Southwest/online passes UGH!

[Pinnie]

SWA makes money when it's planes are IN THE AIR not parked at a gate. They are known for getting passengers off and on planes quickly and those planes back in the air.

I have told this story a number of times on this board. We were at the gate at Atlanata on another carrier and the gate agent was assigning seats to stand by pax. Only problem was that the seats on the plane already had a warm body in them. By the time they got that mess all straightened out, we were late getting out of the gate and therefore got behind a bank of Delta jets waiting to take off. I missed my connection. Had there been UNassigned seating, those passengers could have just walked on the plane and plopped down in an empty seat and we would have got off on time.

I love SWA, once the post their scheudule it is not changed and I have NO problem with the unassgined seats.

pin

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by Pinnie
SWA makes money when it's planes are IN THE AIR not parked at a gate. They are known for getting passengers off and on planes quickly and those planes back in the air.

I have told this story a number of times on this board. We were at the gate at Atlanata on another carrier and the gate agent was assigning seats to stand by pax. Only problem was that the seats on the plane already had a warm body in them. By the time they got that mess all straightened out, we were late getting out of the gate and therefore got behind a bank of Delta jets waiting to take off. I missed my connection. Had there been UNassigned seating, those passengers could have just walked on the plane and plopped down in an empty seat and we would have got off on time.

I love SWA, once the post their scheudule it is not changed and I have NO problem with the unassgined seats.

pin

I have no problem with it either and I doubt they will mess with success. They have not assigned seats ever, it works, it is efficient and they do have the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" mentality. You won't see, as a rule, Jet Blue flying out of the same airport as SWA and why? Because they will bury Jet Blue and Jet Blue knows this. Delta is on the edge of financial ruin, they are not competetion to SWA and with their constant changes and cancellations, they never will be.
SWA is making money, the others are not, why would they change?

 

[eljojo]

question for you all - just wondering how not assigning seats saves the carrier money? It may save a few minutes of time when you order tickets, but how does it save money?

 

[lawgs]

time

and time is money

quicker turn arounds, planes in the air faster

more flights per day

at least that is how i see it

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by eljojo
question for you all - just wondering how not assigning seats saves the carrier money? It may save a few minutes of time when you order tickets, but how does it save money?

Read Pinnie's post for one of the many reasons.

 

[eljojo]

that's because airlines sell more tickets than they have seats for! This is our first time on SW, so I'll give it a try - can't beat the price! If I don't have an enjoyable experience, I'll just pay a little more and use another airline next time.

 

[SAWYERMAW1]

I love SWA. There could be a few flaws with their boarding but they are known as a low cost air line. Guess you can save money or sit in the front of the plane. What does it really matter where you sit? The entire plane arrives at the same time and if you can't wait for the passengers in front of you to depart the plane, I don't think you'll be ready to wait in ride lines at WDW.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by SAWYERMAW1
I love SWA. There could be a few flaws with their boarding but they are known as a low cost air line. Guess you can save money or sit in the front of the plane. What does it really matter where you sit? The entire plane arrives at the same time and if you can't wait for the passengers in front of you to depart the plane, I don't think you'll be ready to wait in ride lines at WDW.

ITA!!!! I only want to sit with Dee, he is fun to travel with.

We rode in the very last row of the plane last trip (we had an A pass, but, lost track of the time and were among the last to board), it was party city back there. We loved it. Well, Dee loved it, I probably would have if I did not sleep half the way home.

 

[Jake and Ryan's Mom]

Originally posted by GAIL HAYDEN
If people would get to the airport early, I doubt you would see children not sitting with their parents. Using a child to get a "I can show up whenever and preboard" is not right or fair to others who plan and get there on time. In the case of an infant, paying of course, with a car seat, I can fully understand the preboarding with the parents and the sibs, if any. However, boarding the entire family for a child that can walk is absurd.

I AGREE, WE ALWAYS FLY SWA TO DISNEY FROM KC TWO OR THREE TIMES A YEAR. WE NEVER HAVE A PROBLEM GOING TO WDW, BUT DO COMING BACK. WE ALWAYS ARE AT MCO AT LEAST 2 HOURS EARLY. WE USUALLY GET THE A BOARDING PASS. ONE TIME THERE WERE SO MANY PREBOARDING WITH KIDS THAT COULD WALK THAT BUY THE TIME I GOT ON THE PLANE WITH MY TWO BOYS, THERE WERE NOT 3 SEATS TOGETHER. JUST BECAUSE MY BOYS ARE OVER 5 DOESN'T MEAN THEY WANT TO SIT AWAY FROM ME. MOST OF THE PREBOARDING FAMILIES SHOWED UP 10 MINUTES BEFORE BOARDING. DOESN'T SEEM FAIR WHEN WE WERE STANDING IN LINE FOR SO LONG. IF PEOPLE WANT TO SIT WITH THEIR FAMILIES SHOW UP EARLY LIKE WE DO.

 

[eljojo]

How do you get the A boarding pass on the trip home from Orlando if you don't have access to a computer at WDW?

 

[DMRick]

I’m willing to pay the extra 15 bucks a ticket to have a seat where I want it with the people I want to sit

I wouldn't do it for $15 each either..it's that $75 - $100 each difference that makes me fly SW!

Even if you are in the very last row of the plane you will get off the plane less than 5 minutes before the first person gets off the plane.

I think you mean less than 5 minutes after the first person gets off LOL

We flew last week (got there 2 hours early and got an A). There was a large line of preboards. Unlike January's trip, where only parents could preboard..these preboards had entire citys (ok, little exageration) with them. Two adults didn't have a preboard, and he asked why they were preboarding, and the one gal said, my friend is claustrophobic and needs to get off the plane fast..they let them pre-board. She even got to board before the women in the wheelchair...who was pushing herself..obviously paralized from teh waist down.
Many of the people who preboarded, not only had cities with them, but saved seats for others...sounds like they had met them in the airport! Others preboarded, and when we got on, they had the kids stuff strewn all over and were taking up entire rows of 3 seats (no skin off my nose, I didn't want to sit with them) even if only two in each row..they put diaper bag and toys all over, so no one would sit there. The gals in front of me in the A line were complaining about the preboards, until they got busted for having B's. Do any of you have an A, the SW guy asked the gals. No, sorry they answered. Instead of sending them to the rear of B, he put them in the front of B.
Will I still fly SW? You betcha..the savings is substancial and it's a short 2.5 hour flight.
PS we had c's one time and my daughter and her two kids were worried they would be split up. Because, as I always do, I had called and told SW two of the passengers were kids (no place to mark that online when getting flights), they had it written down, and saved three seats in the back, together.

 

[DMRick]

You won't see, as a rule, Jet Blue flying out of the same airport as SWA and why?

I'm hoping we'll be breaking the rule. Albany airport is "courting" Jet Blue : )

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by eljojo
How do you get the A boarding pass on the trip home from Orlando if you don't have access to a computer at WDW?

Get to the airport early.

 

[Chicago526]

I'm in Chciago, and SW only flies from Midway. Personaly, I don't find SW's fares to/from Chicago to be any better than AA or UA when they have a sale, and both fly from O'Hare, which is a lot closer to me than Midway. SW would have to be half what UA or AA charges for it to be even close to worth driving all the way to Midway. Plus, I can't get assigned seats and may not be able to sit next to my companion? No thanks, I'll stick with United! I get my pick of seats, and in all the time I've flown, my seats have never been changed from what I've gotten at time of purchase. I've never paid more than $250 round-trip to ANY destination in the 48 states, and many times have paid less than $200. The only time SW will beat the big carriers (from Chicago, I know this isn't the case elsewhere) is on last minute tickets (booking w/in 2 weeks of travel). I may have to search for a while before UA will put the seats on sale, but it does happen, and I'm there waiting!

I realize that for larger families, a differance of $25 per ticket can add up to $100 or more to a trip, so I do sympathize. But to me, SW is just not worth the hassle.

I've flown SW twice, once from Phoenix to Las Vegas, and again from Phoenix to Orange County, CA. Both times the flights were fine. I'm still more comfortable on UA, but since both flights were about 1 hour, it didn't really matter. SW is good basic "point A to point B" travel, but to me, flying is part of the vacation, and I just have more fun on UA.

PS: I love the show "Airline". SW agents don't get paid enough to deal with all the (insert four letter word) they deal with!!! In 99% of the cases, the passenger is the one that screwed up, not SW!

 

[Beca]

Originally posted by ILoveMyDVC
Just wanted to clear up the exit row thing:
I realize children are never allowed in the exit row. This was the first time in all of my years flying that a flight attendant actually questioned every individual if they had children on the aircraft anywhere. If the answered yes, they were told they could not sit there. In other words, child could be sitting with mom and grandparents in the back of the plane but dad could not sit in exit row.

Absolutely!!! Good for the flight attendant!! As a former Southwest flight attendant, let me explain why. It has been proven over and over again (via real emergencies) that passengers who choose to sit in the exit row (for the extra leg room...usually men) opt not to assist in an emergency situation (i.e. even though passengers have been warned, they must be re-asked at the time of the emergency if they are still willing to assist). At that time, many who sit in the exit row either

1) Refuse, because their party is elswhere on the plane, and if the plane is in jeopardy, they would rather be with their party. At which point the flight attendant has to waste valuable time trying to find another passenger to assist with the evacuation,

or

2)Agree a second time to assist, but actually "abandon" their post to go assist their families, putting the lives of everyone in danger.

Also, let me just add that nothing made my job harder than having a family come up at the end of boarding, and realize that I would have to ask for volunteers to move so that a parent could sit with a child...but, on the flip side of that coin, nothing got me "volunteers" any faster than notifying a passenger sitting next to an empty seat that if they chose not to relocate, they would end up the "de facto" babysitter for the course of the flight!! Nothing got people to move faster than the thought of caring for someone else's two year old!!!!



Beca

 

[Beca]

Originally posted by disneydebi
i have a question in relation to dlrhine's post.
You mention that your children are under 40lbs?
They are younger than mine, but my 5 year old is still under 40lbs. I was hoping NOT to have to bring her car seat for the plane ride this time, since she is 5. I figured the lap belt on the plane would be fine.(of course i do still use the car seat in the car!) Am i going to be required to bring the car seat for her to fly? I hate to lug it as we won't be using it at WDW since we are staying on site and utilizing thier transportation??

Just wondering.

No, you will not be required to have a car seat. There is NO carseat requirement for aircraft.



Beca

 

[Beca]

Originally posted by Beanie
I know this is OT, but does anyone know the "actual" age a child has to be to preboard? One time a Southwest employee told me that they had to be 5 and under and then once a Flight Attendant told me they had to be 4 or under. Which is the correct one?

Thanks

Under 5 can preboard. If in doubt, go with what the ops agent says...he's the one who decides who can preboard. Just remember, the age at which a child can travel by themselves is 5 (way too young for most kids, based upon my experience...I consoled MANY a crying 5 year old on flights...which cut into the service I could give others), so that is the point at which SWA assumes a child is okay to sit by themselves. Does that make sense?



Beca

 

[Beca]

Originally posted by dznyntnh
I am in complete agreement with OP.


My suggestion for SWa is that if you are going to preboard all these people, make them sit in the last five rows of the plane, then they can all that 'extra' time they are always whining about.

Southwest tried this policy in 2000 (not last 5 rows, but row 13 or beyond). It didn't work and was discontinued. Families simply "stopped" pre-boarding which greatly slowed down the boarding process to a point where planes were on the ground for extended periods of time. Remember, one of the reasons SWA is so inexpensive is because they turn their flights so quickly. SWA estimates that every minute on the ground costs them $1 million dollars in revenue. I was a flight attendant at this time. We were happy to see this policy begin...but, we were even MORE happy to see it end!! It works in theory, but not in real life.



Beca

 

[mareed]

That's interesting to hear the reason for Southwest abandoning making pre-boards sit behind a certain row. We've been pre-boarding for the last 8 years and continued to do so during the time we had to sit past row 13 or whatever. It never occurred to me not to just because we had to sit farther back!

My youngest DS has now turned 5, so we'll be boarding with the regular group for our next trip. We always got to the airport early enough to get "A" boarding passes and plan to in the future, so even though we'll probably end up moving further back in the plane, I'm optimistic that we'll still be able to sit together.

 

[mgilmer]

Originally posted by Beca
Southwest tried this policy in 2000 (not last 5 rows, but row 13 or beyond). It didn't work and was discontinued. Families simply "stopped" pre-boarding which greatly slowed down the boarding process . . .
Beca

I don't understand how this would cause a boarding delay. Doesn't it take the same amount of time to board wether or not a group boards preboard or boards in Group B?

Mike