Insulator-King

I have to say that is very clever wordplay by SWA's marketing department.

It will definitely attract the low volume flyer, along with those who tend to make a lot of changes to their schedules.

Anyway, just thought it was well done by SWA.

steved5480

3 of them, outlining the "thousands of dollars I saved" from not paying checked-bag fees to them other guys. Whatever.

Every bit as helpful and meaningful as the "your trip is just around the corner & the plane has free TV" spam.

ch3ss

LOL same here.... What a joke

alchemista

sounded like a smart marketer came up with Transfarency and had to send something out about it just because it's a cool word.

meecal

It was on the cover of the Southwest magazine for my flight yesterday. With the approach they've taken with Rapid Rewards it seems a bit disingenuous for them to pat themselves on the back for transparency. Still enjoy the program overall though.

FCfree

New word for the existing program.

However, it is surprising how many people get tricked by the other airlines on bag fees and change fees. Nothing wrong with pointing out the advantages of your product.

SWA still is the best overall, in my opinion, although occasionally you might find a circumstance where another carrier beats them.

returnoftheyeti

http://www.transfarency.com

I got 8/8 on the quiz. Ha ha.

ursine1

Some of the fee comparisons are disingenuous at best; to itemize another carrier's seat selection fee, for example. If you pay that, you have selected a seat, and possibly an upgrade to a better one. On WN, that's not even a possibility. To be more fair, they should include EBCI in that direct comparison, or Upgraded Boarding, as they are the closest equivalents WN offers.

Also, the charts note that, "Change fees shown are those charged prior to the day of departure," which brings up the fact that same-day changes (or standby) on other carriers are often much, much less expensive than WN.

And the entire concept assumes no status or credit card ownership that grants free bags, and the purchase of the most-restricted fare, when other carriers may have multiple classes of fares that offer a better direct comparison to the service level of WGA (and/or flight cost).

Southwest certainly has less fees than other carriers overall, but it's disheartening (although not unexpected) to see their advertising play fast and loose with the truth. A campaign based on transparency that actually obfuscates.

This will be effective for sure. The average traveler doesn't understand subtleties like how WN's fares often include the "bag fees" built in. Many still think WN is a low-fare carrier. This just enforces those beliefs.

What this campaign should mean to us, however, is that we shouldn't expect Bags Fly Free or No Change Fees to go away anytime in the near future. Doing so, after a major campaign like this, would be a huge mistake.

One hopes the right hand knows what the left hand is doing.

traveller001

The WGA on points thing being flexible/more expensive depending on flight isn't transparent beforehand. On that I agree.

rtalk25

I used to think the "your trip is just around the corner" emails that are sent out one month before the flight were either totally idiotic or spam.

However, it might be done for strategic purposes because of Southwest's no change fees, to encourage pax to review their itinery and change it if necessary sooner rather than later.

e.g. If I book a low WGA advance fare booked three months, and change or cancel it just 1-5 days before the flight, Southwest has it harder in trying to fill the seat than if I change my itinery one month in advance. Southwest revenue management has more days to fill the seat profitably, if customers review the itinery and make changes if needed, sometime well before the flight.

Air Houston

OP: I received the email.

It's hard for me to know what will appeal to an occasional flyer who knows next to nothing about how everything works, but on the surface it seemed to present a compelling case why getting a bargain on Spirit might not be such a bargain. Of course, Southwest largely depends on the occasional flyer not even checking other travel sites, so solely on principle the terminology they use leaves the taste of stale peanuts in my mouth. That said, I am likely to feel less ripped off flying Southwest than other airlines as a general rule.

dfwgolfer1

Great marketing by Southwest. I agree with everyone, they will convince a lot of people to only search on southwest.com . Good luck flying to Europe on Southwest, flying first class, getting real status, etc...

Hayden

I was on WN today transconning it and noticed a bunch of "Transfarency" ads in the jetbridges. I had high hopes transfarency meant WN had developed agreements with other carriers to transfer you to those carriers in the event of IRROPS, but of course not...

FCfree

It is what it is, just like it is what it is on every other carrier.

There are road warriors that can tell you every detail of every airline and know all the tricks to sitting in first class for free. There are people that fly every two years and researching everything isn't all that important to them.

However, for the person that flies 1-5 times a year, they get burned once on Spirit's $100 carry on bag fee, they are hopefully going to do a limited amount of research. Southwest's tranfarency web site should be a help to them.

Granted that there are a few situations (same day change) where you might have been better off with another carrier, but at least for me, those are few and far between and overall, I too feel like you get the best overall deal on Southwest.

There are some people that say "that is the car I want," go down to the dealer and buy it. There are other people that spend months researching their alternatives.

You can lead a person to a computer, but you can't make him think.

joshua362

A classic updated for the current age, love it !!! ^