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+--- Thread: Well, I'm never flying Southwest ever again (/showthread.php?tid=167835)
Re: Well, I'm never flying Southwest ever again - Mr645 - 06-04-2014
Flying in general just sucks. I rarely fly anymore, just go on vacations that are closer to home. I don't mind driving 4-8 hours, even 12 hours
Re: Well, I'm never flying Southwest ever again - eustacetilley - 06-04-2014
hal wrote:
[quote=Bimwad]
Three hours before the flight on my outbound leg of the trip...flight cancelled, with no explanation.
Hour and half before the flight on my return leg...flight cancelled for some "operational" thing. Not a tinge of regret, nor remorse from reservations agent.
Once, I can accept. Twice, on the same trip, that's BS. The weather is good, and these are frequent commuter-type flights.
Won't bother with a fracking airline that doesn't adhere to their schedules for no good reason.
I've taken them only once before. This will be the last time.
It occurs to me that this post could really use the eustacetilley treatment
Oh, like this?
***********************
Three hours before the flight,
on my outbound leg of the trip...
flight cancelled, with no explanation.
Hour and half before
the flight on my return leg...
flight cancelled for some "operational" thing.
Not a tinge of regret,
nor remorse from reservations agent.
Once, I can accept.
Twice, on the same trip,
that's BS.
The weather is good,
and these are frequent commuter-type flights.
(Won't bother
with a fracking airline
that doesn't adhere to their schedules for no good reason.)
I've taken them only once before.
This will be the last time.
*****************************
Perhaps you had something else in mind, as there are a couple of ways of getting the Full Eustace.
Eustace
Re: Well, I'm never flying Southwest ever again - eustacetilley - 06-04-2014
mrbigstuff wrote:
[quote=hal]
[quote=Bimwad]
Three hours before the flight on my outbound leg of the trip...flight cancelled, with no explanation.
Hour and half before the flight on my return leg...flight cancelled for some "operational" thing. Not a tinge of regret, nor remorse from reservations agent.
Once, I can accept. Twice, on the same trip, that's BS. The weather is good, and these are frequent commuter-type flights.
Won't bother with a fracking airline that doesn't adhere to their schedules for no good reason.
I've taken them only once before. This will be the last time.
It occurs to me that this post could really use the eustacetilley treatment
"did I ever tell you about the time..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkVAlI2IIvI&feature=kp
C. Aubrey Smith:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Aubrey_Smith
"Commander McBragg in the TV cartoon Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales is a parody of him."
Did I ever tell you about the time that I first saw "The Four Feathers"? It was just after "Lawrence Of Arabia" had come out, and the local American Legion Post had secured a copy of the 1939 film.
Our whole Cub Scout pack crowded around the time ravaged images while all the adults crowded the Bar and told their own War Stories from two decades back.
C. Aubrey Smith plays the role of a retired General who spends his time reminiscing, and provides the punchline to the film when it is revealed that his memory is, shall we say, very selective.
Over the years, I have heard many Old Farts tell their Tall Tales, but one very funny and jovial Geezer that I worked with briefly wouldn't participate, and in fact would quietly leave when War Stories came up.
I was never in any sort of Military, so I never really got the references and inside jokes.
At the Geezer's Retirement Party, somebody congratulated him, and mentioned in passing that the Geezer had been a survivor of the Bataan Death March.
Things got _very_ quiet at that point.
Eustace.
(Another sort of Full Eustace; this one involves a total derailment of the conversation, and a chance to remember somebody who would otherwise be long forgotten.)
Re: Well, I'm never flying Southwest ever again - jdc - 06-04-2014
This post could have been titled:
Well, I'm never ___________ with/by/to/from ____________ ever again.
Insert your favorite company and service. No one is 100% all the time.
Re: Well, I'm never flying Southwest ever again - OWC Jamie - 06-04-2014
When I used to bid on and win contracts I'd end up on the Gulf Coast anywhere from Galveston to Tampa.
Flying from Bos (or PVD) pretty much entailed flying Delta or US Air through Atlanta or Charlotte. The destination connecting flights on turboprops were notoriously behind schedule. All it took was a morning thunderstorm and the day's schedule was pushed back sometimes for hours. I never flew after Supper because those flights were far to often cancelled because there just aren't enough hours in the day. Too many times I sat in Hotlanta waiting for my plane to arrive ( behind schedule) from Tampa to do the PanamaCity leg - at 2AM and it was a 3PM flight. I got real used to car rental agent scowls. You learn to smile and try to brighten everyone else's day when things go wrong, otherwise you'd have ulcers.
Re: Well, I'm never flying Southwest ever again - Robert M - 06-04-2014
Bimwad,
I wouldn't be so quick to claim the "operational" problems were bogus. I can definitely see the issue you've described happening though twice would be _very_ uncommon to say the least. Not out of the realm of plausibility, though. Don't think I'm defending Southwest because I like them as a carrier. Far from. Southwest is on my garbage list. I'll _never_ fly with them again, even if it means paying more with a different carrier for the same flight.
I've flown with Southwest twice. The first time was mediocre at best and the only reason I went with them was due to cost and flight availability. The best I can say is that they got me from California to Arizona safe and sound. That was in college, more than two decades ago. More recently - just a handful years ago to be exact - the experience was far far worse.
I traveled with Southwest from San Francisco to San Diego. Passengers were herded onto the plane like cattle. Definitely everyone for him/herself situation. The staff did nothing about problem passengers creating disturbances and severe "traffic" jams during the boarding process.
Two separate people blocked the aisle for no reason at all - not even to stuff a bag into a compartment or help someone else with a bag. They were just standing in the aisle instead of taking their seats. While the airline staff stood around with blank looks on their faces, me and a few other passengers finally decided to take matters into our own hands and yelled at them to clear the aisle. That got the point across.
I contacted Southwest about it and they apologized in a very cavalier manner. It was immediately apparent they didn't care at all about my experience and, worse, they didn't care at all that they'd losing a customer for life. As a result, I will not fly with them again. Ever.
Robert
Re: Well, I'm never flying Southwest ever again - mrlynn - 06-04-2014
It's unfortunate (and perhaps unforgivable) that the SW employees did not inform the passengers of the reason for the delays. Perhaps they themselves were not told. But that's an important part of transport customer relations; there are always going to be problems, and a well-informed traveler can at least understand, and even be sympathetic. I'm a little surprised, as SW has a reputation for being traveler-friendly, and seemed that way the couple of times I've used them.
Personally, I prefer the train. Traveling to Maryland from Boston, I can make better time taking Southwest to Baltimore, but I generally take Amtrak to DC: easier to get where I'm going (in Montgomery County), and I just like traveling by train. Much less crowded than airplanes, much less hassle with security, ability to walk around, fun watching the world pass by the window. Yes, there can be delays and problems, as last summer when the catenary over one track was down because of heat, but the conductors will generally explain what's going on.
The big problem is that there are so many places in the USA that you cannot get to by train. Instead you're stuck jammed into flying buses. Yeah, it's faster, but—what's the hurry?
/Mr Lynn
Re: Well, I'm never flying Southwest ever againmazon to charge Sales Tax in Florida - Ombligo - 06-04-2014
Amatuers
Try flying in Central America.
1) Flew to Tegucigalpa on Eastern (way back when), circled and tried to land three times on a beautiful, calm day. The pilot then flew back to San Pedro Sula (like flying to Detroit and landing in Chicago), the entire flight crew got off the plane and wished us luck. A crew from Tan Sasha came aboard and flew us back to Tegucigalpa. The Eastern crew was afraid to land.
2) Flying out of Tegucigalpa on American. The plane breaks down and we all have to spend the night while American flies a mechanic and part down on a Taca flight the next day for a 30 minute repair.
3) Stuck in Le Ceiba for 9 hours because the Islana plane is stuck in a rainstorm in another city. Le Ceiba is the hub but they wouldn't switch out to another plane for our 20 minute flight to the islands.
4) Took off and landed in Managua four times - on the same day - on the same flight and we never went anywhere else. Literally take off, circle, land each time. No one came out and worked on the plane, no one ever got on or off.. just take off, circle, land… no explanation except after the last one we were told to deplane due to low fuel.
5) I wasn't on it but in the mid-80's my wife flew Miami to Tegucigalpa on a very cheap ticket we found aboard Challenge International Airline (seriously, worse name ever for an airline). Upon boarding she discovered she was the only woman on the flight. Every other passenger was a young, in-shape man with very short hair. She said the flight was great and her every whim was taken care of (it was an all-male crew as well), while the guys were ignored. We figured out later that she was aboard a CIA air america flight during the Contra war. Challenge International Airline
6) no delays, just bazaar -- Tegucigalpa to Roatan on a DC3 with no seats, sharing space with two goats tied to the frame of the fuselage.
BUT my all time favorite…
I was booked on a Taca (affectionately called Take A Chance Airline) to fly from Roatan to Miami on a direct, nonstop flight. The plane never came in the night before, so we were put on some puddle jumpers to San Pedro Sula to catch a flight from there. Well we caught a flight, except we went to San Jose, Costa Rica. We laid up there for seven hours and were not allowed to leave the International boarding area (which had no food or drink, they brought us a bottled water and an unheated airline sandwich). Then we loaded back aboard and were told we were going to Managua. While airborne, the pilot came on and asked if anyone was disembarking in Managua. No one indicated such, so he said we would not be landing as the plane was full and no one was getting off. So the flight continued north for Miami - except we needed fuel and would land for that. Where did we land? Roatan, the same place we had left that morning.
Re: Well, I'm never flying Southwest ever againmazon to charge Sales Tax in Florida - Robert M - 06-04-2014
Om,
That's not fair! You're comparing flying in a third world country to flying in the US. 'course, when it comes to Southwest, there ain't all that much of a difference... Then again... That's insulting third world countries.
Robert
Re: Well, I'm never flying Southwest ever again - Bill in NC - 06-04-2014
Unfortunately Amtrak only owns rail in the NE USA.
Everywhere else their trains are at the whim of freight rail, which takes priority.
Our last trip from here to DC (under 6 hours by car), which should have taken 8 hours by train, took 11 hours out & 13 hours back.
No wrecks, just getting stuck a good chunk of the time behind 15 mph freight trains.
mrlynn wrote:
Personally, I prefer the train. Traveling to Maryland from Boston, I can make better time taking Southwest to Baltimore, but I generally take Amtrak to DC: easier to get where I'm going (in Montgomery County), and I just like traveling by train. Much less crowded than airplanes, much less hassle with security, ability to walk around, fun watching the world pass by the window. Yes, there can be delays and problems, as last summer when the catenary over one track was down because of heat, but the conductors will generally explain what's going on.
/Mr Lynn