ursine1

I suspect Southwest will eventually go to assigned seating. There are too many issues caused but their current system, and the possibilities for monetizing seat selection outweigh those open seating offers.

satman40

AA put my wife or anyone booking under my number the same advantages I have, and their boarding passes show it.

WN, just jump the line, save a few seats, not a big deal. I am surprised the GA even caught it, the FA never seem to care.

antinseattle

This comment has no data to back this....

Yes, eventually. 2024, 2034.....

ursine1

Because it's my opinion.

I also suspect it will be way before then. More likely 5 years or so at most.

The above statement is also my opinion.

nsx

I agree, even though I much prefer open seating. Money talks.

antinseattle

Probably. I mistook "there are too many issues with current system" as a statement of fact. Not an opinion

rsteinmetz70112

There are many real issues with the current system.

Southwest sells places in line (Early Boarding and $40 at the gate A 1-15 ) but inconsistently enforces the rules as they are written including some absurd restrictions like children under 12 not boarding with their parents, status not transferring to young children, occasional massive seat saving with no intervention by FAs. Not to mention the fare increases above industry averages.

Pretty much everyone who flies regularly has some issue with the system as it currently exists.

The longer Southwest ignores the current situation the more customer loyalty will erode. Eventually many formerly loyal customers will be negatively impacted by the occasional chaos and seek alternatives.

Beyond the Open Seating/Boarding issues, Southwest faces issues on many other fronts.

I notice Spirit has announced a number of new routes recently which directly compete on high volume routes with Southwest. Virgin America has moved into DAL with competition on some of the new long routes out of DAL. Frontier is positioning itself as the friendly ULCC and has yet to really benefit from the infusion of new capital.

Southwest is stretching it's long term relationships with it's unions and dealing with an influx of former Airtran employees who don't share same perspective of long time Southwest employees.

Things will be interesting over the next few years.

nsx

I don't. I have Preferred status and I'm not picky about what seat I get.

I'm happy not to have to sit on the floor in line for half an hour like I did last century! I'm easy.

rsteinmetz70112

You are a mensch, ^

Truly I don't have often have problems, but when I do it's frustrating.

My major issue is the uncertainty, and lack of flexibility (except when Southwest decides to be weird) but then I may be borderline OCD.

I also suspect you wouldn't have much of a problem with assigned seating.

steved5480

What he said. All of it.

Those that honestly believe Spirit is any sort real completion for any other significant carrier should go fly them. Every day. Forever. They deserve each other.

Frontier has been circling the bowl for a long time. Three hubs in Denver is at least one too many. That's also been the case for a long time. Frontier has been doing the route-map-shuffle recently, which when combined with the everything-is-optional pricing makes them look like a combination pizza of Spirit & Allegiant. Good luck with that. Let a bad thing happen in the Middle East causing oil to spike 50% overnight and that will be the end of Frontier. It's too bad, 'cause they were a great operation back in the day. So was TWA, Pan Am, Eastern, et al.

I've heard Virgin is a great ride. In this day of 3 "legacies" + The Behemoth that is Southwest, Virgin America just isn't big enough to matter.

Things most certainly WILL be "interesting" in the coming years.

antinseattle

This is definetly an opinion. No data supports this. Which would be facts


I fly a lot. I have zero issues with WN

My loyalty to WN is strong. No issues

FT is at best "the 1 percent". Don't confuse the "1 percent" with "everyone who flies often"

pinniped

Nothing feels friendly about Frontier's garbage fees. They are completely impractical for me for any trip longer than a daytrip.

I don't really see Frontier as a threat to Southwest or the legacies. I like that it exists and that other people fly them, but I have to wonder how long it will exist. The only positive thing I can say about it is that it doesn't have Spirit's 28" seats.

I fly MCI-DEN quite a bit. Usually United, Southwest in a pinch, but never Frontier. Even on a 2-day trip, I can't get everything into my laptop bag. That's ridiculous.

crazyhorse

My wife has. On many occasions. And it hasnt been bad at all or I'd never have heard the end of it.

The choice was to pay ~$190 for a 1-way WN flight from MSP-MDW on a WGA fare versus ~$13 for a Spirit flight from MSP-ORD. Oh and we have a bag that fits under the seat so she didnt even pay the checked bag fee. So it really was $13 all-in.

Travelsonic

Eh, I wonder... I keep seeing people say that the guy could have waited to post his tweet. I am left wondering, however, why should he have to? Assuming he has the right to lodge a complaint, and assuming that it was non-threatening (or you bet the TSA AND the local police would have been all over that), what good reason would there be to justify the idea that the possibility of intimidation is a good reason to postpone posting a complaint, or that such a possibility is even appropriate in the first place?

saneman

I booked a Frontier flight for my relative because ATL-PHL pricing has become ridiculous under WN management for AirTran flights.

So she was charged a mere 15 bucks (Discount Den price) for her checkin bag. Just 3 bucks for an assigned aisle seat. Total fees = $18.

What I didn't get is why they feel like they have to charge more for carryon than checkin bags. She decided to pack everything and just take a personal item bag.

But Frontier has already announced suspending flights to ILG from December. So there goes a little competition for that PHL area even if they will still fly Trenton. I don't think Frontier will end up being any serious competition.