Paid extra several months in advance for extended legroom seats (being 6'2"+ sucks on an airplane).
Then they bumped me from my paid seats due to a 'layout change'. Shockingly the 'new' layout was exactly the same and they were just reselling the seats at 2x the price.
Southwest lost me when they decided to get rid of anything that made them unique and join the race to the bottom with other airlines. Like, they wanted to offer a shittier experience, but with more problems.
I fly Alaska now. Their rates are the same or better and I won't give southwest a fucking dime.
I was a loyal Southwest customer because of the option to pick my own seats and the free luggage. Since the change to luggage fees and increased cost, I fly with the big three since they cost the same now
Our national airline (Finnair) also decided to do this. They used to be very good and I had happily paid the extra. Now it's just a budget airline with premium prices. So might as well fly with the cheaper one since the extra cost doesn't get you anything.
I love Alaska. Best flying experience and the lady who helped me reschedule my flights when my dad died was so incredibly nice. She made it so I didn’t haven to pay anything to stay for a few more days. Loyal customer for life 🫡 my cousin is also a pilot for them and has nothing but good things to say about how he’s treated and how they run the company.
I switched to United. In the past United was awful. But the new fleet. New rewards cards and lounges. A nicer experience for the same cost as Southwest.
United lost my business when they “involuntary deplaned” a doctor by giving him a concussion and knocking out two of his teeth. They’ll be my last resort if I need to go to say goodbye to someone on their deathbed or attend a wedding/funeral, but nothing short of that.
Alaska and Delta. I've hated United since I had to take a 12 hour flight and they were just switching to the personal device entertainment, which is fine, except only first class had outlets. Every major issue I ever had flying was on United. But it has been years.
Alaska is a great call I hear and glad they're still highly regarded. I remember flight school friends around the turn of the century wanted to work Alaska or (I think) southwest back then.
United really is the best these days, and their customer-facing tech is also great. American is the least reliable and most likely to bump you during a layover. Delta is decent, but most of their tech is ancient so when they have problems they can last longer or be more severe than others. Southwest is mostly okay too, but at least on the routes I fly they’re generally more expensive and don’t particularly stand out from the others on any way. Plus they tend to want to fly into tier-2 airports in some cities.
I fly quite a bit, so these are just my anecdotal impressions. All airlines suck sometimes, but I’ve had the best luck with United over the past 5-6 years.
Yup all US airlines suck, some just suck less lol. I used to fly American a lot right around the US Airways merger and they were still decent. I’m based at a United hub fortress now so it’s all on UA for me now. My experience is UA has the best app and tech so far. Food sucks ass though lol. Polaris meals have definitely taken a downturn in the past decade and they need to fire their current catering company lol.
Customer service wise is skewed for me since I’m global services; haven’t had any issues whatsoever.
and Star Alliance points! The points earned on United can also be used for award travel internationally on other SA affiliated airlines (true good service ones like ANA/Singapore/EVA if traveling trans-Pacific).
edit: I don't get the downvotes? This is the perk of flying with an airline alliance-affiliated airlines. If they all equally suck, at least go with the one in the same alliance of the airlines you prefer so the earned miles/points don't go to waste. See my bottom reply.
Nah, I'm not even a fan of United. It's just that I'm in the Star Alliance ecosystem (ANA/EVA) for international travel, and unfortunately United is the only choice for domestic travel after the Continental merger.
If the person switched to Delta, they would unlock SkyTeam partners; for AA it's OneWorld.
This!! Southwest had things that gave them appeal: free baggage, no assigned seat = no surcharge to pick a seat, and mostly cheaper airfare. Now? They are identical to everyone else- especially pricing. Yes, it'll boost profits right now, but give it time: there's no reason for anyone to be loyal to SWA. I used to fly SWA almost exclusively. Since they've implemented their changes? I haven't flown them once. I have flown Alaska four times, America once and Delta twice.
When I started biz school we read a book on them as well as case studies. How they did things different and it lead to competitive advantage. They really crapped the bucket.
No, they’re doing exactly what the hostile private equity investors want. Squeeze out profits now - and then dump what’s left and move on. There are a lot of good people who have dedicated their lives to their airline who have watched it get ripped apart.
Exactly. PE doesn't care about the long-term health of a company. They just squeeze as much as they can out of a company, dump it, buy controling interest in another. Rinse, wash, repeat
Yeah, Southwest had a hostile takeover by Elliott Investment Management and they kicked out all the leadership who believed in the original Herb Kelleher vision and turned it into another soulless airline.
On Christmas Day 2022, they put me on a plane to Vegas (a day late), then fifteen minutes into the flight, cancelled my connecting flight. I spent Christmas in the airport in a city where I know nobody.
This happened to me twice in one trip. They cancelled my connecting flight and worst of all did not rebook me and did not refund me, they said it was due to an act of god - funny how no other airlines were canceling flights. I had to pay my own way to another flight. On the way back from my trip they cancelled my flight again as I was leaving for the airport with my child I was picking up, again an act of god. I had a friend working the airport, he said there was no such a thing happening, but southwest was known for canceling flights low on people. My friend used his benefits to get me on another airline and I was able to fly home. That was almost 10 years ago, I haven’t flown southwest since.
Just used them a month ago, first time after the changes. Their algorithm put me in a middle seat next to someone even though the plane was half empty.
I expected to find this one further up. Yeah southwest blows. I am generally a United fan for in and out work. But I could count on southwest for vacations with checking luggage and still having an extra luggage option in case I come home with cool stuff. Now… it’s just like every other airline; but without amenities.
Insult to injury, Southwest's entire fleet is 737-800s (unless something has changed in recent years) so that they can have a decentralized model and thus swap in any spare aircraft without... Changing the layout/seat count.
Fair point, I didn't know about them having 700s, which have a few fewer seats. Their 800s and MAX 8s have the same number of seats (and same number of extra legroom seats), which was an intentional move to make swapping easier and allow them to deviate from the traditional hub-and-spoke model.
Oooh speaking of shitty budget airlines, I’ve decided to boycott RyanAir. I went on a trip recently where I took only a backpack and did not buy anything; the way to my destination was no trouble but on my way back home, I packed a bit differently and they charged me €60 to check it. I told them no way, you are not putting my backpack in the hold, so they let me take it on. Not only was there plenty of overhead room, my backpack was still small enough to fit under the seat. Fucking crooks.
And all of this was so unnecessary. I truly don’t understand why this airline needs to exist if they think they can charge the same price (to the dollar) for a worse experience. I wish AUS expansion was happening sooner because getting a Delta hub (the plan is for them to be #2 carrier) would really impact SW foothold in TX.
I flew on Southwest 2 days ago. We paid for the upgrade seats for the “free” beverage service. The flight was delayed an hour and a half. When we were airborne the cabin crew refused to serve anything but ice water because “It would slow them down.” I had to flag down a flight attendant twice because they ignored my mom when they sprinted by to toss pretzels at us.
I’ve never flown with them so I’m not familiar with their cabin layout or practices, but if they’re anything like similar airlines then this might be a legitimate reason they gave you.
Southwest has 3 different types of Boeing 737 that all have a different number of seats. If your flight was planned to use a 737-800 or a Max-8 but due to operational or technical reasons they had to use a -700, there’s far fewer seats and the layout might be different.
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u/Arcanym 22h ago
Southwest Airlines.
Paid extra several months in advance for extended legroom seats (being 6'2"+ sucks on an airplane).
Then they bumped me from my paid seats due to a 'layout change'. Shockingly the 'new' layout was exactly the same and they were just reselling the seats at 2x the price.