Originally Posted by
PushingTin
Southwest is often as expensive as non BE fares when I look at it. If you get WN's 'business' fares, they are often near F cabin prices on UA. People think WN is cheap, it often isn't- as far as I can tell. F9 I have no sympathy for even before they went full LCC stupid. They would undercut UA on routes by hundreds of dollars. IF you aren't willing to put the time and effort into your pricing model, don't complain about not making money.
When I lived in Chicago 10 years ago, WN was rarely cheaper than UA, DL, AA, etc (and for me, they were less convenient since I lived in the near north suburbs, so having to fly to MDW was already less convenient). They're living on perception from the years prior, and are able to keep that perception in large part because they don't offer fares through a GDS, meaning those going to online portals will never see WN fares next to other carriers. Folks also see the no bag fees, and then no change fees (which while technically true, if you are on a lower fare, you're likely to have to pay a fare difference, while it happens less of the time, IMO, on legacies).