I still hate the Southwest cattle call
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...
I did something really dumb earlier this week.
I flew Southwest.
I haven't flown that airline in 8-9 years, because I hate the cattle call, and I particularly hated the way they canceled my Dallas-Houston flight 8-9 years ago because the cattle car apparently wasn't full enough (it was a real inconvenience as I had a meeting I needed to get back for).
So, flash back (or is that forward?) to this Thurs, when the Tulsa to Dallas segment of my Southwest flight wasn't bad (I was surprised). And then.... We were scheduled to land in Dallas, wait, and head on to Houston. I didn't really like the routing, but it put me back at the right time, so that's why I booked it (choosing to shave $100 off Continental's price on two tickets). And it was all going okay, until the plane had deboarded, and the Southwest flight attendant announced, "Though passengers to Houston need to deboard and proceed to Gate 11."
No explanation as to what's up. Just get off and go, you cattle! At least they didn't use cattle prods on us.
There was no explanation for the change at Gate 11, where a frantic, harried, inept agent informed us she was holding a flight for us (I bet the 9:00 flight folks LOVED being held till 9:30), and then she stumbled and bumbled for 10-15 minutes with names before finally walking us on board. Where we all got middle seats (and peanuts). Because that's how Southwest's cattle call rolls.
And still never an explanation as to why our flight was canceled.
It wasn't obviously mechanical, because the plane seemed fine from Tulsa. It wasn't weather. It was most likely Southwest wanting to cram full every single seat on another plane rather than fly a plane with a few empty seats, to hell with the preferences or comfort of its passengers.
Anyway, it was informative, much like the mileage run I took on Delta metal earlier this year (Delta is a good airline in the mornings, and service/scheduling tends to go to hell later in the day). Southwest has a perfect record of canceling my Hobby flights from Dallas (two for two in the last ten years), the cattle call is still just as sh!tty as I remember, and I still have no reason to believe people who say they have great service (sorry Matty B).
I should have spent the extra $100 on Continental, and will next time. Larry Kellner's the man. Gary Kelly is not.
I did send a letter to Southwest asking why the flight was canceled, and why they didn't think it was worth informing their customers what was going on. I wonder if I'll get a straight answer. I'll update the post if I do.
Anyway, this was a pretty minor blip as far as some of the real fiascoes travelers have experienced this summer. It's not really intended as a bitch post so much as a review post of an airline I don't (and won't) fly much. Maybe your experiences on Southwest have been different.
So... more flying this weekend. On Continental. I already have an exit row lined up for the outbound segment (no cattle call!), so this should be a better experience.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/10/07 22:53 | Travel | Technorati
Previous Entry | Home | Next Entry
TrackBack
There are currently no trackbacks for this item.
Incoming trackback pings have been disabled because of abusive spammers. Technorati is now used to track cross-blog conversation.
Comments
That was my feeling also when I flew from Houston to Chicago in mid-July on Continental instead of Southwest.
Actually, it was more for my wife, so she would not be herded like "sheeple."
The other factor is seat assignmnets.
Although, on the return flight, Continental claimed the aircraft scheduled needed servicing, and the replacement was a smaller jet (737-300 vs 737-800). The poor sap sitting next to us was a First Class frequent flyer bumped down to coach.
Now he was steamed, having to ride next to Royko who had no empathy for him.
Posted by Royko @ 15:14 on 08/12/07
When Southwest did their "$29 to Austin" fares a couple of weeks back I checked with Contiental and, guess what?
They matched.
So its off to Austin I go.
And no cattle call!!!
The point being that sometimes Continental will match for a very short time right after the Southwest sale announcement. Always check there first.
Posted by Cory @ 11:51 on 08/13/07
Add Comments
While it is not required, creating an account for commenting provides a number of benefits (such as comment editing and bypassing the captcha challenge). You may log in to your account here.
No flames or impolite behavior. Any questions, see the site policies. Older posts are moderated (because of spammers), so if your post does not appear immediately, that could be why.
HTML will be stripped. URLs will be transformed into hyperlinks.
[b]text[/b] will produce bold text. [i]text[/i] will produce italicized text.
Comments for this post must be approved before being published. Thank you!
BLOG
» Create Account
» Log In
DISCLAIMER
Content and design copyright © 1997-2008, Kevin Whited.
Posts represent the views of Kevin Whited (and occasional guest bloggers) only, and do not necessarily reflect the views of employers, family, friends, or significant others.