I was flying from San Diego to San Francisco on Southwest. Due to overbooking, a late arriving passenger at the terminal wanted to board to make a wedding on time. As we were waiting to taxi and take off, a flight attendant asked us if anybody was willing to give up their seat. Nobody wanted to do that. After realizing this, the attendant sweetened the deal. I agreed to it to get a seat upgrade on another flight, plus free meal vouchers. So I arrived in S.F. 3 hours late. My rental car was rented out, so I got a car upgrade at no extra cost. When I arrived late at the Holiday Inn, my room was rented out but luckily they had another vacancy, in a better room, which I got at the same rate as the less desirable room. So in this case a good deed (giving up my airplane seat) was rewarded with 3 upgrades at no extra cost to me., the plane, the car and the hotel. I figure the 3 hour wait was worth it. I don't think the person who wanted my seat was lying about the wedding. He was dressed in a tuxedo. The way people dress for airplane flights these days, I didn't doubt him.
A week ago they were quite desperate to get a person on the plane: upgrade + $600 + something else (don't remember) for 3 hours later plane. Was on a business schedule otherwise might take up the deal :(
yixnorb that’s real nice of you. i woulda done that on a delta flight from boston to milwaukee for a $500 flight voucher if i didn’t have school right when i got home
Let me ditto that from an ATL CSA, not a spokesperson and thanks for flying us!!!! I've really enjoyed your videos BTW (both airline and train related) :)
@@FABAGENT Hobby to Orlando International is my favorite route ( Disney World Universal ) I can manage the 3 4 hour flight over water if I got my entertainment ( phone ) and if I get the front seat or wing window seat all good
I've hardly ever seen in comment sections employees of any organization short of the goddamn Marine Corps who have this much pride in their brand. This sense of employee ownership in your work should have managers and commanders all over the world salivating. How do you all keep staff morale this high?
I much prefer the open seating on Southwest. I'd much rather stand in numerical order for a couple minutes and get the pick of whatever open seat I like, rather than board in a jumble in regular zone boarding and be locked into whatever assigned seat I am stuck with on the other airlines. The difference is clear.
Yes, the difference is clear. I much prefer getting the pick of my seat when I make a reservation rather than being stuck with what's left once I board the plane. The very nature of assigned seating is that you get to choose.
Southwest is the best low cost airline in the US imo. I've flown on them about 10 times in total and have had nothing but the best experience! Love your videos Paul! Thanks!
I think what Southwest gets what some other LCCs like Allegiant and overseas like Ryanair and Easyjet is their service. Free flight tracking on the wifi, pretty good free snacks and drinks, and everybody is super friendly. They still provide a great experience but at a low cost.
Ha. Travelling in Europe has become an absolute disgrace. How many carriers don't even give you a cup of water? BA, Aer Lingus, Iberia, Sleazy Jet, Lying Air, Vueling, etc. Stop living in the past.
You get free chat via WhatsApp and iMessage as well. Also free checked bags, TV and Movies. The only down sides are stressing about checking in exactly 24 hours in advance and that they leave the seat belt sign on way too long.
Their flight attendants are quite fun as well. Another thing I like about Southwest is that while on some of the airlines legroom is a problem for me on their airplanes it is good enough.
I've flown Delta many times, and they are almost the same! Free WiFi, and the Inflight Entertainment screen on the seat in front of you, as well as free drinks and snacks, and I've always had a good experience with the flight attendants! Delta and Southwest are the best airlines that has happened to America, they sure are great ;)
Thank you for sharing Paul. I love Southwest!! They are inexpensive, efficient and the only airlines I fly domestically. Plus everyone is kind, helpful and pleasant. They just got me out of Fort Lauderdale to Newark on Thursday with re-routing all the way to Austin and no extra charge. Amazing!! Can't thank Southwest enough.
Southwest is the main antagonist of the series “My Pony Plane”, and Vietjet Air is the main protagonist in this series. (“My Pony Plane” grafted from Planes and My Little Pony).
Hope you enjoyed your first Southwest experience. Nice seat choice. I think after BA this is my second most flown airlines for my history of flying. I love the no change fee's on SW it really makes a difference with tight schedules. The service on the plane is always fast thanks to them serving no food and only drinks and making them free is quick and the amazing $5 prices for everything else keeps the transactions simple. A few other airlines could learn from this. Great report as always
+When I Travel The World Cheers. Yes I really liked how simple they kept stuff. It's weird waiting in number order to board though! I only wish Midway was a nicer airport.
Did you miss the woman who was killed last year then? www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/19/woman-sucked-southwest-plane-window-wearing-seatbelt-died-blunt/
Hobby used to be the only game in town in my day. It was named after William P. Hobby, a shaker and mover in old Houston and Texas. If my memory banks serve, and sometimes they don't, I believe his wife was head of the WACS during WW II. I flew out of Hobby in 1963 and back into Hobby in 1966 after my duty in Bremerhaven, Germany.
Thanks Paul for the review of Southwest Airlines. I very recently retired after 33 years at WN. Great company with a Big Heart ! It’s all true. Enjoy your channel very much my friend.
As far as I'm concerned, Southwest is the best airline period! I use Southwest for all my personal travel, however I had to fly to Baton Rouge LA, for work, and I was stuck on Delta. A 767 from Las Vegas to Atlanta and a CRJ200 from Atlanta to BR. That was bad enough but coming back I got stuck on a United CRJ200 from BR to Houston, and one of United's horrible A321s with horrible legroom from Houston to Las Vegas. Gimme Southwest EVERYTIME!!!
I took Southwest for the first time to Colorado and I was impressed! The price, getting to choose your seat, friendly service and smooth flight into DIA dispite a raging snowstorm had left me hoping to book again with SWA! Thanks for you vid!
So good to get your views and commentary. Looks like a smooth journey on a streamlined & efficient service. Wish you safe travels. Hello from London where I have just got myself a wonderful flight tracking app - a simple pleasure to know more about the traffic above - fascinating stuff : )
The one I use is for Android and is FLIGHTRADAR24. I's basic but you can subscribe for extra services. I want one with control tower/flightdeck audio if possible : )
I see that this was about a month before the floods. If you had landed recently, you would just see water across this metro of about 6.5 million, and 2.3 million in the city itself. A rain gauge across I-45 from Hobby Airport, where you landed, collected about 45 inches of rain in 3 days. The region where Houston is located is already one of the wetter parts of the country, but this was ridiculous. I have a lot of family there, but they were OK. Not the case for many thousands. Enjoyed your video, as always.
+zachmatt3 Glad to hear your family are okay. The flooding looks awful from back here in England. We are very grateful we never see such extreme weather.
OMG I know this was 2017 but THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS VIDEO, WOW I'm possibly going to be taking my first flight ever & with southwest here soon & have been nervous & your video helped me not be as nervous to the point to where I'm thinking maybe I would like the window seat instead ofthe isle. Thank you agian for a beautiful video
Nice trip report...to answer your question, families with small children board after the A group. The group is only 60 people and the plane you were on holds 175. And the pre boarders who aren't families sit in the front of the plane so no worries Paul.
Can't beat SWA for flying alone and business travel. Free checked bags, always ample overhead space for carry on since you can just find an open spot instead of having to fit the bag near an assigned seat, can easily move flights/cancel/standby since they fly so many routes. Switched from American and never looked back. Many flights have free movies/tv/live tv/phone messaging.
Fun trivia; twenty years ago you would check in with Southwest, go to the gate and be handed a plastic boarding card. No name, just a hunk of plastic (like the material used in flexible cover three ring binders) with a number stenciled on it. I can't recall if the boarding passes began with A, B, C or were just numeric.
Nice video Paul. I'm glad to see you're no longer fast-forwarding the last part of the take-off. My favorite part of any flight is launching into the sky. As for Southwest, I've flown them many many times and never had a bad experience.
Love SW. Find a seat, push back, fly/snack, land!! No pretense, no BS. Just efficient and comfortable with good service, free bag check and good prices.
Well done Paul, great filming and editing. The free drinks/ snacks on southwest should put BA to shame.where are you going next? Planning for flights is on my to do list today. Tbilisi is on the list
Nice one... Belfast is on my list :-) I might do a combo of BA and Ryanair I went to Tallinn in early August. - beautiful old town (bit overwhelmed by groups from cruise ships, hopefully bit quieter by the time you go). Enjoy :-)
Thanks Joshua. That's very kind. I am a big fan of Paul's work too. never thought about a collaboration but who knows. I learn so much from YT or websites like flyertalk... seriously addictive and so enjoyable too :-)
I'm a big SW fan. It's funny that they started off as a no-frills LCC and are now one of the more full service domestic airlines. They're also not always the least expensive. I am willing to pay a bit more to fly with them though since you get 2 free bags, drinks and snacks.....and NO CHANGE FEES! I think they're the only airline left that doesn't charge a fee for changes. I don't mind the open seating policy. As a solo traveler I almost always get my first choice of aisle seat. I agree that it could be an issue for families but they have the option of buying Early Bird Check-In. If they do that they're guaranteed seats together.
claus, you are delusional man. Southwest is light-years better than the big US legacy airlines when it comes to domestic service. Plenty of flights, always on time, no cancellations, and cheap fares.
I love Southwest Airlines. Also non allocated seats are a big win for men. I haven’t tried their new seats yet but, there old seats are relatively comfortable. I assume that there new seats are firm but, they are probably more comfortable. Seat firmness is just a personal preference thing.
I only flew Southwest once and that was Boston/Manchester to Philadelphia back in 2007 (ish). Had zero problems with the service and flight. The non-allocated seats and free drinks were a nice plus.
Southwest is a good airline. Besides the positives mentioned in this video... they do not charge you for putting your bags below and they will actually sort of reimburse you if you have to cancel your ticket. If you have to cancel a ticket with Southwest or Alaska airlines they will attribute the money you spent towards your next ticket with them. So if you purchase a ticket with Southwest or Alaska for $250 and then cancel it and then later get a flight that would cost $300 then you only pay $50 for that $300 flight. That is why the business that I work for flies with Southwest and Alaska on domestic flights. It saves us a ton of money.
I do like southwest but last time I flew them my family kinda got screwed over because we booked a flight for the wrong date and cancelled the day of but they still charged us the whole $800 for 3 of us round trip from msp to Atlanta and then to San Antonio, and the way back San Antonio to saint Louis to msp, we called them and they kinda told us to go away and that they weren't gonna give us a refund so moral of the story make sure you book your flight for the right day
My very first flights were from Hobby, we used to take United 727s from there to Cedar Rapids IA to visit the grandparents! Hobby looks about like I remember from the late 80's lol, another great video from "Paul's trip reports" ;)
Hi Paul! Glad you like Southwest. I don't know if you know about their EarlyBird Check-In? You pay $25 each way and it guarantees your check-in and earlier access to seats so in this way your family can all be together.
You asked for suggestions. Try the United Airlines "island hopper" from Honolulu to Manila with stops at Majuro, Kawjelein, Kosrae, Pohnpei, Chuuk, Guam, (Yap), and Palau. BEWARE: 1. The fare will land you in debtor's prison. 2. If you don't get off the plane and make stops somewhere, you'll end up knockered for weeks. If you ever plan to come to Honolulu or Yap, please contact me. I'll arrange for special tours that tourists never get. By the way, one special feature of your train/plane trip reports is that you take the the time to identify landmarks, whether spotted from above or flashing by the train window. I really appreciate that added touch, especially the British train videos. I studied in England from 1967 to 1968 before I entered university. I often rode trains, mostly between Manchester (or Cheshire) and Birmingham where my great uncle lived. (He was a retired professor of economics at the U of Birmingham.)
+manu bird Thanks! I have wanted to take that flight for a long time, but it is so expensive (not withstanding the costs in getting to HNL in the first place!). Sadly much of the charm of British railways has departed - and mostly before I was born - but what we have left is generally good, efficient, and more affordable than people give it credit for. The scenery in Britain is very special and a lot of us who live here fail to appreciate it. It is not as striking as the in-your-face mountains and plateaus of the USA (which always makes a good video!), it's more a gentle watercolour pockmarked with signs of our industrial heritage. Cheshire is a great example of that.
Paul's Trip Reports - have you seen any of the 'all the stations' stuff on RU-vid - there's some pretty stunning railways in the uk.., I did the west highland years ago and it's brilliant... I also liked their stuff they did on the line to Barmouth in wales and some of the other lines in Scotland...
+MrGreatplum Haven't seen much of the All The Stations series - I actually covered most of the UK network some years back when I worked for the railways!
Totally different look and feel to Houston now since your visit...on another point at least the mock South West Trains livery will continue to live on with South West Air.
No bag fees! The ticket may be $40/50 more than a cut rate airline, but 1 personal, 1 carry-on, and 2 checked bags for the price of your ticket can make it worthwhile.
My family lived near Hobby for most of childhood. I enjoyed seeing the flight path into Hobby. They took you east over the Houston Ship Channel then headed back west to land. When you came in, you flew over South Houston (a small separate city) just the other side of I-45 where my dad's business was located and where I went to middle school. The neighborhood where I lived was there on your right as you landed. Hobby and Southwest are our preferred airport and airline if we are flying anywhere in the United States. It's much easier to get in and out of and I much prefer Southwest over United now that United has purchased Continental.
I much like your later videos where you give us documentary and elucidation of each step from baggage claim through boarding through in-flight service etc.
I would like to point out that you messed up, as Southwest operates the 737-700, -800, and Max8 aircraft. The actual aircraft this flight was on was a -700 not a -800 like was said. You can also notice this on the safety card at 2:50.
No, that was an -800. See the 2 pairs of overwing exits. -700 only has 1 pair. -800 on WN also has the sky interior shown and more leg room. -700 does not.
Keep in mind this is the old southwest seats, the newer ones have much more legroom, and they are more comfortable. Edit: you also should have taken advantage of the free live TV on you’re phone.
I try to fly Southwest anywhere I go! I am due to fly to Canada in July, but unfortunately they don't go there yet. For me, Southwest is the best game in town!
Thanks for the insight Paul on Southwest Airlines , not too sure i enjoy the idea of not having allocate seating , however will settle for free soft drinks !
It really isn't a big deal especially if you check in early or pay for the earlybird seating. I've found that the passengers on SW are usually friendlier and will be glad to switch seats with you if you want to have seats together. The flight crews also tend to be nicer and even like to joke around with the passengers.
Most flights you can pay about $12 extra to board in the A group, which will pretty much guarantee you can get a window or an aisle. It's generally worth it since Southwest tends to run their planes full or nearly so.
Why didn't you sit in the exit row! There is missing seat there.. it's the best spot on a SW flight! Leg room for days! The only problem with it is the tray table doesn't come all the way back. They have it to where it does slide a decent way back but if you want to have something like a laptop open the entire flight, it's not really doable.
I commented on your Spirit Airlines review that you should try Southwest. Silly me, I didn't realize you already had. Great video but I would have loved to hear your thoughts on the airline.
I've been a swa customer for decades, and I absolutely hate their new "slim-line" seats and reduced legroom. The new thinly-padded seats are hard and very uncomfortable. To make things worse, swa added 2 rows of seats to their 737-700s, increasing capacity from 137 to 143 passengers. BOOOOOOOO!
I'm guessing the bad weather were the remains of Hurricane Harvey. By the way, Southwest will receive a fleet of the new Boeing 737-MAX soon -- I read that it will arrive sometime in October.
The only thing I don't like when I buy a business select ticket to get a better seat is that all these wheel chair pre-boards come out of nowhere and hog up the front seats. Its gotten so bad I don't bother buying a business select ticket anymore.
