A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,582
I got a nasty cold last month right after a US Airways flight out of Philly. I was convinced it was because of the guy behind me coughing the whole time, but who knows...
When we had small children, who have a higher probability of having a minor sickness that would make travel miserable for us or others, we purposely booked our domestic U.S. tickets on Southwest...solely because we knew we would never be forced to start a trip sick. We canceled 2 or 3 trips during those years: if one of the kids was feeling crappy on a Thursday night and we're supposed to fly out Friday to visit grandparents or whatever...no biggie, we'll just defer the trip, typically 4-6 weeks. None of our trips were so urgent they *had* to be flown exactly then.
I'm not a huge fan of what Southwest has become in the past 5 years, but at least this feature still exists - the ability to freely cancel or change any fare.