southwest early bird boarding is a sham
Jul 16, 2011, 1:54 pm
#76
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Back to Florida...... bye London
Programs: Hilton, AA,, Delta
Posts: 5,149
As a newcomer from AirTran, the main things we seem to be worried about on this board are (a) boarding early and (b) getting to the seats with a little extra room or that are up front in the plane.
I think what SWA should do is set aside maybe three or four rows in the front of the planes and give them some extra room. Possibly, they could improve on that with some service perks, like some free drinks en route. Then work out a way for your frequent flyers to have first crack at getting those seats by boarding first.
If you need any ideas about how that part of the plane could look, you already have 130 of them in service with green stripes on them.
I think what SWA should do is set aside maybe three or four rows in the front of the planes and give them some extra room. Possibly, they could improve on that with some service perks, like some free drinks en route. Then work out a way for your frequent flyers to have first crack at getting those seats by boarding first.
If you need any ideas about how that part of the plane could look, you already have 130 of them in service with green stripes on them.
SW has always allowed seat saving, they just use the verbage of "claimed seat". It's up to the passengers to sort it out amongst themselves. If I had status or paid for EB and the FA refused to allow me to sit in an unoccupied seat, whether claimed or not, then I would be writing to SW and every news station that would listen. IMHO, SW is seriously removing any benefit of status, BS fares, and EB by their refusal to deal with this issue.
After Rotten Rewards 2.0 was rolled out, our SW spending has dropped significantly. We cancelled the SW credit card and only use SW when they have a non-stop where others don't. There often is not a price incentive to fly SW, so why bother with all the hassel?
Jul 16, 2011, 4:18 pm
#77
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 206
I honestly don't know why anyone would buy EBCI unless they absolutely were not going to have internet/cell phone access the day before the flight.
Based on the posts here basically everyone who pays the money in hopes of a "better" seat ends up feeling screwed by something - line cutters, seat savers, pre-boards, or through passengers.
Based on the posts here basically everyone who pays the money in hopes of a "better" seat ends up feeling screwed by something - line cutters, seat savers, pre-boards, or through passengers.
Jul 16, 2011, 5:50 pm
#78
Join Date: Mar 2006
Programs: WN Rapid Rewards, Delta Skymiles
Posts: 400
If you are comfortable with spending the $$ to avoid the hassle, more power to you. With the current enforcement policies (i.e. nothing) factoring "picking seats before the masses" into your cost/benefit analysis is flawed.
Jul 16, 2011, 6:18 pm
#79
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Cerritos, CA
Programs: AA Plat; HH Gold; Marriott Silver; UCLA Fan
Posts: 798
I have sat in "saved" seats when they have been in the exit row, and have argued with the "saver" over the policy on occasion and refused to budge. The FA didn't make me give up my seat, or tell me that it is OK for the other guy to save his seat. The FA just took a neutral position, and I took my seat, and the saver stayed upset. If I enter the plane before another person, I am entitled to any vacant seat, and if it's in the exit row, I'm going to take it. If you want to save a seat, don't make it a premium seat and it will probably work for you.
Jul 16, 2011, 10:19 pm
#80
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Atlanta
Programs: HH Gold, Airtran A+ Elite
Posts: 246
He was just word for word describing Airtran business class and the A+ Elite program. It really wouldn't be that hard to have assigned seating for business and free for all in the back but obviously Southwest thinks their way is best and they are sticking to it no matter what.
Jul 17, 2011, 7:42 am
#81
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Back to Florida...... bye London
Programs: Hilton, AA,, Delta
Posts: 5,149
He was just word for word describing Airtran business class and the A+ Elite program. It really wouldn't be that hard to have assigned seating for business and free for all in the back but obviously Southwest thinks their way is best and they are sticking to it no matter what.
It will be interesting to see if/how SW merges seating and boarding with Airtran. Until then it is pointless trying to comapre how SW currently does boarding/seating to Airtran.
Jul 17, 2011, 9:37 am
#82
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: ORD, MDW or MKE
Programs: American and Southwest. Hilton and Marriott hotels primarily.
Posts: 6,463
He was just word for word describing Airtran business class and the A+ Elite program. It really wouldn't be that hard to have assigned seating for business and free for all in the back but obviously Southwest thinks their way is best and they are sticking to it no matter what.
Jul 17, 2011, 11:31 am
#83
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Atlanta
Programs: HH Gold, Airtran A+ Elite
Posts: 246
If one airline does something that no other airlines do(at least no big ones) and over the course of many years no airlines choose to follow along with the plan of that one airline, why would anyone assume that is the best way to fly? Are all the other airlines just too stubborn and dumb to follow Southwest?
Jul 17, 2011, 11:33 am
#84
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Atlanta
Programs: HH Gold, Airtran A+ Elite
Posts: 246
I know what he was describing. Still won't work for SW. SW has many, many flights that have through passengers making one or two stops and picking up additional passenegers on the way. SW also allows hidden city ticketing. So seat allocation won't work under the current model.
It will be interesting to see if/how SW merges seating and boarding with Airtran. Until then it is pointless trying to comapre how SW currently does boarding/seating to Airtran.
It will be interesting to see if/how SW merges seating and boarding with Airtran. Until then it is pointless trying to comapre how SW currently does boarding/seating to Airtran.
Jul 17, 2011, 12:23 pm
#85
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Atlanta, GA
Programs: DL DM & 5MM, WN
Posts: 1,451
I know what he was describing. Still won't work for SW. SW has many, many flights that have through passengers making one or two stops and picking up additional passenegers on the way. SW also allows hidden city ticketing. So seat allocation won't work under the current model.
It will be interesting to see if/how SW merges seating and boarding with Airtran. Until then it is pointless trying to comapre how SW currently does boarding/seating to Airtran.
It will be interesting to see if/how SW merges seating and boarding with Airtran. Until then it is pointless trying to comapre how SW currently does boarding/seating to Airtran.
Why is it less pointless to wait until after they merge their operations and then to talk about how AirTran used to do it?
Jul 17, 2011, 12:41 pm
#86
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Atlanta, GA
Programs: DL DM & 5MM, WN
Posts: 1,451
Just a bit of history: the old AirTran and the old ValuJet both had cabin layouts and boarding methods identical to the old SWA methods. After their merger, they installed the first class cabins and adopted the current method of coach seat assignments.
Jul 19, 2011, 1:00 pm
#88
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Back to Florida...... bye London
Programs: Hilton, AA,, Delta
Posts: 5,149
There has been a fault in the system of allocating boarding numbers for a long time. SW is aware of this but has chosen not to correct it. They are still willing to collect extra money and not provide the service being sold.
Jul 19, 2011, 1:28 pm
#89
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Toledo, OH
Programs: Delta DM & MM, Hilton DM, Marriott gold, Hyatt Globalist, Alaska 75K, Wyndham Diamond,
Posts: 15,399
Yes, this is SW way of saying that EB gives them an extra $10 but guarantees you no true value. It is simply a chance that you MAY get a better number than a random person checking in at 24hrs.
There has been a fault in the system of allocating boarding numbers for a long time. SW is aware of this but has chosen not to correct it. They are still willing to collect extra money and not provide the service being sold.
There has been a fault in the system of allocating boarding numbers for a long time. SW is aware of this but has chosen not to correct it. They are still willing to collect extra money and not provide the service being sold.