southwest

After sauntering through the seafood mecca of the eastern seaboard, the sweet and fried flavors of the Deep South, and the fresh, pasture-raised bounty of the West Coast, we're headed to a place where the days are hotter than Hades, and so are people's palates. Folks trek to the Southwest to get in touch with their spiritual sides, but it's just as much a destination for your gastronomical side. Ready to see what's in store? Then keep reading.

You may want to reconsider calling Southwest a discount airline, a Wall Street Journal article says, because some of its nonrefundable fares are even higher than its competitors. The Department of Transportation says that in the last five years, ticket prices for Southwest have jumped 39 percent.

The rise in ticket prices can't be helped, as Southwest says it's due to the increase of fuel costs. The airline says it's still a good deal due to benefits such as checking in bags for free and being able to change tickets without penalties. Still, some customers are feeling the sting of the ticket costs. The WSJ says:

Craig Seidel of Palo Alto, Calif., flies Southwest frequently between San Jose and Burbank for work and has seen one-way ticket prices go from $69 Wal-Mart levels to seemingly Nordstrom levels of double or triple the price.

"It used to be so cheap it was almost like taking the bus. But now I seem to spend $400 on a round-trip ticket," Mr. Seidel said. "I feel more of a sticker shock on airline tickets than I do at the gas pump."

One has to also take into account that Southwest does have a good mileage program; a recent survey of the different mileage programs showed that the budget airline awards seats 99.3 percent of the time. What do you think — is Southwest still a good deal in your case?

I find this story inspiring because this is an example of how much a consumer can achieve if she fights back. Kenlie Tiggeman, didn't know what a ride she was in for when she was boarding her Southwest layover in Dallas. MSN reports that Kenlie, who had already lost 120 pounds, and her mother were subject to a public 45-minute conversation with Southwest employees, which included personal questions about their weight, clothing size, and reasons for weight gain and loss. Further, the humiliating discussion was carried out in front of more than a 100 people. Kenlie tells MSN, "I asked him what the weight restrictions were and he said that he didn't know, just that we were too heavy to fly. Too fat to fly."

To make matters worse, the worker from the airline tried to resolve the situation by saying that Kenlie, her mom, and another overweight passenger could get on the flight if the three of them sat together at the back of the plane.

Although Kenlie and her mother managed to get on the plane and sit in seats of their choice and were given a $200 voucher from Southwest, she decided to fight back. She blogged about her experience in the post, The Day Southwest Airlines Turned My Old Fears Into A New Nightmare, which got the immediate attention of Southwest. This led to an executive from the airline contacting her to apologize and offering more vouchers to compensate.

To find out about the good that came out of her experience, read on.

Hearing about all the cracks on Southwest planes was starting to make me feel a little wary of flying on my favorite budget airline, but some readers think that it can actually be a good thing. Here's what they had to say:

• When airlines find a major flaw, then tend to overhaul and over-inspect everything immediately after. Plus, to woo back customers that might be scared, they'll most likely lower prices. If anything, the next few months should be the best and safest times to fly with Southwest! (I am just saying this so that I can feel better about flying to Vegas via Southwest next month.) — enginerdette

• Not to burst anyone's bubble, but all airlines buy their planes from manufacturers then place their name on them. So the fact that Southwest was the first to find this problem means they will be the first to recognize and fix. For the other airlines, they may have the same problem, but have not checked yet. Either way this is a scary matter and should be investigated by all airlines. I pray that incidence has caused Southwest to become even safer than previously . . . since I have already bought non-refundable tickets prior to this for next week. — arrighi2

It's true that many of the carriers are bought from the same manufacturers, however, as this Business Insider article points out: "Southwest’s all-737 fleet, together with its highly efficient, if stressful, use of its aircraft, makes it the U.S. airline that probably is most vulnerable to these failures."

It seems that what it comes down to is mostly the price. Unless similar events keep happening, it seems like people will still favor the budget airline.

While many airlines' frequent flier programs allow you to collect miles, I've always liked Southwest's simple flight-based program, where one flight meant one credit, no matter how short or long. Now, however, the budget airliner is trying its hand at a system where you earn more points for more expensive tickets.

The new Rapid Rewards program, which launches in March, converts dollars spent to points, which can be redeemed for any available seat the airline offers. Want to know the pros and cons of the new program vs. the old credit system? Check out more details after the break.

If you're flying Southwest this Thursday, you can start celebrating turkey day with a free alcoholic drink, according to the company's Twitter account. The budget airline might be trying to up American Airlines' cool-kid status — American recently introduced a happy hour special on flights that run throughout December.

If you're the type who usually naps on the plane, just remember, if you snooze, you lose . . . on booze. Tell me, if your flight offered a free alkie drink, would you totally take advantage of it?

I'm telling you, if you want to make it with the in crowd on Twitter, pal up with the wallet-friendly airlines like @JetBlue and @SouthwestAir. These budget airlines are the ones with the most friends on the social networking platform among all the US airlines. According to data from this morning, JetBlue dominates the Twitter market with about 1.6 million followers. Meanwhile, Southwest comes in second with around one million followers. Even though @VirginAmerica, a budget airline under the umbrella brand of Virgin, is more limited in the locations they fly to, the airline still ranks third in terms of Twitter friends.

To find out what it means for airlines to be popular on Twitter, read on.