Southwest Airlines

The first, only and last time we will be traveling with Southwest. They say "open seating" makes the boarding faster. It doesn't. It makes it easier on their end because they do not have to spend the labor on seat selections, etc. It is more like being treated like cattle in a chute. When you get to the plane, you are still waiting to get seated, just like every other airline out there. If you are lucky, you might get to sit with your other family members. Our family was not the only one that had to sit scattered throughout the plane. The attempts at humor by the flight staff did not help much either. The seats were cramped to point my shoulders hust from being so scrunched up and I am not that big of a person, 5'10", 220lbs. The beverage service gets you about 4 sips of your drink unless you order coffee or adult beverage. One of our pieces of luggage was severely damaged so we got a $50 coupon to be used on Southwest airlines and only on Southwest airlines. I think we are throwing it away. They found more ways to nickel and dime more money out of passenger fares.

✅ Verified Review | Baltimore to Denver. Southwest is the best airline for a number of reasons - customer service is amazing, flights are easy to change (I recently changed my entire flight from LAX to SNA on the same day of travel). They have the best prices. It is easy to get priority status.

✅ Verified Review | Baltimore to Buffalo. Southwest Airlines - what happened? You used to be the fun Go-To airline that, no matter how bad the others, never lost its sense of humor. Now your staff are as frazzled, checked-out, and nasty as the others! Thanksgiving at BWI, the check-in configuration was confusing with people queuing in 3 places and one hapless employee trying to herd who's up first, while imperious check-in ladies route people here then there to re-print baggage tkts, refusing to help, selecting favorites from the line, stalking off, unhelpful, uninformative, and high-handed - bad Southwest service! I miss the old airline!

✅ Verified Review | Seattle to Sacramento. My husband and I flew with our 6 month old for the first time so we could go visit family for Thanksgiving. We chose Southwest because it was literally half the price than other airlines during the holidays. We had never travelled with children before so we had our hands full with the stroller and car seat. While boarding, a man came up behind me and said "Can I help with those?" I said sure not realizing it was the pilot right away. He carried my car seat and stroller and waited in line with us. I told him not to worry and he could go ahead since he had more important things to do, but he waited and seemed happy to help. While descending, our son was screaming so loud, and the lovely flight attendant, came over right away and entertained him until he smiled and settled down. After landing and exiting the plane, I apologized to the staff and other passengers for my son making such a scene, but everyone was very friendly and understanding. We had such a great experience with Southwest!

Fort Lauderdale to Baltimore with Southwest Airlines. My luggage was damaged. When I went to the baggage desk I was immediately assisted. The staff inspected my luggage and offered me three ways to resolve the problem. I chose to be reimbursed immediately for $60 and the whole thing took less than 15 minutes. I was very impressed with the staff and how they handled the situation.

Denver to Seattle. Southwest Airlines has the absolute best customer service. I have been flying with them for years and they always deliver. Comfortable economy seats, friendly staff, and flexibility. If they expanded their international travel, I would exclusively fly with them. I was planning on taking my parents to spend Christmas with my sister and nieces in another state but ended up needing to cancel my travel plans due to my mother becoming unexpectedly sick. The employees that I have spoke with thus far have been wonderful. We were able to come up with a solution that allowed me to keep my travel funds and I will be using them toward another trip with Southwest at a later time. The staff kindness and generosity has been excellent during a difficult time for my family and I. I will remain a loyal customer and recommend to everyone I know..

I have been flying Southwest for over ten years and have the southwest credit card as well. I put several thousands of dollars on it a year but have noticed that I get a lot less flights with it now. I liked how they started giving you a boarding number when you check in 24 hours in advance so there aren't people arguing about the lines. But now what people are doing is saving seats all the time and it has gotten carried away. I have talked to the flight attendants about it but they say they will not get involved with it. I check in 24 hours in advance on the dot to get the best seats possible but am going farther and farther back from people saving seats now. What the customers are doing is one will get the early bird pass to get an advanced seating number and then save the remaining seats for the passengers that are flying with them. I actually was going to sit down on one flight and a woman said she was saving seven seats which was three rows and I finally said no, you cannot do that since my boarding pass was before them. She started getting loud and the flight attendant was no help whatsoever. I am not going back any further on the plane simply because others are not working with the rules Southwest has determined and does nothing for the people who play by the rules. I know this sounds petty, but I can have A tickets and cannot get seats for me and my wife until near the back of the plane. I tell the flight attendant about it and they do not respond so no more Southwest for me.

✅ Verified Review | Denver to Ontario. I was satisfied with the service for my Southwest Airlines flight but was not happy with the open seating policy. This is my third time flying Southwest and had never experienced this before. I was traveling with my husband and not only were we assigned separate boarding positions but then by the time he boarded there were no available seats for us to sit together. I do not appreciate this type of boarding and was extremely dissatisfied. If tickets are bought together the airline should allow the family to sit together like every other flight I have ever been on has done.

✅ Verified Review | Ft Lauderdale to Las Vegas. I like Southwest Airlines. The rates are reasonable. There are no hidden fees, or change fees, or bag fees. They serve snacks and drinks and for free. In all my flights, the flight crew has been friendly, and this last round trip flight was no exception. People who work for Southwest in my experience seem happy to do so. The planes are all Boeing 737's and for economy class seating, there is better space than many other airlines. The inflight entertainment is via wifi on your own device, which means no footwell intrusions from IFE boxes or bulky seatbacks. Some people are taken aback by Southwest's open seating policy, but its never been an issue for me. On the return leg of this last flight was on a brand new 737-800, only two months old and still had that new plane smell. Both of my flights left on time and landed early. I have no complaints about my experience.

Baltimore to Wichita with Southwest Airlines. I purchased two tickets for two people under one reservation. I needed to change the return flight for one of these tickets without changing the flight for everyone on the reservation. Since you cannot do this online without changing the entire reservation, I was able to get my flight changed with one simple phone call that lasted all of 8 minutes including the automated menu and hold time. This change also did not cost me extra! This was a nice surprise considering is took me 6 months to get American Airlines to acknowledge that they need to reimburse me for a flight I was never on! It was pleasant calling 1 number and speaking to a person rather then calling 13 different numbers and getting the same automated message. This great costumer service plus two free bags to check makes Southwest my preferred airline.