Southwest Airlines Community

I hope you pre-boarded and didn't get any grouching from other passengers. People need extra time boarding for all sorts of reasons that are not immediately apparent or necessarily visible. ... View more

This is a very interesting idea! I usually have a backpack, sometimes a roller bag too, but I'm quick to get it out of the way and avoid blocking traffic. (I know, I know--not everyone is as polite and conscientious.) I do see the point several others have made though, about how boarding numbers are assigned based on status and a number of other factors (I've been A-List or A-List Preferred for years, and I like my A boarding position).   What if there was an option for everyone without a carryon to board after the A group, before the B group--with family boarding and A-List who didn't get A boarding passes? This would add the least amount of potential complication to the boarding process (as people aren't too bright when it comes to boarding, in my experience, keeping the process simple makes it work more smoothly). Instead of adding a layer of complication, it would just enlarge who is eligible to board between A and B groups.   I don't think adding more checked bags would slow the flights down significantly. It would be much more efficient to have people check bags at check-in than to have to gate-check them, for example. ... View more

Yes, I understand. What I was trying to point out, with some humor, was that Southwest is making outdated assumptions about who their A Listers are, and what they might want.   From the advent of flying until the late 1970s, it was perfectly reasonable to assume that the majority of your frequent fliers were male, likely businessmen flying for work, and that they would enjoy the ability to take their wives along with them from time to time. It was fairly unusual for a single anyone to be a frequent flier.   The world has changed, and both men and women now get married later in life (if at all), and both men and women are equally likely to be flying frequently for both work and pleasure.   My suggestion is that Southwest take a look at the demographic information available and consider whether an alternative to Companion Pass might be a good idea. Right now it would be far more valuable to me to have an automatic upgrade to business select and free wifi, for example, or have the ability to select a different companion for each of my trips (as then I could travel with friends). ... View more

I have recently had this issue too. Good suggestion to go through old email with a search.    Before the new GUI debuted on the Southwest page, I used to be able to see a list of all of my booked trips. That was a much easier way for me to find unused funds, especially since I ocassionally go on an email-inbox clearing spree and may delete emails from Southwest inadvertently.   Since the option to view all past bookings used to exist, I'm guessing it wouldn't be that hard to bring it back. I don't even need pretty graphics--just the date and cities (and the trip name, if I gave it one). I actually liked this view much better than the current system, which seems to only let me see the next 2-3 scheduled trips.   Thanks for listening. ... View more