11-24-2007
08:21 PM
2 Loves
I am quite surprised by the comments here. As a very frequent flyer for the last seventeen years, I have only flown Southwest on certain routes. Why? Because other airlines reward my repeated business with the ability to book the exit row aisle at ticketing.
I believe that these changes will get Southwest more of my business. My biggest concern in the past has been getting a decent seat on my return flight home. This is often at a time when I am not near a computer, but would be flying back on an unrestricted ticket. Southwest has lost a LOT of my business on 200-700 mile nonstop flights due to this approach. You've already picked up one trip in December where I would have normally flown American, because I could lock in my outbound on a Ding! fare and buy Business Select on the return (which is likely to not be known until 3-4 days in advance).
The resulting fare is lower than what will be available on American by the time the trip is completely locked in. I get 17D on the return, Southwest gets more revenue, and there are still a whole bunch of seats up front for families and other leisure fliers. I guess I don't see what the big problem is going to be? The reality is that if you're boarding pass is B10 or better, you're going to get a non-middle seat. For leisure travelers, if you care that much, be at the computer in advance.
One thing I HAVE noticed so far, however, is that you need more signage at the gate. Specifically, a sign that says in big easy to understand wording which groups should stay seated and which groups should be standing. At both MDW and BNA, it's not been clear to a lot of people what is going on, and a lot of B customers were trying to stand in the A1-30 line at the wrong time.
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