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EarlyBird Check-in: A Convenient Way to Travel...

EarlyBird Check-in: A Convenient Way to Travel...

Old Sep 2, 2009, 10:36 am
  #46  
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Originally Posted by Beckles
...remember, they were the ones who started the avalanche of baggage fees in January 2008 when they started to charge for the 3rd checked bag.
Oh, WN started the AVALANCHE of fees? By charging for a THIRD bag?

What other FEES did they pile on? Or what services did they take away?

You note a fee for a third bag and then pretty much lay blame for the "fee happy" culture on them.
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Old Sep 2, 2009, 10:45 am
  #47  
 
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Is this 10 dollars per flight segment or does this include the connections as well?
Thanks in advance
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Old Sep 2, 2009, 10:55 am
  #48  
 
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Originally Posted by boycruz
Is this 10 dollars per flight segment or does this include the connections as well?
Thanks in advance
It includes the connection. I'm flying ALB->BWI->PIT on 9/11 and it charged me $10 for ALB->PIT.
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Old Sep 2, 2009, 10:59 am
  #49  
 
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I'll admit it, I just paid the $20 to try out EarlyBird for a roundtrip I've got in October. It was never worth it to me to pay for BusinessSelect since I tend to not drink on the flights (and now have drink coupons anyways), and I'm not an A-lister. The $10/flight means I don't have to sit around a computer or my iphone trying to hit T-24 exactly or forget, check in an hour later, and get a high B. It's a good price point for it - if it was even $20/flight I probably wouldn't bother, but $10 is low enough to make it worth not worrying about checking in for me.
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Old Sep 2, 2009, 11:15 am
  #50  
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Originally Posted by curbcrusher
This is something WN should advertise heavily at MCO and to folks traveling to MCO. I remember having no shortage of difficulty trying to OLCI while riding Pirates of the Caribbean last year. EarlyBird would have come in handy then.
Customer Relations at any Disney park has always checked us in when I asked. Of course, you have to be standing there at T-24.

Or you can use your cell phone.

If you have no way of avoiding being inside the bowels of POTC during that exact moment of T-24, you are right.

Last edited by toomanybooks; Sep 2, 2009 at 11:26 am
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Old Sep 2, 2009, 11:22 am
  #51  
 
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Originally Posted by SWABrian
irabk, I think Crusher meant if you have 10 people who bought Early Bird, who gets the lowest BP number. I just got the answer, they are assigned by purchase time. The first person to buy Early Bord gets the lowest BP
Oops, sorry curb.

I didn't notice it was you, too early in the am to be thinking.
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Old Sep 2, 2009, 11:26 am
  #52  
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Originally Posted by auggie doggie
Oh, WN started the AVALANCHE of fees? By charging for a THIRD bag?

What other FEES did they pile on? Or what services did they take away?

You note a fee for a third bag and then pretty much lay blame for the "fee happy" culture on them.
Surely you're not suggesting it's just coincidence that the avalance of baggage fees that has occurred over the past eighteen months (and when I say avalanche, I mean over the entire US airline industry, not WN specifically) just coincidentally started with WN charging for the third bag in January 2008?

Obviously it's Southwest's fault ... that the other airlines look so bad when they charge for even more than Southwest yet are less profitable overall despite the additional charges.
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Old Sep 2, 2009, 11:26 am
  #53  
 
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Southwest tells us about "open seating" and that we are free to sit in any empty seat. Looks like what SW suggests to the passengers doesn't match the official rules.

I see a lot of "issues" if passengers think paying $10 gives one passenger the right to reserve 3 seats. Currently many of the passengers with B BPs can get seats together. if a bunch





Originally Posted by N702ML
Expert,

As a Southwest flight attendant, I can understand your frustration at the cabin crew not confronting Customers who are saving seats.

However, after a lot of searching, I have managed to find a copy of our official Inflight Services monthly publication dated March 2009.

This ISSUE is addressed:

"Myth: Customers are NOT allowed to save seats for their traveling companions.

Busted: We currently have NO policy preventing Customers from saving seats, and as a flight attendant, you are not expected to monitor Customers who are attempting to save seats for their traveling companions."

The article goes on to explain that in a situation where two people are on a PNR and one Customer is A-List and the other person is not, our Ground Operations personnel are to suggest that they save a seat for their traveling companion since they will not be able to board together.

The article also states: "Customers are also to be told that if they are going to be attempting to save seats in a 'prime real estate area,' they can expect to be challenged by their fellow Customers."
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Old Sep 2, 2009, 11:31 am
  #54  
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Originally Posted by lewisc
Southwest tells us about "open seating" and that we are free to sit in any empty seat. Looks like what SW suggests to the passengers doesn't match the official rules.
You are free to sit there and the other guy is equally free to try to save it. Think of it as pre-flight entertainment.
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Old Sep 2, 2009, 11:36 am
  #55  
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Originally Posted by lewisc
Southwest tells us about "open seating" and that we are free to sit in any empty seat. Looks like what SW suggests to the passengers doesn't match the official rules.
If my pack is sitting on a seat because I'm saving it for my wife (or my wife's purse if she's saving it for me), the seat is not open. Look elsewhere.

However, if the plane is filling up & you ask for the middle seat, you probably will get the aisle seat instead.
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Old Sep 2, 2009, 11:37 am
  #56  
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FWIW, I do not think it would be wise to try to sit in a seat that another passenger is trying to save for his wife / partner, etc., regardless of what the official policy says.

The entire flight would be rather uncomfortable for me. Then again, I like to get along with people.

I think for most flights this would not be an issue. Only on a highly crowded flight where one partner is early and one partner is way late could this be an issue.
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Old Sep 2, 2009, 11:40 am
  #57  
 
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Doesn't this diminish the value of Business Select? Before the value prop of BS was to be at the front of the line vs mired down the list, maybe a jump of 60 slots or something. Now the difference between BS and wanna getaway+Early Bird is only the size of the A-lister list, which is on average probabaly an improvement of 5-20 slots (obviously very route and time dependent).

If the flight is an origination and an exit seat is a viable possibility, I can see where BS might have significant value. But on a through flight where we're talking about sitting in row 5 vs row 2....
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Old Sep 2, 2009, 11:53 am
  #58  
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EarlyBird will cannibalize BS to some extent, but remember: EarlyBird is not available less than 36 hours before departure. I suspect that most BS purchases are made within 36 hours of departure. Those late BS purchases will not be lost.
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Old Sep 2, 2009, 11:54 am
  #59  
 
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Originally Posted by nsx
You are free to sit there and the other guy is equally free to try to save it. Think of it as pre-flight entertainment.
Many us thought the FA were "referees". We now know they are part of the audience.


Originally Posted by MikeMpls
If my pack is sitting on a seat because I'm saving it for my wife (or my wife's purse if she's saving it for me), the seat is not open. Look elsewhere.

However, if the plane is filling up & you ask for the middle seat, you probably will get the aisle seat instead.
My issue would be a passenger who has a coat on the window seat, a laptop bag in the middle seat while he's sitting in the aisle seat. Saving one seat just determines which middle seat a passenger winds up with. Saving two seats means a couple may not get to sit together.
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Old Sep 2, 2009, 12:05 pm
  #60  
 
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Originally Posted by nsx
EarlyBird will cannibalize BS to some extent, but remember: EarlyBird is not available less than 36 hours before departure. I suspect that most BS purchases are made within 36 hours of departure. Those late BS purchases will not be lost.
According to http://www.southwest.com/flight/early-bird-faq.html

While the best EarlyBird Check-in boarding positions will be assigned 36 hours prior to the flight's scheduled departure time, Customers are eligible to purchase EarlyBird Check-in up until 25 hours prior to the flight's scheduled departure time.
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