by Elizabeth Smith
As some of you may know, I am an experienced traveler who holds elite status on a legacy carrier. Last Thursday, June 3, I took my first flight on Southwest Airlines and I wanted to share my experience.
WN 220 RDU-MDW-AUS 6:55 pm-10:55 pm with a 30-minute stop in MDW
Actual: 8:30 pm -12:05 am due to weather/ground stops in the BWI/IAD/DCA area
Pre-boarding experience: The Southwest attitude and service was completely different than what I often experience on legacy airlines. Everyone I encountered was nice. The check-in agent said to me, “Now don’t get off the plane in MDW, stay on!” Very nice of her, even though I already knew. There was no crowding around the gate area agents, even though we were delayed. Passengers seemed calm and stayed seated until it was their turn to get beside their boarding “pole position.”
Boarding: Boarding was very orderly. I was actually amazed. I watched it for a few of the flights. It is as if Southwest passengers are trained. When the planes came in and people deplaned, A boarding position passengers stood up and stood by their “pole position” and were just chatting amongst each other. There was no rudeness or impatience. Then like clockwork, the agents started boarding with positions A1-15, Business Select and A List, and as boarding passes were scanned, the computer made the famous ding sound each time.
Passengers: Most were businesspeople and what I would call “Southwest pros.” Passengers knew exactly how everything worked and what to expect.
Seating: I pre-paid Early Bird Check-in for $10 and had boarding position A26. I selected the “quasi” exit row aisle, 11D, two-seat side, on the RDU-MDW segment of the trip. I stayed on the plane in MDW since I was continuing on, so I was able to select the real exit row aisle, 11C, on the second segment.
In-flight service: The in-flight service was the best I’ve ever seen. There were three flight attendants for the cabin and they served the cabin in thirds. Each walked down their section with their handheld devices for purchases and a notepad taking drink orders. They hand-carried the drinks to passengers using drink trays. After serving drinks, they passed through the aisle with the snack baskets. On my first flight, my flight attendant comped our adult beverages due to the delay. On both flights, the flight attendants passed out two snacks per passenger – peanuts, pretzels, and Nabisco Cheese Nips (100-calorie package.) There were no beverage or food carts. When we landed in MDW, one other passenger and I were the only ones continuing to AUS, so we saw how they turned the plane in about 15 minutes. The flight attendants scurried through the cabin, picking up trash, arranging the seat belts, putting up tray tables, and turning off lights. Catering and service workers came aboard and catered the plane with snacks and drinks and cleaned/serviced the lavs. It was amazing to see how quickly they prepared the cabin for the next round of passengers. It reminded me of a NASCAR pit stop. Then the pilot gave the go-ahead to start boarding.
Grade = A+, despite the weather delay. Now I understand why so many travelers love Southwest.
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Thanks for your comments and for sharing on our Facebook page! I’ll pass along your kudos to the RDU ground crew and the Flight Crew on Flight 220.
Thanks for sharing your story!
Christi @southwestair
Thanks for your comments. Glad you enjoyed your flights on Southwest. I’m a Southewest Flight Attendat and am very proud of our airline. We work very hard to keep our cutomers coming back.
Hopefully I’m better airline employee than typist. Yikes!
I have flown Southwest a few times (mostly before I started playing the status game with legacies a year ago) and I agree the people are nice. If I had no status and no hope of getting status, then Southwest would be a pretty good option, but I think Virgin America would be more appealing.
All that said, it will be a cold day in um… “heck” before I would choose Southwest over Continental as a Platinum or United as a 1K. I dont want to give up free unlimited upgrades to first class, a hot meal, ice cream sundae, audio, video, bigger seats / more room and sometimes lie-flat bed seats, airport lounge access, priority security, priority check-in, priority boarding, bonus redeemable miles (I get 125% bonus on Continental and 100% on United), ability to pre-reserve the seat I want at time of booking, THREE free checked bags with 25lb additional weight each over what Southwest allows, and usually a ticket price equal to or lower than Southwest.
I have found Continental staff to be consistently as nice as Southwest staff. United has a fair amount of bad apples – starting with the CEO, but also some people that are WORLDS better than anyone Ive seen at WN or CO.
The irony is that I am writing this post from the Continental President’s Club where I am a member!
I don’t live near an airport that Southwest serves, so that is why this was my first time flying the airline. A friend gave me a ticket and I decided to give them a try and share my experience with readers from my perspective as an leisure, elite frequent flier and travel manager for three small businesses. I have flown JetBlue once about 10 years ago and was also impressed. I hope to give Virgin America a try in the near future.
I have to admit that I was a little nervous. Being an elite frequent flier for 13 years on various legacy carriers truly does spoil a person. I am currently Delta Gold Medallion and Continental Gold Elite and my home airport is TRI, where my choices are now Allegiant, American, Delta, and US Airways.
I, too, have had good (and bad) experiences with legacies. And I have heard stories about Southwest, mostly good as of late, but there are many naysayers that seem to have put Southwest into this stereotype that they can’t shake, that they are a “cattle call” airline that only appeals to leisure travelers. I am happy to say that my experience has invalidated that stereotype. Southwest serves many business travelers, as well as leisure travelers. The boarding process is one of the most organized I’ve ever seen. And the service I received on the ground and in the air was excellent.
I am flying Southwest back today and my first encounter with an agent checking in was positive. I will make sure to let everyone know how it goes.
I find it hard to believe the passengers were son nice. I have worked for a legacy carrier for going on 12 years. It seems to me that no matter how nice we are to passengers they are very unruley and mean, not only to the agents but each other. I have known many sw agents and they are no different than the legacy carriers agents from all the carriers. The vast majority are very nice hard work ing people who really care about thier customers. Maybe it is the company itself that makes a dfiierence. The pressure on the agents is ennormous and very difficult to handle.
Southwest notified me via telephone and text message a few hours in advance of my original departure that the flight was delayed. Perhaps other passengers were also notified, so alternate flight plans had been made before or upon arriving to the airport. There is one gate agent area at RDU for all Southwest flights and those agents were only approached periodically by passengers. The monitors were updated with the current ETD. I have to say I was equally amazed at the good behavior, too, as I have seen plenty of rudeness in my experiences. Perhaps the word is out about Jetiquette?
Honestly….and I’m an “Elite” on several airlines….I personally think WN is THE BEST airline in aviation…at least flying around the US. I fly WN all the time and I love the product and the people both. I’m 6’3″ and the pitch on WN is better than the pitch on any legacy in Y save UA E+.
That being said, on long haul….transcons and T/A or T/P flights, I do appreciate a Business or First Class cabin. If WN had even “business seating (2X2), even with no food service…it would be game, set and match.
But I can GUARANTEE ANYONE, with a 110% degree of certainty….if my choice is an RJ or I know I’m gonna get jammed in Y on US/DL/CO or UA….guess who I’m flying? You betchya, WN.
Not only is the product superior in many ways, the product is so darned easy to buy and if you can’t fly your flight…no worries! You don’t have to pay that STUPID $150 change fee.
Bravo WN!!! Those who don’t get it….well, that makes it all that much better for those of us that do.
I see you had previously believed the “cattle call” nonsense, as do millions of other brainwashed people destined to live in UA/AA/DL/US hell. Glad you gave WN a try.
Many more advantages to WN you don’t cover:
1. Cancel/change/don’t even show up for your flight and get 100% of your fare as a credit for a year.
2. No baggage fees.
3. Much less “drama” in general.
4. “Flat tire rule” (maybe on other airlines as well, but basically if up to 2 hours late they will put you on the next flight no problem.)
5. Better branded Visa card
6. Much better partner bonuses, especially on rental cars.
7. No fees for booking over the phone or talking to them.
8. Companion Pass, the best deal in the frequent flyer world: 100 credits in a year and a Companion flies with you for a year on EVERY WN flight you take, even Award tickets. Worth thousands of dollars to me.
8. NICE employees, and the ones on the phone speak proper English.
Come on people, give them a try. You won’t go back.
I just want to say after a flight last week on Delta the whole “cattle call” thing at Southwest is funny. I was waiting to board the Delta flight and was thinking what a cluster*&(^ it was compared to Southwest’s boarding. Southwest boarding procedures have it in black and white basically on how and when you board the plane. Not only does your boarding pass tell you where in line you are but there are numbered poles and computer screens telling passengers what is currently boarding or lining up, on top of the Operations Agent announcing who is welcome down the jetway. As for the service on Delta they were just as friendly as you would expect a Southwest Employee to be.
WN 960 AUS-MDW-RDU 5:40 pm-11:40 pm
Actual 6:00 pm-11:48 pm
The return was essentially the same as the outbound. Boarding was like clockwork. I bet it only took 15 minutes to board everyone. Every airline should have a similar boarding procedure. I also had the same seats on the return as I did on the outbound and the in-flight bev and snack service was the same. There was a slight delay on the first flight, but we made up ground in the air. The highlight of the evening: The pilots waited on an elderly couple and a young mother with her baby to make the MDW-RDU flight instead of leaving them stranded for the night at MDW. It was worth being late eight minutes. They looked so frazzled and relieved to have made the flight. Kudos to Southwest on a great first impression!
I LOVE Southwest! They don’t have a lot of flights haded east from my city, but I still try to fly them whenever I can. It is rare to find a flight attendant who isn’t friendly and willing to chat for a few back by the galley after drinks and snacks are served. Some legacy airline staff seem embittered by what flying is today. But Southwest makes the process at least a bit more enjoyable! Keep up the great work, Southwest! And while you are at it, how about some additional service from Tucson???