Citing customer demand. Interesting timing as some investors demand an executive leadership overhaul!
P.H. Dexippus said:
I preferred open seating. New management continues to erode all of what made SWA stand apart from the competition.
Amen. Just went through this with United and its quite silly.TXTransplant said:
I'm someone who likes open seating. Never have had an issue getting a seat. But I usually travel alone or + 1. On the rare occasion we've gotten a bad boarding position, we just pay the $20-$30 at check in to upgrade to an A boarding position.
What I hate to see is the elimination of options. I hate searching for a fare on United or AA in Google flights only to go to the airline website and have another $50-$100 added to the fare in seat fees.
I want to be able to search for a fare and have that actually be what the ticket costs. Now that option will be essentially gone.
I listened to a podcast recently and this is most definitely a response to pressure from activist investors. They are pushing for a lot of changes to increase revenue and this one was probably the lowest hanging fruit, given that SW has built an entire marketing campaign on "bags fly free".
I flew SWA religiously for business before COVID and it was hands down the best for my needs. With A List Preferred, I could easily get the exit row window seat for extra room, or the bulkhead aisle seat if I wanted a quick exit when the plane landed. With the credit card I racked up points, drink tickets and the Companion Pass. The super flexible cancellation policy, especially with rewards points, has saved me countless times.Bayou City said:
For all intents and purposes, this change is happening because they want to move away from large families and focus more on business passengers. They aren't explicitly saying it because that's terrible business, but these new rules are there to generate revenue and drive down the number of families w children and increase the number of business passnagers.
Bird Poo said:
Have to admit, their management has failed to find unique ways to generate revenue. Gary Kelly rode Herbs coattails. He's no Maverick, and it doesn't seem like Bob Jordan is either.
If you actually flew that much for business you'd likely be getting first class upgrades, priority seats with extra legroom, free drinks, free bags etc. anyways on another airline.P.H. Dexippus said:I flew SWA religiously for business before COVID and it was hands down the best for my needs. With A List Preferred, I could easily get the exit row window seat for extra room, or the bulkhead aisle seat if I wanted a quick exit when the plane landed. With the credit card I racked up points, drink tickets and the Companion Pass. The super flexible cancellation policy, especially with rewards points, has saved me countless times.Bayou City said:
For all intents and purposes, this change is happening because they want to move away from large families and focus more on business passengers. They aren't explicitly saying it because that's terrible business, but these new rules are there to generate revenue and drive down the number of families w children and increase the number of business passnagers.
I think the reality is that in a post-COVID/Zoom world, demand for business travel will never be what it once was.
P.H. Dexippus said:
New management continues to erode all of what made SWA stand apart from the competition.
TXTransplant said:
I'm someone who likes open seating. Never have had an issue getting a seat. But I usually travel alone or + 1. On the rare occasion we've gotten a bad boarding position, we just pay the $20-$30 at check in to upgrade to an A boarding position.
What I hate to see is the elimination of options. I hate searching for a fare on United or AA on Google flights only to go to the airline website and have another $50-$100 added to the fare in seat fees.
I want to be able to search for a fare and have that actually be what the ticket costs. Now that option will be essentially gone.
I listened to a podcast recently and this is most definitely a response to pressure from activist investors. They are pushing for a lot of changes to increase revenue and this one was probably the lowest hanging fruit, given that SW has built an entire marketing campaign on "bags fly free".
62strat said:TXTransplant said:
I'm someone who likes open seating. Never have had an issue getting a seat. But I usually travel alone or + 1. On the rare occasion we've gotten a bad boarding position, we just pay the $20-$30 at check in to upgrade to an A boarding position.
What I hate to see is the elimination of options. I hate searching for a fare on United or AA on Google flights only to go to the airline website and have another $50-$100 added to the fare in seat fees.
I want to be able to search for a fare and have that actually be what the ticket costs. Now that option will be essentially gone.
I listened to a podcast recently and this is most definitely a response to pressure from activist investors. They are pushing for a lot of changes to increase revenue and this one was probably the lowest hanging fruit, given that SW has built an entire marketing campaign on "bags fly free".
You you say you like open seating, so you don't care where you sit.. so then why on United are you wanting to pick your seat and complain it costs money?
Just let united select your seat.
Can you not just search economy on google? that includes a seat.
I guess none of that has ever been an issue because I'm all in with United. I have the chase united visa, and when I fly, it's with points, which always includes a seat and priority boarding, and the card gives me 2 bags.TXTransplant said:62strat said:TXTransplant said:
I'm someone who likes open seating. Never have had an issue getting a seat. But I usually travel alone or + 1. On the rare occasion we've gotten a bad boarding position, we just pay the $20-$30 at check in to upgrade to an A boarding position.
What I hate to see is the elimination of options. I hate searching for a fare on United or AA on Google flights only to go to the airline website and have another $50-$100 added to the fare in seat fees.
I want to be able to search for a fare and have that actually be what the ticket costs. Now that option will be essentially gone.
I listened to a podcast recently and this is most definitely a response to pressure from activist investors. They are pushing for a lot of changes to increase revenue and this one was probably the lowest hanging fruit, given that SW has built an entire marketing campaign on "bags fly free".
You you say you like open seating, so you don't care where you sit.. so then why on United are you wanting to pick your seat and complain it costs money?
Just let united select your seat.
Can you not just search economy on google? that includes a seat.
United's basic economy fare that assigns a seat also means you will be the last to board the plane and you can't bring anything more than a personal Item that fits under the seat in front of you.
Where I am, SW's cheapest fare was typically comparable to United's basic economy, which IMO is not a good product. So, yeah, it's annoying to pay a higher economy fare on United (or AA, for that matter) AND still have to pay to get a seat.
And I've seen flights lately where EVERY seat has an upcharge. So, even searching for economy pricing doesn't always work.
You can't even see what the extra seat charge is until you put in all your personal information as though you are going to purchase the ticket. That's not transparent pricing, which is overall just bad for consumers.
AgOutsideAustin said:
Bummer, will see what A list preferred gets me in the new process. Not expecting much…..