Anyone ever fly Southwest?

AsSiMiLaTeD

I'm looking at a flight from Dallas, to San Fran, and it says 2 stops. I'm wondering if that means I have to change planes, or if it means it just stops in a city but I stay on the same plane?

It's not clear on the Southwest site that I can see, anyone here know?

Face

I flew twice with them last week.

How long are the stops for? My layovers were 1.5 hours each and had to change planes both times. There were passengers that were instructed to stay on board both times, their layover couldn't have been longer than 30 minutes.

Erik Tracy

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

I'm looking at a flight from Dallas, to San Fran, and it says 2 stops. I'm wondering if that means I have to change planes, or if it means it just stops in a city but I stay on the same plane?

It's not clear on the Southwest site that I can see, anyone here know?

I recently flew Southwest...same thing as you with multiple 'stops' but my itinerary only showed one flight change.

We 'stopped' at Kansas City but I stayed on the plane and continued on after folks got off and new ones got on.

gdb

I suspect that you stay on the same plane, I'd call their toll free # just to be sure though. It can be a real beatch changing planes in an unfamiliar terminal and frequently there's very little, or no time to do it either !:eek: Safe Trip !!:)

edbert

I'm not exactly sure, but more than likely you will have to change planes. You can call them and ask. Their customer service is great and they should be able to get you the answer right away. I have flown them standby from here to NC and they were always accomodating and trying to get me there with the fewest stops possible even though I was just flying standby.

bobman1235

For the most part if the stop is listed on your itinerary, it means you have to change planes.

The easiest way to tell is if it is a different flight number. If you don't deplane they list it all as the same flight number.

I just flew Southwest to Austin this past weekend. My itinerary listed one stop - Manchester to Philly, Philly to Austin. I changed planes in Philly. The Philly to Austin leg actually stopped first in Orlando, but this wasn't even mentioned on my itinerary (much to my confusion when boarding the plane and they said it was bound for Orlando).

sucks2beme

You can't fliy directly out of Love field to anywhere but Texas and touching states.
Almost everything for Southwest goes to Houston Hobby airport,
then to your destination. There was a law passed to protect DFW airport
back in the 70's. They tried to kill it, but the lobbyists were too strong.
And if Southwest flys there, American matches the price!
That's why I normally never go SW.

Systems

check your ticket..if you get on one plane (check the flight number) and land on a different plane ( check the flight number) you change planes ...LOL Seriously, look at the area indicating how many stops you have. If there is another airport listed and looks something like this 'HOU/2' Stops or looks like this 'HOU/2' under where it says stops you have 2 stops to make and a plane change in HOU or Houston.get in line early so you can get a good seat. Ask the ticketing agent if you can get a lower number or a number with a good seat. Just get there a little early or call and ask for an upgrade on the seat.

bobman1235

There are no "seat upgrades" on southwest, all you get is a spot in line, it's open seating. Your spot in line is based on when you check in, so if you can, check in from home so you get a good number.

wizzy

Used to fly SW all the time, they're great!

Hillbilly61

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

I'm looking at a flight from Dallas, to San Fran, and it says 2 stops. I'm wondering if that means I have to change planes, or if it means it just stops in a city but I stay on the same plane?

It's not clear on the Southwest site that I can see, anyone here know?

I fly quite a bit. Every stop requires you to get off of the plane, even if that means reboarding the same plane later on. You will seldom "keep" the same plane, meaning that each stop generally requires you getting on a plane arriving from somewhere else.

I avoid 2+ stops as much as possible. If your arriving flight is late for any reason you chance being screwed because the connecting flight already left. I've done too many "O.J. Simpson runs through the airport" to catch a single connection to generally feel good about multiple connections... as well have slept on airport floors because that happened and the next flight out was the next day.

Multiple connections well, multiply the chance of something going wrong. 2 stops means that you will be boarding 3 planes. To illustrate, your first flight could arrive on time. Good. The connecting flight comes in late. Bad. If it is late enough, you may miss your third flight. Of couse, your first flight could come in late and cause the whole house of cards to fall from the onset.

Also, as thunderstorm season kicks into full gear, the chances of a connection being late becomes probable (winter is the most reliable time to fly). That storm could be affecting an airport 1000 miles away, causing the critical connecting plane to get off the ground late. (sometimes all of your connecting planes are late, making things work out in the long run! - don't count on it!)

If you take a multileg flight, make sure there is ample time between each and every connection. Minimum one hour. 1.5-2 hours would be much safer to avoid a missed connection (you are screwed) or an "O.J. Simpson run." I value my time too much to generally make the $ saved with a multi-legged trip worth the difference with the savings. Sometimes you cannot avoid them though.

Hopes this helps.

mhardy6647

Fly 'em regularly between MHT and BWI. What they do, they do terrifically well. Couldn't imagine doing a long flight with 'em, though...

AsSiMiLaTeD

I actually just booked our trip through Orbitz. I got a really good deal through them for flight and rental car on an American flight that's non-stop and ended up being $100 overall with flight and car for 3 people than the Southwest option would have been.

I hate AA, but like the idea of a non stop flight and saving a few bucks.

We're actually flying into San Francisco, gonna stay a couple days there then driving into Yosimite for a few days of nature filled goodness.

dpowell

Check to see if they have a "No Swine Flu" guarantee.

steveinaz

In Arizona they are known as Southworst. Draw your own conclusions on that moniker. But then again, all airlines suck anymore.

Gadabout

sucks2beme wrote: »

You can't fliy directly out of Love field to anywhere but Texas and touching states.
Almost everything for Southwest goes to Houston Hobby airport,
then to your destination. There was a law passed to protect DFW airport
back in the 70's. They tried to kill it, but the lobbyists were too strong.
And if Southwest flys there, American matches the price!
That's why I normally never go SW.

This is known as the Wright Amendment. This isn't state legislation, Jim Wright was in Congress when this passed. If you want to find out how the Texas system of good old boys works read up on this legistaltion.

Jim Wright ....
- Elected to Congress 1954
- House Majority leader 1976 - 1987
- Speaker of the House 1987 - 1989
- Resigned as Speaker of the House as a probe for ethics violations was started.
- Original Charges for Ethics Violations brought by Newt Gingrich
-- Ironically who also faced ethics violation charges in 1995 (84 charges).

In 2014, the Wright Amendment finally changes (after 35 years) and levels the playing field between the airlines flying in the DFW area.

Personally, I would have prefered the proposal in 1996 that after DFW reached capicity. That they shift some of the traffic to Alliance Airport in Fort Worth. They side stepped that by passing the Shelby Amendment, which added Kansas, Mississippi, Alabama to the Wright Amendment Fly Zone. (Texas + the nieghboring states of Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mew Mexico & Arkanasas)