Flying with Southwest

[jcl410]

 

 

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According to Seat Guru, Southwest's seats are 17" wide./

 

Southwest newer planes (mode 800's delivered since 2016) and all the new Max's have a new seat design that uses a smaller arm rest that gives a seat that is 17.8 inches wide. They have adjustable head rests, I think they are very comfortable.

 

Aloha,

 

John

[waterbug123]

I’m sure the baggage apes treat that priority tag the same way they treat those fragile labels.

 

Actually, about 90-95% of the time my Sky Team priority tags ARE treated appropriately, i.e. are among the first to appear on the baggage carousel upon arrival, which is the purpose of them. :)

[BNBR]

Actually, about 90-95% of the time my Sky Team priority tags ARE treated appropriately, i.e. are among the first to appear on the baggage carousel upon arrival, which is the purpose of them. :)

 

Maybe delta is better at this? I think it may also depend on the airport. My bags seem to get the priority treatment maybe 35% of the time with American. Frustrating.

[cruisinfromtampa]

Maybe delta is better at this? I think it may also depend on the airport. My bags seem to get the priority treatment maybe 35% of the time with American. Frustrating.

 

Delta really prioritizes luggage. We've always gotten our priority bags first off the belt. Additionally, for any bag, they have a time limit on how long it should take for bags to arrive (I think it's 30 minutes). If they fail to arrive in that time frame, you get a SkyMiles credit to your account.

[trihawks1]

We are sitting here at the FLL airport after our Freedom cruise. We decided to do the luggage valet so we could go thru security early. We did early bird for both of us. Last night, boarding passes were printed for us as well as luggage tags and left in our room after 5 pm. We both received "A" spots. So definitely do early bird for return flight.

 

Depending on the time of your flight, remember you can't check luggage more than 4 hours prior to your flight. The cruise line wants you out of your room by 8:00. So we are doing luggage valet this time due to a later flight. Since we arrived at the airport at 9:00, and our flight isn't until late afternoon, we would not have been able to check our bags until 4 hours prior to our flight. We walked thru security no issue and no bags to deal with.

 

Do early bird AND luggage valet...both worth it...no frustration.

 

 

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[cruisinfanatic]

We are sitting here at the FLL airport after our Freedom cruise. We decided to do the luggage valet so we could go thru security early. We did early bird for both of us. Last night, boarding passes were printed for us as well as luggage tags and left in our room after 5 pm. We both received "A" spots. So definitely do early bird for return flight.

 

Depending on the time of your flight, remember you can't check luggage more than 4 hours prior to your flight. The cruise line wants you out of your room by 8:00. So we are doing luggage valet this time due to a later flight. Since we arrived at the airport at 9:00, and our flight isn't until late afternoon, we would not have been able to check our bags until 4 hours prior to our flight. We walked thru security no issue and no bags to deal with.

 

Do early bird AND luggage valet...both worth it...no frustration.

 

 

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In addition, unless you have more than 2 bags, only one of you needed to do luggage valet

[LeeW]

Depending on the time of your flight, remember you can't check luggage more than 4 hours prior to your flight.

 

Southwest does have a second baggage checkin at FLL that takes luggage earlier than 4 hours before the flight. This is downstairs in the baggage area. Line can be long, though.

[mollyeilis]

True, but even then it can be a challenge. Most gates have no where near enough seating for all the pax who are going to board, and the further away from your gate that you go, the less likely you are to hear important boarding announcments ...

 

 

If you’re there very early, sit at an empty gate. As it gets closer to your flight, and the intended gate clears out from not-your-flight flights, move closer.

 

Check your airlines app often; I have found out info so much earlier from that than waiting to hear something on the PA system.

 

I do not know what to tell you because it is what happened.

 

 

The airline employee misunderstood something or you two misunderstood her. Something went wrong with the understanding. The situation as you tell it is simply impossible.

 

And keep coming back to this bc I’m trying to get you to explain more so we can help you guys for the future. Your understanding of EB isn’t correct and your description isn’t possible. So I’m trying to explain and ask questions.

 

Wrong you cannot get through security without a boarding pass and they can only be printed out 24 hrs in advance.

I do not remember how they got her through security without a boarding pass.

 

She never checked in she was trying to do it at the counter and figured she had enough time being 4 hrs. early.

 

Even still without earlybird it should not happen to anyone. You book early enough your seat should be guaranteed on that plane.

 

I think the whole earlybird is garbage, so you think it is ok for someone to book 6 month in advanced and be bumped because some with earlybird books a week before? no one should be bumped ever. Standby is one thing bumping is another.

 

 

Even though I doubt this is what happened the plane comes from somewhere else first and it could be possible the plane was pretty full and everyone getting on in Milwaukee had early bird.

 

 

...If she had EB, she was checked in. That’s what EB does. You say you have this all the time but you don’t know this? With EB, before the 24 hour mark, the system does checkin for you.

 

When you go into the app to get your digital pass, it’s not checking in.

 

If she had it, she was checked in. Since you say she wasn’t checked in, that means she didn’t have EB.

 

...She had a boarding pass if she went through security. You can’t get through without one.

 

...Right. She didn’t check in, because with EB you don’t. It’s not even that you don’t have to. You simply don’t. It’s done FOR you. There was no checkin procedure to be done at the counter. You guys misunderstood what was happening or the employee did. Or both. I could see this being a joke of the employee; “be sure to run!” like hahahaha, because she was drastically early, and your partner took it seriously.

 

The stuff about the employee giving her “seat” to the person before isn’t possible. No seats to give on SW, and again,4 hours before the flight that’s just not happening.

 

..,Wait. You said you always have EB. But you think it’s garbage?

 

...Being at the airport 4 hours early means that she was NOT in danger of being bumped. Maybe she was put onto an earlier flight?

 

 

Having an assigned seat has never been worth losing all the unique benefits I get from Southwest instead.

 

I check in at home, put my plane ticket in my digital wallet (an app on your phone so you don't need to print anything). If you're not checking bags, you just go right to the gate. And if you are checking bags, you go to a kiosk, print your bag tag, drop it off at the counter and you're on your way. Southwest is so easy, and so customer friendly, I will even travel with them if the ticket price is higher simply for the flexibility in changing my flight time or days.

 

 

The only thing unique in the second paragraph I quoted is being able to change the flight without fees (and once you have high enough status with another airline that’s possible with the others). And I can’t even say the bag tag thing is only for SW, as Aer Lingus has that.

 

But I ordered plastic tag sleeves from Alaska a couple years ago and can print my tags at home, slip the page into the sleeves, and then just hand those over.

 

Everything else you listed is done on every airline I’ve been on.

 

I have Delta, Alaska, and United digital boarding passes (expired) in my Wallet on my phone right now. Oh and jet blue.

 

So we are doing luggage valet this time due to a later flight. Since we arrived at the airport at 9:00, and our flight isn't until late afternoon, we would not have been able to check our bags until 4 hours prior to our flight.

 

 

In FLL with everything so close, why not an excursion? Head to the beach for a few hours? Etc?

[paulh84]

Our first flight on southwest we checked in at 24 hours and got an A spot. For the flight home we didn’t want to worry about check in so we did the early bird. Ended up with a high B. The moral of the story....fly Delta and pick your seat for free when you buy your ticket. I will never fly SW again. The find your own seat thing took forever. Snacks were a joke, 6 peanuts isn’t a snack.

 

 

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With most US airlines adopting a no frills ticket, you are going to pay more on Delta to pick your seats if you book the bottom of the barrel Basic Economy fares. So while it's not a "fee", you are going to pay. With American and United you aren't even allowed to use the overhead bin for a carry-on. I'm sure there are going to be more and more upset people that didn't realize what their ticket doesn't include in the future.

[Ocean Boy]

With most US airlines adopting a no frills ticket, you are going to pay more on Delta to pick your seats if you book the bottom of the barrel Basic Economy fares. So while it's not a "fee", you are going to pay. With American and United you aren't even allowed to use the overhead bin for a carry-on. I'm sure there are going to be more and more upset people that didn't realize what their ticket doesn't include in the future.

How do they enforce that? Flight attendants are watching everyone on the plane to see who is trying to use the bins and then cross check them with the ticket they bought?

[katiel53]

We've always gotten "A" with Early Bird, but we also purchase several months in advance. They assign postions based on the order Early Bird is purchased. I find boarding on SW to be much quicker than other airlines.

 

 

Bob, I'm sorry I have to disagree with you based on my personal experience on SouthWest. Last July I sailed on Allure with my son and his family. I drove down to FL with them, but no way did I want to drive home, so I decided to fly home and I used SW. I booked my flight as soon as the flights were available and I bought EB.

 

A few months later, I found out my granddaughter was going to be an junior counsellor at a TaeKwonDo day camp and she needed to be at the camp the day after we got off the cruise. I then booked her to fly home with me and also purchased EB for her.

 

Fast forward to the cruise and the day before debarkation. I signed into SW to get my boarding pass and hers as well. She had a lower boarding number than I did. I didn't understand why this happened as I had my fare paid long before her. We ended up boarding with my number even though she could have boarded prior. She had just turned 12 and I thought it better we boarded together.

 

I called SW when I got home and asked why I got later boarding etc. I was told it was because my fare was LESS than hers and they assign the EB based on fare paid. So, I said to the woman at SW, then it wouldn't have made any difference if I purchased EB just a couple of days before the flight or when I purchased the flight. She said that was correct.

 

All EB's go into a system and the numbers are assigned by fares paid. I guess I can understand that, but that still doesn't make it right as far as I am concerned. I am going to be flying home again in June and it will be interesting to see what number/letter I get as I am not sure when my granddaughter starts the camp sessions for this year.

[Clarea]

Bob, I'm sorry I have to disagree with you based on my personal experience on SouthWest. Last July I sailed on Allure with my son and his family. I drove down to FL with them, but no way did I want to drive home, so I decided to fly home and I used SW. I booked my flight as soon as the flights were available and I bought EB.

 

A few months later, I found out my granddaughter was going to be an junior counsellor at a TaeKwonDo day camp and she needed to be at the camp the day after we got off the cruise. I then booked her to fly home with me and also purchased EB for her.

 

Fast forward to the cruise and the day before debarkation. I signed into SW to get my boarding pass and hers as well. She had a lower boarding number than I did. I didn't understand why this happened as I had my fare paid long before her. We ended up boarding with my number even though she could have boarded prior. She had just turned 12 and I thought it better we boarded together.

 

I called SW when I got home and asked why I got later boarding etc. I was told it was because my fare was LESS than hers and they assign the EB based on fare paid. So, I said to the woman at SW, then it wouldn't have made any difference if I purchased EB just a couple of days before the flight or when I purchased the flight. She said that was correct.

 

All EB's go into a system and the numbers are assigned by fares paid. I guess I can understand that, but that still doesn't make it right as far as I am concerned. I am going to be flying home again in June and it will be interesting to see what number/letter I get as I am not sure when my granddaughter starts the camp sessions for this year.

Thanks for the explanation, I had not heard about the EB positions being based on fare paid.

[waterbug123]

With most US airlines adopting a no frills ticket, you are going to pay more on Delta to pick your seats if you book the bottom of the barrel Basic Economy fares.

 

Not exactly. If you buy a Basic Economy ticket from Delta you can't pay more to pick your seats, even if you want to....There is NO advance seat selection on those tickets, even for elite level frequent flyers. Nor can those tickets be upgraded through any means (miles, money, upgrade certificates, frequent flyer status).