Southwest Airlines Concern

[papamouse1]

You also have to take into consideration.... how busy is the airport you are flying out of... how busy is the route you are flying... what time of year are you flying.

I probably buy the addon about half the time, but usually only if traveling holidays, and have never had issues with B boarding passes. There have been a couple times when kind folks gave up seats and made sure my kids had my wife or I with them. Kindness and a grateful attitude works!

 

[Mkrop]

Oh for pete's sake...it's called a joke. Try having some humor in your life. Notice the "bwhahahaa" at the end of my post. Jeesh. My children are certainly not entitled as you suggest. Wow. You concluded all that from a post on a message board?

I think it's pretty crappy that airlines force you into paying for what I believe should be included in the price. Where else in this world do you buy a ticket for something and then pay MORE to pick your seat? I know Southwest has always done it as a general admission thing but other airlines certainly did not. It's just another way to get you to pay more money. I certainly don't order concert tickets AND then be told that I have to pay another $10-$15 to then pick my seat. It's insane. Just put the stupid fee into the ticket!

That said the thought of an emergency didn't occur to me. Thanks for pointing that out. I try not to think of things like that b/c I prefer to live in my bubble world of nothing bad happening on an airplane. I still stand by my belief that a seat assignment should be given upon ordering of the tickets and it should not cost. It irritates me.

Glad to hear you were joking but unfortunately there are too many parents out there who arent, like the example I gave of the lady who let her kids torment DH and she was one row ahead

And maybe I think too much about bad things, bc I did think of an emergency, and getting my child to follow the directions. Also I dont know this person that I would be leaving my child with, what if they really were some kind of creep....maybe I am too paranoid. Also both my DSs have had ear troubles landing, so I would want to be there for them to help them if I can or at least hold their hand.

I dont think you can compare this to a concert...you know exactly what seat you are getting and you pick the level etc, if you dont like what Ticketmaster picks for you, you can ask it to search again. Maybe a traditional airline that assigns seats would be better for you than an open seating like SW.

 

[triciari]

Even though my family of 5 is still eligible for early boarding, I opted to buy the EBCI for our flight next week because

1). It's during our spring break and is sold out ( unfortunately I didn't add ebci until the flight was already close to sold out!)

2). My mother will be flying home with us, and she couldn't take part in the family boarding, and

3). It's so much better not to have to stop 24 hours ahead of the flight and try to check in for a good seat! If you ask the concierge to do it, they will, but not ever as quickly as I would!

So, I'll just hope that my ebci grants us an A, and if it doesn't, we'll do family boarding. SW is the only airline that flies direct from my airport, so it's he only one I'll consider with 3 kids!

 

[NotUrsula]

You are right re: the fares. We definitely have caused a lot of this in regards to all the extra fees in a search for fares lower & lower. I will accept that. I don't like it but it is it what it is I suppose. I too remember the good old days of free checked bags (heck it might have been two!) and charging for that annoys me too. I only ever had one meal when I flew from PIT to San Fran direct and it was terrible. I'll give up the meal. I sure do miss the days of assigned seats though.

Nah, in spite of what they would like us to think, it's not really about passengers looking for lower fares; it is about bean-counters looking to maximize revenue. Breaking down the cost and separating out the "fees" from the "fare" is a tax-saving strategy. The current tax structure charges airlines taxes on a percentage of the fare, but fees are not taxed. Therefore, any revenue that comes in as a "fee" is pure profit. It is not a coincidence that airlines that have gone over to the a la carte model are making a lot more money all of a sudden.

As for SWA EBCI ... IME, resort-intensive routes are pretty much the only ones where more passengers buy it than do not. On the majority of flights to/from non-resort destinations you'll have no trouble at all getting multiple contiguous seats without paying it.

 

[jujube]

I always pay for EBCI when we fly to and from WDW. There is enough planning invovled w/out me having to worry about checking in at exactly 24 hours before especially since we fly out at 6am. The day before we leave is when i schedule hair, manicure, spray tan appts and I want to be able to sleep in a bit. Then when we're at WDW, I certainly don't want to have to interrupt what I'm doing to check in. This is just my preference. We do not have to pay for the bagw which with other ailrines is about $25 one way. I save $30 per person.
Also SW is the the airline out of our nearest ariport that flies non stop to MCO.