Unfortunately, the most pleasant experiences are often on niche airlines that don't fly many places - JetBlue is good, I like Frontier a lot as well. AirTran was good, but are being eaten up by Southwest slowly.

 

As far as major airlines, none of the big 3 (AA/US, UAL/CONT, DELTA/NW) are particularly good. I'm 6'3" and leg room matters a lot, so I avoid Delta at all costs, as they consistently have the least leg room. Plus Delta is the one of the big 3 that doesn't hub in Chicago. AA is usually my slight preference over United because I find AA's customer service better when something does go wrong... But, United offers Economy Plus for a little extra, and I take that every time so I'm not so cramped and could, in theory, actually use my laptop.

 

Southwest is a unique animal, and we use it regularly when we fly with your young kids. With little ones you always get, at worst, boarding between groups A and B, so you'll get to pick a row... they don't charge for checked bags, and when flying with little kids, you have a lot of stuff... and when we plop down in a row or two with kids, people almost never take the remaining seat next to us, LOL. And they have far and away the best customer service of any larger carrier.

 

I used to have a job where I travelled every week. Greg, are you saying that AA now has an Economy-Plus type deal, where you can pitch in $30 or so and get more leg room? If so, that's fantastic. I haven't flown much in the past year or two.

Yep - AA has it. It is a nice touch and if you have gold status or above it is included for free, although I think they are dropping that in time and are going to offer a 50% discount or something. I pretty much always fly AA but that is because they seem to have one of the best combinations of locations and I try to keep my points consolidated since I fly enough to get some benefit.

 

I prefer southwest because I like being able to sit where ever I want. That's a major appeal to me. I was pissed when I flew delta and was told by someone that I was sitting in their seat (didn't know delta assigned seats), and I eneded up having to fly from LaGuardia to Midway next to a creepy middle-aged man wearing daisy dukes. I'm not joking, this was actually the same day that michael jackson died, everyone were finding out he died when people were turning their cell phones back on after landing.

Unfortunately, the most pleasant experiences are often on niche airlines that don't fly many places - JetBlue is good, I like Frontier a lot as well. AirTran was good, but are being eaten up by Southwest slowly.

 

As far as major airlines, none of the big 3 (AA/US, UAL/CONT, DELTA/NW) are particularly good. I'm 6'3" and leg room matters a lot, so I avoid Delta at all costs, as they consistently have the least leg room. Plus Delta is the one of the big 3 that doesn't hub in Chicago. AA is usually my slight preference over United because I find AA's customer service better when something does go wrong... But, United offers Economy Plus for a little extra, and I take that every time so I'm not so cramped and could, in theory, actually use my laptop.

 

Southwest is a unique animal, and we use it regularly when we fly with your young kids. With little ones you always get, at worst, boarding between groups A and B, so you'll get to pick a row... they don't charge for checked bags, and when flying with little kids, you have a lot of stuff... and when we plop down in a row or two with kids, people almost never take the remaining seat next to us, LOL. And they have far and away the best customer service of any larger carrier.

 

I used to have a job where I travelled every week. Greg, are you saying that AA now has an Economy-Plus type deal, where you can pitch in $30 or so and get more leg room? If so, that's fantastic. I haven't flown much in the past year or two.

Yes I paid the 30 extra bucks to get more legroom. On the connecting leg to Lubbock the flight attendant actually came and got me and put me in an exit row. I thought that was a nice touch and was high on American til the bulls*** on the way back. A/C malfunction in the winter. Blah blah same ol s*** with the major carriers not named Southwest.

 

Also Greg, I'll throw this out there... best non-airline website for flying information - SeatGuru.com. Without a doubt. You can find the specific plane found for your flight, and see a map of the plane, with info on every seat. It tells you which might have more or less width or leg room, which are exit rows, which have power ports, which might not have tray tables, which are louder, everything you can think of. Then you can select the right seat. Highly recommended.

 

Thanks, I like the sound of seat guru.

Southwest is great.

 

Virgin America is also pretty awesome.

I only fly once every few years so my favorite airline would have to be whichever one I can get the cheapest ticket for at that particular time.

Domestically, you can't beat SWA. Internationally, you must avoid the American carriers. Maybe if SWA goes international that will change. They blow.

 

Asia generally produces top level service internationally. Emirates I heard was pretty solid too.

 

I worked at O'Hare for three years and took a ton of flights with various carriers.

Swa is looking to become a full-blown international carrier in the future. They have some near-international flights now thanks to the airtran acquisition and have ideas about Canadian service.

b****es get with it. JetBlue is the bomb.

A little surprised to see Delta mentioned as a least favorite- they seem to be the best regarded overall in terms of US Carriers. I don't really have any bad experiences, but I don't fly too often. United/Delta/Southwest are probably the ones I would go for first. The best way to save yourself some misery is to make sure you're not booking a flight on a Regional Jet (eg United 3653 operated by GOJET AIRLINES DBA UNITED EXPRESS).

There's no doubt, though, that US Carriers are brutal when compared to many international carriers.

A little surprised to see Delta mentioned as a least favorite- they seem to be the best regarded overall in terms of US Carriers. I don't really have any bad experiences, but I don't fly too often. United/Delta/Southwest are probably the ones I would go for first. The best way to save yourself some misery is to make sure you're not booking a flight on a Regional Jet (eg United 3653 operated by GOJET AIRLINES DBA UNITED EXPRESS).

There's no doubt, though, that US Carriers are brutal when compared to many international carriers.

Regarded by whom?

 

They only really fly consistently to their hubs and they arent anywhere near here.

b****es get with it. JetBlue is the bomb.

I wanted to take them for a trip to Orlando this summer for a conference Im going to, but they were a full $200 more than United/AA.

I wanted to take them for a trip to Orlando this summer for a conference Im going to, but they were a full $200 more than United/AA.

weird that surprises me. they often have great deals ala Southwest in their early days.

b****es get with it. JetBlue is the bomb.

 

They were great the one time I flew with them, but they only go to 3 cities from Chicago. Id rather fly a s***tier airline nonstop, rather than take a connection on JetBlue.

weird that surprises me. they often have great deals ala Southwest in their early days.

It very well could've been the route, I was using skyscanner and jetblue's cheapest option was $500 something, United and AA were both at like $311.

Having a favorite airline is like having a favorite dentist.

 

They're necessary, and some are less painful than others...but they all suck.

Regarded by whom?

 

They only really fly consistently to their hubs and they arent anywhere near here.

 

I should have clarified that I meant of the big 3. In general, I don't hear anywhere near as much lamenting and gnashing of teeth about Delta as I do United or American. Chicago isn't a hub, but there are plenty of flights in and out of here. It wasn't so much based on any statistics or anything, but when I googled, I found:

 

http://www.jdpower.com/content/press-relea...ction-study.htm

 

http://www.theacsi.org/?option=com_content...&i=Airlines

 

FWIW, ranking highest of the big 3 is like being the tallest midget- Carriers like Alaska Airlines/JetBlue/Hawaiian are always going to rank higher, but those carriers have a different model than the big ones.

I should have clarified that I meant of the big 3. In general, I don't hear anywhere near as much lamenting and gnashing of teeth about Delta as I do United or American. Chicago isn't a hub, but there are plenty of flights in and out of here. It wasn't so much based on any statistics or anything, but when I googled, I found:

 

http://www.jdpower.com/content/press-relea...ction-study.htm

 

http://www.theacsi.org/?option=com_content...&i=Airlines

 

FWIW, ranking highest of the big 3 is like being the tallest midget- Carriers like Alaska Airlines/JetBlue/Hawaiian are always going to rank higher, but those carriers have a different model than the big ones.

Delta flies to Detroit from here but other than that I've only used it to Cincy (horrible expensive) and a small east coast airport. Its usually sucked. United always has so many options if I have to go out of O Hare.

Swa is looking to become a full-blown international carrier in the future. They have some near-international flights now thanks to the airtran acquisition and have ideas about Canadian service.

 

Going to be hard to do with single fleet type. Not talking about Bahamas, Mexico or Canada.

Having a favorite airline is like having a favorite dentist.

 

They're necessary, and some are less painful than others...but they all suck.

 

Yet can't imagine the world without them.

Going to be hard to do with single fleet type. Not talking about Bahamas, Mexico or Canada.

The new 737-800 can reach out to Hawaii but that's about the limit.

Anyone have any opinions on AirTran? Flying out to the Dominican Republic in a couple weeks with them. I know they're owned by SWA but wasn't sure if they deliver a similar experience.

I like Delta. I fly them more than any other airline, but that's really because Atlanta is their major hub, and they will get me anywhere I could want to go.

 

I also fly Southwest a decent bit. I like them a lot too.

I prefer southwest because I like being able to sit where ever I want. That's a major appeal to me. I was pissed when I flew delta and was told by someone that I was sitting in their seat (didn't know delta assigned seats), and I eneded up having to fly from LaGuardia to Midway next to a creepy middle-aged man wearing daisy dukes. I'm not joking, this was actually the same day that michael jackson died, everyone were finding out he died when people were turning their cell phones back on after landing.

 

See, this is why I don't like Southwest. I want to know where I'm sitting before I buy the ticket rather than leaving it to chance.

 

I've had the best experiences with United, including a last-minute change of reservations due to delay, but I don't fly much.

After riding public transit for the better parts of 15 years, SWA just reminded me of boarding a train. The people who get there early, get the best seats. People who board later miss out.

After riding public transit for the better parts of 15 years, SWA just reminded me of boarding a train. The people who get there early, get the best seats. People who board later miss out.

 

As a person who is chronically late, this is why I don't like the free for all, lol