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Fly Safely and Whimsically With Southwest

Forget Southworst -- I vote for Southbest!

Traveling home for the holidays is a rite of passage for university students. We loiter in airport terminals with our textbooks while we wait for delayed flights, panic about missing classes due to adverse weather, and try to spend equal time with our family and hometown friends when we visit. Getting to and from home can be mind-boggling for a variety of logistical reasons, and I’m here to tell you that some of these issues can be resolved by traveling on a little airline known as Southwest. They cater to students – seriously.

Forget what you’ve heard about Southwest being Southworst; quite unwillingly, I recently literally soared into the skies for the first time since childhood, and I’m not sure I could have done it on any other airline. My reservations about flying cruise deeper than cost or convenience – I am skittish on methods of transportation in general that do not involve my own two feet, so visiting my hometown is never an easy task. But Southwest could very well hold an election to be renamed Southbest, and I would be first in line at my local polling location.

Southwest’s prices are fantastic. A flight path that costs over $400 with any other airline is $130 with their winged vehicles, and you still get complimentary peanuts or cookies and fizzy beverages while you fly. Good prices don’t just speak to university students – good prices do cheers and acrobatics. These prices are whooping like your football team is winning the Rose Bowl.

There is a lot of kindness with the Southwest flight crew; the captain will meet with you if you’re shaking in your flip-flops as you board the plane because you’re petrified of flying (I write from firsthand experience). Stewardesses won’t bat an eye at any hysteric sobs that might emit from you (and will offer anyone who is putting up with your phobia a free adult beverage). And everyone cheerfully thanks you for taking to the air with Southwest as you disembark. If only profs thanked you for attending every class.

Having flown Southwest six times in the last two months, I do have one large complaint: their customer service at the terminal has been infuriating. One of my flights was canceled for inexplicable reasons (not weather or safety related), and when I asked to speak to a manager (it’s a long story, but due to health reasons a canceled flight is not just an inconvenience of an issue), my request was declined. I was informed that a ticket with Southwest means I was guaranteed safe air-passage but not by any certain time. Ever. Is this to mean that Southwest could have put off my flight until next year if they felt the urge and left me stranded thousands of miles from home? Yikes. Not good. They lost huge points with me on that one.

My absolute favorite reason for flying Southwest is their personality. Instead of being stuffy about blasting you above ground, they take you on your trip with a wicked sense of whimsy. One of our stewardesses sang to us a holiday carol with lyrics she had written herself. Another had an impressive rhyme scheme about remembering your belongings. And finally, there is this video that I found on YouTube before my first flight in fifteen years, and that made me feel okay about flying the friendly skies.

If you don’t want to be on a flight after seeing that video, I’m pretty sure flying just isn’t for you. So travel home safely over winter break, and if you want the best flight experience possible, I recommend traveling with Southwest.

Anyone have a favorite flight story that rivals the Southwest rap? Or an airline they prefer?