Do you fly with the same airline?

Yes.

I make it easy and don’t fly. The horror stories get worse and worse.

Thought it was safer flying than it is driving

It isn’t just a question of safety. It is the hours on line, the need to park 20 miles away, the daily stories of passengers being trapped on planes for 8 hours, while sitting on the runway. Toilets overflowing, babies screaming, no food, no water, no info. Belated and pathetic apologies from airline PR flack, the concatination of missed connections. I’ll take the train any day.

To fly from Albany to Miami, one is usually routed through Denver or O’Hara.

I shop for the cheapest flight.

I base my airline choice upon price and convenience. For example, if I can go from Cleveland to Orlando round trip on Continental within $50 of another airline, I do it. I can get a direct flight which means I don’t have to worry about scurrying through another airport to find my connection. Or that I don’t have to wait on the plane for people at the stopover to show up. Also, when I get back to Cleveland, I know that I will get my luggage in a timely fashion. I don’t know if it’s because they have a hub in Cleveland, but I do like getting my bag quickly. $50 is about my limit in that case.

Southwest, all the way. I’ll fly them over the competitors 19 times out of 20, even if the price is up to about $50 higher (and usually, they’re actually the cheapest by about $50). My reasons include:

* Nicest, friendliest, happiest employess of any airline
* Highest earning rate for frequent flier awards via flights, branded credit card, and partners
* No fees to change a flight
* No fees to cancel a flight
* No fees to check the 2nd bag
* No fees to check the 1st bag
* No fees for a window or aisle seat
* No fees to use curb-side check-in
* Ability to choose my own seat once I get on the plane, so I can avoid sitting next to the screaming kid or the overweight guy spilling into my seat
* Still have free snacks and drinks
* No teeny tiny planes that you have to duck just to stand up in.
* My past experiences with them are 95% positive, as compared to about 30% positive on US, United, Delta, etc.
* Only airline that flies non-stop from Albany to Orlando, which is where the majority of my vacation travel is located.

I will, if forced, fly United or Delta. You would have to pay me a considerable sum of money to fly USAir again, however.

I usually fly Southwest because there are a lot of direct flights from ABQ, and it’s painless to make, change and cancel reservations.

My gf’s sister works for Frontier, so we fly that sometimes as well.

Seems like everything else is way more expensive.

I’m screwed because I now live in memphis and Northwest (now Delta) owns this hub. It is almost the only way I can fly non-stop with few exceptions. The prices are ridiculous and I have considered reporting them for price gouging. I, several times, booked a flight to Gulf Port, MS for my boss, I think the flight is 1.5 hours from Memphis, and the fee was over $700 round trip with advanced booking. If you fly the same airline starting in Little Rock, connecting through Memphis, it was $250. I am currently booking flights from Memphis to Detroit and Fort Laud to Detroit and the FL flight is $190 round trip and the Memphis flight is $325. The Memphis flight is half the flying time of the FL flight. I could go on and on with examples. It is obvious they charge what they can get away with and it has little to do with oil prices.

When I lived on the east coast I price shopped first and then if all prices were competitive flew American Airlines, because that is where I had most of my sky miles.

I fly Southwest because they are now the only company flying full-sized jets in and out of our town. However, in my experience (except for one idiot in Chicago who got his comeuppance from his supervisor) I would say that what @MrItty says holds true for me, too.

You can also subscribe to their website notices of specials and sales to specific destinations.

Typically cheapest, then flight length (big for international flights), then airline fees (baggage fees, etc.)

I’d like to think that my choice is based on numerous factors, but the truth is it is all about price. Maybe once I am not a broke, in debt medical student, I’ll have the privilege to base my decisions on comfort. I have been flying with Continental a lot recently (and I actually do like them!), but the choice to fly with them was entirely because they were giving the best deal.