Southwest Airlines

The prices are great and the staff on the airplane are always friendly. The staff on the ground/at the gate are always less than desirable. My husband and I have flown Southwest 3 times in the last year from Baltimore and all 3 times I have a seat but he is on Standby. They overbook flights all the time and then act like they're doing me a favor by finding someone else to take a later flight. I paid for my ticket(s) at least 2-3 months in advance. The customer service is absolutely awful at BWI. Never again.

Last Monday (3/18/13) flight 1990 from SNA to SJC was 20 minutes late and this raised the possibility that the plane would not be able to take off before the 10pm airport curfew. The gate agent repeatedly motivated us to expedite our boarding. The flight took off before the curfew and the cabin crew provided their usual friendly service during flight. We arrived at SJC only 10 minutes behind schedule despite the late departure. For non-stop flights this airline remains my top choice for domestic flights.

Took two flights with Southwest during March - New Orleans to Nashville and Nashville to Newark. We were delayed a few hours on the Nashville-Newark trip due to bad weather but were kept informed at all times and we were impressed by the good humour and personalities of the flight and cabin crew. Definitely worthwhile checking in online 24 hours prior to flight as you can get a good position in the queue for boarding. Overall a great budget option comparable to our home grown equivalent Virgin Australia. We were rewarded with a $100 travel voucher for the delay from Nashville also - much appreciated. Would definitely recommend Southwest.

We flew from MSP into Las Vegas and had a great flight. Staff at the check in gate were friendly and had a sense of humor! Staff aboard plane were helpful and had a smile! A pleasant change from many airlines we have flown on. The fact that there is no extra baggage fee free snack and free beverage just added to the enjoyment of the flight. Our plane out of Las Vegas was delayed and the connecting flight in Denver actually waited for us! We'll book again.

BUF-MSP-BUF (Feb 28/Mar 8). Excellent value for money and definitely a winning proposition hands down when compared to flying from Pearson (YYZ). Both legs arrived before time. Efficient operation with crew (both apt and air) always on the ball with updates. On the return leg they scheduled a Boeing 737-900 (bright and with lots of overhead cabin space) to accommodate the additional load due to storm cancellation the day before. BUF and MDW do not have the best options for food but you can always find something ok. Don't count on much for breakfast at MSP if flying out early.

Traveling from MCO to BDL plane had a mechanical problem at MCO and we were forced into a delay of 4 hours. They gave every passenger a $200 voucher for the inconvenience. As usual fantastic crew and even provided us with free cocktails.

March 8th our air travel with another carrier completely fell through (weather related issues). We went to the Southwest ticket counter to see if there was any possibility they could help us. Several different options were given even though we had a tight schedule and were looking to leave ASAP! Once aboard the flight the bins had great room (although some people really do push the size of their carry-on to ridiculous proportions). Seats were comfortable (even for my husband who has a bad leg) snacks were good and the inflight crew were great!

CMH-MDW-LGA return. Definitely a value airline when the tickets are purchased well in advance at a cheap price. Southwest offers up to 2 free baggage check-ins and that definitely beats most other airlines who charge extra for checked-in baggage. You get a free drink and peanuts/pretzels so cannot complain. The real negative thing about WN may be its inability to accrue miles on major mileage systems. They have their own system but the benefits are quite limited even when you become the A-list. Another downside of WN may be its tight operation of aircraft's. As they operate on such a tight schedule one delay could trigger something like a domino effect. My final concern is about the seating order as somehow more and more people seems to be getting priority status so even a web check-in well in advance will barely get you in the A section. As a matter of fact I have been hearing that even with Early Bird Check-in purchase the seating order may turn out to be worse than you expected. Definitely something WN may have to work on.

Our flight from San Jose to Phoenix was cancelled because the Portland flight had a light bulb go out and they took the plane that was designated for Phoenix. We had paid for early bird seating and had numbers A31 & 32 but were given numbers B21 & 22 and had to sit in the middle seats. It was a miserable flight!

Got stuck in Kansas City last night due to the storm and was the only flight out before Friday so I jumped on. Well even with the new seating line-up and a B assignment so I was able to snag an aisle seat it still was pretty unpleasant. Plane was full ran out of overhead bins people were grumpy seats seemed really tight and just overall was not a very good experience. I was willing to pay extra for "business class" but they were already taken. I might be in the minority however I will gladly pay a little more for an assigned seat plenty of overhead and a slightly less full flight on some of the other carriers that I fly on a weekly basis. This is not an airline for business travelers. Hopefully I won't be seeing myself on a SouthWest flight anytime soon.