Southwest flyer trying AirTran ... or vice versa
It seem a bit odd to just sit in our seperate camps and wait for this large service integration to happen off in the far future. There are 130+ jets flying around the AirTran system and over 500 in Southwest's.
As an AirTran flyer, I have used SWA a couple of dozen times in recent years, mainly to move up and down the west coast. I belong to RR and actually earned one award, but I was never able to cash it before it expired.
To be honest, I am now a bit amazed that SWA has announced nothing yet about some concrete ways that this blending can happen. All we know is that it will happen later rather than sooner and that they will rip out the Business Class cabin. Got it. Get it. The US government did a better job with the GM announcement.
Delta and NWA had complete (sometimes creaky) rules for coordinating their FF programs, buying tickets on each other's airline web sites and code sharing all in place by this point in their process. I realize they had a head start due to the SkyTeam alliance, but to have nothing at all in place by now at SWA is pathetic.
At the least, give RR credit for AirTran flights flown? If the IT at SWA cannot handle it, allow a paper coupon to be used, like in the old days?
How about some positive marketing, like a coupon for some money off on your first AirTran flight, some drink coupons, or just say that an SWA coupon is good on AirTran?
How about eliminating the bag fee on AirTran, and maybe do it next week instead of at some future date? Can the CEO of Southwest just call Orlando on the phone and say "no more bag fee on your system in a week; play it up in your radio ads and be happy."
What can we do as frequent flyers? My own strategy is to wait to get the Southwest credit card to see what kind of special offer might be made to me to change from my AirTran card. But I wonder if Southwest FFers might want to get the AirTran card now? You get 10 one way credits and accelerated earnings when you use the card to buy AirTran tickets. I assume all of these credits will roll into RR at some favored rate. At the least, sign up for A+Rewards?
Just my two cents...