Some things simply rocked while others left us cold on our recent Southwest Hawaii flights.
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30 thoughts on “EarlyBird Ran A-Fowl | Latest Southwest Hawaii Flight Review”
Some things simply rocked while others left us cold on our recent Southwest Hawaii flights.
Just flew Southwest from Las Vegas to Kona. Delay in Denver for “maintenance” then change of plane at Las Vegas . More delays, WiFi not working on this plane and as the plane sat, heat became an issue. After long delay, sitting on plane, taxied to runway and told we were 22nd in line to take off. After 1 hour on runway, it became too hot to fly. Back to gate. Powers that be, probably with input from our very experienced Captain, SW decided to off-load fuel and fly us to San Jose, where we would add fuel to get us to Kona. Very creative and forward thinking. Got to San Jose to refuel. Problem- fight crew and pilots were out of time. Had to wait for new crew. No problem- Captain and flight attendants were there quickly. No First Officer-flying in and had to wait for him to arrive and make it to our plane to take off. Still could not fix WiFi, so flew to Hawaii with not even SW movies to watch. Ugh! All in all, they did the best they could, but we were 8 hours later than scheduled arrival. Barely made it to our rental car before closing. Why did they not anticipate the heat in Las Vegas in advance? Certainly this is predictable? Southwest did say they would be crediting us miles, so will wait to see. We have flown Southwest for the last 5 years and go to Hawaii 2-3 times a year. Fortunately our flight back through Oakland went off without issues. May think about paying more to fly another carrier?
Hi Sharron.
Thanks for your first comment and for sharing your challenging experience with us.
Aloha.
I believe you are looking for the phrase: ran afoul. Although, thinking of a plane as a flying creature, a fowl, ran a fowl might just be very very clever.
Hi E-Lectric.
Thanks. Yes, it was intentional. Lol. BTW, thanks for all of your comments.
Aloha.
A very fair treatment of Southwest.Thank you! A treat for an exceptional attendant is always a welcome gift (my daughter is a SWA attendant and a box of chocolate covered macadamias is always welcome) I have to think the less conscientious and helpful attendants will notice when a great one is shown appreciation.
Hi Dan.
Thanks. It’s funny that you should mention the mac nuts for the flight attendants. When we mentioned that once before we took some heat from those who thought that was not a good practice.
Aloha.
For me, I purchase Biz Select. My own experience is that the vast majority of A1-A15’s want to sit in those first few rows – unless already occupied by the ever increasing throngs of differently abled and seniors. For me, it’s the emergency exit rows! Stretch seating and free booze!
One minor problem is if that inbound aircraft has already flown a number of legs with through passengers, then my emergency exit row strategy may not work. Then, I’ll just take an open middle in the emergency exit row and even with that, the couple in the row will usually want to “buddy up” with another leaving me an aisle or window.
Purchased 60 days or more out, Biz Select will usually have much lower fares. If I need to cancel, totally refundable.
FYI on SWA, the overhead bins in the first 3-4 rows are not as deep due to the tapering fuselage and cabin. My rollaboard fits wheels-first in bins no problem, except at the front of SWA 737’s. Not sure if this is still an issue on the 737 MAX used on most Hawaii flights.
It is interesting and funny how some people can find any seat to sit in and make that decision for themselves, and want to make the decision. And then there are those who have to be told what to do, where to sit, and can’t make a decision where to sit, and don’t like making the simple decision where to sit. I prefer making my own choice where to sit and getting more of the overall services without extra charges, at consistently overall lower airfare.
I flew from Lihue to Hilo via HNL this week, two of those flights were full, but just checking in at exactly 24 hours before departure snagged me an A29 and A36 spot… the two not full flights were like A19 and A23. I noted on all four flights, there were only 1 or 2 people in the A1-15 section. I guess on Inter island flights, no one spends extra to have a good seat for a 30 minute flight!
Thanks, BOH, for your review of Southwest on a Hawaii flight – we haven’t used SW yet for Hawaii so I was very interested. I fly Southwest if the price is right and the schedule works for me. But that doesn’t happen as much anymore, compared to 10 or so years ago. I also have lifetime 1K status on United, so they will always be my first choice, given price and schedule. With Southwest, I am a maniac about checking in exactly 24 hours in advance to hopefully get a good boarding position. I used to pay for EB fairly often, but not as much since they upped the cost. If traveling with my husband, only one of us will get EB, and that person holds seats til the other one boards.
Evenif southwest was the only option, I wouldn’t fly them under any circumstance.
IMO, that snack box thing on SW is ugly! Surely they could find something better. That SW boarding thing is what it is, you either love it or hate it, I’ve learned to deal with it. What I like about SW is its routing.