jddssc121

Hi folks. I wanted to share some thoughts after ~1.5 year moving all my domestic travel over from Alaska to Southwest airlines. As a reference point, this was my first experience with flying WN heavily. Prior to early last year, I was a dedicated Alaska customer, and was hitting the 75K bonus for years before they made it a dedicated tier. My initial reason for moving was my growing dissatisfaction with Alaska; I wanted to see if the grass was really greener somewhere else or if i was just becoming jaded for no reason

So here's my thoughts on the pros/cons of each airline -


Southwest

- Earning status. I like that you earn reward miles/status based on revenue, not miles flown. On Alaska i used to easily hit 75K due to long haul domestic + lots of INTL flights (i usually hit 75K by May), so it was originally never an issue from me. But as my travel patterns changed, i started flying LOTS of short haul flights (500-700 miles). I did the math, and even with purchasing a first class ticket every time, I would have been cutting it close to hit the 75K bonus annually. On Southwest, with the exact same flights, purchasing Business select even half the time lets me hit their top tier (companion pass + A-List Preferred) before the end of May.

- Boarding. Alaska Airlines boards 2 main groups. 1) is the 1st class/MVP Gold/75K line, and 2) basically everyone else. Well, group #1 is usually 1/3 of the freaking airplane. So even if you paid top dollar for a 1st class seat, if you don't get to the gate and line up 30 mins BEFORE boarding, you can find yourself person #33 in line. Tell me how that makes sense? And everyone knows this, so you get a huge line just for that group #1 boarding. And then, group #2 sees group #1 lining up, so then they all start lining up as well. End result, the entirety of the plane's passengers turn into gate lice, and there is a massive mob at the boarding gate. With Southwest, you board in numerical order. Everyone has an assigned place in line, and thus the boarding are is much more organized. Not perfect, but way better. And generally speaking, the gate agents do a decent job of enforcing it (i've seen plenty of a B boarding pass trying to sneak in with the A group getting kicked out of line). Even if Southwest decided to go with assigned seats (which i would welcome) i would still hope they kept their current boarding process. It is way more efficient than Alaska.

-Companion pass. Amazing benefit. Way more useful than anything Alaska offers.

- Miles redemption - They are loosely associated to the $ cost of a ticket. So if i am flying SEA-SJC and the ticket is on sale for $70, then my miles costs is about 5,000 miles. On Alaska it's 12.5K best case, regardless if i am flying SEA-SJC or SEA-EWR.

- On-time performance. Southwest loses badly here when compared to Alaska. I've had way more delayed flights on WN than I had with AS.

- WN's INTL res system is incompatible with TSA Pre Check. Which means no TSA Pre for INTL flights. I cannot put into words how much I hate this.

- Mobile app. Their app sucks when compared to Alaska's. Slow and buggy. Passbook boarding pass never refreshes once created. Even worse, if your flight is delayed beyond the arrival time, the boarding pass disappears and you need to get a paper boarding pass. Unacceptable.

Wifi - Southwest's wifi works at all times (even at the gate) and while it's not super speedy, it is vastly superior the train wreck named GoGo.

- Free inflight TV for everyone. Need I say more?

- Fees. WN doesn't have them. Baggage check fees, change fees, standby fees, etc etc. Of course most of these don't apply to someone with status, but when traveling with my wife and kids it makes a difference, since they don't have status.


Alaska

- Food. While it sucks compared to 5-10 years ago, it's still better than what WN offers (which is nothing besides peanuts). I do miss that fruit/cheese platter.

-Partner redemption options. Alaska lets you redeem miles for some fantastic INTL flight options. WN doesn't offer diddly.

- Customer service. WN has surprisingly good customer service, but Alaska is still better. I'd say they are the best in the domestic bunch.

- First class. Yeah it's nice, but one of the reasons i switched over is that i was getting fewer and fewer upgrades. It was starting to feel like something that was dangled but rarely delivered. So in a way, I am happier now since I am not getting constantly let down.

-Assigned seats. I wish WN had them. They could still keep their superior boarding process (see above), but i would love to be able to pick my seat prior to departure. This sucks when you're traveling with family members.

- Missy . WN doesn't have Missy.

PDXPremier

Thanks for the the thoughtful analysis and comparison. I did find it interesting that one of the things you liked about WN compared to AS was the revenue-based frequent flyer program....that was the #1 reason I left UA a few years ago. I can't put into words how much I despise revenue-based programs....I go to great lengths to keep my cpm down to a reasonable level and if the fare is too high, I won't buy it...period. With Alaska's mileage-based program, I can spend less $$$ by finding fares with a low cpm AND earn elite status...something I can't do as easily on UA, DL, or WN. I applaud Alaska's decision to distinguish itself among all the "others" by sticking to a miles based program.

As a side note, the lack of assigned seating and a first class cabin would take quite a bit of the fun out of the travel experience for me....

Chugach

It all depends on your location and travel patterns.

Living in ANC (or anywhere in AK, really) you are probably best off sticking with AS unless your travel is almost exclusively to some midwest, east coast, or intl destination not served by AS.

DL is the only other airline that has anything resembling a competitive schedule to ANC in the non-summer months, but it's all to SEA or MSP.

If/when I ever move back to the lower 48, I'll probably re-evaluate my FF needs just like the OP has.

ucdtim17

I fly them both because they're the options on my main PDX-OAK route.

My thoughts

• 737s >> Q400s. I'm glad Alaska bothers to offer the token service on this route but hopefully some day soon they'll make at least a half assed attempt to compete.
• Much easier to use Southwest points. I'm piling up Alaska miles with no idea how I'll ever use them.
• Easy/cost competitive to reach whole country from Bay Area on Southwest. Alaska isn't remotely cost competitive even if you can take the time to connect in SEA/PDX
• Assigned seating on Alaska is nice. I like being able to show up last minute and not worry about getting stuck in middle somewhere.
• Better ontime performance from Alaska. Southwest planes often start their days in the east, accumulating weather delays by the time they get to OAK-PDX (airports that rarely have delays on their own)
• I prefer the onboard experience on Alaska (food, first class, service) and the ability to fly to Hawaii, Mexico, Alaska, etc.

I generally prefer Alaska but with the limited service OAK-PDX and having to fly intra-California for work, I have to keep flying Southwest. I just need to figure out this year how to get enough paid flights to keep A-List in addition to MVPG.

Eastbay1K

And there you have it.

For me, WN is fine for short domestic hops. I actually find their boarding the most civilized around. Also, for me, assuming I earned top status, I'd have a companion pass that would get used once, maybe twice, a year. I also have no desire to redeem my WN points for anything more than short domestic hops.

For longer trips, I'm going to be in a more premium seat confirmed at time of booking (whether paid, the program's upgrade system, etc). The MP's class of service bonus (especially generous now on AS metal) is a perfectly lovely substitute for "spend" accrual.

Finally, the millions (somewhere between 2 and 3M) of miles I've redeemed through the MP have been life changing.

jddssc121

Yes, I'll fully admit it's for selfish reasons .... flying super short routes, the revenue angle works way better for me than the miles approach.... (both airlines offer a similar approach to qualifying on segments which is why i didn't mention it)

AKLifetimeFlyer

I agree. It would feel like bus travel to me.

jddssc121

I am sure if was doing cross country on a regular basis it would hurt more. But i am doing mostly short haul nowadays, so it honestly isn't that big of a deal to me personally.

And as I said, i was getting upgrades so infrequently, that i wasn't landing in F that much anyhow......

missydarlin

Awww. It's my first day back in the office in 3 weeks - what a lovely welcome back

Sorry, it was making my eye twitch.

QXflyer

When the mobile boarding pass disappears from your iPhone lock screen why don't you just open it from the wallet app? Way easier than getting a paper boarding pass.

jddssc121

It disappears from there too. To be more precise, the card stays there, but the QR code disappears and simply says invalid/expired in its place. Customer care knows about it and says they're "working on fixing it". No ETA.

solewalker

Why I like Alaska:
1. Nicer seats
2. Power on newer planes (I mostly fly Alaska transcon)

Why I like WN:
1. Companion pass. The WN FF program can be very lucrative for domestic flying, if you have a lot of flexibility in schedule, as opposed to the fixed mileage structure of many legacy FF programs.
2. Most of FAs I've flown with are hilarious! (not that I'm saying AS FAs don't have a sense of humor - I still love you!)
3. BRG: While AS also has this, I do like that the WN BRG also applies to redemption flights.

Jma12

Everyone has different needs when it comes to FFP. I find that revenue base programs are design to benefits higher spenders. If you belong to that category, then it is better for you to join that program.

Currently, my main programs for my paid tickets are AS and A3, with A3 for my *A flights, and AS for my OW/ST, EK and HU flights. I usually buy the lowest price ticket, so revenue base FFP will definitely does not benefit me.

jddssc121

as an aside I will say the few times I have flown Virgin America i have enjoyed the product. I'm hoping Alaska assimilates as much of it as they can...... If Virgin flew more routes that i fly, I would move my business there in a heartbeat.

tusphotog

Alaska is great. So is WN. They're great operations. Both have their plusses and minuses. The WN Companion Pass is probably my favorite benefit I have. I use it extensively (if the GF decides she wants to fly with me).


How long are your delayed flights? I've never had the QR code grey out on me until a day or two after the flight. In fact if I'm doing a same day turn or an 18 hour trip, I double check because sometimes I'll get the wrong pass in the wallet app.

The old app would delete the BPs after scheduled departure time, which was always a major headache.

The WN experience is painless once you accept their quirks. It's like riding a train. If it's sitting there and the door is open, you can get on. None of this "you weren't on the plane 10 minutes before departure, so we deleted your reservation."

WN schedule's in the California and Southwest part of the country is unmatched. If you do any flying down here, it's really nice having ~30 flights a day PHX-LA Basin or 80 something a day LA Basin-Bay Area. Plus MDW is immensely better than ORD (and closer to the city!).