Originally Posted by
RoadWarrior200
I've paid extra for Early Bird for as long as the program existed. I did so for my flights tomorrow and find I'm in Group B. Are others encountering this? This is on top of several recent WN flights being delayed for up to three hours and where the gate agents gave no explanations for what was happening. I'm lifetime elite on both AA and UA but prefer WN for short-haul flights, but if this keeps up, I might as well fly AA and UA where their fares are often the same as and sometimes even less than Southwest, especially after you add the $30 or more for Early Bird; I get a guaranteed seat assignment at no extra cost and I always have early boarding, also at no extra cost. The Southwest business model is one we used to discuss in business seminars as something to emulate. Looks like we may have one more once-legendary company going in the wrong direction, a la Boeing and others.
Unlike legacy, southwest can’t easily substitue planes except in their hunts. They rely much more on inbound flights for route continuing routes.
on AA or DL you might see some odd connections like from hub to hub with a stop inna secondary airport. I might see route options like on AA DCA-BNA turn BNA-LAX connection. WN onnthr other hand does have routes like this where you change planes or a route makes a stop like WN has many central time routes to secondary airports , with thst along with dca perimeter , you can see DCA-XXX-LAS/PHX routes without plane changes with some of these cities bring Omaha, Oklahoma City, Columbus, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and others. It’s not always the same city stop over.
southwest orders boarding by check in time. If youare flying from a hub city, you are going to be later in line. If you have 20 flights feeding this plane and had 1-4 OAX from each flight feeding this plane, you easily get 30+ ECBIs in the cue. Combine that with status jump up in line you easily get into the mid Bs.
o don’t pay for e bi. Sometimes I do, it depends on the flight. For e ample IAD -DEN usually has an 8a or earlier flight and doesn’t have feeder flights so it’s only local fliers. If I had a similar flight leaving around 830 out of bwi, there will be many more connecting pax so I might buy it if I’m flying a 4+ hr flight. If it’s a short flight I will wing it. Or I will buy the BS upgrade.
Originally Posted by
RoadWarrior200
Thanks. What worries me and others is that WN is getting more expensive than competitors and offering less in return. For over 15 years, I commuted weekly between Northern and Southern California. Since I paid my travel costs personally, it was great not to pay fees to change a WN reservation and be able to use funds for future flights. But now the legacy carriers give me and others all of that plus a lot more, and there are lots of ways to avoid bag fees. I’ve followed WN from its earliest days with Herb Kelleher and Colleen Barrett. Hope they have some similar leadership today to sort things out.
legacies post Covid stopped change fees. I believe those return in 2025.
southwest has a different pricing model. Their prices go up under 2 weeks till travel which has legacies generally cheaper. Southwest inflates rates on heavy travel weekends/ week
southwest also has limited services for under 200 miles flights. Thry cut many of these over the years.
Originally Posted by
RoadWarrior200
As I noted in my original posting, since AA, UA and DL now let me change an itinerary without a fee and also will apply unused fares to future trips, that major WN advantage has been lost. I also get early boarding, a reserved and preferred seat at no extra cost, and free bags (all from my elite status also also from my credit cards), so it becomes a question why even stick with WN if their fares are higher than the legacy carriers, especially after you add Early Bird. What really threw me on my one-day turnaround earlier this week was that, because I had booked the trip at the last minute, the WN fare was quite high, made even more so after I added EBCI, and yet I still barely avoided a middle seat. Sure, they were telling me at check-in I could pay still more for A1 to 15, but I found the whole upselling so offensive that I just wouldn't do it.
change penalties— expect them to return in 2025 .
if I booked within a week, I’d just pay BS which is usually $40-$60 above base fare, BD gives you the high pts earning. I factor in how much it would cost to buy 2,000 points.