Southwest will shortly commence service between California and Hawaii, but United wants to remind you that there are other choices.
The following appeared on United’s Twitter recently:
I view the ad as a friendly and good-natured jab, but a fair point. Southwest is great for the West Coast, but not for the rest of the nation. It simply isn’t.
When I wrote about the problem of East Coast connections due to lack of redeyes on Southwest, I was met with many fierce comments from Southwest loyalists who utterly dismissed my argument. It is true that while Southwest has a hub and spoke system out of airports like Phoenix, Dallas Love, and Chicago Midway (among others), it also offers many “point-to-point” destinations with focus on local travelers rather than connections.
> Read More: Southwest’s Hawaii Experiment Is Missing One Essential Ingredient
> Read More: Prepare For A Fare War To Hawaii
Thus, it is true that Southwest can fill up its Hawaii flights with West Coast passengers. But it is also true that Southwest is making it very difficult for very loyal Southwest flyers on the East Coast to use Southwest for Hawaii travel. Who wants an overnight connection in Oakland, even with a companion pass? Why would Southwest just cede these passengers to carriers like United?
United seems to enjoy trolling Southwest, also posting a “Love” ad (Southwest’s logo includes a heart and sells using the ticker symbol LUV) from Denver, where United and Southwest compete head-on.
CONCLUSION
I enjoy United’s clever Twitter ads. On the Hawaii issue, I think United makes a strong point. But that won’t stop diehard Southwest fans from either dismissing it or making the overnight double connections from Hawaii…Southwest deserves credit for that.
image: Tomás Del Coro / Wikimedia Commons
It’s pretty misleading to show arrows between 2 cities that don’t have nonstop service!
I believe these are all new United/UAX routes from DEN starting at some point this year.
Albert is correct.
And the “Love” reference is clear!
Omg! You’re right! How did I miss this? https://www.pressherald.com/2019/02/14/jetport-adds-nonstop-flight-to-denver/
Seeing a lot of Purple at United theses days…..
I flew United to Hawaii several times, not a fan. Long delays, baggage fees, ticket issues were never resolved. I will fly SWA anywhere they go. Hawaii in May. Thanks for the great service SWA.
I think these are both great ads. I live in Chicago and fly both carriers (and AA) several times per year. I’ve come to the conclusion that Southwest is roughly half as good as the average consumer thinks while United is about half as bad. Southwest perpetually benefits from an exaggerated halo effect while United is the company that everyone loves to hate regardless of justification. I wholly admit that United has historically managed to trip over themselves fairly often but I’ve fundamentally found them to professional, friendly, and reliable. Anecdotally, my most delayed flights have been on SWA and my worst in-flight experiences have been on SWA.
Personal opinions aside, it seems that SWA is in midst of an identity crisis. It’s no longer the lowest cost provider. Sure, the FAs may tell funny jokes but they don’t really win on service. A transcontinental flight with only pretzels? Even Spirit and Frontier offer buy on board snacks. It’s expanded to various vacation destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean but the schedules aren’t great and, as the cancellation of the MEX flights show, it hasn’t figured out how to appeal to residents both north and south of the border. SWA acts like it is in the fight of its life to attract California fliers with “convenient” Hawaii routes but hasn’t figured out how to connect these routes to the rest of the system. How does that make any sense? Given the large populations of greater Chicago and Baltimore/Washington, one would think they would at least try to connect these to the Hawaii routes. But this Chicago flyer isn’t upset. While I do occasionally choose SWA if the price and schedule makes sense, I’ll gladly spend my money with United knowing that my loyalty is acknowledged with points that will take me further than Tulsa, Cancun, or Montego Bay. Last year’s reward flight on the upper deck of a Lufthansa 747 was incredible and I’m eager to try out Austrian business class this fall. Enjoy those pretzels!
I fly to/from Denver on a weekly basis. Not only does United beat SWA on scheduling, but most always on price when you consider cost of EarlyBird to match conveniences for business travelers, and even then, the difference in price is small. I’ve flown UA and DL to Hawaii a few times in the past year and it’s definitely worth a few dollars more for better timed flights/connections.
SWA will always have a following of loyal peeps. But 200 bucks more I get First Class, points, a United Club and a nice dinner. United is squeezing SWA and it’s gonna get worse. There is no comparison. United is first class
Whether it makes sense or not, the fare will be the factor. If the ticket is low enough people will connect once, twice, or three times. It’s all about following the money.
Was WN planning to use the MAX on these Hawaii flights?
United is a great option if you wanna get beaten and dragged off the plane in handcuffs for not wanting to give up your seat that you paid for.
Because that happened, what, one time and it wasn’t even United who did it? And you’re probably the guy who pays for Early Bird and then saves seats for all his family who were too cheap to pay? Yet another reason United gets the win.
Southwest is half the price to Mexico City and two bags fly free
Not sure where you live but I’m guessing there’s no access to news. Mexico City is done – SWA couldn’t ‘make it work because it never occurred to them that maybe, just maybe, Mexico-based flyers would prefer to pay in pesos and their antiquated IT system couldn’t handle it: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/todayinthesky/2019/01/24/southwest-airlines-mexico-city-flights-end-march/2667951002/
2 bags free is only for losers who don’t know how to pack
Brilliant way of introducing new tactics.