I know there are a lot of WN lovers on Fodorites, especially on the US board. So, let's use my mom's travels as examples why WN's not getting her business.

Now, my mom flies a combination of US domestic and international flights. She pays to fly over 50K miles a year, so she's Gold Elite on Continental. Last time I check, there's no elite status with Southwest's Rapid Rewards program.

So, she's going to LA in late February. CO flies IAH-LAX and WN flies HOU-LAX. CO's fare is $214.30, WN $217.30. Because she joined CO's "Travel Club", she got about $5 back. So, CO is about $8 cheaper.

If she flies WN, she'll earn two RR segments, or 1/8 of a free ticket. If she flies CO, she earns 1,379 x 2 x 2 (Gold Elite bonus) = 5,516 miles, plus about 1,000 for online booking & check-in bonus = 6,516 miles; 1/4 of a free domestic ticket. Those miles also won't expire about 24 months.

If she flies WN, she won't have seat assignments. I can get her A passes, but that's it. On CO, she can choose any seat as an Elite, though she doesn't take exit rows herself. Most importantly, she has a pretty good chance of getting a free upgrade on the 757-300 flight from IAH to LAX with 24 FC seats. Little chance on the late flight coming back with 12 FC seats on a 73G, but one earlier one is a 18 FC 739.

And of course, as an Elite, she get dedicated luggage drop-off line, dedicated security line at IAH, and she gets to board first, so won't have to fight for overhead space. Oh yeah, there will be a light breakfast on her morning flight to LAX and a sandwich coming back, even in coach. Better stuff if she gets upgraded. On WN she gets peanuts.

Not bad to save $8.

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Same deal for her April flight to Fort Lauderdale to catch a cruise. CO $174.30, WN $177.30. With the $5 discount, CO is $8 cheaper. She will earn about 4,860 miles, or almost 1/5 of a domestic coach ticket, compared to 1/8 on Southwest.

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The choice is pretty clear.

who are WN

Southwest Airlines.

Ok thanks

wow! she's lucky to have a son like you looking out for her!

yeah, i don't care for southwest myself, but lots of people i know do. i guess the FA's are funny and nice. i'll stick w/ AA though.

Any route that I've considered Southwest for, from Seattle, has always been cheaper on Alaska or another airline. That's not to say that Southwest is not cheaper at some times and on some routes - just not when I checked. So I've never flown on WN.

How about if your mom were flying tomorrow on short notice? Which would be better then - WN or CO?

And of course Southwest's existence helps keep the legacy carriers in line so far as prices go, as you can see from airports which don't have WN flying from them.

WillTravel -

1. Yes, I agree that WN's presence at Hobby kept airfares reasonable at IAH. But I'm just surprised how many Houstonians prefer them to CO.

2. I gave it a test and check prices for 1/24-26 IAH-LAX:

WN comes back as $677.30, as only full-refundables are available.

CO comes back as $674.30, a &quot;Y&quot; fare. <b>But as an elite, my mom would get guaranteed Y-UP to fly FC.</b>

You tell me which one would she chooses?

Oh yeah, not only that, but some IAH-LAX flights are on the 752 with 55&quot; BusinessFirst seats and AVOD.

I think the choice is clear! With what you've posted, I don't get the Southwest preference either, although I suppose there might yet be some routes it's more competitive than CO.

Good for your mom! The choice is pretty clear for her.

Most Houston fliers do not have 2nd tier elite status on CO and wouldn't earn it if they flew on CO exclusively. Won't they will earn 1/8 of a free ticket on CO, same as on WN for HOU-LAX? Wouldn't they earn 1/10 of a ticket on CO vs 1/8 on WN for CO for that FLL trip?

IAH is much bigger than Hobby, isn't it. Maybe not the dramatic difference between LAX and LGB, but Hobby must be easier to use.

The important difference is that WN doesn't fly to HKG.

All of the elite benefits are available just as a first-tier elite, except for the bonus miles. They'll get 50% instead of 100% bonus.

We've used HOU, and while it's not as big as IAH, the difference in convenience is small. And with US59 north from downtown widened a few years back, the time difference is perhaps 10 minutes tops. We live in SW Houston, and even for us the difference is only about 10 minutes. IAH is also decentralized. If one knows where the flight is leaving from (CO uses B, C or E), they can go straight to that terminal. It's not like ATL where it's 20 minutes from drop-off to gate no matter what. Security lines at IAH are seldom more than a few people in line.

BTW, I'm not saying WN or its FF program doesn't have its merits. If my flying is mostly within TX or shorthaul, and I won't get elite on CO, then yes, I'll use WN.

But if you read all the arguments for WN, it's seldom about the ease of use of their RR awards, or that the shorthaul user can get them quickly. Instead, it's all like &quot;Oh, I love no seat assignments&quot;, or &quot;Oh, I love their cheerful FA&quot;. Well, some people may be better off elsewhere where they may be sitting in FC having lobster bisque.

I use WN from Islip, NY going to BWI (Baltimore). Great...flights almost every hour, a one hour flight, etc. BUT I see people getting on going to LV, LA, Hawaii. They are taking a local which stops many multiple times. From a quick look at the prices, it might even not be so cheap. Seems like the Grayhound in the sky.

Good observation, rkkwan. But, I've noticed that on some routes (BWI-CMH specifically) WN is still generally quite a bit cheaper than the legacies, especially if you book far in advance.

But, for coast-to-coast flights (BWI-LAX), WN often isn't the cheapest.

One thing you forgot to mention -- WN is the only airline where, when you book at the last minute (highest fare), you almost always get the &quot;C&quot; (last) boarding group. That pretty much makes WN the only airline where, when you pay more, you get less.

And to each his/her own, but I prefer the more professional, yet pleasant flight crews of the legacies (AA &amp; US being the two exceptions!) rather than WN's crews who are either trying to be your new best friend or who are trying out for American Idol.

Well, just as there are perfectly legitimate arguments why someone wouldn't fly Southwest for some journeys, there are perfectly legitimate arguments why someone WOULD.

I fly Southwest for a good number of trips for a very simple reason: They are often the only airline that flies the route I want to fly.

For example, Oakland - Burbank, a route I fly several times a year. Southwest has a monopoly on this route, and using any other Bay Area or L.A. airport would take me out of my way.

Obviously, when I'm going to Europe, like I did three times last year, I fly other airlines. And I often fly other airlines domestically too, depending on what works best. But for that short hop in California, it doesn't make sense for me to use anything but Southwest.

Ed

rkkwan's Mom has 1. a choice; 2. elite status on an airline.

If the other airlines don't fly where you need to go and/or if you can't get enough miles to gain elite status, Southwest is an entirely reasonable alternative. And sometimes it doesn't make sense to fly anyone else.

Not everyone has enough money to fly enough to get elite status. And not everyone flies entirely to one airline's cities, either -- some of us have to have our miles spread among several airlines.

Do you think only 50K milers in hub cities post here?

soccr - I am only trying to tell why <b>my mom</b> doesn't fly WN. I'm not telling anybody not to. In fact, I fly them sometimes, mostly on one-way trips.

My post is to illustrate that other airlines often match Southwest's fares, so on some routes and some markets, WN doesn't have the lowest price. And there are benefits that WN cannot match some other carriers, regardless of price.

And I already said it that if someone doesn't fly enough to earn elite status or fly mostly shorthauls, WN may makes more sense. I stated it myself if you have just read my posts!

And many of the benefits are available if one buy 25K miles of ticket. No need to get 50K. Again, I said it in my posts.

Am I the only one who doesn't care why rkkwan's mom doesn't fly on Southwest, or why she does fly on CO?

I don't know rkkwan or his mom. But he does have a lot of knowledge about these kinds of things.

I think the main difference in comparing these flight options is the advantage of having elite status with one airline. if you throw out the FF issues it comes down to small preferences and 3 bucks. Many posters and lurkers here don't travel enough overall or on a single airline to earn elite status, so WN may be a more attractive fare more often than it is for Ms rkkwan.

I have been doing more air travel the last few years, but its been split between airlines so I don't get bumped into elite with any one. Even though my &quot;home&quot; airports are CLE and PIT I don't fly CO or US all that much. Actually AA more than either of them the past 2 years.