Southwest Airlines

Several flights over the last couple of months the most recent which was DAL-STL-BWI-LIT-DAL. Online check-in and bag check has been painless crews have been friendly and occasionally even entertaining and all flights have either been on-time if not a little early. Flights have been on a variety of 737s (300 500 and 700 series) both with the new and old seats. All seats provide 32-33" pitch and better legroom than most domestic carriers. However planes with the newer seats can be a little uncomfortable on the thighs after 3 hours or so beware on longer flights. Price of WiFi has recently been increased to $8 or $5 for streaming TV/movies only but you can access Southwest.com a shopping site and a flight tracker for free. Free soft drinks are provided along with either peanuts/pretzels and/or a bag of chips (only on longer flights). I paid for EarlyBird on some flights checked in exactly 24 hours before on others and forgot a couple of times and checked in a few hours after. Beware that if you either don't pay for EarlyBird or forget to check-in exactly 24 hours in advance you will end up in the mid-B group and you will have your carry-on checked as bin space runs out by that point. Also on the most recent DAL-STL leg I got stuck with a B boarding pass despite paying for EarlyBird. Otherwise no real problems at all.

Flew round-trip St Louis to Omaha. Both flights left on time and arrived even a little early. FAs were friendly and smiled. I checked in online 24 hours before and got a good boarding number both times. The planes were clean and the leather seats were comfortable. All in all Southwest is a good product.

I question Southwest Airline's Earlybird Check-in. Today's flight from Ft. Myers Florida to Philadelphia PA Flight 1431. I had booked and purchased "Earlybird" check-in back on 8/22/12. I was given Boarding Pass #B- 4. I sat next to someone who did not have "Earlybird Check-in and checked-in hours before the flight and was given Boarding Pass A-36. This is not the first time this has happened to me.

SJC (San Jose CA) to SNA (Orange County CA) on Dec 31 2012 return Jan 2 2013. Both flights within 15 minutes of scheduled departure time. Orderly boarding gate agents professionally enforcing the A–B–C boarding-group sequence. Power outlets at the SNA gates seating areas! On-line check-in exactly 24 hours before both flights gave me an 'A' boarding group on both flights. Pilots and Flight Attendants announcements were a nice mix of professional and funny. Both flights were brief (less than 60 minutes in the air) but FA's still managed to give us a free drink and a peanut/pretzel snack. Two suitcases flew for free. To top things off these flights were by far the most economical option for this round-trip trek. For domestic direct flights Southwest continues to be my preferred carrier.

Dec 20 2012 Oakland to Los Angeles. Plane returned after 30 minutes in flight to departure airport due to a landing gear problem. When we got back to Oakland told 'this plane is going nowhere'. In 20 minutes we were placed in another plane. 35 minutes on and we had to return to Oakland. Returned to Oakland. I arrived to LA on a third plane missed my international flight and have to pay $414 US dollars to fly 2 days after my planned departure date. Give. a $100 voucher.

Flying home for the holidays Southwest cancelled my flight then offered to book me four days later. I had to book my own flight on a different airline to get in before the holidays. Southwest never notified me that my flight was cancelled? On the way back we were delayed 4 hours when Southwest decided to re-route our plane to another city. No explanation. The pilot actually made an announcement to clarify that it wasn't his fault.

Recently flew from Dallas Love Field to Louisville Ky with multiple stops round-trip. All flights were on time with consistent inflight service. The boarding process was fair and orderly. I had an A boarding number on both flights while checking in exactly 24 hours before departure.

Reno - Vegas - Reno. As usual all went well and we were informed of any delays which were only 15 minutes or so. Good service on both flights. Crew were genuine and helpful. Ground staff pleasant and you still can't beat the two free checked bags. Southwest has a good product and will continue to get my business.

Flew from Albany NY to LAX via Chicago MDW and returned a week later. On time flights good service pleasant crews and no baggage problems on any of the 4 flights. Most of the cabin crews showed a refreshing sense of humor. Nice airline to fly. Flew "Business Select".

My latest roundtrip from SJC-PHX-SJC was as usual excellent. Flights left on time and arrived early. Customer service on the ground and onboard was excellent with pleasant staff. Checked in bags free for the first two on this airline arrived intact and quickly. A superb experience when compared with the so-called full service domestic carriers within the US.