Ok, then most Houston flyers don't have 1st tier status, either. And most of them don't fly enough to reach first tier status even if they only flew CO. Your "surprise" at why other Houstonians prefer WN is the reason for my comments. Seems to me that there is no reason for them to prefer CO. Actually, they should prefer WN because they are not "preferred customers" of CO. They have no chance of getting the better/best seats in coach on CO but they do on WN.

Somehow, Southwest is selling basic transportation

Somehow, Southwest (and other LCCs) is selling basic transportation at the same price that the legacy carriers sell basic transportation & FF bennies. I don't know how it works out like that but it does.

There is a reason that Southwest is the largest carrier of domestic passengers in the US of A.

I was reading (on Continental's FlyerTalk board) that seniors qualify for reduced fares on WN. So that might be one factor to encourage older people to use WN. Maybe rkkwan's mother is not yet eligible.

I'm sure there are cases where WN has a stunning advantage - I've just never seen them. Maybe the "Ding" fares are worthwhile in some instances.

WillTravel..The Senior Discount (I am 35 years away from that!!) is a capacity controlled fare.It is not a huge discount, but it is fully refundable.Most of WN's cheap fares are a much better deal than Senior Fares.