Assigned Seating At Swa?

[Ch. 12]

I've driven up and down I-45 countless times, and I've flown between DFW and HOU/IAH lots of times. Regarding Corsicana, I will be sure NOT to stop at the McDonald's there; it's horrible!

Basically, driving and flying between the two is a toss-up (I hate driving, I love flying, driving is cheaper with 5 passengers, and flying only saves an hour at best).

The fact that an employee of Southwest Airlines told me they don't need my business (all $340 of it assuming a $34 sale) is just enough to tip the scales in favor of driving.

You are a LUV stockholder, right? Don't you think it's pretty stupid to blow off $340 of YOUR money?

I think you're probably talking about WNrforlife but just in case, I want to clarify that I never mentioned that I am a WN employee.

I will say that no stakeholder will complain that 5 ultra-excursion fares are replaced by 5 potential revenue-generating fares. Especially when the latter customer advocates arriving very close in and is a potential operational detriment.

I don't like to say book away from WN, but in situations where it is obvious that the customer cannot be pleased...why deal with it?

 

[JS]

I think you're probably talking about WNrforlife but just in case, I want to clarify that I never mentioned that I am a WN employee.

I will say that no stakeholder will complain that 5 ultra-excursion fares are replaced by 5 potential revenue-generating fares. Especially when the latter customer advocates arriving very close in and is a potential operational detriment.

I don't like to say book away from WN, but in situations where it is obvious that the customer cannot be pleased...why deal with it?

Yield management eliminates the problem of Southwest having to choose between a $34 fare and a $92 fare. Southwest can get both, with a small probability of having to bump someone because both people claim the same seat.

When I say that I advocate not arriving at the gate early, I meant 30 minutes prior to departure, not 5 minutes. There is no operational detriment to arriving 30 minutes in advance rather than two hours.

Something else I would like to add -- I used to fly Delta's EMB-120's between DFW and HOU (727's going further back), but now that Delta is using regional jets, which I hate, I actually would rather take Southwest into DAL than fly on a toy jet.

 

[orangeman]

http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?...67-30A8D7B3F7E9

Does this mean WN now has pre-reserved seats?

Not at all! Just a convenience.

 

[orangeman]

These people who insist that their families have to sit together drive me crazy. My kids are around 10 years of age and sometimes my wife, me, and the kids can't all sit together....big deal. Occasionally my wife will sit with one and I'll sit with another in different parts of the airplane. Other times we have all sat seperatly. It was good for the kids to learn to sit by strangers, chat with them, sometimes meet interesting people, and just learn to be a little independent. Frankly it was good for the whole family to be seperated after being right on top of each other during the vacation....sort of a refreshing break for everyone. I wish more people would think like at it like this. Oh..and if a kid is really young but over the pre-board age and you can't sit together, just go ahead and sit where you can and let the kid cry and scream at the top of his lungs for Mommy and the passenger sitting by him/her will gladly change seats and let Mommmy sit by him/her.

CFM, A Mech or GE person? LOL! As a f/A for over 13 yrs. at WN, I find your post very refreshing. I would like to add a few things for others with familys that might read this. Sitting together seems to always be a priority...and understandably so. If this is not available at the time of boarding..; perhaps some polite communication should be initiated with the f/a's working the flight. Most of us will bend over backwards to accomadate families. This might happen shortly after takeoff so that the other folks can leave ontime. I might suggest that if your children at the age you have stated must be seated away from you, please quietly mention to the F/A's and they will be looked after as an instinct. OOPs! I meant this as a post for all and didn't mean to give you (CFM) advice as I see you and your family as a model for all travelers!
Thank You,
Chris

 

[texflyer]

SWA will change its boarding procedure when the market dictates it. JetBlue has SWA rethinking how it does things,I mean for goodness sake they are going to join the runway conga line at Philly just so they can beat JB to the punch(we will never know,but you gotta wander if SWA mgnt is thinking why not JFK instead of ISP).

Articles of SWA even "looking" into IFEs are shocking,considering SWA stance of basic A-B service,again shows the influence of Jetblue,and to a lesser extent Frontier,and Airtran. SWA will be a perennial LCC powerhouse for some time come. However,the other three LCCs has SWA thinking and reassessing.