Bluecat_Aggie94 said:

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It was not the open seating that was my complaint, it was the requirement to log in exactly 24 hours before your flight to try to be the first to log in, and doing it within the first half second to still get B group

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that's just a testament to how many people are willing to pay $20 or whatever to get early bird and get the A to not have to worry about it.

I can say my family prefers the United/other airline style of knowing our seats.

We like knowing we have seats together and boarding towards the end of the process. Sometime myself or my wife will board with our assigned group (B) just to ensure we have room for our carry on. But the other will stay out with the 3 year old so he's not sitting down, asking when we're taking off, and needing to be entertained for an extra 30 minutes.

And we've never paid extra to do this. Yeah, we're on the back of the plane, oh well, not a huge deal to me. If SW is going to charge more for aisle, window, etc, that sucks. Didn't the fed just pass some kind or rule limiting fees for families to sit together? Isn't that basically what this does?

Also, the last handful of SW flights I've been on I've had to go to the back of the plane because the front half had someone sitting in the middle seat of every row saying they were saving the row. That crap is annoying....

Ag CPA said:

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Can't get over how many people on this thread check bags.

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If you can show me a way to fit BCDs, wetsuits, fins, masks, snorkels, regulators, underwater camera gear, toiletries, and clothes for 2 into two carryon sized bags, I'm willing to change. But you have to make the carryons weigh less than 15# to bring them on the puddle jumper connecting flight.

I didn't read all the comments, but some said it had to do with the people saving seats and the big increase of wheelchair users - some said they would see 15+ wheelchair users board the plane, but only 2 to get off and laughing about it.

I haven't flown SW in 10+ years so it doesn't impact me. The above is just what I read.

txags92 said:

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Ag CPA said:

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Can't get over how many people on this thread check bags.

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If you can show me a way to fit BCDs, wetsuits, fins, masks, snorkels, regulators, underwater camera gear, toiletries, and clothes for 2 into two carryon sized bags, I'm willing to change. But you have to make the carryons weigh less than 15# to bring them on the puddle jumper connecting flight.

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some people are oblivious to that fact that others may have different needs than themselves.

'my scenario is the only one that is possible, for any one else, every time, every where!'

my neighbors have a 9 year old who is wheel chair bound and can't even feed himself.
That kid has a full size check bag just for his required machines/stuff that keep him alive, let alone clothes and whatever else typical kids have.

JMac03 said:

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I didn't read all the comments, but some said it had to do with the people saving seats and the big increase of wheelchair users - some said they would see 15+ wheelchair users board the plane, but only 2 to get off and laughing about it.

I haven't flown SW in 10+ years so it doesn't impact me. The above is just what I read.

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Saw a family in Vegas with about 4 wheel chairs in it and 25 other people and they tried to board with the wheel chairs. Man they were sucking their teeth when the gate agent shut that down.

barbacoa taco said:

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BMX Bandit said:

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barbacoa taco said:

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TXTransplant said:

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Paying more to sit closer to the front of the plane is stupid, and I hate when other airlines charge for that.

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Yeah, it's like people think they're getting to the destination faster by sitting closer to the front. The only time this would make sense is if you need to make a tight connection.

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disagree here.

well worth it to get off the plane and where you are going as quickly as possible. it can be a 20 minute difference in getting off the plane.

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depends.

if you have a connection, absolutely.

if you checked a bag, there's really no point. chances are they wont come out until everyone has deplaned.

if you simply prefer to sit toward the front, fair enough.

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There are certain airports where, even with a checked bag, it makes a huge difference to be at the front of the plane. Midland, for instance. If you aren't at the front of the plane, you'll be in line for a rental car for forever. And if cars aren't ready, it can literally be the difference in 15 minutes or literally hours. Grab your checked bag after you have keys for the rental.

I'm sure this data has changed but when I was doing some market research on a airline adjacent business a few years back to see how flight volume was driven vs profit, and, IIIRC, the split was something like.. 20% of volume yet 80% of profit were business travelers.

That seems outlandish but think about how many folks on that Tuesday AM flight to Houston booked that flight less than 24 hours ago.

I frequently book flights 1-2 days in advance and pay 5-750 RT for short flights. Doubtful that family going to the Alamo for their summer trip on SWA is dropping $3,000 on flights.

Whoever you fly, just get status so you don't have to pay for seats and bags. It's easier if you fly for business; much tougher if you're a leisure flyer. If you're flying for leisure with no status, you're screwed. It's just a matter of who's going to do it.

Sadly, I think $500 for a domestic ticket is becoming the norm, no matter when you book - unless you are just super flexible and are lucky enough to catch a deal.

I am one of those people who will book early and/or watch prices like a hawk to save $. But the last few trips I've booked, that simply hasn't been possible.

I bought tickets in mid-April for a late July trip to Maine. I felt like I was getting a "deal" when prices dropped under $500 because they had been $700+. Well, that was for "basic economy" (or the equivalent). By the time we selected seats, the price was $580.

Exactly two weeks later, when we decided to add two more people to our trip, that same ticket was $100 less. It was all moot anyway, because our departing flight was cancelled last-minute. Ended up having to fly to BOS on JetBlue and pay 2x more for a rental car.

A trip to Montreal/Quebec Canada in May was $700+ purchased a month out. That price never dropped, even a week or so out with plenty of seats remaining.

I booked IAH to Calgary recently and paid $580+. That's a Christmas trip, and we have very specific dates/times we need to travel, so I didn't want to risk it. That's on WestJet. United was significantly more expensive.

Even SW is stupid expensive. I was looking at tickets to Jackson, MS when they had a fare sale a few weeks ago. The sale prices were at terrible times. Anything I would have considered was $300 - to go to Jackson, MS. And I was willing to be flexible, but a "weekend" trip leaving early Thurs am and coming back on Tues isn't worth it by the time you factor in the extra hotel and rental car costs.

JMac03 said:

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I didn't read all the comments, but some said it had to do with the people saving seats and the big increase of wheelchair users - some said they would see 15+ wheelchair users board the plane, but only 2 to get off and laughing about it.

I haven't flown SW in 10+ years so it doesn't impact me. The above is just what I read.

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I have commented about this in the past. Charolette to Dallas on SW. Literally counted 15-17 wheelchairs boarding, exactly ONE de-boarding

Even given the fact that it's harder to stand and wait to board than it is to get off, I smelled fraud

Going that far, yes. I'm dropping $750 some weeks for a RT from DFW to San Antonio. lol

None of those people in their pajamas boarding in group 9 paid that.

I rarely pay over $400 on United unless it's to Hawaii. That includes into and out of Aspen and Eagle and Durango and Hayden. You just have to be flexible and know what days they need filled.

Southwest is far more expensive for us.

Plane routes are a fixed cost, mostly. So let's say the break even is $300/per person. Pajama wearer pays $450, airline makes 33% margin.

Business travelers pays… 650. 54% margin. First class seat at $900? 67%.

Anyways.

Inflation is really hammering airline travel. Tickets I could get for $300-ish a couple of years ago are $400+ and $500+ now.

PHX, YYC, and BGR are all routes I've flown multiple times in the last few years, and prices are up prob 20-30%.

We don't fly it anymore, but I saw the same to BHM and MEM.

This is all on SW. I think the Colorado routes on all airlines are better priced just because there is so much competition out of Houston (and TX in general).

The only deal I've gotten lately was IAH to Fresno through Vegas on SW. I was shocked to get that for $276. It was crazy expensive on the legacy carriers.

One thing I've consistently noticed is flights with stops on the legacy carriers are always more expensive, but SW will often offer at least one option that is a "deal". If I'm flying a route with no non-stop options, SW pretty much always wins out, if they fly to the destination.

Sad to see the cattle call going away. Very orderly process and never had issues with getting good seating as long as I was willing to pay a few bucks or be on my checkin game. That said, I've mostly found SWA's pricing to be not that competitive already over the past few years vs what I could find from AA, and I expect this to result in an even higher price for equal or lesser seating

This +1. It's essentially going to be a nicer version of Spirit/Frontier that masquerades as United/Delta/American

That strategically use wheel chairs to up their boarding class. I'm intrigued as to how that niche of people will overcome this step. You know they will try. I hate to say it but most of the time ive been on a SWA flight there's at least a half dozen or so people straight out of the old people of Walmart memes. Last week I had a lady with a crop top sweat shirt pulled over her boobs (no bra just gravity) w pink tube shorts that were stretched past their max. She was a one that boarded in a wheel chair and magically left on her on accord.

Edit to add: she actually got up out of her wheelchair and took off her little oxygen machine before pre boarding when the gate agent told her she couldn't bring her beer on the flight. Proceeded to walk to the trash can, walk back, sit back down in her wheelchair, put back on her oxygen, and get waived straight through. Then saved 2 asiles of seats in rows 3-5 for her group C grown kids that were late to pre boarding because they got stuck paying their bar bill (they let everyone around them know) then magically needed none of those and even carried a child and vaped on the way out. Yeah Southwest she's really handicapped….

Thank you. I needed that. I'm dying.

AggieOO said:

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barbacoa taco said:

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BMX Bandit said:

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barbacoa taco said:

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TXTransplant said:

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Paying more to sit closer to the front of the plane is stupid, and I hate when other airlines charge for that.

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Yeah, it's like people think they're getting to the destination faster by sitting closer to the front. The only time this would make sense is if you need to make a tight connection.

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disagree here.

well worth it to get off the plane and where you are going as quickly as possible. it can be a 20 minute difference in getting off the plane.

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depends.

if you have a connection, absolutely.

if you checked a bag, there's really no point. chances are they wont come out until everyone has deplaned.

if you simply prefer to sit toward the front, fair enough.

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There are certain airports where, even with a checked bag, it makes a huge difference to be at the front of the plane. Midland, for instance. If you aren't at the front of the plane, you'll be in line for a rental car for forever. And if cars aren't ready, it can literally be the difference in 15 minutes or literally hours. Grab your checked bag after you have keys for the rental.

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This happened to me recently at SBA with enterprise, even though I was in the front in economy plus. More a factor that they were behind with other flights that had come in before us. Would've been even worse if I had been in the back.

Bluecat_Aggie94 said:

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It was not the open seating that was my complaint, it was the requirement to log in exactly 24 hours before your flight to try to be the first to log in, and doing it within the first half second to still get B group. Or forgetting because you have better things to do with your time and being relegated to C(enter seat) group.

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Agreed. Depending on the flight route I'm sometimes forced to fly SWA for work. It never fails that I'll be in a meeting without access to my phone when it's time to check in.

My problem with the seating is that I don't have pretty much guaranteed access to premium seats with extra leg room on SWA like I do on United and the number of seats with extra legroom is significantly less than the legacy carriers.

Trying to get a good spot manually is a fool's errand.

You can upgrade to A 1-15 and get legroom for about the same price as the legacy carriers.

The A16 through 30-40 are the A-Listers. As of now, these are the people that are going to get ****ed most by this change. We're also the most loyal customers.

30 through about 60 are the people that paid a bit extra for early bird.

Four Seasons Landscaping said:

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The A16 through 30-40 are the A-Listers. As of now, these are the people that are going to get ****ed most by this change. We're also the most loyal customers.

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As I said earlier in the thread, my main benefit of A-list is priority boarding. Southwest has to realize this will be a big disconnect if they take that away. I'm hoping they give A-List customers free upgrades to better seats. I'm not counting on it, but I remain hopeful. If not, **** em.

I get you. I didn't really think of that scenario since I fly mostly for personal travel and don't have that situation pop up often. But yeah, **** that.

Four Seasons Landscaping said:

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It's not just a better assigned seat.

It's the fact that if I'm working somewhere and the job gets done earlier/later, I can hop on a different flight home and know I'll be able to get a decent seat right after the As.

I don't consider a middle seat with a bit more legroom to be better, regardless of the airline.

There's a reason this is horrible on /r/southwestairlines. They had a niche of loyal customers and they're ****ting on them to chase after the passengers that think they're too good for Southwest.

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I've done this several times where my day at a conference would end early, and I'd change my flight on the way to the airport.

Honestly not sure why anyone traveling for business would chose SWA when you can get access to upgrades to 1st class on all the legacies with status and instant access to economy plus. I've often booked/ switched last minute and there's typically always an economy plus aisle or at worst window available 24 hrs out and usually even same day.

Status below 1K on UA is worthless when flying out of IAH, and if you're on the south side of town HOU is infinitely more convenient. The last time I flew UA out of IAH to MIA they decided to disperse a family of five basic economy flyers throughout premium economy in middle seats. It was worse than the land whale lottery you sometimes get on WN.