Southwest Rumor Mill is ramping up

[gottalovepluto]

Travel blogger OMAAT got some reports on recent SW focus groups for the changes under consideration LINK One would expect more and more of this sort of stuff to pop up over the next few months as we know major changes are coming, but what exactly has not been announced.

My biggest takeaway was if you book WGA fares and are considering some later this year, maybe get it locked down now to preserve the ticket’s change feature if that is something you value. I don’t think they’ll be able to get away with that with after the Spirit announcement BUT people love their bags flying “free” so maybe they can…

I found it interesting they wanna do assigned seats and keep the assigned boarding process.

 

[Pooh2]

Will be interesting to see how it pans out.
I would be more likely to fly with them if they do assigned seats.
I always pay for the more comfort seats on Jetblue, would be happy if they did something similar on SW though highly unlikely they will take away room to make upgraded seating options.

 

[Lewisc]

Will be interesting to see how it pans out.
I would be more likely to fly with them if they do assigned seats.
I always pay for the more comfort seats on Jetblue, would be happy if they did something similar on SW though highly unlikely they will take away room to make upgraded seating options.

The new seats will be slimmer. SW can keep the same pitch and add a few rows OR keep the same pitch for most of the seats but add extra legroom for a few rows near the front.

 

[jo-jo]

Wonder how they will handle preboarding?

 

[_19disnA]

Lots of companies use 'focus groups' to gather input. The article referenced above never really says how that author got access to the results of such groups. Some companies study a lot of potential changes or make public statements about various options in order to see what kind of feedback they get. What Southwest eventually decides to do may not be anything like the ideas thrown out in focus groups.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Wonder how they will handle preboarding?

To me, a pre boarder who genuinely uses a wheelchair, I see that as a major problem. On a recent flight there were close to 20 of us pre boarders, all in wheelchairs. Southwest has a policy (no doubt for insurance purposes) that only Southwest employees can push wheelchair passengers in the jetways, but there were only a couple Southwest employees available. So the gate agent made an announcement that "If you can walk in the jetway, please do, as otherwise it'll take a long time." Suddenly, a miracle! About 15 people suddenly jumped up an abandoned their wheelchairs and walked fast or faster down the jetway (hardly anyone needed a cane). Meanwhile the few of us who couldn't walk were left to try to push the abandoned wheelchairs out of the way in order to make an orderly line. I later read an article that lots of people are claiming pre board needs in order to avoid paying for early check-in, then some of them try to save seats. If anything were to get me to stop flying Southwest, it would be seeing this blatant abuse (I guess it's similar to the DAS abuse).

 

[pinkxray]

I’m following the changes closely. We fly out of BDL and usually our choices are JetBlue or SW for nonstop. We just booked SW one way for both Nov. and January and the other way on Jet blue. We tend to pick based on flights times and prices. SW had the times we needed for our two trips, so I booked them despite really hating their boarding process. I have the cheapest fare booked but did by EBCI. I am hoping if you book a flight for Jan or whatever, and they change their rules you are able to select a seat or have some flexibility if you already purchased EBCI. I don’t really care where I sit as long as I have my kids sitting with me or my husband.

 

[Oldie13]

I ONLY fly Southwest. The only things I care about are that they continue 2 free checked bags and that my butt can fit in the seat. I can’t shave off my hip bones

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

To me, a pre boarder who genuinely uses a wheelchair, I see that as a major problem. On a recent flight there were close to 20 of us pre boarders, all in wheelchairs. Southwest has a policy (no doubt for insurance purposes) that only Southwest employees can push wheelchair passengers in the jetways, but there were only a couple Southwest employees available. So the gate agent made an announcement that "If you can walk in the jetway, please do, as otherwise it'll take a long time." Suddenly, a miracle! About 15 people suddenly jumped up an abandoned their wheelchairs and walked fast or faster down the jetway (hardly anyone needed a cane). Meanwhile the few of us who couldn't walk were left to try to push the abandoned wheelchairs out of the way in order to make an orderly line. I later read an article that lots of people are claiming pre board needs in order to avoid paying for early check-in, then some of them try to save seats. If anything were to get me to stop flying Southwest, it would be seeing this blatant abuse (I guess it's similar to the DAS abuse).

I can understand your frustration but please don't judge others that you don't know. When our kids were little, my parents traveled with and without us for many years. Early on, they were very able to walk through the airport and to the gate. As time went on, they both developed severe heart & lung diseases and multiple cancers, then getting to the gate might as well be climing a mountain. It wasn't so bad when we were with them and the only help they needed was to have us pull their luggage from the conveyor and put it on a cart. Once they started traveling without us (when our kids were too old to miss school) they were at the mercy of getting assistance from airport staff. By then, they were able to walk short distances in their single level home but walking thousands of feet through an airport was impossible.
It's been 5 years since my mom passed away and my dad hasn't traveled since then, but I'm glad that they were able to take several more trips together because of the assistance of airport/airline employees.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Wonder how they will handle preboarding?

Same as other airlines, they go first.

But there will be a lot less incentive to lie if seats are preassigned so we should see the rampant wc abuse down and WN gates at the airports should start looking like the others with a handful of wc waiting to board instead of a fleet.

 

[obsesseddisneyfan]

Travel blogger OMAAT got some reports on recent SW focus groups for the changes under consideration LINK One would expect more and more of this sort of stuff to pop up over the next few months as we know major changes are coming, but what exactly has not been announced.

My biggest takeaway was if you book WGA fares and are considering some later this year, maybe get it locked down now to preserve the ticket’s change feature if that is something you value. I don’t think they’ll be able to get away with that with after the Spirit announcement BUT people love their bags flying “free” so maybe they can…

I found it interesting they wanna do assigned seats and keep the assigned boarding process.

I assume the seat assignments is a way to deal with the requirement that kids and parents are kept together. As of now they are supposed to do it.... but no enforcement. However the Biden administration has some rules, that if they go in effect, would make it a requirement with teeth.

 

[pinkxray]

I have to admit that having 2 flights booked with SW makes me nervous. Does anyone think maybe since their flights are only open until March, the changes won’t occur until flights in the next booking window? I am tempted to switch to another airline just to avoid all of this but SW just has the times I need on the days I need them.

 

[reddog21]

I ONLY fly Southwest. The only things I care about are that they continue 2 free checked bags and that my butt can fit in the seat. I can’t shave off my hip bones

Lets be honest how much longer do you think there going to give you free bags? There's really not a ton they can do to increase revenue either charge for seat assignments or charge for bags.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I have to admit that having 2 flights booked with SW makes me nervous. Does anyone think maybe since their flights are only open until March, the changes won’t occur until flights in the next booking window? I am tempted to switch to another airline just to avoid all of this but SW just has the times I need on the days I need them.

I wouldn’t switch. Switch to another airline that has worse flight times, seat assignments and makes you pay for bags? What would the point of switching even be?

 

[Lesverts]

Lets be honest how much longer do you think there going to give you free bags? There's really not a ton they can do to increase revenue either charge for seat assignments or charge for bags.

The baggage is about turn-around time. Southwest getting another flight out of their aircraft a day because they have industry leading turnaround time is what makes them money.

 

[Oldie13]

Lets be honest how much longer do you think there going to give you free bags? There's really not a ton they can do to increase revenue either charge for seat assignments or charge for bags.

I don’t think they will change this perk.

 

[focusondisney]

I have to admit that having 2 flights booked with SW makes me nervous. Does anyone think maybe since their flights are only open until March, the changes won’t occur until flights in the next booking window? I am tempted to switch to another airline just to avoid all of this but SW just has the times I need on the days I need them.

Personally I highly doubt changes will apply to already booked flights. That would basically be a bait & switch situation. I’ve seen things like your credits won’t expire apply to current bookings. But with other airlines, anything detrimental to the customer has aways had a disclaimer that it applies to flights booked after XX/XX date. So if you already have a flight under certain rules, you’re grandfathered in to those rules.

If federal regulations (like families sitting together) make them change anything sooner, they’ll probably have some type of interim plan to deal with that.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Lets be honest how much longer do you think there going to give you free bags? There's really not a ton they can do to increase revenue either charge for seat assignments or charge for bags.

I don’t think they’ll eliminate free bags at this point, people love that perk so much and they will have enough of an uphill battle with whatever seating changes they implement.

 

[mmackeymouse]

I assume the seat assignments is a way to deal with the requirement that kids and parents are kept together. As of now they are supposed to do it.... but no enforcement. However the Biden administration has some rules, that if they go in effect, would make it a requirement with teeth.

This is maybe a bit off topic, but I guess I wonder how they (or any airline) or going to be able to enforce this in a way that is fair to solo travelers and adults.

Maybe you could do something like, with each adult seat purchased (at a premium), one adjoining seat is allowed at no charge. But, even with that....they don't want to buy the seats. That's why there are issues now. Parents don't want to buy the seats in advance, and they just hope it works itself out on the plane. I don't think that would change.

They could do something like maybe the last 1/3 of the plane is family seating. And they can choose seats from there at no charge, and if they want better seats, they have to pay for it, just like everyone else. But...for destinations like Orlando, 1/3 of the plane won't be enough capacity for families.

I guess it just depends how strict this requirement is. I wonder if it will just be that airlines have to make fair attempts to seat families together via their policies and booking/boarding processes. Or if it's so strict that 100% across the board, for example....if a family chooses not to pre-pay for seats and just waits till check in to take what they can get....are airlines going to be required to displace passengers in order to seat them together?

 

[focusondisney]

This is maybe a bit off topic, but I guess I wonder how they (or any airline) or going to be able to enforce this in a way that is fair to solo travelers and adults.

Maybe you could do something like, with each adult seat purchased (at a premium), one adjoining seat is allowed at no charge. But, even with that....they don't want to buy the seats. That's why there are issues now. Parents don't want to buy the seats in advance, and they just hope it works itself out on the plane. I don't think that would change.

They could do something like maybe the last 1/3 of the plane is family seating. And they can choose seats from there at no charge, and if they want better seats, they have to pay for it, just like everyone else. But...for destinations like Orlando, 1/3 of the plane won't be enough capacity for families.

I guess it just depends how strict this requirement is. I wonder if it will just be that airlines have to make fair attempts to seat families together via their policies and booking/boarding processes. Or if it's so strict that 100% across the board, for example....if a family chooses not to pre-pay for seats and just waits till check in to take what they can get....are airlines going to be required to displace passengers in order to seat them together?

Or, when an adult books an itinerary that includes a child under the required age, the airline automatically blocks off 2 seats together. They don’t have to be premium seats or tell you where they are ahead of time. A family with 2 adults, 2 kids doesn’t have to sit all together, they could be seated 2 & 2 or 3 & 1, depending on what the law requires. If you try to book a flight that’s already almost full & can’t accommodate the adult/ child situation, maybe you wouldn’t be able to book that particular flight. I don’t see anyway they would force airlines to routinely reseat other passengers, especially ones that paid to choose a set.