<\/a><\/p>\n There isn\u2019t much travel going on in the United States right now. With the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases in so many states, as well as the fact that most external countries are not allowing US citizens to enter without a mandatory 14-day quarantine; most American\u2019s are staying home. Many of those who do travel are enjoying road trips in their cars, as this method of travel affords much less exposure to other individuals and the potential viruses they may carry.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We\u2019ve made a decision to limit our family travel this summer to the western half of the United States. If we are going to be driving somewhere, I don\u2019t want to spend extended time behind the wheel. Frankly, I just don\u2019t enjoy it. If we do drive to a destination, I try to limit our time 4-5 hours max per segment, and break up the road trip.<\/p>\n If we fly somewhere (four individual flights so far this summer) our informal rule is to keep the flight less than two hours if possible and, so far, no connection flights. Service has been greatly reduced on most airlines and food and drink options are usually water and a snack on shorter flights, and maybe a boxed lunch on longer, higher class of service flights. Most airlines are requiring a mask be worn during the flight and that is another element that reduces the carefree enjoyment of flying. For the record, I am glad that the airlines are requiring masks on flights. They reduce potential contagion and increase safety. Nothing to argue about during a pandemic.<\/p>\n Our four flights have been from Sacramento California, to Portland Oregon and return. Three of those flights have been on Southwest and one of them on Alaska Airlines. I\u2019m 75K MVP GOLD with Alaska, there highest elite tier, and would normally select them as my carrier of choice. But the current pandemic has changed our calculus on which carriers we fly.<\/p>\n <\/a>Flying Southwest out of Sacramento California<\/p>\n The first issue we\u2019ve had in taking Alaska is that they\u2019ve really reduced their routing and schedules between normally serviced cities. Portland is a hub for Alaska, and before the COVID-19 situations, I would expect to find three to four flights a day between the Sacramento and Portland city pairs. During June that went down to two flights a day. The latest of those two flights was 1:30pm. Southwest on the other hand has been conducting three flights a day, with the latest one leaving at 6:30pm. Cranky Flyer\u2019s Brett Snyder has also noticed Southwest Airlines willingness to offer more flights than many of the legacy carriers with posts here<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, and here on the subject<\/a><\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/a>Southwest has Decent Leg Room for a Low Cost Carrier<\/p>\n Additionally, Alaska has been flying this route with the E175 aircraft. Now normally I love the Embraer E-175 on Alaska Airlines. Frequently I can get upgraded with an Alaska Airlines \u201cupgrade cert\u201d to one of the single first-class seats on the left-hand side of the 1+2 up front cabin. If I\u2019m traveling with Susan, we usually are together in first class, or at least in economy comfort with the lovely 2+2 seating. This is opposed to Southwest Boeing 737s, with 3+3 seating. Travelling together as a couple on the Southwest Boeing 737s you would typically end up with a third individual next to you. Of course there is no such thing as first class on Southwest Airlines \u2013 so you can forget about ever having a single first-class seat like with Alaska Airlines and other U.S. carriers.<\/p>\nSouthwest Airlines is the Best Airline to Fly During the Summer of COVID-19<\/strong><\/h3>\n