Southwest Airlines VS United Airlines: Which one is better?
Hello friends! It is yo girl emilia and today i am here with a travel post today that is something that I have a pretty strong opinion on. That is the super serious question on which airline is better, Southwest or United. *cues law and order svu intro music*Now, I will be only taking in experiences from domestic flights with these airlines, mostly due to the fact that Southwest doesn't offer as many International flights as United does. I will be making 4 categories that we will be scoring with, and in the end I will share my personal favorite out of these two. I do not mean to make anyone feel butt hurt, if you prefer the other one that I favor, just please respect my opinions and I will respect yours. Anyways, let's begin this showdown!
Luggage/Baggage fees
Normally, people fly to go on vacations, or for business. It is ideal that people bring some sort of baggage. Both United and Southwest airlines have a free carry on policy. If you have a carry on suitcase, you just have to make sure that it is not too big and can be stored in the over head bins on the plane. A person is usually allowed 2 carry ons: A small, carry on suitcase, and a personal item, such as a backpack or purse. Now, let's say that you have a bigger suitcase and want to check it in. Here is where the tea begins.
Southwest gives you the opportunity to check in two pieces of luggage, for FREE. This includes sports equipment and skis. Pretty awesome right? If you are wondering about United, well they actually have a $25 dollar luggage fee for your first bag. If you want to check in another bag, that's another $35.
The last thing that I want to bring up with luggage is reliability. Now this is just based on my personal experiences with the airlines, but I do have to say that United is not that good when it comes to luggage reliability. Recently, when my family and I came home from Salt Lake City during the holidays last year, we had three pieces of luggage. (one of them was a car seat) Two of them came out fine in the domestic baggage claim, but then for some reason, we couldn't locate our last bag, which had both gifts and our belongings in.
Turns out that they ended up on the other side of the airport (at IAH Bush airport, which is annoyingly huge). It was around 10:30 at night, and we were all very tired because our flight was delayed. It took us about an hour to locate it, find a way into the airport, and then go home. All for just one bag. I have even heard worse situations, some of my family members that fly United regularly have even LOST their bags. Other times, it takes them a couple of days until they can find it and then either bring it to their home or hotel. That does not make your vacation off to a good start.
Whereas with Southwest, I have had lots of good experiences with them. I have checked in bags, brought carry on's with me, and I haven't had any weird experiences. There have been even cases where I bring a carry on suitcase and they're nice enough to put it under the plane so I don't have to worry about it. I say Southwest wins this category.
The last thing that I want to bring up with luggage is reliability. Now this is just based on my personal experiences with the airlines, but I do have to say that United is not that good when it comes to luggage reliability. Recently, when my family and I came home from Salt Lake City during the holidays last year, we had three pieces of luggage. (one of them was a car seat) Two of them came out fine in the domestic baggage claim, but then for some reason, we couldn't locate our last bag, which had both gifts and our belongings in.
Turns out that they ended up on the other side of the airport (at IAH Bush airport, which is annoyingly huge). It was around 10:30 at night, and we were all very tired because our flight was delayed. It took us about an hour to locate it, find a way into the airport, and then go home. All for just one bag. I have even heard worse situations, some of my family members that fly United regularly have even LOST their bags. Other times, it takes them a couple of days until they can find it and then either bring it to their home or hotel. That does not make your vacation off to a good start.
Whereas with Southwest, I have had lots of good experiences with them. I have checked in bags, brought carry on's with me, and I haven't had any weird experiences. There have been even cases where I bring a carry on suitcase and they're nice enough to put it under the plane so I don't have to worry about it. I say Southwest wins this category.
Check- In
When you arrive to the airport, you want to have an experience where it is worry free and just want to start off your vacation or trip the moment you hear the planes landing on the tarmac. When you check in at United, you normally have to wait in a long line to check in your bags (and probably yourself). Whenever it is Spring Break, or just in the summer, the lines can get very long and slow. With United, you can skip these lines, if you are in one of their special programs. But of course, that costs extra $$$. Plus, not everyone is not a world traveler, who spends their lives in airplanes and airports (I know I'm not). So signing up for those "GLOBAL TRAVELER" reward programs may not seem that wise.
Southwest is a flip of the coin when you check in. Again, this is all depending on when you fly during the year and at what time. But, the differences from United is that Southwest has a lot of self Kiosks that you can walk up and use. You can check in, get your boarding pass, then if you have any carry on luggage, you can check that in too and get the tag from it. If you have a bag that you want to check in, you can also print out the tag and drop it off at the "bag drop" that they have. Like I said, it's a flip of the coin because getting to a kiosk could be no problem, but the bag drop line could take a pretty long time. You decide which one is the winner for this round.
Also! If you are a minor (someone under 18), there is a $150 fee for you to fly on United. This is if you are unaccompanied without an adult, but Southwest has no fee and allows you to fly at regular fares.
Southwest is a flip of the coin when you check in. Again, this is all depending on when you fly during the year and at what time. But, the differences from United is that Southwest has a lot of self Kiosks that you can walk up and use. You can check in, get your boarding pass, then if you have any carry on luggage, you can check that in too and get the tag from it. If you have a bag that you want to check in, you can also print out the tag and drop it off at the "bag drop" that they have. Like I said, it's a flip of the coin because getting to a kiosk could be no problem, but the bag drop line could take a pretty long time. You decide which one is the winner for this round.Also! If you are a minor (someone under 18), there is a $150 fee for you to fly on United. This is if you are unaccompanied without an adult, but Southwest has no fee and allows you to fly at regular fares.
Before and During the Flight (Comfort!)
One of the things that makes Southwest so unique is that all of the seats are the same price. Meaning that there is no first class or economy. Your boarding group is based on when did you check in. So if you are the first one on the plane, you get to choose whatever seat you want. Seems fair and everyone gets a seat. But when you have equality, you don't have first class lounges and membership lounges in general. If you are into that sorta thing, you would probably know what I am going to say, but yes, it costs money to have those sorta things with United.
United has their plane split into 3 different sections, First class, Economy Plus, and Economy. Each of these seats cost different amounts, ranging from the cheapest of Economy, to the lavish First Class. Economy has the bare minimum of treats on the flight, just having snacks, drinks, and a TV at your seat if you're on one of the new planes. Economy Plus has extra room, and it gives you a mighty fine chance of being moved up to First Class. Now, First Class gives you a slice of pure joy for your 2 hour flight to Vermont for a wedding, or whatever you are flying for. You have extra legroom, more space to work with, a TV monitor, and comfy seats. The flight attendants may even give you hot towels, cookies, and food that you can enjoy. Plus! You are the first ones off of the plane.
Southwest also offers refreshments and snacks when you get on the flight. Southwest also has FREE WIFI, which you can connect to and watch live TV while you are up in the air. United, does not have free wifi, but has the TV monitors on the seats that you can choose a variety of movies from.
This round is all about how you like to fly. Whether if you want the bare minimum (but also getting a good experience), or living your best life in First Class Lounges and seats, you choose the winner.
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| not my photo, credit to owner |
Southwest also offers refreshments and snacks when you get on the flight. Southwest also has FREE WIFI, which you can connect to and watch live TV while you are up in the air. United, does not have free wifi, but has the TV monitors on the seats that you can choose a variety of movies from.
This round is all about how you like to fly. Whether if you want the bare minimum (but also getting a good experience), or living your best life in First Class Lounges and seats, you choose the winner.
Reputation
You normally want to fly with the good guys. Well, both of these airlines have had both of their fair share of scandals and accidents that have raised eyebrows across the Internet and news. United seems to be the unfortunate one in this case, about a year and a half ago, there was a video of this man who was being dragged off of a United plane before it took off. The main story was that he was sitting in a place (that he paid for) that was being taken away from him because a United worker needed a flight to a city. In other words, they overbooked the flight. That is the problem when flying with United, they always have problems with overbooking because they allow employees to catch a quick ride to whatever city they need to go to.
Do all the research you want, but you make the choice on who has better customer feedback and experiences with the airline. Ask friends and family, see what they think of them and who do they prefer.
My winner
You are all probably wondering who I favor most out of these two airlines. After everything that I have showed you, I hope you have made an opinion too. My personal favorite airline out of the two is Southwest. I prefer their low fares that come with good customer service and experience. Plus, when I fly alone throughout the year, I am glad that I don't have to pay any fees for being an unaccompanied minor. My family and I are a big fan of their luggage policies, because as a family of 5 we have lots of luggage. Plus, they also have this policy that if you end up missing your flight and arrive within 2 hours after it takes off, they will put you on another flight free of charge. Awesome, right? So thats's it, don't get me wrong, I like to use United, but I prefer Southwest a lot more.Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this post and please comment down below if you want me to write more comparison blog posts and more travel posts in the future. Also let me know which airline do you prefer, if you don't like either which airline do you like the best? That is it for me today you guys, safe summer travels!
love,
yo girl emilia
P.S. check me out on social media!
Instagram: @yogirlemilia
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