Stupid.

Where´ve you been, Hugo? Southworst has been doing this all year. Oh, you must not be a frequent flyer.

I pay for very few fares myself. They are paid by my clients. I can´t see them paying forty bucks for me to jump on a little early. If it ain´t billable, I ain´t spending it.

I usually wear a helmet and shoulder pads before I board a flight. That way I don`t care when I get on because I can always knock people out of my way regardless......./s

If possible, check in with Southwest online as the clock hits 24 hours prior to your departure time. I´ve never gotten anything worse than a mid-level B boarding priority, always good seats still available by then.

Southwest-cattle cars

I miss Herb Kelleher. Southwest used to be different, and I dug it. Now it´s nickel and dime, crappy frequent flier program, and they seem like every other airline.

I travel on business quite a bit. While I´ve never traveled on SWA, I know what they are doing here.

Many of the airlines got rocked after 9/11. Remember them begging for people to fly or else they would go bankrupt? Several had taken government bailouts. Then came all the fees.

As a result, travelers started to carry on all their bags and the fighting has ensued. People are getting very rude and aggressive with overhead space and the airlines are getting ugly about it too.

Now it looks like the airlines are trying to fix the situation (for some) by allowing you to agree to pay more to get on the plane earlier than the general masses. Earlier = first dibs on the overhead space.

I see this coming to a head soon. The airlines brought this on in the first place (fees for bags) and now are sitting back and pretending they are doing you a favor (early boarding) for yet another fee. So they collect money on the checked bags and in a round about way are collecting money on the carry ons (through early boarding) too.

The only thing left for them to do is charge a penalty to the unlucky schlubs who didn´t pay for early boarding and now don´t have overhead space for their carry ons. Once that happens, the airlines will be able to charge and increase the fees whenever they want.

It will get even more ugly...

I always thank God for safe take-offs and landings!
Hubby had a scare at 20,000 feet this morning but the pilot diverted to another city. Thank you, Lord for a safe landing! Worth ANY price.

Why don´t they just auction off the boarding passes?

SWA let´s you CHECK 2 bags at no extra cost. Have flown with them many times in the past year. Definitely have become my preferred airline when flying domestically.

Remember when flying was fun?

If you are older or physically limited pay the fee although 40 dollars is 30 more than Allegiant or man up and join the scramble.

Telepresence robots (virtual presence) and 3D printers will put a big crimp in the airline business. Here is one link:

http://www.anybots.com/drive/

I take SWA Hou to Dallas often to see the grandbabies. This year I have had my flt canceled 3x and my husband had his canceled 1x. It doesn´t seem to matter what time of day. I always pay the $10 for front of line since I prefer an aisle seat. Unfortunately, when your flt is canceled you don´t carry over the privilege to the rescheduled flt and if you want your $10 back you have to call them and request it.

I´ve been around a while. I miss the stewardesses in the orange hot pants and the open bar once the wheels lifted.

After 9/11, flying in general and overseas in particular is as about as enjoyable as a root canal.

The tone is set immediately with the intrusive TSA screenings. Furthermore, the rudeness of the TSA, flight staff, board people and flight attendants

The experience of flying is a combination of going to the post office the week of Christmas and April 15 coupled with standing in line at the federal building for your past port.

It used to be fun and filled with adventure and awe. Now, it is just horrendous.

For $40 more I expect a bigger seat greater then 17" width and enough legroom that I can stand straight up from the seat.

With the insulting low IQ´d TSA workers, all the add on fees, their lack of respect for handicap folks onboard the plane, I no longer fly any airline. Even with the gas prices it´s usually cheaper for me to drive to my destinations than to fly. Ok in some cases the gas may be a little more but it still beats the incompetence above.