Originally Posted by MarkOK

I laughed harder than I should at this. I generally agree on all accounts of 'substandards', though WN is better than Spirit still (I cringe whenever I must walk past those gates). However, I come from a demographic background where the WN cult thrives Every family member I know on both my side and my wife's side that flies at all loves WN (aka. middle class flyers with zero business travel and just enough income to fly once or twice a year for a vacation).

And the success of the WN brand is really actually simple:
1. They don't fly enough for a rewards program to mean anything beyond slow points accumulation and a rare burn, if even that (most don't open rewards programs).
2. Southwest gives them free checked bags. Period. They know that American and anyone else will charge them a hefty fee for a first bag and an exhorbitant fee for any second bag. Doing things like holding a 95$ CC or getting status is moot when you only fly 1 or 2 a year. For most people, this is a real price difference that matters, but for all, they hate the baggage fees mostly on a philosophical ground.
3. Southwest generally DOES fly decent routes where they are going (for many, that means nothing more than direct flights to Las Vegas and Orlando)
4. They feel better treated by the boarding process. Nothing makes you feel valued waiting to board in Group 8 (I've done it many times).