Limes are much better. Try lime instead of lemon in your iced tea or some limeade and taste for yourself.

I REFUSE TO FLY ON ANY AIRLINE THAT DOES NOT HAVE AT LEAST FIFTY POUNDS OF LEMONS STUFFED INTO THE OVERHEAD COMPARTMENTS! SOUTHWEST: YOU JUST LOST A CUSTOMER!

Seriously though - do they really need lemons OR limes? I mean honestly - do y'all demand a slice of lemon in your coke or what? Is this a thing in the states?

@Vandelay Import Export: I was at that concert. We barely helped any of 'em :)

Limes are far superior. Also, they are one of the ingredients in margaritas. So clearly they are a food of the gods.

I want to click something for no reason!

:D

@nagumi: Yeah, people expect to see a piece of lemon in their tap water, and because of that, they expect it will be there for their Diet Cokes as well.

Yuck to both.

I don't like limes or lemons. I hate sour stuff. I can usually tell if a waiter/waitress is going to be good or not by how well they can follow my, "Water, no lemon" request. If there is lemon on the side of the glass anyway.. eh... ok.. but if there is a lemon IN MY WATER I ask (nicely!) that they get me another one and then make sure they really understand and write down my order when I order food.

Lime is better with bloody mary mix, which I drink (sans vodka) on airplanes (ONLY on airplanes). Case closed.

@nagumi: I think they try to impart a sense of class by inserting a wedge into your drink. But i would rather have a coke with a wedge of lime if insisted...

Also - water with lemon is a pretty common order in restaurants i think. :)

Crazy airlines - they should just used lemon/lime juice!

Lemons are a magical fruit. I have been peeling and eating them (like an orange) since I was a small child. I STILL hear from my mother that it is taking the enamel off my teeth and I am almost 36 now.

@nagumi: You put the Lime in the coke you nut!

Six months from now, Consumerist will feature an article spotlighting the outrageous "lemon fees" applied by Southwest... or something...

@nagumi: It hides the taste of hard water. I always order water with lemon at restaurants (especially in the Outer Banks - where their side walks' cement rusts from the nearby iron ridden sprinkler water)

I love limes, definitely more than lemons, but I also feel like a traitor because I'm drinking lemonade right now.

100,000 dollars is not much for an airline. Next we'll hear: Southwest forbids pilots to wear hats - saves 50,000 dollars annually.

Then we'll get down to: Southwest changes steward(ess) attire to speedos and bikinis, serves only astronaut icecream - saves 200,000 dollars annually.

@Vandelay Import Export: I agree! Lime in the ice tea!

@blueneon: Well, the enamel damage starts showing up in your fifties, so hang in there.

@SpruceStreetPhil: See, I like seeing things like this when they're minor. I'd rather get a lime and not pay a baggage fee. In fact, I'd rather not get a drink at all (or limited selection) on flights less than two hours if it will keep prices down.

@katstermonster: Roll a lime on the counter to soften it a little, then inject it using one of those marinade syringes: 1/2 ounce of good tequila or rum. Then refrigerate and drop those cut limes into iced tea. :D

@SpruceStreetPhil: I wish all restaurants would filter their damned drinking water.

@Sonicslasher: I'm clicking submit for no reason....

Just as long as they have one or the other on board, that's fine with me. That way, in the event of a emergency landing on water, passengers can be "saved by the buoyancy of citrus."

@SpruceStreetPhil: Both of those sound like fantastic ideas...but just for the stewardesses. Make the men wear trunks at least.

@ARP: I was just joking, I agree with you, who cares, as long as the water tastes alright enough to drink.

I declare this...Lemon Law.

Not surprising. A friend of mine used to work for American Eagle (employees there called it "The Evil Chicken"). In that airline, their bean counters determined that by removing two olives from each of the salads on the in-flight meals, they could save a substantial sum of money.

@karmaghost: And be protected from scurvy!

@Sonicslasher: i think this is the first time that the "dummy vote" has truly backfired and been #1 by a significant margin (or at least, the first time i've noticed it)
56% "want to click"
36% limes
9% lemons

if i recall correctly, American Airlines saved somewhere in the ballpark of $50k by reducing the number of olives on first-class salads from 4 to 3 (think this was late 80s)

@Kimaroo - 20% More Kitty Added!: Yeah, I hate the "lemon or no?" question, followed by getting a lemon in my drink against my wishes. Why even ask?

@nagumi: Hello...scurvy anyone? geez.

Okay, so what's $100,000 a year?

Per day: $273.27

Per flight (3,200 flights a day): $8.56

Per passenger (most Southwest planes carry 137 passengers): $0.000625 (625 ten-thousandths of a cent)

Southwest's net income for the most recent quarter was $54 million, just for some perspective. Total revenue was $2.6 billion.

@pecan 3.14159265:
note that Limes are also a Key ingredient in Gin & Tonic.
so you can also be protected against undrunkedness.

@TCama: Sorry, the per flight number is wrong. It's actually $0.0865, or 8.65 cents.

@JohnQPublic: Noooo! It's a horrible idea. Have you seen some of the stewardesses?

@SpruceStreetPhil: if they start wearing speedos and bikinis, they may save $200K, but they'll make $1M more. Assuming the stewardesses are also supermodels...

@The Porkchop Express: If the slice in your airplane water is all that stands between you and scurvy, I think you can pretty much kiss those teeth goodbye.

@smartmuffin: Maybe protesters will get together for a lemon party.

Limes are cheaper than lemons?

Is this true? Here in Southern California, a lemon costs 10 - 20 cents at the supermarket, and a lime is 33 - 50. But nobody even has to buy a lemon in my neighborhood, because every other house has a lemon tree.

Oh sure, it's a cost-savings now, but what about all the inevitable lawsuits when all the passengers develop scurvy?

@blueneon: Did she also how not to grow hair on the palms of your hands?

@mxjohnson:

"but nobody has to buy a lemon in my neighborhood..." you see, there's one input called "supply," the other's called "demand" ....
Seriously, though, here's a fun fact: Limes are no longer commercially grown in the United States. Not one. More than 95% of limes sold in the US come from Mexico.

@zentex:

Ironically, Southwest used to specifically hire hotties in short skirts as stewardesses when they were first starting out, and when most of their customers were businessmen.

@TCama: Your math is still extremely wonky.

$100,000 / 365 days = $273.97/day.
$273.97/day / 3200 flights = $0.0856 per flight rounded.
Per passenger is even more miniscule.

@mxjohnson: Where i am in northern nevada, lemons are usually $0.50-.70, limes are anywhere from 10 per $1 to $.30 each.

@treimel: British sailors weren't called Limeys for nothing.

@Traveshamockery: Around here they don't ask if you want it.. they just put it in water and tea. I always say "Water, No lemon" when I order.

I used to say, "Water, without lemon" and too many times they heard "Water, with lemon" and I got lemony water. No more.

@Ratty: But they had to eat more limes to make up for the difference in vitamin C content. Unless Southwest also increases their citrus wedge allotment per passenger, they're staring down the barrel of a major scurvy lawsuit.

limes have a more unique flavor which stands out in savory dishes but as for baking i prefer lemons.