nsx

Just after 10 AM Central Time, Southwest's schedule opened through January 11, as pre-announced at the top of Southwest's Travel Tools web page.

CEO Gary Kelly today conducted a webcast where he hinted at major changes between now and the end of the year aimed at attracting business travelers who are not spending their own money. These will include changes to Rapid Rewards. Perhaps bonus credit for full fares are a regular feature rather than an occasional promotion?

He also hinted strongly that some form of assigned seating was part of this roll-out. Look for discussion on the forum as people compare their interpretations of Kelly's carefully hedged comments.

nsx

At about 12:45 PM Central Time, a few hours later than usual, Southwest's schedule opened through March 7, as pre-announced at the top of Southwest's Travel Tools web page. The originally planned date was August 23, but this was pushed to August 27 on the 22nd.

Southwest is testing a new boarding procedure in San Antonio. Some people believe that it's a step toward assigned seating, and some think it's just another in a series of trials that will lead to no change at all. See the discussion at http://www.blogsouthwest.com/2007/08...ding/#comments

There is a triple credit promo for travel originating or terminating at SFO/OAK/SJC between August 26 and October 31, 2007. It's broadly targeted. See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=727513 and start planning your mileage runs now!

If you have friends or family who live near SFO and have not yet signed up for Rapid Rewards, there is an 8-credit signup bonus active now. See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=727417

nsx

Time to re-book your trips! Reservations made prior to August 27, 2007 do not qualify for this promotion.

Your travel must be booked at southwest.com or swabiz.com between August 27 and December 31, 2007, and travel must be completed by December 31, 2007. Origin and destination must be within the state of California or between San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Las Vegas to qualify.

It does not appear that you need to be logged in during the purchase.

This makes a great mileage run when combined with $44 7-day advance fares or the recent $36 Ding fares and one of the following promotions:

Broadly targeted triple credit promo for travel originating or terminating at SFO/OAK/SJC between August 26 and October 31, 2007. See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=727513

For new members living near SFO, double credit for travel originating or terminating at SFO/OAK/SJC between August 26 and October 31, 2007 and 8 credits for signup at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=727417

Southwest is coming out against its new competition with both guns blazing during the fall low season for travel!

nsx

Assinged seating is NOT coming to Southwest any time soon.

Excerpts from Gary Kelly's post at blogsouthwest.com: This system appears to give Southwest the flexibility to fine tune the number of A's for each flight. FTers have speculated that some of the A's will be held back by Southwest for sale as paid "upgrades" once the system is fully rolled out.

Here are links for complete information, courtesy of Appletom:

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix....466&highlight=

http://www.blogsouthwest.com/2007/09...-the-question/

And a video - http://www.swamedia.com/about_swa/pr...ding_video.wmv

nsx

1. Boarding
Starting tomorrow, November 8, Southwest will be changing to a letter+number boarding process as described at http://www.southwest.com/makeover/?r...hp_071015_gate and http://www.southwest.com/help/boardingschool/

This process will essentially eliminate waiting in line. Its most controversial aspect is moving infants and toddlers from pre-boarding to mid-boarding, after the A's.


2. Business Select and Automatic Check-in
Southwest has just announced some Rapid Rewards enhancements aimed at attracting more business travelers. Unlike most such announcements by other programs, this one is not a devaluation in any way. It's great news, not least because it will help Southwest keep its discounted fares low.

The boarding change has enabled Southwest to offer priority check-in, meaning earlier boarding, for its best customers. Southwest is adding a premium fare category called Business Select. It gives you a low A boarding pass and, when you print it, a coupon for a free drink. Business Select also gives you an extra 0.25 Rapid Rewards credit for a short flight (less than 750 miles) and an extra 1 credit for a longer flight. Business Select will cost up to about $30 more than regular full fare, and the number of BS seats (sorry, I couldn't resist that one) will be limited to about 10% of the flight, so that others have a decent shot at getting one of the 60 A's.

If you have 32 flight credits or more, Southwest will reserve an A for you, even if you are flying on a discount fare. The more flight credits you have, the lower the number you will get and the earlier in the sequence you will board. If you have a companion, you will need to save a seat for him or her.

Discount fares will still get full Rapid Rewards credit, and the Companion Pass program is not changing in any way. Whew!

The fare display matrix is being cleaned up by merging the discount fare columns into one column with a price on each flight option. There are now 15 fare classes behind the scenes rather than 8.

Rapid Rewards is adding an option to convert two standard awards to one Freedom Award, which is functionally equivalent to the old awards with blackout dates. If you pay $50 you get a full year on the new award; otherwise the Freedom Award inherits the earlier of the two source award expiration dates. This enhancement is overdue, but presumably Southwest preferred to delay it until customers' memory of the old awards faded sufficiently. Freedom Awards are welcome as a safety net, as long as it doesn't become an excuse to tighten the current capacity controls.

See Southwest's presentation at http://www.southwest.com/new


3. Schedule
The schedule will open tomorrow morning, probably about 10:00 AM Central time, for travel through May 9, 2008. Prepare your spring break Rapid Rewards travel plans now and be ready to move quickly to grab your award seats.


4. Mile Conversion Bonanza
The other hot news is a mile conversion bonanza. You can now convert 5k Continental or Midwest Airlines miles into 10 Rapid Rewards credits. This is more generous than any conversion we have ever seen, even including the discontinued 350k HHonors award for 100 credits. This is the perfect way to free up those orphan miles, turning CO lead into SWA gold, as it were.

This deal was posted by gleff in his View from the Wing a few weeks back, and people have now completed the conversion successfully. It takes about 2 weeks.

Read the two threads (linked below) very carefully. All the answers you need are there if you look, so don't PM me rather than posting if you still have a question. We'd like to keep this fragile deal below the radar.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=747057

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=747794

nsx

The schedule opened as expected just after 10 AM Central time today. Sorry for the slow notification, but I was booking Spring Break travel.

Ding users were alerted to the opening right on time!

There is some excellent information available on Southwest's new features: Business Select, A-List, and Freedom Awards. The main thread in the Southwest forum is http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=754554 and it's red hot. On Southwest's web site, check out your Account Snapshot page, where your A-List qualification information is near the lower right. The A-List rules are at https://www.southwest.com/rapid_rewa...hip_rules.html and the Business Select details are at http://www.southwest.com/fares/pop_fareCompare.html

Southwest has sworn off change fees, which is great news for us and perhaps the biggest part of the picture that people are overlooking. See http://www.southwest.com/about_swa/p...ange_fees.html

Please join the lively discussion on the forum.

nsx

The schedule opened through August 3, 2008 this morning, at about 10:05 AM Central time. Ding notification was not immediate. Come to think of it, unless Southwest tells Ding 30 minutes before the fact there's bound to be a delay of up to 30 minutes. Because Ding only phones home every 30 minutes or so to pick up notification of time-released headlines.

In other news:

1. Wiki FAQ Upgrade

I have converted the Wiki FAQ into a very large single page. In this "flat" form, you can print the entire FAQ at once and read it at your leisure. Just be sure to load at least 40 pages of paper in your printer!

2. Mileage Alchemy Update

The conversion bonanza from Continental to Amtrak Guest Rewards to Choice to Southwest has been devalued but is still worth a look. For 2008 you can convert another 25k OnePass miles to 25k Amtrak points to 75k Choice points to 30 RR credits, but you will need to get the Amtrak credit card and have either a Choice credit card or a Choice hotel stay.

3. TalkBoard Election

I finished two places below the cutoff, but I'm grateful for your support and for the opportunity to discuss the need for more clear-cut Terms of Service. I think I have built a foundation for working with the TalkBoard and with the other moderators to accomplish this. You can read the pre-election debates at http://flyertalk.com/forum/forumdisp...c&daysprune=-1

4. Customizing FT

Did you know that you can restructure FT yourself? It's a feature called MyFlyerTalk, located near the upper left of your screen.

You can subscribe to forums to see what the latest (and perhaps hottest) thread is in any forums you like. You can also auto-subscribe to view new posts any thread you have posted in. I learned this from SanDiego1K and Canarsie. Here's how to do it.

Setting up auto-subscribe to threads in which you post.
Setting up subscriptions to a forum:
Now you have one-stop shopping for all your main interests on FlyerTalk at your MyFlyerTalk page. Enjoy!

nsx

The schedule opened through August 22, 2008 this morning some time before 8:30 AM Central time. This was unusual both for the time (Friday rather than Thursday, not at 10 AM Central) and because it has only been 3 weeks since the last extension of the schedule horizon.

Edited to add: It turns out that this schedule extension occurred on time Thursday, but the reservations page on southwest.com still showed the old August 3 limit. There was no Ding notification.

In other news, Southwest will be testing Row44's satellite-based Wireless Internet service on board a limited number of aircraft as announced in this thread.

If you miss the old fare matrix, look for a post by curbcrusher later today explaining how you can still access that information. He's a wizard.

nsx

FT member ScroogeMcFlyer has posted that you can get a $50 rebate from Paypal when you buy a $250 ticket on Southwest though this link. Act quickly because this offer is limited to the first 10,000 people responding or March 27, whichever comes first. See http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=801507 for full information.

Because of Southwest lack of change fees, you could use this promotion just as if you were buying a $250 gift card: Buy now, decide on your actual travel plans later.

nsx

The schedule opened through October 30, 2008 this morning, at about 10:18 AM Central time, as predicted at http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/ right under the Travel Tools header.

In other news:

1. ATA shutdown

In case you've been stranded on a desert island other than Hawaii, ATA has abruptly halted scheduled flights and killed its frequent flier program. Holders of ATA points are out of luck. Southwest replaced air travel for ticket holders who purchased ATA tickets on southwest.com, but then narrowed this to cover only the first month of travel dates. Read the sad story at http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=808525 and http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=811448

2. Wiki FAQ Update

I have deleted the ATA content from the FAQ and made a few additions based on recent forum posts. The FAQ is now completely up to date.

3. Turbulence ahead

Expensive fuel will foster all sorts of traveler-unfriendly changes over the next year or so. Expect significant fare increases and, yes, devaluation of frequent flier programs. Southwest is considering changing to a points-based system that would presumably be less favorable to short-haul customers on discount fares. Southwest will take its time and carefully consider its options, so I don't expect any major changes until late 2008 or early 2009. Make hay while the sun shines!

nsx

A rare non-targeted promotion code has been posted through Ding!

Coincident with the schedule opening to October 30, 2008, you can save 15% for fall travel if you type the promotion code DING15 just above the "Go to Next Step" button on the city and date selection page. You don't need to use Ding; just book at southwest.com as usual. Here are the specific conditions:
This is a great way to lock in a good deal for fall travel regardless of what happens to fuel prices between now and then. You can always rebook if the fares go down and pocket the savings as a travel credit good for one year from now.

nsx

The schedule is set to open through January 9, 2009 this morning, at about 10 AM Central time, as predicted on blogsouthwest.com and at http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/ right under the Travel Tools header. I am posting the news flash a bit ahead of time to give you a reminder, and also because I will be busy booking flights once the schedule opens.

Book your holiday award travel NOW! There are likely to be only a few award seats on the peak dates you want. When they're gone, they won't reappear, probably not even in the last week before travel.

There's not much other news besides the ongoing efforts of legacy carriers to alienate their customers. That is short-term thinking at its worst. When the dust settles, both leisure travelers and business travelers will revile the legacies: leisure travelers for the junk fees and business travelers for failure to deliver on the promise of free international travel (made impossible by award level changes, capacity controls, and now hefty surcharges on award tickets). I believe that Southwest will be more successful in winning market share than even optimistic analysts predict.

Southwest's own capacity controls on award travel have really begun to hurt this summer. I am hoping for relief in the fall, but for now you can only expect to use book summer awards for flights that have cheap fares available. If you wait until the last week before the flight, availability often improves. I've seen this happen most of the time when I needed a seat.

If it's any consolation, the monetary value of a ticket (how much it would cost you to buy the trip you are redeeming for) has not gone down. Yes, it's harder to redeem, and yes, you can only redeem for flights with the cheaper fares available, but... those cheaper fares are approaching last year's higher fares.

So Southwest awards are still quite valuable. However, they are getting more expensive to earn, at least if you earn them by flying. On a relative basis (and on that basis only), credit card earning opportunities are gradually becoming more attractive.

nsx

The schedule opened through March 6, 2009 this morning, at about 10:25 AM Central time, as predicted at http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/ right under the Travel Tools header.

In other news, Choice Privileges has devalued its exchange option without notice. You now need 6000 Choice points to redeem for 2 Rapid Rewards credits, a 20% devaluation.

If you have a Southwest Visa card, check your email for a promotion giving you 2 additional bonus credits for a Business Select fare flown by August 28. I got an email for all 3 of my Southwest Visa cards, so it might not be targeted. See http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=852731 for more information.

Revisions to Rapid Rewards are not likely until next year, but you can join the speculation at http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=840975

nsx

1. As described at http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=879394, Southwest is offering 50% off any Wanna Get Away fare to or from Buffalo. Purchase must be made between October 21, 2008 and October 23, 2008 for travel October 28, 2008 through February 12, 2009. See http://www.southwest.com/hotfares/buffalo.html for details. There are some amazing deals to be had.

In other news:

2. The Oakland airport is getting free Wifi, as described at http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=878949

3. Southwest has begun rolling out priority screening lines for A-list members and Business Select purchasers as described at http://www.blogsouthwest.com/blog/fl...ity-checkpoint
The initial rollout includes
• Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL),
• San Francisco International Airport (SFO),
• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX),
• Denver International Airport (DEN),
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX),
• Orange County John Wayne Airport (SNA),
• Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI).

4. Southwest will begin service to MSP in March 2009. Initially there will be flights only to and from MDW. So far, Southwest has not offered a new member signup bonus like the 8 instant credits offered for IAD and SFO.

nsx

The schedule opened through May 8, 2009 this morning, at about 10:22 AM Central time, as predicted at http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/ right under the Travel Tools header.

This time, Southwest also pre-announced the time of the extension on Twitter at http://twitter.com/SouthwestAir/. They said 10:30 AM, but it was several minutes earlier than that.

In other news, Fly By Lanes continue to open. If your originating airport has a Fly By Lane, you will see a Yes under Fly By Lane availability in the right column when you begin online check-in. This information is not on the boarding pass itself. Fly By Lane locations are listed at http://www.southwest.com/flyby/ but the list is out of date.

Curbcrusher and I have updated the Wiki FAQ from top to bottom, bringing it (we think) fully up to date. Feel free to fix any errors you find.