Meet The Daddy! (Southwest Airlines)

Member Name: new_found_glory

Product:	Southwest Airlines
Date:	23/06/03 (315 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Staff are friendly and helpful, Good if you have children i should imagine, Cheap + Good Baggage Allowance

Disadvantages: Old aircraft

Meet Dad...
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Let me introduce you to THE DADDY of pretty much all the world's "budget" airlines - SouthWest - and as always the Americans seem to out-do us in everything. All the UK budget airlines, others in Europe (and even the "budget" airlines in the rest of the world too), took what is called the 'business model' from SouthWest Airlines. For us in the UK this includes EasyJet, Ryanair, Go etc.

So, you may think that all "Budget" airlines are the same. But Noooo, you would be very mistaken. Each takes SouthWest's template - and usually changes it slightly, or in some cases a great deal. Started on June 18, 1971 and based in Texas, SouthWest has over 35,000 employees - a work-force comparable to a large airline like British Airways. It has won various awards over the years, flies to 58 cities, in 30 states using 59 airports and has around 2800 flights a day. Impressive i must say.

Coincidently, i made the same journey as the dooyoo member who wrote the other review in this category about SouthWest Airlines - LAX to LAS return back in Feb of this year (that's Los Angeles International to Las Vegas McCarran International for those who have no idea what airport codes are :P). This service actually stops over at McCarran then goes onto Reno. And yes, before you ask what i was doing in the largest adult playground in the world, i will write you lucky dooyoo people a whole review on my tour of three west-coast US states.

I have been lucky enough to travel all over the US - and i have travelled with many airlines (both US and others). These include the big players, and the cheaper airlines too. SouthWest Airlines falls into the latter category here. I would also admit i feel i am very qualified to review on airlines, services and travel in general, because i have done a fair amount of travelling and experienced these for myself.
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In the beginning was the word...
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I don't like the word budget. As a student i speak from MUCH experience on this issue! None of us like to budget. Most of us can't budget let alone like it(!!), and although "budget" is often used accurately in the UK, from now on i am going to refer to SouthWest Airlines (and all other reviews i write on 'cheaper' US airlines) as "Low-fare/cost" and "No-frills" as this best describes them. "Budget" does not describe any of the "Low-fare" and "No-frills" airlines in the US very well at all. SouthWest airlines is no exception to this, so lets squash the "budget" idea right here and now :)


Tickets
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Tickets cost airlines money. They cost airlines a lot of money in fact. So does a complex ticketing system to assign people seats. Most low cost airlines therefore remove them altogether. So why not nuke the magnetic stripes, all personalised seat numbers, and just issue boarding cards instead?. Well, most low-cost airlines do this now. Electronic Tickets as they are called are the new "in thing" with all airlines in the world right now. SouthWest uses what it calls "ticketless" travel, a lot of other airlines call it this too. This is exactly the same as e-Tickets (elctronic tickets), and is basically exactly what you get when booking with SouthWest. Its a way of cutting cost, and it actually benefits you too. If you ain't got a ticket, you can't possibly forget to bring it with you, can you! :)

You make a booking, which can be done quickly and easily using the SouthWest website (www.southwest.com) with credit/debit card, and get a reference number. You would usually take a print out or the number with you... however in all honesty you don't even need this to check-i
n. As long as you know where you are flying to (this always a good thing to remember! :P) and have photo ID with you when you come to check-in, you are set to go. This ID would usually be your passport if you are from the UK.

Cheap tickets are limited and usually restricted, so no refunds if you miss your flight or you decide not to travel!. You can get flexible where you can change planes or get a refund with no penalty. Expect to pay $200+ for a ticket like this though, and you will get a cheaper price for all ticket types by booking online.

Some things to bare in mind when booking are that flights before 7:00am or after 7:00pm, Saturdays and Sundays all have off peak fares. Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Saturdays with all airlines are 'traditionally' not as heavily booked as Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Flights around midday usually have more seats available than morning or late afternoon flights. So you can benefit from lower fares here. The most popular times to travel are Friday night, Sunday afternoon and evening, and Monday morning. So expect to pay higher fares during these times.


Experience, Service and Atmosphere
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Experience and atmosphere is everything. Especially given the state of the airline industry at the moment, and we are of course more likely to tell someone about a bad experience, than a good one. The experience of SouthWest was good i am glad to report.

Upon arrival at LAX, i have to say I (and those i was travelling with) were utterly mortified to see the length of the queue for check-in at SouthWest. It was enormous. The last thing you want is to queue for hours after a 10hr 45min flight. But, as i have come to discover - a long queue can in some cases be extremely deceiving. SouthWest Airlines place a member of staff at the front of the check-in queues, to efficiently coordinate passengers (who often get distracted by starti
ng into space or talking) directly to free check-in agents. This amazingly keeps the queue constantly moving and cuts waiting time down considerably. All check-in desks were open too. I would like to see more airlines doing this, because something so simple (and cheap for the airline) really does make a HUGE difference.

You get given a boarding card with you name, booking number, flight no etc on, but no seat number. Depending on the amount of time you check-in before you flight, you boarding card will have a LARGE A, B or C printed on it. This is a very fair system imho, and means those who check-in first will have first choice of seats, as you will board the aircraft in the first group. You get a decent baggage allowance too!

Unlike in the UK with our "budget" airlines, soft drinks, juices, tea + coffee and snacks are free on SouthWest (except Alcohol which isn't, and is only available to over 21s - i.e. not me sadly! :P) SouthWest does not serve meals, but you can bring your own - and many people do.

The drinks/snacks trolley is not used by this airline. Cabin crew take half the aircraft each, writing down quickly what each passenger wants - drinks are then distributed in batches of rows. Its fast, and means you don't end up waiting AGESSSS for a drink or snack, or for a trolley to move the entire length of the aircraft! Again, a good system which really does speeds things up.

All aircraft operated by SouthWest Boeing 737s. They have a lot of old aircraft (737-200/300/500), but quite a few brand new ones too (737-700s). So the age of aircraft you get will be pretty much potluck i'm afraid. The seats are obviously nicer on the newer aircraft, but you get adequate legroom on all their aircraft. Turn around time when i travelled was fast, and their gate staff were very efficient at boarding passengers. Parents with children, or people with disabilities get priority boarding before anyone else. Again, all well
organised.


Website
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- Reservations/Booking
- Contact
- Flight Status info
- View your
- Book car hire and hotels with most popular companies along with your flight too.


Rewards
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SouthWest run a "Rapid Rewards" scheme. This i should imagine would only apply to very few people in the UK. I am quite lucky i can travel to the US (or anywhere in the world) for next to nothing on BA, as much as i like, but if you travel to the US and travel on SouthWest frequently then this would be worthwhile. It means you can get free flights, drinks or a companion can travel with you for free after you have collected so many points on your Rapid Rewards account. You can see your points online too.


Tips
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- Book well in advance. Use their Internet site (only allows booking up to 5 months in advance) and get cheaper tickets.
- Check-in early, get boarding group A and then you will get first choice of seats on the aircraft.


Links
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http://www.southwest.com - SouthWest Airlines

Other good ones to Consider:
-> http://www.jetblue.com - JetBlue Airways
-> http://www.airtran.com - AirTran Airways
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Summary: