(ed note: written back in November 2016, just posted now)
This year, after a 10 year gap, I’m back to moderately heavy business travel. If you live in Chicago and travel a good deal for work you inevitably have to answer the question: “what airline should I fly”? Where many cities have a primary carrier that makes the decision easy, in Chicago there are realistically three airlines (American, United, Southwest) with large networks that you can choose for domestic travel. How you select the airline depends on a number of factors but if you have several airlines going to the same place for about the same fare it’s an open question.
In 2016 I decided to make Southwest my “airline of choice” if all other factors were equal. Here are some of my reflections on a year on Southwest.
1) Through a combination of credit card miles and flying quite a bit I was able to get A-list and even companion pass in 2016; which was one of the goals of consolidating my travel. I’m curious to see how much value I get out of companion pass in 2017.
2) I was able to get almost anywhere I needed to go on Southwest via a nonstop flight. With the exception of a trip to Charlotte (one daily nonstop I think) it seems that they went where I went.
3) Midway vs. O’Hare is a major factor in whether or not you choose Southwest. I live about equidistant from both so that is not an issue. The key difference from my perspective is when it comes to things like weather delays. If a big thunderstorm or snow comes through you might get a 45 minute average delay at Midway. At O’Hare, count on 2 hours. When the snow comes, Midway catches a cold, O’Hare gets pneumonia. O’Hare is so big it just seems to have a harder time catching up. That’s not UA or AA’s fault, it’s an outcome of being at O’Hare.
4) Ground transportation at O’Hare also tends to be far more backed up and complicated than Midway. I use a pre-arranged car or Uber and generally they arrive 5-10 minutes faster at Midway.
5) Whatever you do…do NOT check your bag to Midway. (ed note - rumor is this is better now)
6) Getting A-List isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The thing about A-list I was most looking forward to was being able to be freed from the drudgery of making sure I was on my phone or at my computer to check in EXACTLY 24 hours before the flight to check in. To not do so risked the “C” boarding card. Well, it’s better with A-list, I generally find myself in the area of A25-A45 for most flights which is good but doesn’t help as much as I hoped. The reason is…
7) There are only 6 seats that matter on a Southwest flight. Essentially, if I cant get an aisle or window exit row seat, there is (for me at least) no difference in any other seat (not including the dreaded middle seat of course). In my experience with A-list I have about a 50% chance of getting one of these coveted 6 seats; after that I might as well have “B33” because I can always get an aisle somewhere with that. I find this a bit discouraging
8) I don’t think I had an empty seat next to me all year on Southwest.
9) (In my experience) Southwest was nearly always on-time. Delays and cancellations that I suffered this year were minimal. Of course, maybe I was just lucky.
So overall, it was a good year. Southwest did what you need from an airline and got me where I wanted to go with minimal disruptions. The crews were OK, the planes, OK, the whole experience…OK.
And that’s what is bothering me. Many years ago I was a Gold Medallion frequent flyer on Delta. There were two things that “moved the needle” for me on my travel/flights. One, was the opportunity for a first class upgrade. A first class upgrade completely changed my mindset on a flight from one of survival (e.g. just get this over) to one of relaxation. An aisle or exit row seat makes the trip less taxing, a first class upgrade makes it (almost) enjoyable. I realize that bagging an upgrade is harder than ever these days but just the chance that you could get one every once in a while seems enticing. With Southwest I know the best I’ll ever get is a 50% chance at an exit row seat. It just seems so discouraging.
The second thing I would get excited about was saving up miles for a big international trip. I knew what it took for that European seat upgrade or free ticket and the monthly statements were like a countdown to a great trip. Again, on Southwest I’m happy to have the miles and use them for family trips around the US but there is something about a big business class international ticket that is more alluring.
Since I’ve already made A-List and have secured Companion Pass for 2017 I really don’t have a pressing reason to keep me on SWA for the rest of this year (not going to make A+). So in the last couple of months of the year I decided to try United and American to see what I might be missing. Well, so far, to quote REO Speedwagon (in Riding the Storm Out) I “ain’t missing a thing”. As I write this I’m sitting in the Sacramento airport watching a huge line at the gate as my UA flight to Chicago has been first delayed and now plane changed (reseating half the plane). No weather, no storms, just operational issues at UA. The flight out was also delayed 40 minutes because they couldn’t get the previous flight out of the gate on time. From this vantage point “OK” sounds really good right now.
The last 2 months will be an audition for AA and UA to help me decide what to do next year. Do I make one of them my “default” airlines in 2017? Should I rack up some status and see if I can get any of the elusive upgrades? Or do I stick with Southwest and accept travel “as is”? As I think about it, it will likely come down to 3 factors: the value of companion pass, my experience with United and American (and O’Hare) over the next 60 days, and the ability to secure upgrades. We’ll see how it goes…
