UALOneKPlus

Seriously, do you really believe that? On what basis do you base this on?

Frequent business fliers like myself, and many of my buddies, are all mostly purchasing BS fares. It's built more loyalty to WN, and I seriously doubt it's going to die anytime soon.

nsx

It'll take a year or more for word of mouth to spread sufficiently that a majority of potential Business Select customers know about it. I'll bet if you took a random poll of FT members that less than 20% would even know that Business Select exists, and probably less than 10% would be able to tell you the advantages.

UALOneKPlus

I'd agree, but anyone who goes to book a WN flight on their website will see that there is such a thing as BS, and plenty of additional info to see what it's about. They will also find out about it due to the change in the boarding process.

IMHO anyone who flies WN regularly at all, will know about it already, or will, very soon.

lrickets

my hubby is an a lister and have earned cp for me for 2 yrs in a row now. the reason we fly wn is because of their peanut and no frill fares on short and frequent hou-dal routes. we will never and have never paid more than $130 rts for this frequent routes (always book sale fares thru end of sale) out of our own pockets. long non stop routes, we fly on american because fares are somewhat the same as wn.

i'm very sure that many frequent flyers and bsers such as yourself are aware of the bs fares, but not many will pay extra just to board first, especially if $ is out of your own pocket.

UALOneKPlus

Your points are very valid.

However, BS fares are targeted at business fliers, not fliers who pay for their own fares like you and your husband.

That's why BS is a success - it's a very mild increase for business fliers, like myself, for a lot of benefits. Most business fliers value the convenience over the mild increase, and in cases where my company pays for it, the cost is not a big consideration.

Also, it's not just to board first. There are several other key benefits - read my BS fare thread to understand why. Boarding first is actually the benefit I use least!! I prefer to board late A or early B.

I also don't drink, so boarding first and the free drink benefits are lost on me. Kind of ironic if you think about it.

lrickets

yes, that's the point of bs fares is to target biz fliers. but comparing to biz/elite fliers' benefits on other airlines, wn doesn't come close. wn doesn't fly overseas (and i don't see they will ever either). so bsers will not be seen often on wn other than short haul routes and a few non stop long hauls.

UALOneKPlus

Once again absolutely correct.

But many many mainland business fliers like myself (even as a former UAL elite) love WN for those differences versus legacy airlines.

So BS fares and WN are very attractive on its own.

Of course if I had to do weekly trips to Osaka or Paris, that would be a different story. I wouldn't be a targetted business flier for WN, nor would I look at WN as a viable option.

Bottom line is I think there are many business fliers like myself (and I know of many people who have needs like me) who benefit from BS fares and are willing to pay for it, and stick with WN.

You can't really judge the success of BS fares unless you're in our shoes, or in WN's revenue department.

Most casual WN fliers do not have the correct perspective to judge BS fare success.

WV girl

Last night in Baltimore (destination FLL) I noticed WN had two business select travelers in the A1 and A2 boarding spots. Next boarder was A16.

As far as the new boarding process, this was my first time using it. I'm not A-list yet even though I do fly WN once (sometimes twice a month) but due to all my partner and visa card flight credits, I fly on a ton of reward flights so don't see myself ever making A-list (since those flights don't count)

But the new boarding process did seem to work in Baltimore. Although I completely agree with the other posters, that the gate agents are not enforcing the 'numbers'. It seemed to me that its really up to the passengers to speak to one another and determine what 'position' is on their boarding pass to ensure you are lining up in numeric order. I was under the impression when they first rolled this out, the GA would be doing that but found on my flight last night, that was not the case.

tusphotog

Just got off LAX-TUS and the agent in LAX explained the process to the entire area over the PA, then came up and re-told it to everyone in line. He told us explicitly to line up in numerical order. He ended up throwing four or five people out of line who were in group B trying to board with the A 31-60 crowd.

A last minute change to my reservation put me in kind of an odd situation though: do I take my chances with the flight not being too full or pay an extra $15 (I think) and go with BS. I took BS, as did the other two BSers in front of me and we all agreed it was great. Especially since my change took place about 90 minutes from push back. I doubt I'll book many BS fares in the future, since I'm on the A-list, but it's a nice option for last minute changes. I know I'd do it again, especially on a full flight.

I did ask about the drink ticket, and the agent in LA said they didn't need to be used that day or on that flight. As far as he knew there wasn't an exp. date either. Now, anyone know how to get 0.75 credits?

irabk

As SWABrian mentioned a while back, keep posting and they will filter the word down. It IS the GA's job to enforce the numbers. In the beginning, there maybe a little slack or resistance, but in time (hopefully, sooner rather than later) the word should seep down to the front lines.

After all, this is SWA's policy. Us Pax are not in charge of enforcing policy.

ILeftMyHeartInTexas

Just returned from my first WN Boarding Process. All went well, nobody really got in "numerical" order, however, being my first trip with the new process, I asked and allowed anyone with a lower number to please go before me.

Strange, we were A 40's and were nearly last loading on the HOUT2/OKC leg of the trip. Who knows? The crew were great and the TA was very positive.

Great trip all together! Better get to bed, another trip in the a.m. on CO.

ssullivan

Tonight I flew LBB-HOU, and boarding was smooth again. I didn't witness the gate agent turning anyone away (other than the passenger who was trying to board the wrong flight), but I didn't notice any boarding passes that were out of order ahead of me either. I was A 28.

As for Business Select, there appeared to be quite a few passengers on that fare on my LBB-DAL flight. The A 1-15 boarding group was full, and I saw a lot of the drink coupons that print with the boarding pass being given to flight attendants.

I couldn't really judge the boarding at DAL, as we were late, and half the plane had boarded when I got to the gate (I was in the terminal at DAL less than one minute).

SWABrian

Just to clarify, our Ops Agents should be enforcing the boarding order by groups. A1-5, A6-10, A11-15, A16-20, etc. They shouldn't allow someone with boarding pass A-36 to board before A-16. However, within each group of five, it is the Customers' responsibility to line up in order. For example, we wouldn't tell A-27 to stand behind A-26 in line.

cxn

How should the Ops Agent deal with 2+ people traveling together who have different numbers:

me - A16
son - A46

Thanks

camargo

Benefits? What benefits?

I'm a business traveler (about 30 RT's with WN last year) and all I see is an effort to wring more money out of my company. We plan our travel in advance and usually buy one of the cheaper tickets. (shrug)

I've almost always had an A BP and never stood in line. I would relax and simply walk on board at the end of the A line. I always shook my head at why anyone would stand in line for an A seat. So, no change for me there.

Personally, I like to sit in the back. Why? Two reasons: #1, I check my luggage. #2, I can relax while all the fools in front kill themselves to get their luggage out of the overhead so that they can stand in the asile. Meantime, I relax and simply go to baggage claim when I deplane where my luggage is waiting 90% of the time. I then go to the rental car bus where I usually am on the same ride as the guy sitting in row six.

Free drinks? I've got tons of free drink tickets that I'll never use. Outbound, I don't drink 'cause I'll usually be driving. Inbound, I sleep about half the time. No extra benefit there as far as I'm concerned.

Extra 1/4 RR credit? What a joke. I now have to use two coupons to use a RR award so, as far as I'm concerned, WN has actually devalued their FF program. Yeah, that earned my loyalty [sarcasm alert!].

I read your thread and it seems to me that you value the ability/cost savings of being able to change or book your ticket at the last minute. Most of my company's business is planed in advance and, in seven years of flying WN, I've only had to change a ticket twice. So, no benefit there for me. If your travel is last minute or you change your plans frequently there might be a small benefit to buying BS.


BTW, I work for a Fortune 500 company that usually has hundreds, if not thousands, of people flying. Obviously, I haven't talked to all of them but, of the ones that I've talked to, the aptly named BS program has been met with a big, rousing....um....yawn.