orlando through Baltimore on SWA for $291.34 on 737(s)

vs.

Albany to Orlando through LaGuardia via Saab 340 on US Airways (Express) to A319 for $231.99.

Public will go with the Airways ticket.
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Ha! I'd still go with Southwest.

Of course, I reaallllyyyy want them to maintain their success!
 
DE727UPS said:
I've flown SWA. I've flown Xjet. Same route, same day, I'd look to go on Xjet over SWA. Xjet has a superior product, in my mind, after all things are considered.
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I agree, XJet's branded side is excellent. I flew from TUS to ONT the other day and I was impressed. The service was good and we were early! It was my first time on an ERJ (believe it or not) and the seat itself was pretty uncomfortable. I had tons of legroom in the emer. exit row but the seat cushion sucked. I will be very surprised if the XJET brand isn't successful.
 
Sometimes a rj or a prop is appropriate....What else did you think was going to take you into podunk Oregon. But if I coughed up 500 bucks for a ticket from ATL-ORD or LAX-OAK or SLC-DEN, etc. I'd be pissed if I had to bang my head and have my bag gate checked on an rj.
 
SmitteyB said:
You got it!

Flying public only cares about bottom line price.

Albany to Orlando through Baltimore on SWA for $291.34 on 737(s)

vs.

Albany to Orlando through LaGuardia via Saab 340 on US Airways (Express) to A319 for $231.99.

Public will go with the Airways ticket.
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Probably not. The reasoning I give is:

  • Southwest has built a "brand" of having the cheapest tickets, whether they do or not. There are multiple reasons they don't advertise on orbitz/travelocity/etc. When people think "cheap tickets" they go to www.southwest.com. Sure, some will compare prices to orbitz but most won't. My extended family exclusively shops on Southwest.com.
  • Even if you pay a little bit more on Southwest, their flexibility runs circles around the more established carriers. Even with the cheap tickets you can cancel them and they change into "credits" to be used on a different flight, and the slightly extra expense pales in comparison to the legacies "refundable" fares.
  • Southwest is known for being on time/less delays than the larger carriers that operate out of the big hubs.
  • Lots and lots of direct flights.
  • Southwest's rewards program actually makes sense to the lay person (instead of an arbritary miles program they just use # of flights).
  • I've personally never had a negative experience on Southwest, in fact, almost every flight is a POSITIVE experience. This is important because even if Carrier "X" or "Y" gets you to your destination on time, that's expected, and it wouldn't leave a negative or positive experience in the customers mind. Southwest makes it fun and entertaining.
 
wheelsup said:
Even if you pay a little bit more on Southwest, their flexibility runs circles around the more established carriers. Even with the cheap tickets you can cancel them and they change into "credits" to be used on a different flight, and the slightly extra expense pales in comparison to the legacies "refundable" fares.
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This, and my proximity to Love Field (as opposed to DFW) is EXACTLY why I prefer to fly SWA.
 
I fly four to five times per month on paid tickets. About 80% of which are paid by my airline with rest coming out of my pocket. I strongly prefer SWA for those flights. I flew for Eagle for over five years prior to coming to my current airline so I have plenty of experience working, and flying, within a legacy system.

Here's why I prefer SWA:

1. The employees are much friendlier and happier, on average, than what you find on the legacy carriers. I don't know how SWA management is able to keep their employees so happy and enthusiastic but they do and it's nice.

2. I love the simplicity of their system. Everything from the simple fare rules, no change fees, no hassle with reserving seat assignments, and...

3. No change fees! When I am buying my own ticket I can safely buy it as soon as my schedule comes out, getting the cheaper fare, without having to worry that my schedule will change, or I'll end up trip trading, and will lose my ticket value or have to pay a change fee. Every penny of what I paid can be rolled over into another reservation within the next year.

4. SWA's on-time rating is usually at, or very near, the top in the 48 contiguous states. My flight frequently arrive early and I can't remember the last one that was more than 15 minutes late. When there are schedule disruptions (I remember one from over two years ago through MDW with wintery weather) SWA does a great job at getting people to where they want to go. The employees are very motivated to get everyone taken care of instead of watching the clock to see when their shift will be over. SWA holds flights for connections and, in my experience, is very quick to develop alternate plans to get the passengers accommodated.

I haven't flown the XJet branded flights but my Captain from a month or two ago does and he really liked it. I did have an CEX Xjet flight a while back and the experience wasn't as good. My flight was canceled and they rebooked me on the following flight. Unfortunately, that flight was delayed and would have misconnected to the last flight to my destination out of IAH. Luckily, the flight BEFORE mine was also delayed, by over 2.5 hours, and I was able to get the last seat as a standby but only because I noticed it on the FIDS and I asked to standby for it.

I've flown Frontier a number of times and really like them. Friendly people and the Airbuses are great. My only complaint is their gate area in DEN is way too congested. They need more room. Their schedules don't typically work as well for me, though, so I'm not on them more than a couple of times per year.

Family members frequently fly AAL between BNA and SPS (AE is the only airline serving SPS) and their track record has been horrible. Cancelled flights, and long delays have been the rule. Probably 75% of my family member's flights over the past two years have been at least 30 minutes late. One entire trip, Grandma coming to BNA for my son's birthday, was canceled entirely because by the time they could have gotten her here she would have missed her return flight home.

So, anyway... I liked the SWA commercial. I thought it was pretty funny.
 
wheelsup said:
  • I've personally never had a negative experience on Southwest, in fact, almost every flight is a POSITIVE experience. This is important because even if Carrier "X" or "Y" gets you to your destination on time, that's expected, and it wouldn't leave a negative or positive experience in the customers mind. Southwest makes it fun and entertaining.
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:yeahthat:

Never had a bad experience with Southwest. The one time a flight was late, Mx delay of about two hours, they brought in coolers full of soda, bags of chips, and ordered Pizza.

They handled the situation so that nobody was complaining about being two hours late.


Southwest has EARNED my business.

Some other airlines have earned never getting my business again.
 
meritflyer said:
Sure I can. SWA sucks! As a business traveler, it's a nightmare. :)
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Might be for you . . . I know quite a few business travelers that would never go back to Brand X. . . to each his own.

I trust SWA to get me to work more than I trust my own airline!!
 
mtsu_av8er said:
Might be for you . . . I know quite a few business travelers that would never go back to Brand X. . . to each his own.

I trust SWA to get me to work more than I trust my own airline!!
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Speaking purely from a previous business traveler/commuter, I got real sick of SWA and their style.

My ex-company used Delta. The times I would take SWA were a joke. Trying to get to Orange County out of Salt Lake with a stop in Las Vegas then only to have them singing in the microphone and hurding everyone on like livestock.

Nothing like sitting on a late night flight, tired as hell with the FA singing in the PA.


clickhere

Click play and you'll see what I mean. :)
 
loubetti said:
Then again, I have flown on:

707,727,737,747,757,767,777,DC-8,DC-9,DC-10,MD-80,A300,A310,A320,A340,L1011,ERJ-145,F-27,F-28,BAC-111,ATR-72,B-1900, the Caravelle, and Concorde. I have probably forgotten a few too.
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Thanks for making me feel old, I've flown as a revenue passenger on a DC-3 and a Martin 404, in the US!

I think the gist of the ad is that, with the exception of the ATA codeshare, SWA offers you the same product every time, no surprises.

Some like it, some don't, but at least you know what you're buying.
 
meritflyer said:
Click play and you'll see what I mean. :)
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Oh, I know exactly what you mean - it's just one of the many reasons that I would rather give them my money than somebody else!!

Then again, I'm in the airplane-flying business because it's fun . . . no other reason.

;)
 
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