Category: General

Federal Minimum Wage Increase

July 24, 2007

Posted by derek under General

8 Comments

Effective today the federal minimum wage has increased to $5.85 per hour. This is the first increase to the federal minimum wage since September 1997 and ends the longest period without a federal minimum wage increase since being enacted in 1938. In May of this year, President Bush signed legislation that will increase the federal… continue reading

Extracurricular Costs Adding Up

July 17, 2007

Posted by derek under General

No Comments

Do you budget for your kid’s extracurricular activities? How do you limit which activities your child can pursue? Is it by cost or by interest? This summer we have had a handful of costs for extracurricular activities for our children and we are in the process of contemplating an additional activity for our youngest son.… continue reading

Blunders and Tips for Organizing Your Financial Life

July 13, 2007

Posted by derek under General

3 Comments

Are your financial records in order? Do you need help with your organization? Earlier today I was reading an article on Yahoo! Finance about digging out and getting yourself organized. In the article, there were a few common blunders to avoid as well as a few tips to follow as you try to put some… continue reading

Do You Tip Contractors?

July 11, 2007

Posted by derek under General

7 Comments

As you might recall, my wife and I are in the process of having new windows installed in our home. While the installation crew has been here working, my wife and I have been discussing whether or not we should tip each of the guys on the crew. My wife doesn’t think we should tip… continue reading

Motley Fool Open Community

July 3, 2007

Posted by derek under General

3 Comments

Have you ever visited or heard of the Motley Fool website? The Motley Fool is a financial website that has a stated purpose to educate, amuse and enrich. For me personally, I consider my discovery of the Motley Fool discussion boards to be the turning point in my financial life as that is where I… continue reading

Back To The Future :: Give Yourself Financial Advice

June 29, 2007

Posted by derek under General

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Over at Consumerism Commentary, Flexo is currently running a giveaway where you have a chance to win a copy of the book Cash, Cars & College: A Young Person’s Guide to Money. In order to enter the contest, Flexo asks that you answer the following question: What single piece of (financial) advice would you like… continue reading

Look At The Big Picture

June 27, 2007

Posted by derek under General

2 Comments

The other night my wife and I were discussing our finances and I commented to her that sometimes it really feels like we are living paycheck to paycheck. This is frustrating to me because I have a well paying job and we do pretty well with living a frugal lifestyle. Take A Step Back As… continue reading

5 Ways To Get Financial Advice With Social Media

June 25, 2007

Posted by Linda under General

3 Comments

Linda Bustos is the Marketing Director for Image X Media, a web design firm in Vancouver, BC. She is also the fingers behind the SMogger Social Media Blog. It’s the year 2007 and niche social networks are popping up faster than {insert corny clichÃ© here}. There are social networks for environmentalists, for cat lovers (or… continue reading

Fresh Squeezed Entrepreneurs

June 8, 2007

Posted by derek under General

6 Comments

Now that summer is upon us and the school year is coming to a close, do not be surprised to see neighborhood children setting up shop on street corners trying to sell you a cup of fresh squeezed lemonade. More and more children are using the opportunity to run a lemonade stand as a means… continue reading

Disappointed With Southwest Airlines

May 30, 2007

Posted by derek under General

6 Comments

With two recent business trips completed to Atlanta and Orlando, I have had the opportunity to experience two different airlines within a few weeks of one another. The trip to Atlanta was with Delta Airlines and the trip to Orlando was with Southwest Airlines. The Good From the very beginning, my trip on Delta Airlines… continue reading

With two recent business trips completed to Atlanta and Orlando, I have had the opportunity to experience two different airlines within a few weeks of one another.

The trip to Atlanta was with Delta Airlines and the trip to Orlando was with Southwest Airlines.

The Good
From the very beginning, my trip on Delta Airlines was a pleasant experience with one minor problem that was casued by my corporate travel department. Upon arrival at the airport, I was able to immediately check my bag at the skycap without any waiting. The same held true for my return flight from Atlanta.

The flight to and from Atlanta was pleasant as well. The seats were quite comfortable and with only two seats per side of the aircraft, there was plenty of room to relax a little bit. On the return flight, I changed the flight to an earlier departure and that had a reasonable $25 fee.

Overall, I was very pleased with the experience on Delta Airlines and will not hesitate to fly that airline again.

The Bad
The experience with Southwest Airlines was practically a polar opposite to that of Delta Airlines. Upon arrival at the airport, I was greeted with a long line of people trying to check-in curbside and an even longer line inside the airport.

After checking my bag and arriving at the gate, the people were already piled into the “A”, “B” and “C” lines. For those not familiar with Southwest Airlines, they do not use reserved seating and instead board in groups and the seating is first-come, first-serve.

As luck would have it, I was in the “C” group and by the time we boarded the plane there were only 5 or 6 people behind me. As we boarded the plane, I was greeted with a handful of middle seats on each side of the aircraft and evil stares from each person hoping that I did not squeeze into their aisle.

While I can appreciate trying to fit as many seats into an aircraft as possible, I really think 3 seats per side is just too much. The poor sap in the middle is squished in and does not have much room to either side. As I continued to walk down the aisle, I found a window seat way in the back of the aircraft and quickly grabbed it.

On a side note, I am the type of passenger that prefers the window seat. It seems many people prefer an aisle, however I never get up to use the restroom on a flight so I prefer to grab the window. Whenever I sit on an aisle, it seems like the person on the inside has to use the restroom 4 or 5 times during the flight!

The return flight was much of the same. The line to check baggage was obscenely long at 6am on a Thursday morning. Similar to my trip to Atlanta, I arrived at the airport early in an attempt to jump on an earlier flight home.

Southwest did have an earlier flight, although their fee to change the flight was $143 as opposed to the $25 with Delta Airlines. Considering that the round-trip flight was approximately $280, Southwest was essentially charging me for a one-way fare to change my flight.

Once I boarded the flight and discovered that the aircraft was not even half full, I realized that I was simply padding the pockets of Southwest Airlines by paying the ridiculous fee to change my flight. But the sooner that I could get home and be done with this airline the better!

From beginning to end, my experience with Southwest Airlines was not pleasant at all and I seriously doubt that I will ever fly this airline again.

Next Time
As you may have guessed based on this discussion, I do not travel very often but I do not feel that I was expecting too much from Southwest Airlines. While I guess it could have been worse with flight delays or other problems, Southwest Airlines did not live up to my expectations or the precedent set by Delta Airlines.

Have you ever flown on Southwest Airlines? Was I expecting too much from Southwest Airlines?

My New Choice

Category: General

Federal Minimum Wage Increase

Extracurricular Costs Adding Up

Blunders and Tips for Organizing Your Financial Life

Do You Tip Contractors?

Motley Fool Open Community

Back To The Future :: Give Yourself Financial Advice

Look At The Big Picture

5 Ways To Get Financial Advice With Social Media

Fresh Squeezed Entrepreneurs

Disappointed With Southwest Airlines

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