whlinder

To me, a particular coach seat is not a "standard coach class experience". It's a premium one. And I agree, if you want a premium coach class experience, it is far better on other carriers than Southwest.

The standard, baseline, "I bought a coach seat on an airline, what do I get out of it", IMHO, is better on Southwest than other airlines in the U.S.

LegalTender

• No T-24 nonsense
• No "I'm B-32, what are you?"
• No walk-to-the-back-of-the-plane-thinking-you'll-get-an-aisle-or-window-only-to-end-up-coming-back-to-the-front-of-the-plane-and-getting-a-middle-seat.

• No my-inbound-flight-gets-in-late panic.

• No "thrus and preboard" charade.

bbriscoe34

^This.

I'd say DL is the premium US carrier. I've heard good things about Alaska as well, but they aren't nationwide so they can't really contend.

MikeMpls

That is incorrect, Southwest has had two "hull losses":

In 2000 WN 1455 overshot a runway at Burbank and came to a stop by a gas station. 43 people were injured. The airframe was scrapped.

In 2013 WN 345 had its front landing gear collapse at LGA. The airframe was scrapped.

In the "honorable" mention department:

In 2005 WN 1248 overshot a runway at MDW, crashed through fence, and hit a car on the road, killing one occupant. About 20 in total were also injured. The airframe is back in service under a new tail number after extensive repairs.

In 2014 WN 4013 landed at the wrong airport in Missouri and barely managed to stop just before at steep drop at the end of the 3700' runway.

toomanybooks

Sounds like you should fly another airline.

And maybe hang out in its Flyertalk forum.

kennycrudup

FWIW, I'm the same height and likely width (46 long coat size) and have done 50+ trips a year for the last 4 years now on both long and short trips on WN and have been perfectly comfortable. When the new seats went widespread it made no difference to me either.

pinniped

It's hard to say it's "the premium carrier" when it doesn't have a global alliance or long-haul travel to most of the inhabited world.

However, I'd say it's absolutely the premium carrier for the types of flights it's designed for: short, nonstop, point-to-point travel. Larger aircraft, a vastly superior boarding/seating process, and a (mostly) humane travel experience even if you don't fly enough to reach an elite tier. Plus in a few cases, they have a superior airport to their competition.

If I need to fly to Dallas or Chicago, I will pay a premium to fly WN over AA or UA. So in that sense of "premium", it's a yes for me...

LegalTender

I fly WN because my company buys the tickets. I'll hang out here whether or not it troubles you.

Bonehead

I'm probably spoiled because I rarely fly in Y anymore (and am miserable in coach on most any airline unless there's a small person next to me), but my recollection of the old WN seats is that they were significantly more comfortable than what they have devolved to.

kennycrudup

"I", huh? I've always wondered when I see these threads on FT of people clamoring for elite access and selecting their preferred carriers who's actually footing the bill. I'm self-employed so 95% of my travel is for business, but the money is coming out of my pocket- so I'm going for price, convenience, and lack of fees, be it change or bag fees. My schedule can be quite fluid, so throwing $150+ away 'cause I had to change or cancel a flight isn't just something I can pretend someone else is paying for.

And on the few occasions I fly on OPM, if it's a WN route, I'll still fly WN if I'm given a choice of carrier (and that's even being *A Gold thru Marriott). I was flying SFO-DTW a few times a year in 2015 and once or twice UA had a similar price on a red-eye, so I'd take that. *A Gold out of SFO didn't get me anything but E+, which was less comfortable to me than a WN (unfairly-maligned, IMO) Evolve seat (esp, since the SFO-MDW leg on WN was usually a 738).

Bonehead

My knees were hitting the seat in front of me in the devolve seat; that's never an issue in UA's E+. I'm starting to wonder if you really are as big as I am

kennycrudup

Um, ... what's your "body type"? I'm fairly fit for my height and weight (230), but I could see where someone ... "rounder" (and I have no idea if you are or not) could be less comfortable in a WN seat ('cause I see that all the time en-route), but I suspect some folks would be uncomfortable no matter how much room they have in Y (again, no idea).

kennycrudup

My knees can hit the seat if I make myself sit that way, but I just sit up and stick my legs under the seat and I'm fine.

And I've been in UA E+ a few times, twice to NRT in a Screamliner and 2-3 times coming back from Europe, and a handful of times to/from DTW. Maybe on the long-hauls it's just harder to be comfortable, but even going SFO-ATL-FLL (which I've done a few times) I was seriously more comfortable on WN.

pinniped

I'm not sure what you're getting at, but my travel on WN is about half business and half leisure. And yes, even on the leisure trips, I very often pay a premium because of how much better and more convenient WN is that the given legacy-carrier or ULCC options.

Where WN wins my biz travel, it's usually because they had the better departure/arrival time. Sometimes I'll fly a biz trip WN one way and AA the other, because of the schedule.

Bonehead

I travel with a rollaboard and medium-size backpack, and the backpack always (yes, always) goes under the seat in front of me.

I've filled out a bit in the last few years and am carrying maybe 30 more pounds than you. Issues arise when several of us linebackers are in the same row, which distressingly seems to happen all too often these days. I've decided that life's too short and I travel too much to put up with the discomfort, so I typically buy up to FC on my own dime when traveling on business (the premium is usually $125-$200 each way). As WN does not provide that option, and the old seats are history, it's just not the airline for me.

By the way, I wonder how many devout WN fliers realize that FC has become a heck of a lot more affordable on the legacies...