I recently dropped DL as my primary carrier. I need to fly from BWI to SAN in a few weeks with a Saturday night stay and for 8 days. Did a comparison of DL, CO & SouthWest.

___Upgrade__Lowest Fare
DL__$400____$219
CO___n/a____$209
WN___n/a____$318

DL – Very good chance I would get upgraded. As a PM, I get the upgrades at time of reservation. Can also check to see if they are available by calling PM reservations before I go on line and book them. Coach on DL is a tight squeeze in the new 757s. I could be stuck on one. Flight from BWI to SAN is direct, return via either ATL or CVG.

CO - I think all fares are upgradeable. Would I get one as a top-level flyer? Ticket price is the best and I am trying out CO now for the month, so this would work well for me. Both directions, change in Houston.

WN - No Business, but it is more comfortable then DL coach, and also then new DL 757s in first. Am hoping to earn a buddy pass, 32 points and I have only been flying on them for 10 weeks. Both flights are direct with only 1 stop, not sure where they stop on the way.

I think the decision is clear, if I have a chance of being upgraded on CO (as a top-level FF), the price is right. If there is not an upgrade prayer for me on CO, then onwards to Southwest to earn the buddy pass.

Comments, Suggestions or Things to Think About?

[This message has been edited by JRF (edited 01-07-2001).]

JRF-

In my experience, you shouldn't have a problem as a top-tier getting upgraded out of BWI on either DL or CO. I am silver with both and usually get upgraded on outbound service to ATL, CVG, CLE, and IAH.

My thought---and this is JUST ME---I would choose CO with a cnx in CLE, and make DL my second choice. CO web site tries to book everything out of BWI through IAH or with NW, so book direct with CO. DL is not a BAD choice...I have had great experiences with both...but I've had better experiences connecting through CLE than ATL or CVG.

If you're going to be out of BWI a lot, you'll have no problem finding enough WN flights to make your buddy pass requirement.

For my SAN flights, I usually use US and a CNX at PIT and never have a problem upgrading...but I'm Gold Preferred. US is another good choice out of BWI, especially if you do LAX or SFO.

I'd be interested to know what you decide!

Since CO is the cheapest...with upgrade possibilities, it looks like a "no brainer" to me.

I agree that you want to consider US. US from BWI is pretty good, BWI is a mini hub for them. And their service is very good in my experience, with pricing very aggressive.

If price is the only issue, perhaps Southwest is the best choice and they practically own BWI.

Co treats their elites well, and they upgrade you even on lowest fare (unlike DL). I will advise you to get an elite comp from CO.

I would also go for CO-- under the WN FF program, a cross country flight earns you as many credits as a BWI-CLE... one CO RT would give you a higher percentage credit toward a free trip (6000RT toward a 20,000 US ticket =30% vs. 2/16 or 12% credit on WN).

CO sells 2 packs of discounts to new memners, one for $65 and one for $100. They give you 4 or 6 space-available one way upgrades, plus 5000 or 7500 miles, plus a $99 US/Canada/Alaska companion coupon, plus a dollars off coupon, plus 2 Presidents Club Passes, plus a few other things. The packs take somewhere around 4 weeks to receive. You can order them anytime during your first year. So, even if you didn't do an elite match, you could get upgrades for $65 more than the coach price on CO. IMHO, the $99 companion coupon and the miles alone recover the price of the pack, and the rest is bonus.

The pack is available one time for people who have been members of OnePass for less than a year. Call OnePass for details and to order.

Viajero Joven, thanks for the tip on the Conti Privilege Pack. I'm not a Conti flyer, but I signed up for an account and will consider CO the next time I need to go to Cleveland or another hub. I will then buy the pack; it seems a good value.

The prestige packs were a good value, but have lost some of their lustre due to the electronic upgrades. Now the first class will more than likely be filled before you check in for your flight and are able to use the upgrades. Everything else in the packet is still somewhat useful, but the upgrades were the cherry.

UA always has good prices out of BWI. you could do BWI-SFO-SAN. these fares should be in the $200 to $300 price range for 3 week advanced purchase

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f

Biased CO flyer here...

As a CO silver, you have a good chance for an upgrade on this route. If higher, I'd say your chances are excellent. No fare class restriction on upgrades.

I don't know if CLE is a connection option. If it is, I'd go for that - you're competing with fewer elites for the upgrade on the second segment.

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"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own."

Oh no! Not someone else flying BWI to SAN on CO!
Seriously, I started flying BWI to SAN every 3-4 weeks and after reviewing the various airlines, chose CO, mostly due to their upgrade policy. As a silver this past year, I obtained 13 confirmed upgrades out of 16 segments, pre-EUA. The upgrade rate was the same for either CLE or IAH, although I primarily flew via IAH due to the schedule.
After CO went to the electronic upgrade system, I was 0 for 4 as a silver, which was quite disappointing, although I don't know if it was due to EUA, as discussed at length on the (many) EUA threads, or just bad luck on that one trip. Anyway, after getting Gold, I went 6 for 8. (As an aside, it looks to me Gold-post-EUA has the same chance of getting upgraded as Silver-pre-EUA, although I don't want to start another EUA rant.)
Overall I'd have to say I've been pretty pleased with CO, except for the few times I haven't been upgraded--their coach seats sure are cramped!

I did the BWI-IAH-SAN in Dec and have another at the end of the month, maybe I'll see you on the flight. As a Gold in Dec, I got UG on all 4 segments with no problem. The other thing to remember is that on CO you get MOVIES! I've got a 5 hr trans-con on NW in Feb and just remembered that they don't have any domestic in-flight ent. anymore. Gonna need a good book for that. Also, FC on CO is pretty nice, good food, service, and did i mention MOVIES. Although I never saw the tri-color pasta everyone on the CO board raves about. See you in the air....

Made the reservation last night. Looked it up on the web just to check, had to change dates as the fares double if you are 13 days out v. 14. Called to see if it worked better going through some other city then Houston. Could not make it work.

The agent could not explain to me how upgrades work. However, she said, "I wish the PAX I just spoke to on the phone was here to help you, he knows more about CO then anyone who works here. He could explain to you how the upgrades work, he has some type of web site that explains it, I wrote the address down, would you like it?" Needless to say it was flyertalk.

I should have made it on the web to get the 1k bonus and to be able to view my flight info. Anyway, res is made and paid for. I really wish I could go back and look at it on the web.

maybe try AA w/cnx in JFK if American Eagle flies BWI-JFK, and/or US w/cnx in PHL/PIT (choose the latter if on time is a neccesity, but there is a one-stop BWI-PHL-LAX on a 757 or 320...not sure

HUH? AA from BWI to JFK is not an option, seldome on time and often a missconnect. AA Eagle back from JFK has never been on time for me, and Eagle people at JFK are worse then TSE. I am going to SAN not LAX. I think CO will be fine, the question is, should I be doing it on CO, DL or WN?

[This message has been edited by JRF (edited 01-11-2001).]