Originally Posted by
sdsearch
Southwest pluses are in most cases not their fares, but their policies (no charge for the first bag, no fee for changing a flight (just pay the difference in fares), no fee for cancelling a flight, etc. Of course for those who carry-on only, and rarely change or cancel flights, that may not matter that much.
Southwest has 2 free checked bags and that alone can be a (fare ) difference maker for some, especially families travelling for a week or so. We get free bags (1) because we have a CC with AA and DL so that doesn't make a difference for us. Southwest No cancellation fees should also come with ans asterisk as unless you pay in points that $$ you paid is refunded in travel credit which as an expiration date.
I'm not just talking lower prices , I'm taking MUCH higher prices on WN. We usually book vacations after we have time off from work but for this past September we may have had to cancel so we didn't book our usual MSP/LAS NS on DL but rather picked WN for the cancellation policy using points
R/T MSP/DEN/LAS Friday 8/30 - Tuesday 9/3 was over $1000 on WN. We used points and CP and booked when it was "only $750" but somebody paid over $1000 for a WGA fare. DL had bettter flight times ( NS) and was about $700 R/T MSP/LAS. Maybe Denver was a hotter destination that weekend than Vegas, lol