I love flying with Southwest Airlines. In the last year of my schooling, my husband’s job plans changed and we moved to Arizona from Utah. In order to finish my degree, I flew to and from Utah every week. Southwest was the airline I flew every week and racked up about 50 flights in a year. Out of all those flights, my flight was only canceled once, the plane was rarely late–usually early and I received excellent service.

Here are some of the Pro’s of Southwest:

• Great website, easy to use, easy to book and change flights.
• Southwest never charges a re-booking fee! This is one of the BEST things about Southwest. Now if the price of the flight changes or differs, you have to pay the difference, but they don’t charge you any additional fees for re-booking or cancelling flights.
• DING! This is an AWESOME application that you download onto your computer (they also just added an iPhone app which rocks!). You can then chose 10 of your favorite airports and you will recieve daily “DING!” fares which are exlcusive prices for specific airports. I’ve seen fares as cheap as $25 one way!!
• Price. Southwest’s prices are usually always the lowest. They make it simple when calculating prices, usually you just add about $10-$20 on to each one-way ticket to get your final, with taxes price.
• One-way booking. Southwest never charges you more for one-way booking, all prices are based on per-flight basis, so you can mix, match and customize your flights how ever youd like.
• Rapid Rewards. If you fly more than 4 times a year, this is a great program. You will receive 1 point for every flight you take, once you receive 16 points, you are eligible to receive 2 one-way tickets for free! If you’re a college student, you receive DOUBLE points! Even if you don’t know how often you’ll fly, you might as well sign up for Rapid Rewards, you’ll be suprised how quickly you get a free trip! Also make sure to get one for each of your kids (over 2). You can also recieve credits for prior flights you’ve taken if you still have your confirmation numbers for those flights. (hey you might already have a free flight waiting for you!)
• Non-assigned seats. This is probably the most controversial and differentiating element to Southwest Airlines. Some people hate it, but I actually like it. I think it allows the airline to be more flexible, and actually attributes to their ‘on time’ and early arrivals. Also it’s nice to be able to decide where you want to sit depending on that day. Sometimes I just want to have the freedom to chose! If you’re traveling with a few people, make sure to book online 24 hours in advance to receive an “A” ticket. If you do, you can pretty much guarentee you will all sit together.
  
• Bags fly for free. I think Southwest is one of the few (if not only) airlines left that doesn’t charge you for your first two checked bags. Hopefully they keep this goin!

Cons:

• Non-assigned seats. This can be a pain if you don’t get an “A” ticket or if you’re traveling with a large group. You just have to plan ahead and be flexible. If you aren’t an “A” ticket and you find there are not seats together when you board the plane, don’t hesitate to ask people if they don’t mind moving so you can sit with your family. Most people that are traveling by themselves don’t mind moving.

What do you love (or hate) about Southwest