nsx

Not if you intend to to save a whole row for your family.

I'll bet that a MAJORITY of these purchases will be people attempting to save seats for the rest of their travel party.

Not that I have any reason to gripe, since the whole idea may have started here two years ago.

As someone who boards around A30 and who nearly always selects a seat in Secret First Class, this change will not affect me other than to reduce upward pressure on fares. So I'm reasonably happy with it.

gsupstate

Since WN came to GSP (now living in Dallas), I've flown WN whenever I could, but if this will now negate being able to check in automatically at the 24-hour window, I'll have to go back to DL exclusively, even if it means driving out to DFW.

gsupstate

Isn't that practice already frowned on by the cabin crews?

carraher

No it isn't frowned upon since there is no policy about saving seats. I started a thread about saving whole exit rows when a husband and wife did it recently. Despite being the third person to board on an empty plane, I was shut out of the opportunity for extra legroom on a three hour flight. It was the most egregious abuse of the seat saving practice I have ever witnessed.

diver858

"Secret First Class"? Between the new "Evolve" seats, full / overbooked flights, the only place to avoid being squeezed is row 1, not sure how you can get that with A30 - particularly on a through flight. I typically take relatively short trips, know how to pack light, never check a bag to avoid waiting 30 - 60 minutes to retrieve it after a 60 minute flight.

gogreyhound

"The airline successfully tested this new boarding option in San Diego last month, and received positive feedback."--WN statement.
Obviously, they didn't ask A or A+ people. Just another way WN has decided to become like all the other airlines.

I know there was a comment in this thread about the $40 fee being acceptable if it helps to hold down fares. But if you ever listen to WN's conference calls with Wall Street, and how often GK & Co. recite their recent fare increases, you know they are not looking to hold down prices. Instead, they are scrounging for any money they can to boost profits and hit the target of 15 percent return on invested capital.
In that context, I have to think it's only a matter of time before they start selling pre-boards.

Wingrider

As someone fortunate enough to pretty much always fly BS, this is a really interesting revenue generator. Example- My flight from SEA to SLC last week there were only 2 BS PAX. That means A3-A15 evaporated as soon as they started boarding with A16 to A29 just becoming BS and everyone else of course "moving up".

WN is trying to prey on those who want to avoid middle seats or if a C, reduce the risk of not having a place to put their bag, etc. Wonder if that fee winds up being $50 with those that felt EBCI didn't get them a good enough spot.

I don't have a firm opinion yet but if I've already got my boarding pass and sitting at the gate, I don't really care who lines up behind me. If by fate I'm not one of the first 10 on the aircraft I don't know if it matters that WN filled a cancelled BS position with someone else. They fill them in order so they probably don't leave "holes" for those $40 rev gens. On that point if there were cancellations at the 45 minute lock they should freeze the order and backfill behind the last paid BS PAX.

AFAM-DFW

I called reservations about something else and asked about the $40 for my companion. She told me that the type of reservation didn't matter: points reservations and companion reservations are fine.

I guess that I'll wait for a few "free" people to be turned away or sold at the gate counter before I'll be confident in the answer.

diver858

Why not set up a system where A+, A can redeem drink tickets, RR points, similar for any open BS boarding positions - sure, WN will miss out on some incremental revenue, but it is as close as WN can ever come to legacy airlines with space available first class upgrade programs for elites, help build loyalty.

ursine1

The brief press release is the only official info from Southwest about the new fee. One hopes at some point there will be information on the website and/or a FAQ that will answer outstanding questions like eligible ticket types, segment vs connection, etc.

One might expect that information to be available when the fee became effective.

saneman

Once again, someone explain this to me. In the past, I have seen people reluctant to spend a measly $49 bucks to get business class on Airtran even though some of these people would spend $25 to check in a bag. Hell, I even met one guy who spent $40 on an exit row and a check in bag on this airline. And he didn't want to spend the extra 9 bucks on BC.

So why would people want to spend 40 bucks just to increase their chances to get a better seat? Is thre something about WN that brainwashes people into believing this stuff is actually good for you?

For less than half of that, you can assure yourself of a seat of your choice before you leave your house and if you are not too picky, you can even get a free seat of your choice on some airlines before you leave your house.

Why exactly is WN better for the masses?

Not to mention that WN mentioning Business anywhere in the fare categories is a joke for businesss travelers like me. I dont want to line up like a grade school student to board my plane early. Sure, it would be a nice option to have, but some times, I like to work on my computer until the 15 min mark and then walk in to my seat because I dont like to waste my time sitting in an airline as people are walking past me or people in my row asking me to stand up as they get into their window seat.

FindAWay

+1 - I agree that this hasn't been rolled-out very well.

I would have expected it to appear on the Optional Travel Charges page too.

TSparky

Last night they made the announcement in SMF about upgrading to BS for $40. No one took it, even though it was a full flight - good thing for them, because it wouldn't have bought much. There was 1 BS, I had A16, and there were at least 15-20 pax already seated in all the choice seats.

ursine1

Could be a ninja edit, but it's there now:

Other Fees:
Upgraded Boarding $40 per Passenger

diver858

WN benefits from its history as a low fare airline. Back in the day, many would tolerate the lack of amenities for deep discounts, flexibility, frequent flights. WN hit the fuel hedge lottery back in 2008-09, when most competitors were confronted with significant increases in fuel costs, WN took full advantage by making aggressive moves to win monopolies in select cities, routes.

Now that the playing field has leveled, costs are more in line with the competition, WN is under increasing pressure to remain profitable, are no longer the low cost carrier, depend on a large number of koolaid drinkers, less sophisticated customers, deceptive advertisements and online shills to keep slapping lipstick on the pig.