Why be better ... We can suck like everyone else

I'm a Southwest loyalist for the most part, but have been loyal to a few other airlines over time and switched -- it may sound funny, but Frontier was great when it was locally owned and before it went full barebones discount.

I like the Southwest pricing tiers and ability to easily change flights, especially same day. The fact they have so many to so many different places is great. Helps that Denver is basically a hub, I can get almost everywhere nonstop. The bags thing was mostly a bonus, but I almost always used it even when I didn't have to just because it saves having to carry through the airport or fight for overhead space, which even on Southwest can be dicey. The no assigned seats I can take or leave, but it did help them stick out some and their boarding process is honestly the best there is probably because of it.

All that said, they have not been the cheapest option in a long time. You can often find better fares on the main airlines. And they've obviously had some operational failures the past few years.

I'm not a business person, but how does this get them new customers, keep old ones or differentiate them at all? Like all other corporate greed out there it just bows down to shareholders who think they can make another buck (one story I saw said they lose an estimated $1.8 billion in bag fees, but gain $1.5 billion in customers because of it). I have a card and points, but it won't make me automatically look at Southwest moving forward.

dixiehack said:

Never flown in or out of TYS, but I wonder if it doesn't suffer from the Huntsville problem of having a good chunk of its business traffic generated by federal employment (and thus price insensitive). That leads to Huntsville costing an arm and a leg for ordinary schlubs and thus a lot of people flying out of Nashville or Birmingham instead. And discount carriers don't really stick there.

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Flying out of Nashville or Birmingham or driving to Hellanta to avoid the hop results in paying for parking, thus negating all or almost all of the savings. Other issues are the drive time, traffic on psychotic I-65 or back roads with Dolla Genruh MeeMaw or Tractor Bob, having to leave early before the flight or being dog-ass tired upon arrival and having to drive home.

Pros, cons. I'm at the point in my life, though, where I'm like @BTExpress and don't care. Do you fly where I need to go, with minimal legs? Yes? Thanks. I'll have my small roller/carry-on and backpack.


Weird Travel Thing -- Anyone else do this? I pack old t-shirts, socks, underwear that I can toss or donate, and not have to bring home. I've done this with shoes, too, older ones that I could knock around in for a 7-10 days and then leave behind.

"Activist investor" is the business equivalent to "domestic terrorist."

dixiehack said:

Never flown in or out of TYS, but I wonder if it doesn't suffer from the Huntsville problem of having a good chunk of its business traffic generated by federal employment (and thus price insensitive). That leads to Huntsville costing an arm and a leg for ordinary schlubs and thus a lot of people flying out of Nashville or Birmingham instead. And discount carriers don't really stick there.

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Back in the mid-late 80s there was a discount airline called Florida Express that flew to TYS. And Allegiant flies there today. So I don't know.

dixiehack said:

The no assigned seating thing (also going away soon) works for me too.

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This is a severe detriment to my wife, and I'm not a huge fan of it either. If the cost is within $50, $100, she pretty much always opts for the non-Southwest option, partly because of this. Just let me pick my damn seat ahead of time.

So if you're the last passenger to board a full Southwest flight . . . you're basically hunting for that one open seat with no idea where it is? Or is there some system they use?

SixToe said:

Flying out of Nashville or Birmingham or driving to Hellanta to avoid the hop results in paying for parking, thus negating all or almost all of the savings. Other issues are the drive time, traffic on psychotic I-65 or back roads with Dolla Genruh MeeMaw or Tractor Bob, having to leave early before the flight or being dog-ass tired upon arrival and having to drive home.

Pros, cons. I'm at the point in my life, though, where I'm like @BTExpress and don't care. Do you fly where I need to go, with minimal legs? Yes? Thanks. I'll have my small roller/carry-on and backpack.


Weird Travel Thing -- Anyone else do this? I pack old t-shirts, socks, underwear that I can toss or donate, and not have to bring home. I've done this with shoes, too, older ones that I could knock around in for a 7-10 days and then leave behind.

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I do the leave behind thing when I go on vacation, have been for years. I figure I'm going to pick up a few items on my trip, so I always pack some stuff on its last legs so that my bag essentially breaks even when I head to the airport for home.

BTExpress said:

So if you're the last passenger to board a full Southwest flight . . . you're basically hunting for that one open seat with no idea where it is? Or is there some system they use?

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Yes, pretty much. If you're cheap, then the Southwest policy allows you to get a "good" seat, because you can just line up early (and waste your time instead). People running late or on standby get the last, shirtty seats. Also, the flight attendants then get to be the kindergarten teachers of the plane, as they guide people to the last few remaining seats.

sgreenwell said:

Yes, pretty much. If you're cheap, then the Southwest policy allows you to get a "good" seat, because you can just line up early (and waste your time instead). People running late or on standby get the last, shirtty seats. Also, the flight attendants then get to be the kindergarten teachers of the plane, as they guide people to the last few remaining seats.

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I don't think that's how Southwest works. You get assigned a boarding group when you check in -- A, B or C. You can check in 24 hours in advance. The later you check in the most likely you are getting whatever is there. If you are traveling with someone, if you are lower than mid-B it will be dicey if you can sit together. It used to be pretty easy to get a decent spot if you checked in right away, but Southwest has pretty much sold the front of A for a long time and who knows how many other spots. So if you get before B30 any more it's pretty good. I have never cared where on the plane I am, but if I am with one or more people then I try to see what I can do.

This is where assigned seats don't bother me that much. It's a fun game on Southwest to try and get a good seat, but the making sure you check in on time and so forth is a time suck. I usually run into the probably when I am somewhere doing something fun and totally space I am leaving the next day.

Roscablo said:

I don't think that's how Southwest works. You get assigned a boarding group when you check in -- A, B or C. You can check in 24 hours in advance. The later you check in the most likely you are getting whatever is there. If you are traveling with someone, if you are lower than mid-B it will be dicey if you can sit together. It used to be pretty easy to get a decent spot if you checked in right away, but Southwest has pretty much sold the front of A for a long time and who knows how many other spots. So if you get before B30 any more it's pretty good. I have never cared where on the plane I am, but if I am with one or more people then I try to see what I can do.

This is where assigned seats don't bother me that much. It's a fun game on Southwest to try and get a good seat, but the making sure you check in on time and so forth is a time suck. I usually run into the probably when I am somewhere doing something fun and totally space I am leaving the next day.

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I've checked in 24 hours in advance and still got mid to late B because of the sold seats in A and people who checked in earlier because it's the second leg of their trip.

The enshirttification of everything will continue unabated.

I Should Coco said:

Having flown Alaska a couple times in the past few months (way more air travel than usual for me), I noticed on every flight there would be too many carry-ons to fit in the overhead bins. These bags would be checked for free at the gate just before boarding.

Made me feel like a sucker for paying the $35 to check my bag.

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Seems to me this option is available on almost every single flight, no matter the airline. Plus you get to board earlier.