Southwest no longer cheapest airline – Philadelphia Inquirer
This isn’t exactly news anymore, but they did a story in Philly about Southwest isn’t always that cheap anymore and I chimed in.
In the Trenches: Fixing Our Website – Small Business Center
Despite a few tweaks, we’ve had the same basic Cranky Concierge website since we started. It’s time to change that.
I flew Southwest for the second time this week out of CLT. It was mainly due to me having to book at last minute and I wanted a window seat. None of the other carriers had a window seat available. I knew that with WN I would have a pretty good chance.
I really enjoy the small things about WN like the peanuts and drinks. One thing I noted is that even though our flight was delayed over an hour and a half, most paxs were in a good mood. I usually don’t see that on other legacy carriers. I’m not sure if its because there’s more leisure travelers than business or what.
You’re right. Cranky Concierge’s website desperately needs to be refreshed. I say this fondly, and as a satisfied customer, but it is *very* dated and not at all intuitive. In particular, the process of steering customers to the correct service–and the correct fee–is quite confusing. Also, yeah, you need mobile optimization. Best of luck.
I recently booked a flight from Detroit to San Diego. I checked Southwest and then Delta. I saved $200.00 by booking Delta.
I always check SW’s fares, but generally find them to be among the highest, if not THE highest. Unless I am checking a bag, I prefer the traditional carriers over SW at the same price, both for the lack of the cattle call and the more well-behaved/knowedgeable pax, especially on routes that are not traditionally vacation destinations.
I used to avoid WN like the plague because I detest the cattle call and just on principal anything that comes from Texas, but one thing changed that overnight: Having a child. We went from traveling light (bag fees? What bag fees?) to having to bring half the house with us. WN’s fares may not always be the cheapest, but the savings on bag fees make a huge difference. I swallowed my pride and just gave in.
And to be honest? My experiences so far have been fine. No problem getting good seats, competent, friendly flight attendants and gate agents, and nice big airplanes. I don’t *want* to like Southwest, but they’ve done well by me so far, so I’ll continue to give them a fair shake. Price is rarely my first consideration, as long as it’s in the ballpark—a good experience is. And given that I live in/fly out of DEN, I’m not really likely to get a consistently good experience from Frontier or United, so WN it is.
I used to get good deals from Southwest, but lately I have been getting better or equal fares on other airlines. I still keep checking Southwest, though, in the hopes that I might still find something.