There are reasons why I hate (not even dislike) Southwest...

Southwest, to a lot of people, is a good choice for travel.

But to me, Southwest is #1 on my airlines ban list.

If you asked me, have I ever traveled with Southwest before making this conclusion? The answer is yes.

Of course - I have my own reasons:

1. Safety and Maintenance Record

Seriously?

The reason is simple. It was about 6-7 years when I traveled from Baltimore to Oakland via Phoenix. I was sitting in a window seat that was allowed me to see the left wing. Do you know what I have seen?

A rusty screw/nail.

I never saw that in any active aircrafts.

Of course, I have properly reported to this issue to FAA, who has the authority for airworthiness (but they failed to act after 2 months...which was another story).

Remember that Southwest was grounded because 737s were not properly inspected?

Southwest Airlines - Safety violations

How about this?

Southwest Airlines Flight 812

Beside, based on my research on Wikipedia, Southwest has more aircraft-related incidents than other major airlines.

I may be biased - but the fact speaks the truth.

2. LUV does not mean Southwest loves you

Remember Kyla Ebbert?

How about Leisha Hailey?

Now you know what I mean.

(Declaimer - It is not my intention to judge if these actions are justified by Southwest. But to simply address that what kind of messes that Southwest had created).

3. Is Southwest cheap?

Yes - with no doubt, if you have checked baggage, or if your travel is in a urgent matter (that you book your ticket in less than 14 days).

How about if baggage fee is no longer a concern (such as you have methods to get away with the baggage fee) and you have more than enough time to make your booking?

Then it is a no.

When I write this, I have pulled the following example to examine how cheap Southwest is:

Departure Date: 12/01/2011 (One-way)
From: San Francisco, CA
To: Los Angeles, CA

Basically, all airlines which operate this route (including code-share), except Virgin America, almost have the same price, and they are:

Alaska
American
Delta
United/Continental (They are $1 more compare to others).

...and Southwest.

Virgin America is in fact the cheapest, which costs $89 total.

So now you know why I never fly with Southwest...