Jun 3, 2009

Planes, trains, and automobiles


I love to fly. I love it so much that I would rather fly than drive, even if it's an hour flight. But never again will I knowingly fly with Southwest Airlines. I got to know Southwest VERY well the past weekend because I went to Texas with one stop, and to California with two stops.

Pros:
-They are always serving you, asking you for refills or more peanuts.
-Once the plane lands, you are literally up and out of the plane 3 minutes later. No hesitations.

Cons:
-It's first come first serve. So if you book your flight first out of everyone, your boarding pass will say "A#1". That means that you get to stand in line first and pick your seat when you literally walk on the plane. But if you get C#5, well, you might as well already know that you will be sitting between Mr. Large and Ms. Cougher. You just gotta know that and brace yourself for it.
-No outlets to charge anything. Like if your lap top dies on you, sorry, nope.
-The stewardists (i know that's not what you're suppose to call them or spell it) are always making jokes about crashing!!! Okay what the heck. Now I am PETRIFIED of flying in the air again. They are always saying, okay everyone, don't freak out, but we NEED to be our seatbelts on ASAP. The pilot gave us multiple warnings in two minutes. HURRY! 
-No option of first class seating.

Deciding where to sit: So say you have group A. Well great. You have a lot of open seats to choose from!!! So now the decision comes to, do I want to sit in the isle so people don't want to sit by me because I am already blocking their entry? But no way do I want to sit in the isle because half of the time I am getting bumped into by the peanut & drink women or getting looked at by creepy men...OR do I want to sit by the window because I know for sure no one will sit in the middle and I can have my space. But no way do I want to sit by the window because I have a bladder the size of a peanut and do not want to wake up the snoring man to go to the bathroom every 20 minutes. 

**On one of my flights, I had group C and was nervous walking on the plane because I knew for sure it'd be full. Sure enough, it was and my only two options were sitting in between two big men next to the side exit or sit in the very far back in the middle of a huge family. I chose the men. Not one word was said, I didn't have an arm rest, and the seat in front of me was really far away so I couldn't use my try to rest my lap top. 

**Then they give you the option to move if you are sitting by someone you don't want to sit by. Okay AWKWARD. "Hi, um there is this woman will really annoying kids, can I be reseated in the no kid zone?"

What I will give them credit for is their humor. They use it in the airport and the plane to make people happy. Check out this video for proof.




Southwest Airlines Flight Announcement from SusanB on Vimeo.

3 comments:

Liese said...

Ya I dont like flying Southwest. I fly Jet Blue. There's always room and its so comfy and you get your own TV :)

Topsy and Havoc said...

bummer deal. yes supposedly jet blue is the only way to go

Brady and Lindsay Wood said...

You are the first person I know who doesnt like Southwest. I LOVE flying with them. I think their prices are unbeatable and I have always had good service with them and you can even change your flight up until the day of without any charges. I love how their seating works. You just get online 24 hours before boarding time and check-in and then you get first pick and its really nice if your flying with a baby.
I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with them but dont give up on them. Like I say I have been flying with them for years and have never had a problem or bag lost. On almost everyother airline I have been on they have lost my baggs.