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You have to wait for it to post to your SW account then add your companion to your flight. Separate reservation given to the companion. You will need to pay the misc fees as well of about $10 US for a round trip.
P1, seems like you have some misconceptions about Southwest...
-no need to get to the gate early, Southwest has a mobile boarding pass that shows your boarding order on their app just like any other airline
-Southwest typically has more overhead space since it is free to check bags
- Not sure why you would say SWA is more expensive- while it's true that it's no longer cheaper than the legacy airlines as was historically true, prices seem to now be on-par with them. I regularly book Southwest flights within less than a week of the departure date
Your other points are fair ones :)
BCG1, the passengers on Southwest skew towards families (including kids/babies) and inexperienced travelers, who can be a pain to deal with sometimes.
If you don't have status, having to check-in 24 hours before to get decent boarding (which equals decent seating) is also the worst for our typical early Monday morning flights.
That being said, I think there are some great things about Southwest and its rewards program that can 100% be worth the above - gets much better once you have status too
I never got how companion pass benefits us consultants who travel weekly since we are usually traveling from another location than our home airports
I agree you. I'll have to go home to get the wife and kid to go anywhere.
Married with 2 kids over 2. Wife and I both have companion. I rarely alt travel but those comp passes save $$$$. We fly with both kids 6-10x/year. Easily $5-8k
Southwest sucks. Just flew them for the first time in a few years. You guys are nuts
Agree more kids on SW, though maybe that’s because I’m typically flying SW F-Su and UA M/T. Plenty of knuckleheads on all airlines though. Fair point on checkin; we always rely on family preboard. Think we’ve landed on the same place. SW possibly better for family travel. Legacy carriers better for biz travel
Up until last year I regularly used delta. But my local airport isn’t a hub for the legacy airlines. I can get most direct flights with southwest which is why I decided to switch. Saving a few hours of my life every week > cushier seats and food.
But that’s just me. 👍
One click add through SW site once the rezzie shows up there
Just got mine as well via credit cards. I've heard they're adding Hawaii routes. What locations are you looking most forward to?
^ how so? I fly UA for work and we fly it as a couple. Other than having biz/first, not sure what’s objectively better than SW, which fly with the kids domestically
You’re really going to make me explain this? You have to get to the gate way in advance so you can get your boarding order. Finding a seat is awkward and a hassle. No overhead space. No economy plus No chance of getting upgraded. No food options. No personal entertainment. And unless you book way in advance, it’s more expensive than the regular airlines. The one benefit is that some southwest airports are more convenient and I suppose you can swap flights with no or minimal change fees. The magazine isn’t bad I suppose
But if you’re not at the gate early, you don’t get a seat. The only thing holding that seat is your butt in the seat. How does mobile help that? If you are in the As that’s a good 30 min earlier than I would otherwise be on the airplane if I had an assigned seat.
I thought of another good thing. When you have little kids you can board early and get better seats that you might have gotten on a normal airline.
And flights out of mdw to Florida or Cali are almost always more expensive than regular airlines unless you book right when the seats are released. And using sw points isn’t easy in those cases because the cost in points is tied to the cost in $$ somehow. I search it every time and always come up way cheaper on other airlines
Don’t get me wrong. I would love to love swa, but I just don’t get it.
@pwc1 free checked bags and no change fees are huge bonuses. Free live tv is good too. Southwest isn’t as cheap as it used to be, yes. I don’t know when you board when you have a seat on your carrier, but they only line up group a 30 min before take off. I fly United for business all the time and I see no difference in the time I have to be at the gate between the two. The only complaint I see for consultants it the lack of status and upgrades, which I don’t care about but if you do then by all means avoid southwest.
I am always A1 or A2, so get an exit row w 4 feet of leg room. Staff is so nice — only airline w nice staff. And points add up very quickly. I basically get a free flight EVERY time I fly. Which is hige because my family burns about 25 one ways a year. Plus companion pass is great. For very long hauls I do airlines with lay flat seats.