Southwest Rapid Rewards - First time on Southwest

I flew Southwest VA-CT (via BWI) last weekend for the holiday. I admit that the only reason I considered them was that their (last minute) fare was $500 while Delta (my otherwise preferred airline) wanted $2,000 to fly three legs there and back!! :eek:

My expectations were based on what I'd seen on Airline a few years ago and what I see here every now and then. I thought I'd stand in line between two men of questionable sobriety and then get yelled at by some 80 year old woman because I had taken a seat that belonged to her sister (who had, of course, not arrived yet).

Instead, I boarded and deplaned faster than any other flight in my last 10 years. My bags in CT came rolling up the conveyor within just a few minutes of my arrival. People were friendly (pax and employees), although the singing flight attendant was very strange.

The only drawbacks were having to deal with the drink coupons (or paying for drinks) and the cramped seats (as compared with F on a legacy airline). The boarding process was awesome 3 of 4 flights - on my last leg home out of BWI, the business select pax mobbed the podium and my A3 boarding pass didn't do me much good.

Also - the Vino Volo in BWI had a rather poor selection. I can't understand how a wine place would have only one Italian red - the house wine (which was terrible). I suppose I can't blame Southwest for that, though.

So - a few days later - I'm thinking WN is my new airline for short flights (not sure I'm ready for those cramped seats longhaul). I might even get their credit card...

Haha, until they pop an unplanned sunroof somewhere I we middle America due to not properly maintaining their fleet....

Haha, until they pop an unplanned sunroof somewhere I we middle America due to not properly maintaining their fleet....

Very original. How long did you have to spend thinking that one up?

Haha, until they pop an unplanned sunroof somewhere I we middle America due to not properly maintaining their fleet....

WN has one of the best safety records in the industry. In their 40 year history, they have had only 1 fatality attributed to them when a plane overran the runway in a severe snowstorm. The plane involved in the accident was just over a year old, with maintenance not even being a factor. The fatality involved wasn't even on the plane, but instead, a bystander on a nearby busy road.

Your apparent preferred carrier, UA, on the other hand is a different story. According to the FAA/NTSB, UA averaged 8 "incidents" per million flights compared to WN's 2 over the last five years. UA also had 7 "accidents" per millions flights compared to WN with 2.

Considering you are possibly quadrupling your chance for an accident flying UA over WN, you may want to consider a switch since safety appears to be a big priority for you...

...and both airlines are still 10x safer than driving.

Anyway ... back to cheering for WN?

Now - if only I could get them to book me on a two-leg trip (first leg on airtran, second on southwest) as a single ticket, I'd be happy!

Also - the Vino Volo in BWI had a rather poor selection. I can't understand how a wine place would have only one Italian red - the house wine (which was terrible). I suppose I can't blame Southwest for that, though.


WN thanks you.

Yeah, I had my first WN experience on a trip to KSEA a couple weeks ago. After years of reading about the way WN conducts its operations it was very interesting to see it in action, and I have to say I was very pleased. They got me where I wanted to go, with efficiency, and they didn't make an ordeal of it. After having various legacy carriers slam the door on my fingers, I found WN a breath of fresh air - and being able to fly out of a local airport without dealing with regional aircraft is a definite plus. You bet I'll be back.

I flew Southwest VA-CT (via BWI) last weekend for the holiday. I admit that the only reason I considered them was that their (last minute) fare was $500 while Delta (my otherwise preferred airline) wanted $2,000 to fly three legs there and back!! :eek:

My expectations were based on what I'd seen on Airline a few years ago and what I see here every now and then. I thought I'd stand in line between two men of questionable sobriety and then get yelled at by some 80 year old woman because I had taken a seat that belonged to her sister (who had, of course, not arrived yet).

Instead, I boarded and deplaned faster than any other flight in my last 10 years. My bags in CT came rolling up the conveyor within just a few minutes of my arrival. People were friendly (pax and employees), although the singing flight attendant was very strange.

The only drawbacks were having to deal with the drink coupons (or paying for drinks) and the cramped seats (as compared with F on a legacy airline). The boarding process was awesome 3 of 4 flights - on my last leg home out of BWI, the business select pax mobbed the podium and my A3 boarding pass didn't do me much good.

Also - the Vino Volo in BWI had a rather poor selection. I can't understand how a wine place would have only one Italian red - the house wine (which was terrible). I suppose I can't blame Southwest for that, though.

So - a few days later - I'm thinking WN is my new airline for short flights (not sure I'm ready for those cramped seats longhaul). I might even get their credit card...


I have been to the Vino, Vino at DTW airport before and am not the impressed with them.

If you had a A-3 BP I would have made sure the only two people in front of me in BS were a-1 and a-2. Line jumpers seem to be a problem on WN but I have seen people try to board in the wrong zone plenty of times on DL as well so it isn't just a wn issue. Having an A-3 position and having line cutters could mean missing out on an exit row or bulkhead.

As far as drink coupons go, unless you are upgraded to First on Delta, you will have the same issue (nice thing about Deltas though is you can be on the cheapest T fare and still get a free dirnk coupon where you have to be on the most expensive Business Select fare on WN to get one. You can also use the Delta drink coupon on a snack box or on your return flight if you don't want to dirnk on your outbound). If you don't fly enough to have status, on WN you get a book of drink coupons that can be used anytime after I believe every ten flights so WN's drink system works out better for people who don't fly enough for status on a legacy.

Your apparent preferred carrier, UA, on the other hand is a different story. According to the FAA/NTSB, UA averaged 8 "incidents" per million flights compared to WN's 2 over the last five years. UA also had 7 "accidents" per millions flights compared to WN with 2.

I can't find a basis for your claim that "UA averaged 8 incidents per million flights."
--------------------
ABC News (04/11/2011): (http://abcnews.go.com/Business/safest-us-airlines-airtran-airways-safest-fewest-incidents/story?id=13347280#.T8jtdsWaKSo)

AirTran, Incidents per flight: 0.0000196

Southwest, Incidents per flight: 0.0000203

US Airways, Incidents per flight: 0.0000212

Continental, Incidents per flight: 0.0000260

Delta, Incidents per flight: 0.0000386

United Airlines, Incidents per flight: 0.0000407

American Airlines, Incidents per flight: 0.0000701

I can't find a basis for your claim that "UA averaged 8 incidents per million flights."
--------------------
ABC News (04/11/2011): (http://abcnews.go.com/Business/safest-us-airlines-airtran-airways-safest-fewest-incidents/story?id=13347280#.T8jtdsWaKSo)

AirTran, Incidents per flight: 0.0000196

Southwest, Incidents per flight: 0.0000203

US Airways, Incidents per flight: 0.0000212

Continental, Incidents per flight: 0.0000260

Delta, Incidents per flight: 0.0000386

United Airlines, Incidents per flight: 0.0000407

American Airlines, Incidents per flight: 0.0000701

I'll see if I can find the site where I found the statistics again, though I know it was a 5 year trailing average. It's interesting that according to ABC, this figure should be much higher, with 40.7 incidents per million for UA and 20.3 incidents per million with WN.

I should probably add to my original comment as well that I DO NOT think UA is unsafe by any stretch of the imagination. My comparison of safety records was merely to highlight the ridiculousness of the comment posted by @cwyeager.

Haha, until they pop an unplanned sunroof somewhere I we middle America due to not properly maintaining their fleet....

I see this thread has stumbled over an ancient unexploded joke grenade. :rolleyes:



Yeah, it's a bit hard to hold an airline responsible for the wines available at airport concessions. :p Maybe WN or US should include this in its next round of negotiations with the City of Baltimore? Better damn wines in the terminal, please. :mad:

Yeah, it's a bit hard to hold an airline responsible for the wines available at airport concessions. :p Maybe WN or US should include this in its next round of negotiations with the City of Baltimore? Better damn wines in the terminal, please. :mad:

They might want to start with what they offer on the flight.

If you had a A-3 BP I would have made sure the only two people in front of me in BS were a-1 and a-2. Line jumpers seem to be a problem on WN but I have seen people try to board in the wrong zone plenty of times on DL as well so it isn't just a wn issue. Having an A-3 position and having line cutters could mean missing out on an exit row or bulkhead.

They weren't cutting - until boarding started. There weren't any people on the other side of the A-line (the A30-60 side) for some reason, so everyone just attacked the podium from every direction. Too late to do anything by the time I realized what had just happened! I got the last bulkhead seat, though, so I guess it turned out OK.

WRT Delta - up until now, I had nearly always flown paid F. I decided to bite the bullet with the significant cost difference (F on DL was like $3500 for this particular case). I'm glad I did. A bulkhead seat on WN for such efficient flights seems better than an F seat on DL (for shorthaul).

I don't fly enough (these days) to have status.

They might want to start with what they offer on the flight.

True. Even in international F, the U.S. carriers don't stock a whole lot of drinkable wine.