good point, darn NLF i owe you a beer for all the advice.
my mom is saying go the non-stop route. i don't take a lot of vacation and why not get there as soon as possible without any of the hassles. i don't care about price - i'd do jetblue/virgin - i think at this point the thing that attracts me the most is the non-stop factor. it's hard to find non-stop DC > San Diego.
No problem, hammonds. I travel lots and I really enjoy the planning of routes, hotels, car rentals, etc. Finding the bargains is the best part.
Nonstop is the best - when I have to change, I make sure I know how I can be re-routed when I'm inevitably stuck somewhere awful like Philly or Detroit.
EDIT: Realized that you will totally blame me if your flight sucks
My wife swears up and down by Southwest, you should be fine. I do really like their non-stop flights between non-traditional hub cities.