Southwest Airlines Community

I'm busting my gut laughing at all of the complaints about no low fares being available. Wake up people! Oil is over $140! Southwest may be partially hedged, but a good chunk of fuel costs are at market prices. Plus, Southwest still needs to plan ahead as the fuel hedges roll over to higher and higher prices. Air travel is expensive. Get used to it. If you want Southwest to remain healthy, they must charge higher fares. The days of dirt cheap air travel are long gone and will never come back. The same thing goes for award travel. Needing double credits or miles in order to obtain a seat will become the norm as the entire industry adjusts their capacity to fit the market. There won't be that many seats that are predicted several months in advance to go unsold by the ever more sophisticated revenue management systems. ... View more

A ticket is a ticket no matter what a customer used to pay for it, whether its cold hard cash, or frequent flyer credits they earned for being a loyal customer. Southwest knew the risks of entering into codeshare agreements. If Southwest sells you a ticket with a Southwest flight number, that becomes a contract that Southwest is legally and morally obligated to fulfill, no matter what name is actually on the plane that takes you to that destination. A contractor may subcontract out some work, but the general contractor is still ultimately responsible for the quality of work. This is no different than codeshare partnerships. Sure, ATA went out of business, but those are the risks when entering into partnerships and passing off your customers to somebody else. You are left holding the bag. It is still fully within Southwest's power to fulfill their contract. Plenty of seats remain to Hawaii on other airlines. They may not be available for the price Southwests wants, but if Southwest actually cares about their customers, they'd do whatever is necessary to make sure people's wedding plans, anniversaries, and dream vacations aren't ruined. Southwest has transformed itself into just another typical beancounter company. Southwest places a value on their most dedicated customers (and their dream weddings), those that fly Southwest almost exclusively, and those that use their co-branded credit card, at less than a $700 ticket to Hawaii. Pathetic. The LUV is gone. ... View more

The thought of being on a Southwest jet on a trip as long as to Hawaii sends chills down my spine. I can't take more than a few hours all cramped up like that. Stick to what you do best with those high frequency, relatively short flights. ... View more