I have been a loyal Southwest customer for about 5 years. I live in San Francisco and go over to Oakland to get the Southwest flights I want. It was worth it for the convenience and price of Southwest. After completing the trips I already have booked for the holidays, I will be flying on United for all of my future trips. Although I often take 12-16 roundtrips in a year, I likely won't qualify for the "A" Rewards program, and if I want to get in the A group for a decent seat I will have to buy the Business Select tickets, which end up being MORE expensive than getting an ASSIGNED seat on United from a much more convenient airport. I was initially excited to hear that Southwest would start boarding by number, as I used to usually be one of the first to check in and print my boarding pass, but didn't realize that you'd be implementing other changes that would make it pretty much impossible for non-business travelers to get in the A group (as a side note, I've flown Southwest for business trips before, because of the low rates - my employers chose Southwest because of their low fares, and would not pay for the Business Select fares). I have to say I'm very disappointed in the way Southwest has chosen to change the boarding policy. I mean, this is so complicated and user-unfriendly, why not just assign seats? As of now, there is nothing convenient or advantageous for me to fly Southwest. After five years of 12-16 roundtrips per year on Southwest, I regret to say I am done. Another example of a company making "improvements" that completely eliminate things that made them great. I'm curious to know exactly how you surveyed your customers to come to this conclusion.
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