Experience with Southwest Airline?

[PollyannaMom]

To me, they should board all planes from the back row toward the front. Limit carry on luggage to one item the size of a duffle bag. Everything else needs to be checked. I think that would eliminate so many issues and speed up the boarding process.

I don't think they could really keep customers happy limiting carry-on that much, as people often fly with things that they aren't willing to risk losing in a checked-bag scenario.

But Mythbusters did test the various boarding procedures:

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I don't think they could really keep customers happy limiting carry-on that much, as people often fly with things that they aren't willing to risk losing in a checked-bag scenario.

But Mythbusters did test the various boarding procedures:

I've seen that video multiple times but thanks for linking it. I think that's probably the reason why people who enjoy SWA speak highly of it in terms of open seating and why those who would not enjoy that don't want anything to do with SWA. In terms of satisfaction it's for that reason why I wish Mythbusters would had taken people who fly SWA as it's a random no seats way of boarding and looked at that experiment that way and then looked at the way it was done in the video as a control. Or maybe it's just my inquisitive mind working. On both ends of the spectrum a lot can be said for what you are used to

On a very random note I miss the original Mythbusters

 

[wilbret]

Never going to happen on Southwest. It is part of their business plan and their method has been scientifically proven to be the most efficient process to board.

There are plenty of other airlines that do offer assigned seats. However, even those are never guaranteed. I have a flight for 6 people scheduled to Europe early fall. I purchased the tickets and picked seats a year out so that we could get the "good" economy seats. Our seats have been changed 3 times already without a change of equipment. It makes me appreciate the Southwest model even more. I just buy Early Bird and can just choose my seats when I board (I have never not been in A, so have a good selection.) This constant monitoring of my "assigned" seats is getting obnoxious.

It's actually faster to load windows to aisle from back to front, but it will never happen. I fly constantly, and I have never had seats changed. Ever. That includes long hauls, Europe-puddle jumpers, Aussie puddle jumpers, absolute budget airlines, etc... luck of the draw, I guess?

Southwest has an orderly process that could be enhanced with seat selection. They've always gotten me where I'm going, but it costs me $25 out of pocket each way to pay for early bird to avoid getting a middle seat. I don't use them enough to have any status.

 

[Sandeep1]

It's actually faster to load windows to aisle from back to front, but it will never happen. I fly constantly, and I have never had seats changed. Ever. That includes long hauls, Europe-puddle jumpers, Aussie puddle jumpers, absolute budget airlines, etc... luck of the draw, I guess?

Southwest has an orderly process that could be enhanced with seat selection. They've always gotten me where I'm going, but it costs me $25 out of pocket each way to pay for early bird to avoid getting a middle seat. I don't use them enough to have any status.

My seat has only been changed on one flight. And when I asked about it, they simply changed my seat back, wasn't a big deal at all.

 

[DVC-Don]

...............
Southwest has an orderly process that could be enhanced with seat selection. They've always gotten me where I'm going, but it costs me $25 out of pocket each way to pay for early bird to avoid getting a middle seat. I don't use them enough to have any status.

Since I've become disabled and need a cane to walk most days I get pre-board and save the $25 now.

 

[PollyannaMom]

(Reminding me of the other thread about Alexa-like devices for Disney hotels) - because I posted the Mythbusters video the other day, this one showed up in the suggestion column when I went back into YouTube today. But it's way funnier, so I have to share:

 

[RedAngie]

There is an airline that's experimenting with boarding and deplaning from both the front and rear doors. I think a couple of the airports (Burbank and Long Beach) only use airstairs, but San Jose and Sacramento use jetways for the front door .

https://www.southwest.com/html/travel-experience/dualdoor.html

I remember the old People Express sometimes deplaning from the back, not via a door on the side of the plane, but by the use of folding stairs built into the tail of the plane. It depended on the airport and the type of plane.

Here's a photo of a United plane with rear built-in stairs.

But I haven't really run into people who say it doesn't make sense TBH. They all seem to get that it creates an orderly line, there's clear enough instructions, etc (you can't help everyone of course). But they don't like that it creates an orderly line and somewhere along the way it got connected with the description (apt or not) of 'cattle'-style boarding which is offputting to some.

The cattle style description arose from the older days of Southwest boarding and the name apparently stuck despite the change in boarding process. You used to get a numbered boarding pass, but all A's were herded into the same chaotic pen to wait, not lined up according to number. You could have the A-1 pass yet be the 50th to board depending on when you arrived at the gate. The same for the B's and C's.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Since I've become disabled and need a cane to walk most days I get pre-board and save the $25 now.

Not to mention boarding before the business travelers and A-listers.

 

[design_mom]

The cattle style description arose from the older days of Southwest boarding and the name apparently stuck despite the change in boarding process. You used to get a numbered boarding pass, but all A's were herded into the same chaotic pen to wait, not lined up according to number. You could have the A-1 pass yet be the 50th to board depending on when you arrived at the gate. The same for the B's and C's.

Right... when Southwest first started flying in our area, there were three boarding groups (like now) but you only got a letter, not a number. When they called for "A group" all sixty-or-so people holding "A" boarding passes rushed to the gate trying to get on, kind of like cattle being herded into a chute! I guess that's sort of similar to how other airlines "zones" work, but the stakes were higher on SWA because you didn't have a preassigned seat (there's a bigger advantage for getting onboard earlier). I also think the groups were bigger (3 groups instead of other airlines 6+). And, people in groups B & C would crowd the gate area so they could be first through the gate once their group was called -- which clogged up the works for people from earlier groups trying to get through. It was kind of a mess.

I don't think SWA's current boarding procedure is a "cattle call." In fact, I find it more orderly/less stressful than other airlines' procedures. But they got the reputation of having a "cattle call" boarding process, and it's hard to change perception.

 

[scjo68]

I just booked my first flight on Southwest. I have enjoyed reading this thread. Southwest certainly has a loyal following.

My main concern is boarding. I don't care where I sit, at all. I am flying with my DD, but she is in college and flies alone sometimes, so we really don't have to be together. I can sit in the middle seat, I can sit in the back. Doesn't matter. So I don't want to pay for EBCI.

In researching the airline, however, I came across an article that gave tips on how to make sure you have plenty of room on your Southwest flight. To ensure no one chooses the seat next to you, the writer suggests basically making yourself as unappealing as possible. -Cough and sniffle, make no eye contact, be loud and rude, spread your food all over, stretch out over both seats....

I can try to check in right at the 24 hour mark, but it will be difficult as I will be driving on a road trip that day. Also, I've heard of people checking in on time, who still boarded last because everyone else had some kind of priority.

Please reassure me that if I am boarding in the last group that I will not encounter the awkward encounters I'm envisioning. I'll sit anywhere, but I do need to sit somewhere. Will I be Forest Gump looking for a seat on the bus?

 

[OhMari]

This is my last flight I had with Southwest. We flew from MIlwaukee to Baltimore,
Then from Baltimore to Manchester, NH.
The flight crew, got off the plane and switched to our flight for the last leg.
We ended up knowing the pilot too, he lived in the same apartment complex as our DD and son-in-law.
The flight was suppose to be an hour.
We made it there in 20 minutes.
Never in my life have I been in a plane that taxied to the runway as fast as that plane did.
Usually it is slow going, stop, turn, stop and wait, and down the runway you go.
This pilot was NASCAR Willie.
We taxied so darn fast, we were bouncing in our seats, we whipped onto the main runway
and shot off like a rocket.

The stewards gave us our drinks and ran back down the aisles grabbing our glasses and told us to drink up, the Captain was getting us to Manchester faster, because he was going to avoid turbulence.

We left Baltimore at 10:00 p.m, and we were there at 10:20. We called our DD, and said we landed. She was like seriously? Luckily she only lived 10 minutes away. I told her, I think the pilot had to poop. He wanted to get home.​

 

[bcla]

I just booked my first flight on Southwest. I have enjoyed reading this thread. Southwest certainly has a loyal following.

My main concern is boarding. I don't care where I sit, at all. I am flying with my DD, but she is in college and flies alone sometimes, so we really don't have to be together. I can sit in the middle seat, I can sit in the back. Doesn't matter. So I don't want to pay for EBCI.

In researching the airline, however, I came across an article that gave tips on how to make sure you have plenty of room on your Southwest flight. To ensure no one chooses the seat next to you, the writer suggests basically making yourself as unappealing as possible. -Cough and sniffle, make no eye contact, be loud and rude, spread your food all over, stretch out over both seats....

I can try to check in right at the 24 hour mark, but it will be difficult as I will be driving on a road trip that day. Also, I've heard of people checking in on time, who still boarded last because everyone else had some kind of priority.

Please reassure me that if I am boarding in the last group that I will not encounter the awkward encounters I'm envisioning. I'll sit anywhere, but I do need to sit somewhere. Will I be Forest Gump looking for a seat on the bus?

I've been on a full Southwest flight. At a certain point there's not much you can do since Southwest flights tend to be full in my experience. When seats run out, someone will sit next to you.

As for right on the 24 hour mark, just remember there are probably dozens of other passengers trying to time it perfectly. And the technology these days can process thousands of simultaneous check-in requests in the same second. I've checked-in right to the exact second, and that and ended up with a high B or even a C boarding order. The other thing they don't tell you is that Early Bird Check-In has no limit to the number of passengers who can pay for it. And yes there are passengers who have higher priority because they have small children, are disabled, etc. If you really want an early boarding order it's probably going to require paying for EBCI or even Business Select (which have the earliest order).

Also - if you really want to research Southwest, note that a lot of seasoned travelers call it "WN", which is their two letter IATA airline code. They typically get assigned with something that makes sense, but SW was already taken and apparently it was arbitrary. Doesn't stop there from being stories such as WN standing for Willie Nelson.

 

[bcla]

I remember the old People Express sometimes deplaning from the back, not via a door on the side of the plane, but by the use of folding stairs built into the tail of the plane. It depended on the airport and the type of plane.

Here's a photo of a United plane with rear built-in stairs.

The cattle style description arose from the older days of Southwest boarding and the name apparently stuck despite the change in boarding process. You used to get a numbered boarding pass, but all A's were herded into the same chaotic pen to wait, not lined up according to number. You could have the A-1 pass yet be the 50th to board depending on when you arrived at the gate. The same for the B's and C's.

That's a 727. Possibly the last airliner that had such stairs. Obviously it adds weight and creates one more thing that can go wrong. They are common on corporate style jets though.

And yeah I remember the way it went with simply the boarding passes in numbered order. If you wanted an early number you had to actually be at the gate earlier than others to pick up the pass. And what I remember was that the first group was 1-30, the second 31-60, etc. Although supposedly 1-30 was considered one group where nobody in the group had priority over the other (outside of showing up first) there could be arguments when passengers with lower numbers insisted that everyone had to line up in order. I wasn't sure why they were discontinued around 2002, but after looking it up security was the rationale.

https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/Southwest-rethinks-plastic-boarding-passes

 

[Samantha Morgan]

People refer to “cattle call” boarding. I find it to be more organized than others. On airlines with zone boarding, as soon as boarding begins people start hovering close to the front. They call zone 1 or 2, you have a hard time getting to the gate because a family with zone 5 is standing in the way. People push to get on first so that they can find a spot for their carryon. With Southwest, you have your number and you line up in order. No reason to get up until your letter/number is ready to line up. No one stands in the way or pushes.

This was my FAVORITE part.

We usually fly with American Airlines because it generally has the most options from Philadelphia, but just like you said. People just crowd the boarding area like crazy. I had the credit card so we always had early zones so I didn’t get up and wait, but it was a huge hassle to break through the crowds.

For our upcoming WDW trip we are flying Southwest down and are using points on American on the way home.

 

[Sandeep1]

I remember the old People Express sometimes deplaning from the back, not via a door on the side of the plane, but by the use of folding stairs built into the tail of the plane. It depended on the airport and the type of plane.

Here's a photo of a United plane with rear built-in stairs.

The cattle style description arose from the older days of Southwest boarding and the name apparently stuck despite the change in boarding process. You used to get a numbered boarding pass, but all A's were herded into the same chaotic pen to wait, not lined up according to number. You could have the A-1 pass yet be the 50th to board depending on when you arrived at the gate. The same for the B's and C's.

How long ago was the cattle boarding a thing? I have a vague recollection but I'm not 100%.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

I never flew Southwest when they had the old "cattle call" boarding but I witnessed it a few times. It seemed more chaotic than the current Zone Boarding of most airlines. I'm glad they changed to their current process. No more crowding the gate and elbowing other passengers. But it seems the cattle call reputation still lingers.

On the other hand, the reputation of having the lowest fares also lingers. In Philadelphia anyway, I don't find that to be the case.

I once had a Southwest timetable from the mid 1980's and it listed fares. Apparently every flight, every day, between two cities was the same fare.

 

[bcla]

How long ago was the cattle boarding a thing? I have a vague recollection but I'm not 100%.

The old system of plastic boarding passes with groups of 30 was apparently for about 3 decades until discontinued in 2002. It was semi-orderly though, but a lot of people resented having to get to the gate earliest in order to get an earlier boarding order.

 

[bcla]

On the other hand, the reputation of having the lowest fares also lingers. In Philadelphia anyway, I don't find that to be the case.

I once had a Southwest timetable from the mid 1980's and it listed fares. Apparently every flight, every day, between two cities was the same fare.

I remember that it was still considered a "low-fare" airline well until about 9/11 happened. I went on one trip where they were $30 one-way fares within California given how hesitant some people were about air travel.

And yes - back then I remember they basically had a "full fare" that was fully refundable for less than most airlines had for leisure fares. Southwest had high efficiency. The one thing I recall was that for over the years they've benefitted from betting on jet fuel futures. They've also been burned when the price of jet fuel went down and they were stuck with the high prices they locked in. Part of it was that they were able to have more certainty about their costs in the future, but when the prices went down they were at a competitive disadvantage.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ed-u-s-airlines-are-paying-higher-fuel-prices

 

[scjo68]

I've been on a full Southwest flight. At a certain point there's not much you can do since Southwest flights tend to be full in my experience. When seats run out, someone will sit next to you.

As for right on the 24 hour mark, just remember there are probably dozens of other passengers trying to time it perfectly. And the technology these days can process thousands of simultaneous check-in requests in the same second. I've checked-in right to the exact second, and that and ended up with a high B or even a C boarding order. The other thing they don't tell you is that Early Bird Check-In has no limit to the number of passengers who can pay for it. And yes there are passengers who have higher priority because they have small children, are disabled, etc. If you really want an early boarding order it's probably going to require paying for EBCI or even Business Select (which have the earliest order).

Also - if you really want to research Southwest, note that a lot of seasoned travelers call it "WN", which is their two letter IATA airline code. They typically get assigned with something that makes sense, but SW was already taken and apparently it was arbitrary. Doesn't stop there from being stories such as WN standing for Willie Nelson.

I wouldn’t mind it if the plane was full- as long as all the early boarders know that. If they know “The flight is full, someone will sit next to you, deal with it”. I’d prefer that to a flight where only a handful of middle seats need to be filled and everyone gives me a “not here” attitude.

I don’t care where I sit so it makes no sense to pay for EBCI, especially when you can pay for that and still end up in the last group. I would possibly pay extra for choosing a seat. Then I could board whenever and my seat is my seat.

I need to stop reading message boards....the stories I read about the saving of multiple rows and disagreements.... and people boarding early who shouldn’t be....it makes me nervous. I’m just looking for reassurance that those are exaggerations.

 

[bcla]

I wouldn’t mind it if the plane was full- as long as all the early boarders know that. If they know “The flight is full, someone will sit next to you, deal with it”. I’d prefer that to a flight where only a handful of middle seats need to be filled and everyone gives me a “not here” attitude.

That's not an attitude that's going to last very long once it's pretty obvious that a flight is completely full. I did get that once on a full flight. I was going from Las Vegas to LAX and onto Oakland on the same plane. I had stored my carry on in the window seat in front and got a pass to allow me to go into the terminal and back onto the plane at LAX for a break. When I got back I found two people who just boarded in the row in the family window-aisle (don't even think about it) configuration. When I pointed to my bag, the guy at the window seat just pulled it out, gave it to me, and I guess he was expecting me to find another seat. I figured I wasn't going to get the seat back so I just shoved it under the middle seat in front and sat between them. I don't think they were happy about it, but there wasn't much they could do about it.

The only place where I've gotten that sort of attitude where it wasn't anywhere close to full was strangely enough on a bus in China. My Chinese language skills are fairly limited, but it was on a bus where there were actually plenty of empty single seats, but basically passengers felt entitled to use them to store their bags. My wife and kid got the last empty pair. I didn't feel like fighting, and strangely enough I got to sit next to the owner of the bus, who invited me to sit at the front and even offered me snacks. It's kind of odd how it works there, as a lot of these intercity buses are individually owned, where the owner of a particular bus might hire a driver and serve as the onboard manager. I got to work on my Chinese though, especially trying to convey to him that my wife and kid were late coming back from a bathroom break.