LUV Pilot Layovers

[shon7]

Somewhat odd question but here goes:

What kind of hotels do the LUV pilots stay at for layovers? Are they Budget Hotels or Hiltons/Hyatts etc?
Who arranges transportation to and from the Airport?

 

[apdsm]

Transportation is pre-arranged. When things are working well, they are there waiting for us. Other times, not so efficient. For the most part excellent, quality, hotels.

 

[PTinbound]

Lots of Hilton's and Sheraton's and the like, fairly high-falutin' places for a guy like me who can't afford to pay 17 bucks for breakfast in San Diego. Some Holiday Inn's and the like, but most are fancier.

I almost miss the part about my old regional - we stayed at a few less "nice" places like Hampton Inn, etc that gave free food. But all in all, I guess I made a good choice to make the switch.

 

[Slug]

falutin' ?

I thought it was falooten'.

The worst we stay in is a LaQuinta in MSY near the airport. Multiple Hilton/Sheratons. Most take really good care of us regardless of the namebrand.



Slug

 

[shon7]

Thanks for your replies guys.

In a lot of threads on LUV -- I have seen the term "SN" mentioned. What does this stand for?

 

[SWA/FO]

I'm at the Westin right now in MCI. I just bumped into some UAL guys here and they are currently on their 33 hour layover. You will never find a SWA layover that long! Can you believe that!? You should be asking about the famous SWA 1-2-3.

 

[ERJDRVR]

The worst we stay in is a LaQuinta in MSY near the airport. Multiple Hilton/Sheratons. Most take really good care of us regardless of the namebrand.



Slug

The funny thing about this statement, is that this is one of the BEST OVERNIGHTS for the Chautauqua Crews. The hotel is above average for us BUT staying with the SWA crews makes all the difference for us. A couple of things are guarenteed to happen. One, we are gonna get the 1-2-3 Rule. Two, Some old Crusty SWA Captain is gonna start buying the drinks for everyone. Three, at some point their is gonna be naked flight attendants running around there or the Third Rock, if you can last that long. Four, some SWA FO is gonna take home a CHQ F/A..(We usually do not drink that much to do it )
One mans dump is another poor pilot's paradise.

 

[johnny taliban]

I'm at the Westin right now in MCI. I just bumped into some UAL guys here and they are currently on their 33 hour layover. You will never find a SWA layover that long! Can you believe that!? You should be asking about the famous SWA 1-2-3.

Okay, I'll bite
whats the 1-2-3 rule? Is that required knowledge for the interview?

Johnny

 

[Slug]

33 hour layover

I was a UAL F/O for a while and I can speak from experience that 33 hours is quite normal. It sucked and was another reason for being unhappy (besides being given the boot). A short layover was 20 hours. At SWA a normal layover is 12-16 hours. 14 is optimum in my opinion.

I wasn't trying to rub it in ERJDUDE. Our hotel committee (joint between F/A and Pilots) is outstanding! They do us right, way past the hotel name. Your scenario was a hoot; exactly as I've seen before only in ALB. No I did not try to score with the RJ F/A, but another F/O did. As for the 1-2-3, its best left in code not to be discussed further.


Slug

 

[SWA/FO]

discount airline = discount food & drink....

 

[chase]

Hotel Committee Background

The following comes from one of our hotel committee members that was on my jump seat for a long leg.

SWA is one of the only airlines that DOES NOT have the company choose the hotels. The hotel selection committee consists of FAs & pilots who negotiate the contracts directly with the hotels. SWAmanagement is involved only at the level of paying the bill. The result of this is that the crews hold ourselves to blame/praise on any hotel problems/posiitves. Issues are brought directly to the hotel committee which involve service/hotel issues....the company rarely gets involved in these. This keeps the company from having to dedicate folks in handling sticky issues or cutting pennies to say money with the crews getting the short end of the stick & complaining about the "company doesn't care" attitude. "We", the pilots & FAs are the ones who choose the hotels.

Additionally I was told this keeps "grievances" from being filed by crews against the company. At AA I was told they have at any one time over 500 grievances by crewmembers against the company for hotel related issues....urban legend? It takes a lot of resources, pulled trips & expensive research to resolve grievances. I don't know but even if that number is 1/4 of that the same source said SWA has only a handful (less than 5) at anyone time.

Our folks on the committee work very hard to get the most money for the best hotel & I believe the quality of hotels has steadily improved (they were good when I got here 4+ yrs ago) & continue to do so. We're very fortunate I believe & we're saving alot of money at the same time. What it is most gratifying though is the reputation that the company enjoys among most hotel staff. Of course they could all be lying to me & just be playing to the crowd but the general rule is the hotel staffs believe generally the SWA folks treat them the best...I hope we continue that LUV for a long time...when that changes it will be telling time indeed.

 

[Rogue5]

What's with the limo in RNO? I heard you guys were having a hard time getting to and from the airport in time so now you have stretch waiting while we all pile in the back of hotel van?!

 

[FlyChicaga]

http://www.bwipilotbase.com/PDF_files/HotList.pdf
http://www.bwipilotbase.com/PDF_files/Amenities.pdf

Hotel List, ammenties, care of BWIPilotBase.com.

I'm really curious about this 1-2-3 rule!!!

 

[Northern Lights]

I googled the 1-2-3 rule and it sent me to this thread .

 

[SWA GUY]

1 Guy

2 Gals

3 Shots Yaegermeister





Shoulda been in MSY Sat night and seem the sicko party we had!

 

[TrumanSparks]

What Is 1-2-3?

That's easy, It's 6.

The best way to find out is to ask on the interview, if your lucky you'll find out the night before at the Hotel.

 

[SentryIP]

1-2-3 = $1.00 for draft beers - $2.00 for glass of wine - $3.00 for mixed drinks. Also, they all have 30% - 50% discount for meals.

 

[JetSpeed219]

"The worst we stay in is a LaQuinta in MSY near the airport"

Hey Slug, what's wrong with La Quinta???? I work at a La Quinta at PDX and it's a very nice property!

 

[Slug]

Worst

I said it was the worst we stay at. I didn't say it was bad now did I? They treat us well there. The bar/restaurant addition was nice. Its all symantics.


Slug

no offense intended!

 

[TrumanSparks]

PDX - MSY, trust me not the samething

I will agree that MSY is ok, and you have the Harbor House down the road. Plus them waffles in the AM, mmm good.

 

[JetSpeed219]

Slug, no offense taken, I'm just giving you a hard time!

 

[lowlycfi]

What's with the limo in RNO? I heard you guys were having a hard time getting to and from the airport in time so now you have stretch waiting while we all pile in the back of hotel van?!

I was just in RNO and had the same P-O-S van that the Nugget has always had. It was waiting on us when we got in and at lobby the next day. Never been to crazy about limos anyway. We used to have them in IND, BWI (pre crew base) and DTW and I always sort of felt like a pimp climbing into one.