Year-end holiday fliers overwhelm Southwest

Southwest Airlines customers trying to book flights for the busy year-end travel season were met with delays and higher fares Thursday.

[allen]

cheapskate airline-is stuttering

[ifly2]

No kidding. I flew them ONCE and boy that was enough. About 200 pax at the gate and complete chaos...with 2...2 agents dealing with it. a total mess. I will NEVER fly them again. Give me business class. And another thing....they sit you next to some 400 lb thing -that invades your seat. ugggghhhh....it's not worth the $ to be tortured.

[DapperDave]

ifly2 wrote:

No kidding. I flew them ONCE and boy that was enough. About 200 pax at the gate and complete chaos...with 2...2 agents dealing with it. a total mess. I will NEVER fly them again. Give me business class. And another thing....they sit you next to some 400 lb thing -that invades your seat. ugggghhhh....it's not worth the $ to be tortured.

I toally agree wih you.

I've cut back on my air travel, preferring to fly less often while paying full-fares and upgrade fees to avoid the hassle of dealing with some of the low-lifed trash that one encounters these days on planes.

It certainly hits you in the wallet, but the reduced stress and increased comfort level is worth every penny.

[EZFlyer]

You know...we do our best. We have the best deal going and all others know it! If you're that uncomfortable (or too full of yourself) to fly with us then...please do us all a favor and DON'T! There are more people than we can shake a stick at who love what we do and how we do it and your absence makes more room for them and their friends!

[ifly2]

EZFlyer wrote:

You know...we do our best. We have the best deal going and all others know it! If you're that uncomfortable (or too full of yourself) to fly with us then...please do us all a favor and DON'T! There are more people than we can shake a stick at who love what we do and how we do it and your absence makes more room for them and their friends!

No problem..I'm HAPPY to not fly SW. And stop with the lecture....you guys are some weird cult. Don't worry-I'll pay extra for comfort...I'm happy not to sit next to a 2 ton elephant-and share my seat with it. Rest assured...I'll pay extra for a more comfortable seat and skip the flying trailor.

[DapperDave]

EZFlyer wrote:

You know...we do our best. We have the best deal going and all others know it! If you're that uncomfortable (or too full of yourself) to fly with us then...please do us all a favor and DON'T! There are more people than we can shake a stick at who love what we do and how we do it and your absence makes more room for them and their friends!

I'm not knocking the Southwest travel experience or quality of service. As a former consultant who flew every week for almost 8 years I'm simply noting the air travel experience became less enjoyable after 9/11 and has degraded even more in the last couple years.

I avoid air travel on trips of less than 500 miles these days, and I pay the extra for more comfort and preferential seating when I do fly. I'm neither snobbish nor "full of myself", simply applying the same logic to air travel that I apply to hotel selection and clothing purchases. I'm willing to pay more for a little better quality hotel room, and I buy my shoes at department stores or Johnston & Murphy rather than Payless Shoes.

To each his own.

[flygal]

i suppose buying your seat in advance guarantees who sits next to you huh?...unless you are purchasing both.

[ifly2]

flygal wrote:

i suppose buying your seat in advance guarantees who sits next to you huh?...unless you are purchasing both.

How little you know-Ms.Housewife. I book/business class-which has wider seats -so the 2 ton SW elephants do not sit with me-in my seat. Obviously you've flown the flying trailor (aka SW) and don't know what the real and upscale world is about.

And when I had the "lovely" SW expanding passenger in my seat- I told the FA and the SW FA's AGREED WITH ME!! The told me to write a letter and it was a HUGE (no pun intended) for problem for SW...because the gate agents were NOT enforing SW's own policy. So...I'll pay EXTRA -no problem...it's worth it.

No go tend to your ironing and soap operas.

[flying high]

Since you can afford to fly bus class then I would not think you need to worry about what the rest of the flying public is doing or for that matter what Southwest is doing.

My understanding on this article is that they had an overload of calls & logins to book flights, people that want to fly SW. The fact that the flights are more expensive than in the past, well... what airline ticket is not more expensive today, plus on other airlines you pay extra for everything from checking your bag to a coke.

If I had my choice I will always go 1st class!! But I've never been able to go 1st class, sounds nice though.

ifly2 wrote:

<quoted text>
How little you know-Ms.Housewife. I book/business class-which has wider seats -so the 2 ton SW elephants do not sit with me-in my seat. Obviously you've flown the flying trailor (aka SW) and don't know what the real and upscale world is about.
And when I had the "lovely" SW expanding passenger in my seat- I told the FA and the SW FA's AGREED WITH ME!! The told me to write a letter and it was a HUGE (no pun intended) for problem for SW...because the gate agents were NOT enforing SW's own policy. So...I'll pay EXTRA -no problem...it's worth it.
No go tend to your ironing and soap operas.

[ifly2]

That's right...I don't have to worry about flying SW again. One time was enough. Thank you- I can afford and will continue to pay more for a full seat. Give me a seat-assigned and someone's fat ass out of mine...and yes, I'll willingly fly another carrier and pay a higher fare. One ride on the flying trailor was enough for me. Big deal...free cokes. And BTW I noticed on SW that their passengers carry on too many bags. I saw passengers schlepping 3 and 4 bags. No one seemed to care and yet it's a federal rule. Oh I forgot! The rules are for all the other airlines...no SW. I'll pay extra for a full seat. I can afford the peace and comfort.