Southwest Airlines

DEN-LAS return. Bags do fly free. Online check in is fine. Bag drop at Denver fast enough for those checked-in. Swift flight down. Soft drinks & peanuts handed out. OK in flight magazine. Uneventful. Return journey was terrible. 6am flight. Checked in OK but no staff appeared until 4.45am by which time a massive queue had formed. We hardly had time to get a snack before boarding but then had to wait on the plane for other late folk. Laughable. I can see where they save money: reduce staffing. Arrived in Denver OK but really it is quite a flimsy airline as the service in Las Vegas shows.

San Jose (SJC) to Santa Ana (SNA) return. For both flights checking in on-line 24 hours before each flight got me an "A25" or better boarding pass and on both flights I was able to get a window seat on the over-wing emergency exit row with lots of leg room. On the flight to SNA the flight attendant spent quite a bit of time going over the emergency exit procedures which I think was a great example of how this airline can be both professional (take care of serious business) and laid back (announcements are usually quite funny and entertaining!). Soft drinks and peanuts served on these 1-hour flights and two suitcases checked in free.

My teenage daughters and I flew SouthWest San Diego - Vegas return. We found them to be brilliant and far better than their European equivalents - easyjet and Ryanair. We checked in online as soon as the 24 hour window opened boarded amongst the first passengers - thus avoiding the scramble and able to sit together. The boarding process is far smoother than in Europe and although the flight was only an hour long we were served complimentary soft drinks and peanuts/pretzels. The outward flight was on time and return delayed 20 mins or so. The cabin crew were courteous and friendly and safety announcements were light hearted and funny but got the message across - we probably paid more attention to these humorous announcements than we would have to the regular dry offerings. The flights (pre booked in September) were good value and we would have no hesitation in flying SouthWest again.

Southwest is at best a fair weather friend. My latest trip has been an epic debacle with poor customer relations shoddy baggage handling and a consistent and frustrating choice by this airline to make no effort whatsoever to get me home. Flying Southwest is like driving a car without insurance - ok until something goes wrong. And when something does go wrong Southwest will do nothing to make it right unlike better airlines. Customer loyalty means nothing to this airline as well.

DEN-SLC very late booking less than 12 hours before flight left a good fare and no hassle. Flight was full but crew provided service with a smile. If you follow their booking system you cannot fault them at all. Compared to legacy carriers within the US Southwest are the best.

My husband has been unemployed a while and we were wondering how we were going to get my daughter a plane ticket to come home for Christmas. Southwest Airlines have really fair prices their website is customer friendly. When we found my daughter's situation had changed and she would be able to come home earlier it was very easy to change her flight online - and Southwest didn't charge a big fee to change the ticket. Only a few dollars that was the higher price of the new ticket.

As a young inexperienced traveler I relied on our travel agent to recommend the best airline for our honeymoon. She recommended Southwest as the best. We book at a reasonable rate for the holiday season as soon as tickets became available. Everything was good to go until we got our tickets with no seat number. We ended up being one of the last people on the plane with only a few middle seat left scattered across the plane when we got on. Then we saw an open pair together only to be rudely told by a stewardess that they were reserved in case another family boarded. I politely said how about a new family we just got married. She rudely said no find a seat and turned around. Luckily a kind man gave us his seat so we could sit together but the rest of the trip we full of rude comments from the stewardess about how she couldn't believe he moved!

We were forced to change our scheduled departure from New Orleans because my partner became seriously ill. We departed New Orleans three days early. We paid $200.00 in additional fees for the flight rescheduling which to me was acceptable by today's rules. I asked Southwest for a refund of the Early Bird Seating fee ($20.00) sending them the hospital and rescheduling documentation. Southwest called and said they would refund $200.00 because of the medical emergency - said they did not believe in taking advantage of their customers. I have always found Southwest Airlines to be fair honest and customer friendly which is why I stay with them.

My original ticket from Palm Beach Florida to Denver Colorado was screwed up through American Airlines. They wanted to charge me $900 to fix it. I was trying to figure out something to do and ended up talked to agents at SWA and without a thought they started working the problem for me. By the end of the it I had a ticket for $400 and was set to go! They took care of everything and I was on my way before I knew what to do.

More and more disenchanted with Southwest. Used them three times this summer and the experience got worse each time. Southwest check in and other representatives rude. No wonder the bags fly free Southwest has no intention of taking reasonable care with them. Now we have discovered that they make you sign a waiver saying that they aren't responsible if your golf clubs don't arrive at your destination or if they are damaged in transit. Also on our last two flights the attendants made the safety briefing into a real joke and didn't even complete it properly. It is nice to try to make flying fun but I think that they are crossing the line. Not all customers are frequent flyers who are familiar with the safety aspects of a plane. They used to be my favorite airline but not anymore. They are not always the least expensive and definitely lack customer service.