Southwest Air for November HAL Cruise

[Roz]

I tried posting this question in the Cruise Air forum and didn't get a response :( , so I thought I'd try my HAL friends :D .

 

I'm taking a cruise on the Volendam Nov. 13 - 23 out of Ft. Lauderdale. I took a voluntary bump on a Southwest flight in April, and got a voucher as compensation. Would like to use it for this cruise, but SW is only taking reservations thru Oct. 27.

 

Anyone know when they'll extend their calendar to include the Thanksgiving holiday weekend?

 

Roz

[newmexicoNita]

Roz, usually SW will accept reservations from 90 to 120 days in advance so it should open up in about a month.

 

NMNita

[Roz]

Thanks, Nita. I'll keep an eye on their website. I have to go to an actual SW ticket counter in order to use the voucher.

 

Roz

[K&RCurt]

We were waiting for SW to open up for Oct 28th - Nov 4th for our cruise. We saw a great price on Orbitz for another airline and booked that, rather than wait any longer. SW has been at Oct. 27th for almost a month now. I would keep checking, as it may extend out at the beginning of July.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

We too are waiting for SW to open up for our November cruise out of San Diego from Nov 16th thru Nov 26th. I have it figured I will not be able to purchase these for about another 30 days. For us out of Las Vegas there just is NO Other airline. They run about once every hour and thirty minutes with a 55 minute flight. They are usually really cheap, no way I could drive and park and have the convience.

[AZjohn]

I called SW last week asking when we can get flights to San Diego for our Nov. 25 cruise on Oostradam. The agent was very nice and said he would take a look when they opened up those flights for the past 5 years (he didn't have any offical word yet). So he came back and said it looks like anywhere from now until the end of July....LOL:o .

So that was the "offical" word I got, but guess it didn't help much...LOL.

Think I will just continue to check their web sit when ever I think about it:rolleyes:

John

[Roz]

A lot of people don't like SW, but they opened up a whole new world of travel for me when they came to Nashville. Lots of non-stop flights, reasonable fares, and a great rewards program. I take SW whenever I can.

 

Roz

[Navy_Chief]

I started flying SW when my company sent me off to San Deigo for 70 days. I was allowed to fly back every 2 weeks for the weekend if I wanted. I like SW, they really aren't that bad

[obriendan]

Roz,

 

I don't think you have to "go to the airport" to redeem the voucher. I used to thinks so also but we live in Bryan, TX and it would be hard to get to a Southwest ticket counter. When we had a voucher, I made reservations by phone but wasn't allowed to pay (okay with me:D) until I got to the airport and submitted the voucher.

 

And like you, we love SW. When you call, you speak directly to an unaccented person immediately without punching several buttons. I've actually had pleasant conversations with the agents!!

[DCT61]

Another Nashvillian here. I agree with Roz, the best airline for us is SW. We will be flying to Ft Lauderdale in October (for our first HA cruise) and are anxiously awaiting SW opening up their schedule a little further out. All other airlines required us to fly to places like Chicago...Dallas...Detroit and then turn back around and fly OVER NASHVILLE to Ft Lauderdale. SW seems to have to most reasonable schedules for this area.

[Roz]

Obriendan, thanks for the clarification on the voucher. Our airport in Nashville is very close in (as DCT61 can attest), so it won't be a problem to just got there when I'm in the area for something else. But that's handy information to have in case I'm in a situation where I can't get there.

 

DCT61, agree with you about SW. It's made air travel so much easier for people in this area. I've noticed people from all over the state, as well as Alabama and Kentucky, driving to Nashville to take SW.

 

BTW, I meet few, if any, cruisers from Tennessee when I take cruises. Are you doing the Volendam southern Caribbean itinerary? That's what I'm sailing in November. Hope things are going well in "the Boro". :D

 

Roz

[OldCodger73]

Even though I've never flown Southwest I really appreciate the airline. In 2001 we needed to fly from SEA to OKC for a family reunion. Because of frequent flyer concerns we needed to fly a partner airline, in this case Northwest because we had some free first class upgrade vouchers. As long as Southwest wasn't listing the dates we wanted on their reservation system, Northwest's fares were high. Once those fares showed up on Southwest, Northwest's fares dropped way down and were only $10 more than Southwest's.

[BM64]

I am also waiting for SW to open up reservations for the first week in Nov. (not for a cruise-Boo-Hoo) but a trip to Orlando. Never flown SW, why do people not like it?

[AZjohn]

Never flown SW, why do people not like it?

 

It’s considered a “cattle car” by most because there is no assigned seating. You just get in a boarding group and then when they call it, its first come first served with seats (have seen a stampede once or twice in my life….LOL). The deal is, most all the flights are only an hour or two, so it’s really not a big deal. It’s one of those, “let’s sit down and get where we need to be” airlines, which is great in my book!;)

John

[Roz]

They also serve gourmet food - translation - peanuts. :D SW doesn't pretend to be what it isn't. It's just a basic, no frills airline.

 

I couldn't believe it when, a few yrs. ago, I was on a United international flight to Vancouver, and I had to reach into a cooler as I was boarding the plane to pick up a brown bag lunch. How chintzy is that? Give me SW any day. At least a live person hands you the peanuts, and they smile and joke around with you.

 

Roz

[LAFFNVEGAS]

They also serve gourmet food - translation - peanuts. :D SW doesn't pretend to be what it isn't. It's just a basic, no frills airline.

 

I couldn't believe it when, a few yrs. ago, I was on a United international flight to Vancouver, and I had to reach into a cooler as I was boarding the plane to pick up a brown bag lunch. How chintzy is that? Give me SW any day. At least a live person hands you the peanuts, and they smile and joke around with you.

 

Roz

 

Roz, I totally agree with you. I love Southwest. Their employees are friendly, and extremely accomedating. I actually think they all enjoy their job not like the other airlines. For being a no frills airline their customer service is the best. Also there seems to be more room than TED economy. For us here in Las Vegas they have many flights thru out the day.

[HeatherInFlorida]

I love Southwest. I rarely fly anything else unless I'm forced to.

 

Roz, check their website everyday. It could open at any time and there's no timing to it. Suddenly it just pops! Especially when you'll need a reservation close to the current ending date you'll want to hop right on it. The lower fares fill up fast.

 

SW is doing an experiment next month with assigned seating. I hope they're not happy with the result. I love printing my boarding pass ahead of time and getting the cherished "A" line. That way I know I'll get a good seat. And if you touch down anywhere and you don't like your seat, you can switch. The other benefit is if the plane isn't full, you're almost guaranteed the middle seat will be vacant.

[Stevesan]

Roz, I totally agree with you. I love Southwest. Their employees are friendly, and extremely accomedating. I actually think they all enjoy their job not like the other airlines. For being a no frills airline their customer service is the best. Also there seems to be more room than TED economy. For us here in Las Vegas they have many flights thru out the day.

 

You should fly SW Friday evenings on one of the Houston <----> Dallas commuters. It's PARTY Time!

 

I hate the cattle call, but SW or Continental are often our only options. Recently, fares from/to Houston have escalated, with SW only slightly less than Continental.

 

Jet Blue Announced that they're entering the Houston market. We welcome any competition that can moderate fares. Jet Blue initially is flying only Houston <---->NY. I hope it's a success and they expand!!!!

[Pudgesmom]

SW is doing an experiment next month with assigned seating. I hope they're not happy with the result. I love printing my boarding pass ahead of time and getting the cherished "A" line. That way I know I'll get a good seat. And if you touch down anywhere and you don't like your seat, you can switch. The other benefit is if the plane isn't full, you're almost guaranteed the middle seat will be vacant.

 

Heather,

 

One of the reasons for the SWA experiment is the online printing of boarding passes. It seems several companies are offering a service to print your boarding pass for you at the earliest possible opportunity. So now, you can pay to get in the "A" group. Some travelers are not happy with this arrangement, so the company is experimenting with assigned seating out of San Diego.

 

I also am guessing that the flights may not be coming up as promptly as ususal because Southwest is working on changing the flight restrictions out of Dallas/Fort Worth, and if Congress makes the changes recommended by the locals, the whole schedule will change as passengers will -FINALLY- be able go get directly from A to B out of Dallas.

 

Beth

[obriendan]

SW may be a "no frills" airline, but does anyone know of a "frills" airline anymore? It was mentioned that on United you picked a bag lunch. I don't think they even do that anymore. We have always found that Southwest, with no frills, is almost always on time. Further, frequently we have gotten to baggage claim with the bags already there!

[Roz]

Obriendan, since you mentioned luggage, I've never had SW lose or misplace any of my luggage.

 

SW just announced that they're starting non-stop flights from Nashville to Denver, going up against Frontier.

 

Jet Blue is starting non-stop service from Nashville to NYC. This is their first foray into this market.

 

Roz

[trailercruiser]

Being from the Dallas area, where southwest airlines headquarters are, Southwest is virtually useless unless flying in state. Thanks to Jim Wright,(former speaker of the house of the us congress-leans left) , we here in Dallas cant fly to another state unless it borders texas. This is the most ridiculous law. Yes they are trying to undo this but we shall see. As for peanuts, I am very allergic to them as many people are. Just by touching a peanut(sometimes unknown due to someone leaving them in the pocket of the seat) I will get extremely sick. This is why most airlines got rid of peanuts. So for now American airlines ( which gives you assigned seating) will be the choice i choose to travel. By the way if you watch airline it showed one episode of the kid that was extremely allergic to peanuts on southwest and all the vacuuming they had to do to his seat.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Beth, thanks so much for that info! I wondered why they were thinking about making the change. And you would know:) .

 

I can't believe people are paying to have the boarding passes printed out! Why not just do it for themselves? Makes no sense to me. I'm sure there would be a way to do it so only the person holding the ticket can sign in, but on the other hand I guess a person could turn over all their personal information if it's that important to them.

 

Thanks again, Beth ... always great to "see" you!!!:D

[KLLund]

I fly SW at least once a month for work and I also use it for my personal travel. A tip about the boarding passes... If you have access to a computer but not a printer ( I usually have a lap-top in a Hotel Room ) .. go ahead and check in and pretend you are printing the boarding pass. When you get to the airport just go to the kiosk and enter the confirmation number and check the re-print boarding pass button. You get the exact boarding pass you got on-line.

[Roz]

Kathy,

 

Thanks for sharing that tip. I didn't know that.

 

Roz