Why I am ditching United ( and everyone else) for Southwest

By just about any measure, I am a frequent traveler. My rough calculations show that I have flown somewhere between 3.5 and 4 million miles over the last 25 years or so. Not sure what that equates to in terms of how much time I have invested in going to/from airports, time at airports and the time spent sitting on an airplane. Just the thought of all of those hours makes me wince.

So, for someone that spends that kind of time engaged in air travel, the kinds of things that make air travel tolerable are certainly magnified. Decent fares, good customer service, on time arrivals, baggage that gets there when I have to check it, customer service…all essentials.

Which brings me to my switch. I have been an extremely loyal United flyer, having recently exceeded 2 million air-miles with them! I have flown roughly the equivalent of going around the planet 80 times with United. On the flight that I cracked the 2 million mile barrier, I did get a handwritten thank you card from the crew…delivered to me in the back of the plane. They also offered me a free drink, but I had to pass as it was 8:00 in the morning, although I will confess to considering a bloody mary.

2 million

 

So…why change? Why move carriers after all of the status that I have earned? It comes down to three things, all of which play in Southwest’s favor.

First, we all know that accumulating and using miles is important. Airlines reward loyalty by granting perks and mileage increase awards based upon your travel volume. These miles are valuable…nothing like a free trip right? (As though I want to get on another plane).

United has devalued their miles to the point that they are almost meaningless. They claim that there are “saver” seats available for a 25K round-trip, but I cannot ever find them, regardless of how far in advance I am booking. Case in point…recently tried booking two round-trip seats for late September to St Louis, a reasonably short hop from Denver. 3 month advance booking….50,000 miles each, for a total of 100,000 miles. A full years’ worth of travel to fly the two of us 90 minutes away! Similarly, when trying to use miles for a trip to Peru, I didn’t have enough miles in the bank for two tickets as I needed 300,000. Contrast that with a recent trip to Salt Lake City on Southwest where we spent a grand total of 17,000 miles for two seats.

30,000

 

 

 

Secondly, the matter of change fees. Some airlines have gotten very creative with the various ways that you can be charged, from bags to drinks to meals to which seat you select. Change fees fall into this category. The $100 change fee, plus the fare difference (which I can understand) seems usurious. Maybe after 2 million miles we could show a little flexibility? In the age where most bookings and modifications are all self service and done on the website as a kiosk without any support from the airline personnel, it becomes obvious that this is simply a penalty and another means for pure profit for the airline at the expense of customer service/convenience. I recall standing at the gate of a Frontier flight that was almost empty, but couldn’t go standby unless I paid a $150 fee. No cost to the airline to accommodate me…as a result I haven’t flown Frontier since.

Lastly, no one that I know gives high marks to a US carrier for customer service. Fly Air Singapore, Cathay Pacific or Virgin, as examples, and you notice the differences immediately. Most lists of top global airlines don’t have a US based carrier in the top 20. But for those of us who travel mostly or exclusively in the USA, you find Alaska Airlines, Virgin, Jet Blue and Southwest typically at the top of the list. However, if you value mileage programs, customer service with transparent fare pricing and travel flexibility, and just as importantly network and frequency of flights, Southwest separates from the pack.

Yes, the Southwest boarding process is a little funky, but everyone seems to get it and it works. Not really much different that the zone boarding used by United anyway.

One more thing that matters, although this is very subjective. I think that the Southwest crews are a lot friendlier than any other airline (apologies to my friend Lisa!). It seems to be the case of reality meeting the marketing hype, but it can make the drudgery of flying just a little less onerous when the flight attendants are cracking jokes and plying you with free drinks and the ubiquitous packs of peanuts and pretzels. You can fake a smile at the boarding door but it has to be hard to pretend you are happy for the entire flight! I couldn’t pull it off, myself.

My change isn’t 100%, or permanent. I will still shop for the best fare (within reason, which leaves out Frontier and Spirit), and international flying is a whole different animal. But my loyalty comes with a price, and when I am rewarded with stiff senseless fees, devalued miles, less than decent service…my business is up for grabs.

International travel…scuppered again

I have had a rough stretch for international travel over the last several months.  Having just had my flight to Dublin cancelled due to the impending winter storm in the New York area, this marks the 4th international trip that I have scrubbed consecutively.  Of course, sitting here in Denver in 70 degree, sunny weather makes a blizzard cancellation a little surreal.

Last fall I cancelled a trip to Buenos Aires at the last minute when my proposed meetings fell through. Next, I had to cancel my annual trip to HP Discover in Barcelona and my speaking slot at the conference when I came down with pneumonia over the Thanksgiving holidays.  Finally, after going through the entire visa process for a trip to the TurnKey offices in Delhi, India, I made the decision to postpone due to some other urgent business priorities.

So the obvious pressing question is what is the next exotic, fun destination that I want to miss going to?  Any suggestions?