Originally Posted by
Eastbay1K
Nonetheless, WN is a big player in the short hop business market, and these folks "aren't too proud" about not sitting in F, or having a lounge, etc. They're the type that get to the airport as late as possible, get their preferred seat type either by status or paying $20 extra, and would rather fly OAK or the secondary airports than go out of their way to LAX or SFO, etc. The bigger competition (and not really big, but it takes out some incremental higher fare folks) is JSX in the secondary / convenient airport department for business and higher spend leisure travelers.
95% of my flights are self pay business related. I used to be an WN companion status level frequent flier but it was only for the schedule and where they flew directly. As soon as AS started having direct from SEA to midcon Midwest cities beyond ORD it permitted me the ability to go to AS with no issues.
showing up late to gate for WN is devastating regardless of status. Open seating is agnostic of highest status as soon as boarding starts. When needing to connect and flight lands late which is the norm for WN tough luck.