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Posted
8 hours ago, tbone_ said:

I knew it was just a matter of time before someone made southwest ruin themselves.

It got an “activist investor.”  At this point it’s been stripped of any positive difference to its rivals and is left with only negative: no lounges, no long-haul, no partner airlines, etc. 

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Posted (edited)
9 hours ago, tbone_ said:

I knew it was just a matter of time before someone made southwest ruin themselves.

 

6 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

It got an “activist investor.”  At this point it’s been stripped of any positive difference to its rivals and is left with only negative: no lounges, no long-haul, no partner airlines, etc. 

They hadn't really changed or modernized or improved the business or tech since the 90s, they ruined themselves decades ago when they decided to steal from the business to pay out shareholders (who are overwhelmingly execs and board members). If your business plan for the future is a Hail Mary for an outsider to fix everything, then your business was already pretty damn precarious.

Good riddance though. I've missed shows and events because of SWA and their bullshit last minute flight cancellations. I had to fight to even get a refund instead of accepting a flight scheduled for the same day as my return

Edited by Captainant
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Posted

I don’t fly southwest unless absolutely unavoidable.  But I also don’t check bags usually.

 

 Between FAA shenanigans and the general unpleasantness of flying I prefer to drive if it’s within 500 miles.  
 

Alaska airlines is everything Southwest isn’t anymore- cheap, efficient, and no bs.  I like them when I have to fly.

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Posted (edited)
25 minutes ago, Hefeweizen said:

I don’t fly southwest unless absolutely unavoidable.  But I also don’t check bags usually.

 

 Between FAA shenanigans and the general unpleasantness of flying I prefer to drive if it’s within 500 miles.  
 

Alaska airlines is everything Southwest isn’t anymore- cheap, efficient, and no bs.  I like them when I have to fly.

Yeah, Alaska has its issues but it's much better than SWA (especially with these major devaluations)... if you're in a market they serve well. For most of this board that's not going to be the case. That said, in my major metro SWA hasn't had "low" fares - or really even competitive - for decades, and they're now a bit player here. Alaska and to some extent Delta have pushed them out, and now they have nothing to differentiate them from anyone else (worse, actually, if you fly more than just once a year to see Aunt Millie).

Edited by flatdawgs
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Posted

Yea I’m familiar with the activist investor. And Idk. I fly southwest a lot. A lot as in I’ve been a list preferred with a companion pass for at least 10 years, maybe closer to 20.

I rarely have issues with them. And their points plan is awesome. I honestly don’t remember the last time I paid for a personal flight, other than when I have to take a different airline.

And when I do have to take a different airline they’re fucking awful.

My last two non southwest flights were Delta. To Detroit for the Michigan game - flight home Sunday. Morning had mechanical issues, deplaned, new plane, then that one had mechanical issues. Had to get on a third fucking plane to get home - 8 hours late. Then last week flew Delta to Minneapolis for a job interview. 8:45 pm flight home on a Monday night because I had something I needed to not miss Tuesday am. Waiting in the terminal to board, whoopisie, the crew timed out. No worries, just be back here at 6:00 am tomorrow for a flight. Except the boarding passes in the Delta app and the printed out ones didn’t show the new date for the flight so TSA wouldn’t let any of us through at 4:30 fucking am. Nice job dickheads.

Last American flight, 45 min flight from San Diego to Phoenix. Whoopsie, crew timed out. Took 8 hours to complete a 45 min flight.

Last united flight, took off late from Fargo and missed connection in Denver to Phoenix. Only option was to route through LA and get home at midnight or fly the next day. Walked down the terminal and got in the next Southwest flight and got home I two hours. And United refused to refund a penny.

Those are literally my last 4 flights on legacy carriers. Total shit show. Except for Allegiant, who flys nonstop from Phoenix to Fargo and they’ve been surprisingly fine, just so long at you understand your $69 ticket will cost $350 when all said and done.

Never once had a crew time out in hundreds of southwest flights. I routinely get the aisle seat in the second row because I get on early. Honestly can’t remember the last time southwest cancelled a flight on me, and at least in my experience they aren’t usually late. And their people are pleasant, not the fucking gargoyles that work for American and United.

Y’all can take your legacy airlines and stick them up your ass. Though I suppose I’m about to have to do the same thing with Southwest.

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Posted
1 hour ago, tbone_ said:

Yea I’m familiar with the activist investor. And Idk. I fly southwest a lot. A lot as in I’ve been a list preferred with a companion pass for at least 10 years, maybe closer to 20.

I rarely have issues with them. And their points plan is awesome. I honestly don’t remember the last time I paid for a personal flight, other than when I have to take a different airline.

And when I do have to take a different airline they’re fucking awful.

My last two non southwest flights were Delta. To Detroit for the Michigan game - flight home Sunday. Morning had mechanical issues, deplaned, new plane, then that one had mechanical issues. Had to get on a third fucking plane to get home - 8 hours late. Then last week flew Delta to Minneapolis for a job interview. 8:45 pm flight home on a Monday night because I had something I needed to not miss Tuesday am. Waiting in the terminal to board, whoopisie, the crew timed out. No worries, just be back here at 6:00 am tomorrow for a flight. Except the boarding passes in the Delta app and the printed out ones didn’t show the new date for the flight so TSA wouldn’t let any of us through at 4:30 fucking am. Nice job dickheads.

Last American flight, 45 min flight from San Diego to Phoenix. Whoopsie, crew timed out. Took 8 hours to complete a 45 min flight.

Last united flight, took off late from Fargo and missed connection in Denver to Phoenix. Only option was to route through LA and get home at midnight or fly the next day. Walked down the terminal and got in the next Southwest flight and got home I two hours. And United refused to refund a penny.

Those are literally my last 4 flights on legacy carriers. Total shit show. Except for Allegiant, who flys nonstop from Phoenix to Fargo and they’ve been surprisingly fine, just so long at you understand your $69 ticket will cost $350 when all said and done.

Never once had a crew time out in hundreds of southwest flights. I routinely get the aisle seat in the second row because I get on early. Honestly can’t remember the last time southwest cancelled a flight on me, and at least in my experience they aren’t usually late. And their people are pleasant, not the fucking gargoyles that work for American and United.

Y’all can take your legacy airlines and stick them up your ass. Though I suppose I’m about to have to do the same thing with Southwest.

I don't know what you are trying to prove. We all have anecdotes with flying. Flying, no matter who you fly with, long enough and you will have a horror story with every carrier.

Southwest sucks. Glad you think it's the least worst of the crap out there, tho.

Posted
16 minutes ago, Vegas64 said:

I don't know what you are trying to prove. We all have anecdotes with flying. Flying, no matter who you fly with, long enough and you will have a horror story with every carrier.

Southwest sucks. Glad you think it's the least worst of the crap out there, tho.

Even with the historical self-inflicted nightmare they had at the end of 2022, SWA is among the top 2-3 on-time performers in the US.  All-in-all, it remains among the most reliable for leaving and getting you to your destination on-time.  But that's literally the only "set apart from the others" factor it has going for it now.

Otherwise, it has become indistinguishable from any other airline (other than the bottom-tier -- I ain't flying Spirit).  So, the way I USED to search for short to medium haul domestic flights was....go to SWA.com, and book my flight.  Now, I go to an aggregator site like Kayak, and find who has the best schedule/route and best fare.  I generally prefer a couple of carriers, but I'll fly United or Delta if they offer the best package (for example).  SWA now just goes into that mix, instead of being my default preference.

I fly around Texas, to California once a year, and to Vegas from time to time - that's 95% of my domestic travel.  American, Alaska, SWA, shit, even Frontier to Denver....they've become interchangeable.

Posted
23 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Even with the historical self-inflicted nightmare they had at the end of 2022, SWA is among the top 2-3 on-time performers in the US.  All-in-all, it remains among the most reliable for leaving and getting you to your destination on-time.  But that's literally the only "set apart from the others" factor it has going for it now.

Otherwise, it has become indistinguishable from any other airline (other than the bottom-tier -- I ain't flying Spirit).  So, the way I USED to search for short to medium haul domestic flights was....go to SWA.com, and book my flight.  Now, I go to an aggregator site like Kayak, and find who has the best schedule/route and best fare.  I generally prefer a couple of carriers, but I'll fly United or Delta if they offer the best package (for example).  SWA now just goes into that mix, instead of being my default preference.

I fly around Texas, to California once a year, and to Vegas from time to time - that's 95% of my domestic travel.  American, Alaska, SWA, shit, even Frontier to Denver....they've become interchangeable.

Agreed, if you fly as little as you do, it really doesn't matter and the chance of delay or cancellation is probably about the same in the law of small numbers. 

When you fly 200k miles a year, every week or every other just domestic, it invariably pays to choose the lesser of the evils and lock-in with a single vendor to max out rewards knowing sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes it eats you.

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Posted
Just now, Vegas64 said:

Agreed, if you fly as little as you do, it really doesn't matter and the chance of delay or cancellation is probably about the same in the law of small numbers. 

When you fly 200k miles a year, every week or every other just domestic, it invariably pays to choose the lesser of the evils and lock-in with a single vendor to max out rewards knowing sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes it eats you.

Agreed.  For international flying, we're generally locked in to the BA/AA system because of where our various people are (although sweet lord do I hate Heathrow).  We/the kids fly that enough that it's worth going all-in on their program.

And back when I flew a lot more for work (again, all around Texas, but 40+ flights a year), I was all-in on SWA.  Was regularly A-list preferred, sometimes even earned a Companion Pass.  It all made sense for me based on 1) where and 2) how often I flew, and then 3) SWA was so easy, with a great schedule, cheap fares, and other perks like free bags.

But your point is really the point that ANY airline has to make -- for those of you who fly a LOT (which is an increasingly smaller share of all travelers), it makes sense for you to go all-in with us (whatever carrier has the most flights out of your home airport, usually).  That strategy has a value that is declining, and fast.

Posted (edited)
3 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

But your point is really the point that ANY airline has to make -- for those of you who fly a LOT (which is an increasingly smaller share of all travelers), it makes sense for you to go all-in with us (whatever carrier has the most flights out of your home airport, usually).  That strategy has a value that is declining, and fast.

And, as road warriors everywhere have been wailing on sites everywhere, the airlines are nerfing the rewards and awards you get per flight/mile/dollar. Used to be quite the hack. Sadly, or happily, depending on your perspective, the level of business travel I saw pre-Covid will never be matched. I'd say at my firm, we are at about 75% there and seems to be the limit of the appetite. 

And I do think about my carbon footprint more in my old age, fwiw.

Edited by Vegas64
Posted
I don't know what you are trying to prove.


Mostly I was just trying to change minds with my well thought out, lucid, yet highly personal emotional rant. I know it works because otherwise why would we all spend so much time here.
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Posted
6 minutes ago, tbone_ said:

 


Mostly I was just trying to change minds with my well thought out, lucid, yet highly personal emotional rant. I know it works because otherwise why would we all spend so much time here.

 

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