Coming in 2015: Houston Hobby INTERNATIONAL Airport! (Paris, Midway: statistics, land, area)

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by Rowdy

Makes me wonder if they are licking their chops at replacing United flights out/into Houston in the long term?

I'm sure some other airline would be glad to take their spot

[JimBaker488]

Originally Posted by theSUBlime

I love Southwest. Even as someone in their 20s I remember when Southwest was a joke. Now I'm all about them. I love not having to pay $150 on top of the difference to change my flight (or even my destination) by one day.

Southwest use to be the "low-fare" airline, but no more.
The last time I tried to fly them was when I was shopping for a ticket for Salt Lake to Houston to spend time with family/friends in Houston, and I was hoping to go into Hobby which I did, but not on Southwest as American (connecting thru DFW), was actually cheaper.
And hey, if you fly Southwest but want assurances of a good seat (aisle or window), you will pay a premieum thru their "early-bird" check-in fee. .

[oceangaia]

They aren't always the lowest fare but they drive the overall fares lower by competing. The only reason American was lower on that flight was because they had to undercut SWA to have any passengers.

I've never paid premium to SWA and always been able to get in the A group. But AA and others are starting to charge you as well for aisle and window seats.

[Marv101]

There is no such thingas an 'early bird' check-in fee @ Southwest; all you have to do is print your boarding pass exactly 24 hours before your flight departs, and that's it.

Suffice it to say that United is getting demolished by various posters on travel-related websites; http://www.TheCrankyFlier.com has designated UAL as the latest winner of their dreaded Cranky Jackass Award.

And boy oh boy, do they really deserve it; serves 'em right for being a bunch of constipated crybabies.

[JimBaker488]

Originally Posted by Marv101

There is no such thingas an 'early bird' check-in fee @ Southwest; all you have to do is print your boarding pass exactly 24 hours before your flight departs, and that's it.

There absolutely is an additional fee that is paid to board at the head of the crowd on Southwest flights by way of getting assigned into an "A" group Boarding-Pass. I paid it on both tickets for myself and my wife as I wanted to make sure we could sit together and it's no different than what the American Airlines and others do with charging premeiums for aisle and window seats, just less direct, i.e, nobody is paying a premium to get on the plane ahead of most passengers to secure seating in a middle seat.

[Vicman]

Pre-merger Continental was the first to introduce Tokyo... back in 1999. Press Release: January 31, 1999 -- Continental Airlines Inaugurates Daily Non-Stop Service Between Houston and Tokyo

Since then Houston has grown in size and importance.

Originally Posted by JimBaker488

It's my understanding that there was never NONSTOP service between Houston and Tokyo until United (then Continental) inaugurated it ? If I'm mistaken, please tell me ?

[Marv101]

I've flown SWA for over 25+ years in & out of numerous airports, and have never paid such a fee, whether travelling by myself or with another party, and have always sat in the 'A' boarding pass section. next to whomever I've flown with as long as I print my boarding pass at home or elsewhere 24 hours before takeoff, and arrive at LAX or whichever airport at least 75 minutes before takeoff.

Southwest doesn't gouge and/or nickel-and-dime their customers like the legacy carriers do; thank goodness for that.

[CitySide]

Is the Hobby airport open 24/7? I overbooked for a night, but I have an early flight around 5am. Is it possible to stay the night before?

[dalparadise]

On Southwest, you needn't pay the "Early Bird" fee to get a window or aisle, just check in online 24 hours in advance. anything above about B30 will have two seats together. There are plenty of people who pay the $15 bucks for "Early Bird," hoping to get the bulkhead or emergency exit seats, which have more leg room.These days, even checking in right at 24 hours before without "Early Bird" will only get you in the A31-A60 group, though. It's still good enough to have a fine selection of seats, in my opinion.

One thing to note about international service on Southwest. Don't count on it ever evolving into full international routes. Southwest's model is to stay efficient by flying only 737s. They are not going to go away from that. So their international service will be to short-hop destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America at the longest. Nobody wants to spend more than 4 hours on a 737. That said, you will be able to connect with some major Latin American hubs, which will be nice. But, it will take someone else to roll out HOU-CDG or other such routes.

[statisticsnerd]

I've always liked that Hobby is restricted to domestic flights only. I think they have one or two gates for American Eagle or Delta Express, but 90%+ of the gates are for Southwest and Air Tran (which is now a part of Southwest) and they are all in one terminal.

I try to fly out of Hobby whenever possible not only because of its close proximity to my house, but because it isn't HUGE and BUSY all the time like Intercontinental is. Now that they are adding international flights, it will become every bit the nightmare that Intercontinental is.