At the end of a flight, they normally say “We know you have a choice when you fly…” – this got me thinking. Does anyone actually choose their flights based on the airline, not on the lowest fare? I know that when I travel for business, we have a preferred vender, but I am curious if anyone out there when traveling NOT for business will take the American Airline flight that is $100 more than the United flight simply because they LOVE American Airlines.
Does anyone do this?
I think some people will eliminate an airline. For instance they may choose United because the don’t like Delta.
Or if you know your airport you may hate the American Terminal but the South West one is a breeze to get through.
Personally I would not choose Delta Song and I would probably pay more just to not fly them.
When I fly, my choice is usually predicated on : price, terminal location, past experiences. As Zebra noted, I may not care which airline I fly on, but I am sure which ones I won’t fly on!
My in-laws fly quite a bit, and they always insist on using one particular airline (although I have no idea which one).
It has something to do with their frequent flyer deals or somesuch.
I always choose Southwest (if it’s an option) because they have the absolute best safety record of all the airlines plus I like their maintenance strategy (all their planes are the same kind).
I also will pick American if it’s offering roughly the same price and times as other airlines because of the fabulous service they gave me when I missed a Northwest flight (they’re partners). Hear that airlines? Customer service works…
My boss will not fly American no matter how cheap it is. He wouldn’t fly AA even if they gave him tickets for free. He hates American and after a bad experience 6 years ago vowed to never give them one cent of his money again.
However, he is rich and can afford to make those kinds of choices. He is not the average airline consumer.
/travel guru hat ON/
Most business travelers (i.e., they’re NOT paying for their own ticket) have preferred carriers based on perks they receive.
But if they are purchasing their own ticket, chances are that they’ll only choose their preferred carrier if the price is competitive.
If the traveler only flies First Class or are at the top-end of an airline’s frequent flyer program, then they’ll almost always choose their preferred carrier.
But, negative experiences are terribly damaging to a non-preferred airline’s reputation. One negative experience on XYZ Airlines and my travelers will swear off them forever! Or, for as long as they’re not partnered with their preferrered airline’s programs.
I have had travelers swear loyalty to, or refuse to fly, an airline because of it’s policies, (perceived?) political ties, union alliance, etc.
Hey, BMalion, I know you’ll read this. email me. We’ll do lunch sometime.
/travel guru hat off/
Haven’t been a frequent flier for a few years, but for a long time I was racking up the points regularly. Here’s what I looked for.
As a tourist, 1 and 4 combined can still beat price alone.
Like **tremorviolet **I will choose Southwest if it’s an option. They’re usually one of the cheapest choices, they tend to be friendly, and they only have 737s (I think that’s the right plane anyway) so you don’t get stuck in some little plane for short hops. They also seem to be better than others about being on time. Even if they take off a few minutes late, they somehow get there on time.
I absolutely hate Southwest, because of their A, B, C, D-line boarding procedure. I just want to know what my dang seat is and not have to wrangle for one.
Most of the time I fly for work, so they pick up the tab, so I’m not usually looking at the price. I’m more concerned about departure times, what airport I’m flying into (avoid O’Hare if possible), and lack of connecting flights.
So in that sense, I’m not really loyal to any one airline, but I try to avoid Southwest. Which sometimes makes it rough because Southwest only flies into Chicago-Midway, so many times I have to weigh which I despise more: O’Hare or Southwest.
Happy
Under two hours, I’ll take whatever is cheapest, without hesitation. Over four hours, the airline (and indeed the aircraft they operate on that route) is worth significant consideration. But that’s not to say that cost isn’t still extremely important.
I’d actually prefer to take the smallest plane - because I hate the painfully slow boarding of over 150 people through one door on a 737. And, although this may be conjecture or chance, but I find the luggage from the smallest planes gets dealt with much more quickly.
Lucky you, because they’re getting rid of that method in favor of assigned seating, like most airlines.
When I use Expedia or Travelocity or any other search engine to find plane ticket my considerations are as follows:
Doesn’t really matter to me what airline.
When I was flying from L.A. to Bellingham I had two choices: Alaska or United. After flying United once and Alaska once, I chose to stick with Alaska. Alaska’s partner, Horizon Air, offers free sauce on the flight from SEA to BLI – PNW microbrew, or PNW wine. Besides, I like Dehavillands better than Embraers. (Better view out the window.)
I think United no longer offers service to Bellingham.
Another loyal Southwester here. I’ll go on them even if it’s somewhat more expensive because…
They GET there. Without hassles or excuses.
Haven’t yet seen another airline that matches them, and I’ve done a lot of flying.
Funny that no one has mentioned my main reason for sticking with my one airline for all my travels – the mileage club. In the past I’ve spread out my travel among different airlines based primariliy on price, but at the end you’ve earned miles from a lot of different airlines. Now, I’ve accumulated enough miles to probably never have to paid for personal travel by air.
As others have noted, it’s a combination of a lot of issues - price, service, timing etc. Domestically, if I’m paying (rather than my employer), I’ll go for the best price - but only if it’s a relatively short flight e.g. Sydney/Melbourne or Sydney/Brisbane.
Internationally, it’s a different story. Flights from Australia to Europe take around 24-26 hours. So the amount of leg room is **crucial ** to one’s comfort. I’ll usually splurge on business class. At the very least I’m happy to pay several thousand more for an airline with a roomier economy class.
I’m a Brit, and I’ll fly with any airline except British Airways. To say that BA suck is like saying there’s a bit of coffee in Brazil.
I fly Southwest when I can. Usually I can’t, and am stuck with Continental, but they’ve become pretty good over the past few years (they used to suck).
I avoid Northwest like the plague. They are the plague.
Also, I wouldn’t fly US Airways, given the way they’re driving their employees. Besides which, I know they’re the airline formerly known as Allegheny, which changed its name after several crashes back in the 60s.