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I have never flown Southwest, but isn't it a cheap option for flying? I heard that their service isn't all that great.
My experience with Southwest has been that they provide excellent service. Their staffs seem to enjoy working there, and it shows in how they treat their customers. I have not flown Jet Blue or Virgin America so I cannot comment on those. But I'll take Southwest over the legacy carriers any day.
I've also found the service to be good on Hawaiian Airlines. Alaska Airlines isn't bad either. I've only flown Frontier once, and I thought that it was just OK.
I used to fly USAir(ways) several dozen times per year, back when I lived in Philadelphia and traveled a lot on business. And every time, the experience ranged from tolerable (at best) to miserable. After I moved away and got another job (with far less travel), I was glad to get away from them. I burned off the last of my USAirways mileage in 2002 or 2003 (I forget which) and haven't used them since.
I've only used American a few times, and none recently, so I don't really have an opinion on them. Hopefully the merger with USAirways won't permanently ruin them.
I've found United to be not too bad, but not too great either. Delta has plunged from great to horrible and I won't fly on them anymore.
My experience with Southwest has been that they provide excellent service. Their staffs seem to enjoy working there, and it shows in how they treat their customers. I have not flown Jet Blue or Virgin America so I cannot comment on those. But I'll take Southwest over the legacy carriers any day.
I've also found the service to be good on Hawaiian Airlines. Alaska Airlines isn't bad either. I've only flown Frontier once, and I thought that it was just OK.
I used to fly USAir(ways) several dozen times per year, back when I lived in Philadelphia and traveled a lot on business. And every time, the experience ranged from tolerable (at best) to miserable. After I moved away and got another job (with far less travel), I was glad to get away from them. I burned off the last of my USAirways mileage in 2002 or 2003 (I forget which) and haven't used them since.
I've only used American a few times, and none recently, so I don't really have an opinion on them. Hopefully the merger with USAirways won't permanently ruin them.
I've found United to be not too bad, but not too great either. Delta has plunged from great to horrible and I won't fly on them anymore.
How has Delta gone down? So far I have had great experience with them.
How has Delta gone down? So far I have had great experience with them.
They've banged up my luggage to the point that I had to replace it, and would not compensate me for the damage; their attendants have been unfriendly; their agents have been unhelpful; their change fees cost more than the original ticket; and (in common with just about every other airline save Southwest) they have those annoying baggage fees. And they schedule pathetically short connection times at their hub airports, thus leading to the stress of worrying about missing your connection if your inbound flight is even a little bit late. Plus, for some reason, they seem to change their schedules multiple times from when you book your flight to when you take it. And if the new times are less convenient for you . . . well, you can always change your tickets and pay their extortionist change fees.
Back in the 1980s, when I lived in South Florida, Delta and Eastern were the two big players there, and Delta won on customer service hands-down. (And yet, oddly, I flew on Eastern far more regularly than I did on Delta; I don't remember now why that was.) But my most recent flights on them (going back maybe 6 or 7 years now) have just been miserable.
I'm glad you've had good experiences with them, though. Maybe you've just gotten lucky . . . or maybe I was just unusually unlucky.
Can I have some input on you guys's favorite airlines and why?
An airline is only as good as the flight crew's mood, the weather, the meal, the baggage handlers, the ground service, the ticket agent, the passenger on the seat near you, the movie, on that particular day, all of which are variables that the airline doesn't always have a lot of control over. Most of us do not fly the same airline enough times to have a valid sample of experiences to go by. I fly the cheapest ticket I can get to Point B and endure whatever airline is involved for a couple of hours. Sometimes it is a pleasant flight, sometimes not. If it's a nice or bad flight, I can credit or blame the airline, but it's anecdotal.
A couple of weeks ago, I sat on the runway for over two hours waiting for ground support to arrive to check a fault in the plane's instrumentation while preparing for takeoff. That wasn't the fault of Air France, the plane just had to wait its turn until personnel were available to make the necessary repairs, which took as long as they took. But no doubt there were passengers who were saying they'd never fly Air Fance again.
An airline is only as good as the flight crew's mood, the weather, the meal, the baggage handlers, the ground service, the ticket agent, the passenger on the seat near you, the movie, on that particular day, all of which are variables that the airline doesn't always have a lot of control over. Most of us do not fly the same airline enough times to have a valid sample of experiences to go by. I fly the cheapest ticket I can get to Point B and endure whatever airline is involved for a couple of hours. Sometimes it is a pleasant flight, sometimes not. If it's a nice or bad flight, I can credit or blame the airline, but it's anecdotal.
A couple of weeks ago, I sat on the runway for over two hours waiting for ground support to arrive to check a fault in the plane's instrumentation while preparing for takeoff. That wasn't the fault of Air France, the plane just had to wait its turn until personnel were available to make the necessary repairs. But no doubt there were passengers who were saying they'd never fly Air Fance again.
I can agree with that, but since I have nut allergies, my experiences with airlines are usually different and when I say I don't like an airline, it usually has to do with that.
They've banged up my luggage to the point that I had to replace it, and would not compensate me for the damage; their attendants have been unfriendly; their agents have been unhelpful; their change fees cost more than the original ticket; and (in common with just about every other airline save Southwest) they have those annoying baggage fees. And they schedule pathetically short connection times at their hub airports, thus leading to the stress of worrying about missing your connection if your inbound flight is even a little bit late. Plus, for some reason, they seem to change their schedules multiple times from when you book your flight to when you take it. And if the new times are less convenient for you . . . well, you can always change your tickets and pay their extortionist change fees.
Back in the 1980s, when I lived in South Florida, Delta and Eastern were the two big players there, and Delta won on customer service hands-down. (And yet, oddly, I flew on Eastern far more regularly than I did on Delta; I don't remember now why that was.) But my most recent flights on them (going back maybe 6 or 7 years now) have just been miserable.
I'm glad you've had good experiences with them, though. Maybe you've just gotten lucky . . . or maybe I was just unusually unlucky.
I do agree with their baggage problems, I came back from my trip to Seattle, Hawaii, and Palm Springs and our bags took a while to come out (at RDU airport) and we filed for a free 2,500 miles from Delta if or bags take more than 20 minutes and there were five of us so we got 12,500 on that trip! I remember when we were flying to Seattle to visit family (They move around a lot), we had a layover at Detroit. The gate changed about three times and we were running back and forth between gates until they called our name on the intercom and we ran like heck! I only say that I've had great experiences with Delta because of the way they treat people with allergies. On other airlines they barely make an effort while Delta they take you down early to your seats to wipe down the area in case any residue of nuts was left behind. (Its happened before and I knew somebody who had a reaction because they didn't wipe down their seats.) My mom has been flying Delta for over 10 years, (Not every time but as much as she could) because she travels a lot for work she is used to late bags from other airlines and the struggle with renting a car and the hassle of navigating bad airports. Now your experience only depends on what airport you're flying out of.
I can agree with that, but since I have nut allergies, my experiences with airlines are usually different and when I say I don't like an airline, it usually has to do with that.
Ah, sorry, somehow I overlooked that in your previous posts.
In this case, I would be cautious with Southwest, because they do indeed serve peanuts on their flights. I honestly have no idea how they address peanut-allergy issues. Maybe someone with experience in that matter will chime in.
Ah, sorry, somehow I overlooked that in your previous posts.
In this case, I would be cautious with Southwest, because they do indeed serve peanuts on their flights. I honestly have no idea how they address peanut-allergy issues. Maybe someone with experience in that matter will chime in.
Oh it's ok. Some airlines (United, Delta, Virgin, Alaskan) will not serve peanuts upon your request. Other airlines (American, US Airways) will ask you to de-board the plane if you do anything of the sort. In fact the website says they refuse to do anything about allergies.
Ah, sorry, somehow I overlooked that in your previous posts.
In this case, I would be cautious with Southwest, because they do indeed serve peanuts on their flights. I honestly have no idea how they address peanut-allergy issues. Maybe someone with experience in that matter will chime in.
I've been on several Southwest flights where there are people with peanut allergies onboard. In that case, they've always served small bags of pretzels instead.
I've been on several Southwest flights where there are people with peanut allergies onboard. In that case, they've always served small bags of pretzels instead.
Do they let you on board early to clean the immediate seating area?
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