American Airlines lol (Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa: how much, transfer, airports)

[sandy6879]

I typically will book Southwest over just about anyone unless the fare plus the baggage comes out less expensive on another carrier or if I HAVE to be somewhere at a certain time of day and scheduling doesn't work. Otherwise, most of my traveling (usually 8-10 roundtrips a year) is Southwest. I'd try them. But like they said above - it is WAY too early to be booking flights for winter travel. Prices will go down between now and then - check about 10 weeks out.

[sargeant79]

I take Southwest for work all the time. I'm not a big fan of the way they handle boarding and seat assignments (or lack thereof), but everything else always amounts to a good experience. As someone else said, I've almost never had delays...definitely way less often than other airlines.

And for the record since it came up, Midway is by far my preferred airport to fly into Chicago, and I fly Southwest whenever I go back as long as the flights fit my schedule. I understand it may not be located conveniently if you're traveling to the north burbs, but O'Hare is a colossal pain in the ass.

[BIG CATS]

Originally Posted by pbenjamin

I'm not a big fan of Southwest either, not being fond of festival seating, but the comparison to Spirit is way off base. One big advantage of Southwest is the "bags fly free" policy. Spirit is its polar opposite, not only charging for checked bags but also charging for carry-ons. I personally couldn't care less which Chicago airport an airline services as I have no reason to go there.

Well, considering there are only three major airlines at Sky Harbor, you have to choose between the lesser of 3 evils: SWA, US Airways, and Delta. Spirit is awful, so it leaves you with little options. SWA and US Airways compete for the cheapest prices to Chicago, and usually SWA wins, so thats what my family uses, and having to fly only to Midway is a bummer. I wish theyd start flights to O' Hare, that would be absolutely awesome.

[ajonesaz]

I remember them telling the FTC that the merger wouldn't affect competitive pricing, but it has quite a bit. Airline pricing is going up and it isn't the fuel this time.

Sad day when the valley lost US Airways

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

Well, considering there are only three major airlines at Sky Harbor, you have to choose between the lesser of 3 evils: SWA, US Airways, and Delta. Spirit is awful, so it leaves you with little options. SWA and US Airways compete for the cheapest prices to Chicago, and usually SWA wins, so thats what my family uses, and having to fly only to Midway is a bummer. I wish theyd start flights to O' Hare, that would be absolutely awesome.

What's wrong with United Airlines?

[RubyJune]

Originally Posted by pbenjamin

What's wrong with United Airlines?

I have been screwed over by them almost every time I've flown with them. I could tell you MANY stories.

Once I got into a fight with the ticket agent, who refused to put me on Standby because, according to her, they only allowed Standby passengers when the plane is completely booked (does this make sense to anyone at all??). I could not get through to her and it got to the point where if I opened my mouth again, I probably would have ended up on the No Fly List.

My personal favourite was the time I bought tickets through United from St. Louis to Pensacola with a layover in Dallas, arriving in FL at 2pm. A very long, angry story later, I ended up flying on US Airways to Mobile, with a layover in Charlotte, arriving in AL at 8 pm. (That was the concession...it was going to be Pensacola at midnight.)

I'll fly American before I fly United, at that's saying a lot.

[dvxhd]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

Well, considering there are only three major airlines at Sky Harbor, you have to choose between the lesser of 3 evils: SWA, US Airways, and Delta. Spirit is awful, so it leaves you with little options. SWA and US Airways compete for the cheapest prices to Chicago, and usually SWA wins, so thats what my family uses, and having to fly only to Midway is a bummer. I wish theyd start flights to O' Hare, that would be absolutely awesome.

If by "major" you meant airlines that use Phoenix as a hub, Delta doesn't qualify. If you meant passengers and/or fleet, all but one of the ten largest carriers in North America serve Sky Harbor (Aeromexico being the only one). That also excludes British Airways. I don't know why SWA doesn't use O'Hare (though I've heard they don't like the gate constraints there), but it's probably for a similar reason they refuse to relocate to DFW instead of Love Field in Dallas.

That being said, I avoid SWA whenever possible, but only because I don't like the setup. To me it feels like flying Greyhound, and the only way (aside from having children or a disability) to get a decent seat is that you have to hover over your computer to check in 24 hours before the flight. I've done this right on time and almost always got a position ranked 20+, and when I get to the gate, half the plane is already boarded because of the aforementioned travelers getting boarding priority. If it's a short flight, I can deal with it. If it's more than 90 minutes I'll opt for something else. It also seems to attract more families, which is great for them, but I'd rather not fly with a lot of children and babies.

Still, I would take SWA over Frontier, no question. A flight on Frontier could be $100 and a competing flight on SWA could be $300, and I'd go for SWA without thinking twice. In my experience, if there's a delay or any other change, SWA is good about relaying that information. Last year I went to New York on an AA/Frontier ticket. There were a couple changes on the AA end and they let me know before the trip as the changes happened. Frontier made a change by an entire day and didn't bother to inform me until the day before the flight... and that was only because Orbitz sent me a flight reminder. Obviously, I couldn't be re-accommodated and the customer service rep was a real [insert word I can't use on this site].

[RubyJune]

Originally Posted by dvxhd

Still, I would take SWA over Frontier, no question. A flight on Frontier could be $100 and a competing flight on SWA could be $300, and I'd go for SWA without thinking twice. In my experience, if there's a delay or any other change, SWA is good about relaying that information. Last year I went to New York on an AA/Frontier ticket. There were a couple changes on the AA end and they let me know before the trip as the changes happened. Frontier made a change by an entire day and didn't bother to inform me until the day before the flight... and that was only because Orbitz sent me a flight reminder. Obviously, I couldn't be re-accommodated and the customer service rep was a real [insert word I can't use on this site].

A $100 Frontier flight will end up being $300 anyways. They are the WORST about their price ads versus what they actually charge. They had a $59 to Vegas sale at the beginning of the year. By the time I was done with all the fees (they charge for both checked and carry on luggage, BTW) the ticket was $250. Even if that does end up being cheaper than other airlines, I refuse to reward that type of business practice with my travel dollars.

[Pink Jazz]

Originally Posted by dvxhd

If by "major" you meant airlines that use Phoenix as a hub, Delta doesn't qualify. If you meant passengers and/or fleet, all but one of the ten largest carriers in North America serve Sky Harbor (Aeromexico being the only one). That also excludes British Airways. I don't know why SWA doesn't use O'Hare (though I've heard they don't like the gate constraints there), but it's probably for a similar reason they refuse to relocate to DFW instead of Love Field in Dallas.

Originally Posted by pbenjamin

What's wrong with United Airlines?

I believe he is referring to the three largest airlines at PHX. Delta is the third largest airline at PHX in terms of market share, after US Airways (soon to be American) and Southwest. United I think is actually fourth.

However, I am not sure how American ranks at PHX right now, since they have since added some American-branded flights ever since the merger. After the schedules and reservation systems are merged, American will be #1 at PHX. American was actually fifth at PHX prior to the US Airways merger.

[43north87west]

Originally Posted by dvxhd

I don't know why SWA doesn't use O'Hare (though I've heard they don't like the gate constraints there), but it's probably for a similar reason they refuse to relocate to DFW instead of Love Field in Dallas.

Southwest doesn't really need ORD other than having more transportation connections. They serve 2 nearby airports direct from PHX and within a reasonable distance from ORD. While neither is as convenient as O'Hare for some fliers or destinations, they seem to do well with Midway. There is also MKE, which is a good alternative for the northern suburbs of Chicago (around an hour or even quite a bit less for the state line suburbs), but has virtually no road traffic delays in or out, has cheaper parking, has less air traffic problems, shorter security times, shorter walks, etc. Even given the longer drive time, the rest probably evens out.

Other than that, take American or United and fly direct to ORD.