Originally Posted by
tsquare
Not the entire story though... when someone buys a ticket on SWA, they expect nothing other than point A to point B. No food... no service.. nothing.... and SWA delivers on that promise. good for them. When someone buys a ticket on DAL, they expect a choice of chicken or filet mignon, and is ****ed when they don't get it. Or numerous other similar things. What I wonder is how many people go to the SWA website to buy one of those cheapie tickets, and when they see there are no more to be had say "oh well, they are THE lowfare airline so I guess this is the best I can do.", and buy the ticket anyway. Meanwhile, they miss a better fare on another airline simply because they are too lazy to go anywhere else to shop. DO a little comparison shopping of your own if you don't believe me. DAL will meet or beat SWA on the vast majority of common routes. But it's brilliant marketing on SWA's part no doubt, and my point is that they have managed the public's expectations magnificently.... don't expect anything, you won't be disappointed... how could they not be number one?
I agree with you. I personally think the reason you can't buy a Southwest ticket on any other website is because Southwest does not want its prices side by side with other airlines. The reason is as you said. Southwest is not the cheapest. They do not provide much to their customers, but neither does Delta unless you're in first class on a flight over three hours. Southwest does provide free checked baggage though and no hidden fees.