Midwest Airlines Midwest Miles (Pre-Alignment) - Improvement on schedule change & website question

I received a schedule change e-mail today. And...happily...this schedule change did NOT lock the record in my online profile.

Several times before in the past year or two I've been critical of how even simple schedule changes locked up the reservation and required talking to an agent to unlock it. Thankfully...at least for this particular instand...this has been remedied.

I wondered now that the two airlines are merging, will they use Frontier's web platform, Midwest's, or a new one? It would seem that using Frontier's would be the easiet, however if the underlying platform they go with is Midwest's, that might necessitate a website change.

I do find some frustrating things using the F9 site and hope if they do use Frontier's they improve performance. Then again, i might just be used to the quirks of the YX site.

I would imagine they would go with Frontier's infrastructure for the reasons you mentioned. I do hope however that they update frontier's website with a fresh look and feel. The booking process isn't too bad but some of the user stuff and overall navigation are a bit clunky.

I do hope however that they update frontier's website with a fresh look and feel.

Be careful what you wish for. WN has slowly taken one of the fastest and least cluttered airline web sites and turned it into one of the slowest, ugliest, cluttered and error prone sites of any airline.

I would speculate, and this is sheer speculation, of course, we will see the standard Frontier website.

That means we will be seeing three fare tiers offered. Economy, Classic and Classic Plus. How YX passengers will react to those offerings remains to be seen.

I would speculate, and this is sheer speculation, of course, we will see the standard Frontier website.

That means we will be seeing three fare tiers offered. Economy, Classic and Classic Plus. How YX passengers will react to those offerings remains to be seen.

I really hope that whatever changes occur do not include charging extra for advance seat selection, such as in Frontier's Economy; that would take a competitive edge away when going up against FL and WN, at a time when advantages should not be taken lightly.

I really hope that whatever changes occur do not include charging extra for advance seat selection, such as in Frontier's Economy; that would take a competitive edge away when going up against FL and WN, at a time when advantages should not be taken lightly.

I don't think Milwaukee would be too receptive to that idea after years of free advance seat assignment.

Classic, however, doesn't appear to be a bad deal, as it includes seat assignment, DirecTV, and two checked bags.

I don't think Milwaukee would be too receptive to that idea after years of free advance seat assignment.

Classic, however, doesn't appear to be a bad deal, as it includes seat assignment, DirecTV, and two checked bags.

Milwaukee loves a bargain. If they think it is a bargain they will buy!

Milwaukee loves a bargain. If they think it is a bargain they will buy!

Will the average leisure traveller view Classic as a bargain?

Why shouldn't F9 charge for advanced seating? ancillary revenue in 2010 across all U.S. flagged carriers will exceed the combined profit of the airlines in 2007 , the most profitable year since 9/11. Airlines must unbundle their products and allow passengers to choose what they are willing to buy. Adjusted for inflation the average fare is 28% lower than 1997, when jet fuel was $0.60 a gallon. What other business can survive price cuts while continuing to give away services of value (specific seat assignments)? As a frequent consumer of walk up B and Y fares nothing bothers me more than having to sit in the middle seat of last row cause a bunch of Q fare tourists paying a fraction of my faew have aisle seats up front. This is nothing more than pricing market demand for scaece resources(up front aisle seats). Airlines need to be run as a business and not a hobby. airlines can only drive a limited amount of cost out of their business models - they have to restore revenues, and the proven succesful path has been through ancillary revenue. Allegiant has the best performing income statement in the U.S - and they charge for everything. Other carriers are taking note. The days of getting a bundle of services for an underwater price are over. Reductions in capacity, restraint in growth, and value for the money pricing are the factors which will serve as a fundemental restructuring of the airline business model. Airlines clinging to an unsustainable model in the name of maeket share or brand loyalty will soon end up in BK or liquidated.

The pay-for-advance-seating apparently isn't a big deal for current AirTran or Frontier customers at MKE, and back when the Midwest 717's were 40C/59Y it was common at busier times to not be able to get a seat assignemnt at booking. With 40 Signature seats, ten exit row seats, and four 2x3 seats blocked off for Executive traveler selection, there were only 45 seats open to general selection on the 99 seat 717.

However I do have some reservations about the way Frontier bundles, specifically its role in seat assignment. The only way to get an advace seat assignment for most travelers is to purchase Classic or Classic Plus. However:

--This can only be done at the Frontier website

--Travelers who choose to or are required to book travel via a different method have no way to get these higher tiers

--There's no way to go back and purchase a seat assignment after booking.

--Amenities like free checked bags and bonus FF miles are good for some, but for those who don't fly Frontier often and are not checking any (or many) bags, the added cost of Classic is expensive just for a seat assignment.

--It does not appear (I might be mistaken on this) that high fare buckets automatically get free seat assignment.

Should they decide to go with Frontier's platform and pricing model, I think it would help a great deal if:

(1) FF elite members can choose seating (I think they already have this)

(2) FF non-elite members could have an early online seat selection window than non-members. Kind of like how (at least in the old days) different tiers of Worldperks members could advance-select exit row a certain number of days out.

(3) There is a means to purchase a seat assignment after booking, ideally including using FF miles

(4) High-end fare buckets include seat assignment. I'm not versed perfectly in the different fare buckets, but the highest handful of tiers should include free seating IMHO.

A lot of this comes out of the difference between business travelers and leisure travelers. Lots of leisure travelers do broad online shopping, wait for sales, and have flexibility in their schedule and in their spending decisions. Many business travelers are required to use a specific booking means, don't have flexibility on schedule or booking window, and must choose the lowest fare available on the flight they need.

The general profile of the leisure traveler fits Frontier's bundled pricing pretty well since they can shop around at their leisure, then book at frontierairlines.com no matter where they shop, and they can decide which bundled fare is the best value. Business travelers don't have the shopping time, often can't book at frontierairlines.com, and generally can't book a higher fare class than the lowest available. That might be a $600 round trip to go to Atlanta tomorrow, but to have to pay more on top of a fare like that to get a seat assignment will make some bristle.