elberko

We're flying to Seattle in September and I'v found 2 flight possibilities. The cheapest is Southwest, but there are connections (Denver out, Chicago back), of an hour or less.

Including the new baggage charges, we can fly Northwest with a connection in Minneapolis/St. Paul, for a total of $20 more, and connection times of 1&1/2 hours.

We've actually never used either carrier. Any thoughts?

~Liz

Andrew

I'm a big fan of Southwest and would have chosen Southwest even before the recent airline troubles. I've flown Portland to Philadelphia several times on Southwest via Chicago and had no trouble with the connections there.

I think Southwest is a terrific airline. But you have to put up with not having assigned seats; you get a "boarding line position" and then the airplane is totally open seating. (Best to check in early, up to 24 hours before departure, to get a good line position.) I happen to love the open seating policy but some do not. I find Southwest to be efficient and professional yet much more fun than the conventional airlines. Things are much more casual. It's a different kind of an airline. Not only do they have open seating, they also have no change fees, unlike the other airlines. If you need to change your tickets next week to a different date and the fares are exactly the same, you can change your tickets for no fee, which I think is terrific.

Lately, the major airlines have been scrambling as you can tell and I would worry about cut-backs in service on Northwest and the others (like sudden cancellations, reroutes, etc.), whereas Southwest, as the only consistently profitable airline over the last 25 years, hasn't yet had such problems.

Ruff

I would choose Southwest over any other domestic airline except maybe Jetblue. Southwest is just more efficient and user-friendly.

suze

I have had OK experiences on both fairly recently out of Seattle - NWA to Hawaii, Southwest to San Francisco.

My deciding factor would be I am not comfortable and would never buy a ticket with only "an hour or less" to change planes.

Dukey

I would never buy a ticket with only an hour connection ON ANY OTHER AIRLINE except Southwest

Andrew

Southwest does seem to know how to make tight connections. They avoid airports that are chronically late. For example, in Chicago they flight into Midway, not O'Hare.

An hour makes me slightly nervous but if that's the best connection, I would do it with Southwest. However, I always look at the options. What if my inbound flight is late? Are there other flights from Chicago to Philly if I miss my connection? If I know there's another flight two hours later I could hop on, I'm much less worried about a tight connection.

GBC

Liz...Take advantage of the savings. Southwest is excellent. We have used Southwest out of Philadelphia many times. You too, will be a convert to their way of handling air traffic.

easytraveler

Another vote for Southwest. I have flown on numerous flights with Southwest with about an hour's wait between connecting flights. Only once, during a terrific windstorm in the southwest was there a connection problem. Weather problem, not airline problem. They were very accommodating and helped me get home all in one piece.

Make sure you check in online as close to 24 hours before flight time as possible to get your boarding passes. It gives you a choice of seats when you are in the "A" group of passengers.

Northwest is sometimes known as "Northworst" for a reason.

DebitNM

If the connections [both legs of the flights] are on Southwest, I think you are ok with an hour connection time. Arrival on one flight will most likely be near the gate for the next departure.

Also, since both legs would be on Southwest it would be their responsibility to get you on their next flight should you have connection issues.

Each airline has its own legal connection times for each airport. Apparently, SW is ok with an hour.

I fly them all the time and they are timely a high percentage of the time.

SW would get the nod from me.

Deb

Southwest will check 2 bags per person without charge.

ejcrowe

Well, here's a dissenting vote for Northwest. I avoid flying Southwest unless there's a significant price difference or no other viable option, but I'm clearly in the minority here. I also like being able to accumulate FF miles on NW (or on Delta or Continental), as I don't really care for SW's frequent flyer program.

I used to fly for business, so I've had plenty of trouble with most major airlines along the road in terms of missing bags, missed connections. I don't really think any one is significantly better or worse than the others of the major carriers. But in my own experience, Southwest is the only airline where I've not had any particularly good experiences, unlike the legacy carriers, where I have plenty of great flying experiences.

Andrew

I've flown Northwest numerous times over the years, even to Europe, and never had any real problems with them (unlike, say American Airlines where I have). I wouldn't avoid Northwest if I were flying overseas - I'd fly them before American, all other things being near equal.

However, I do not like the way the so-called "major airlines" have been trending lately (not just this year but over the last several years), and so far, Southwest seems to be avoiding that. And my Southwest flights in the last few years have all been great (at least, from the standpoint of things the airline could control). The employees seem to enjoy their jobs and it shows in their service and attitude.

I especially like the fact that Southwest does not charge change fees, and as someone tall who mostly flies coach, I liked the roomier seats (at least compared to American's coach seats) and the chance to get even exit row seats without paying extra. And I actually do like their frequent flyer program, especially how flexible it is and the seeming ability to get better flights (even last minute) than I've seemed able to with the "major" airlines.

Cali

We fly Northwest a lot and have not had any problems with them. I prefer them over Southwest just for the fact I have an assigned seat.

Andrew

I can totally understand someone's preference to have an assigned seat. I however really like Southwest's open seating policy.

elberko

Thanks all!

I just purchased tickets on Southwest.

~Liz

azzure

Used to hate Southwest's open seating plan, but it's much better now that you are assigned a specific number for boarding when you check in online. If you manage to get in the "A" group, you will pretty much have your choice of seats.

easytraveler

Have a great trip, elberko!

Maybe you could have another GTG up in Seattle!

elberko

Thanks, ET!

We'll actually be in Vancouver, it's just much cheaper to fly into Seattle.

If there is a GTO while we're there, Mr. Elberko and I will be there!

~Liz

PeaceOut

I always choose Southwest when it makes economic sense. I like their service and love their 'refund' policy, in case you need to cancel your trip.

Andrew

Of course, Southwest doesn't have a "refund" policy - if you have to cancel your trip, you get a voucher to be used for future travel. You don't actually get the money back, and the voucher expires one year from the time you originally booked the tickets. For example, if you buy tickets in February for a trip in June and you wind up canceling in May, you have to use the credit by the following February or you lose it.

But at least you get the credit voucher in that case and it isn't eaten up by change fees, as it would be with other airlines.

BeachGirl247

Just to tag a note on to Andrew's post regarding cancellation of the flight,
should you not use your flight voucher by the cancellation date they will reinstate it for $50.