I used to be a semi-frequent flyer with Southwest Airlines. They have the only non-stop flight from Austin to Washington, D.C.’s close-in National airport (by law) and that’s my most frequent destination. I had A-List status for awhile, but I’ve lost that status.
Frequent flyer status with Southwest meant that I could board earlier, and that meant I could choose the seat that I wanted since Southwest Airlines doesn’t pre-assign seats. Sometimes I’d get their exit row window seat with unlimited legroom. Other times I’d have an aisle seat close to the front, and that gave me enough space – Southwest Airlines offers an inch or two more legroom than any other U.S. airline’s regular coach besides JetBlue.
Without that status, if I want a better ‘boarding position’ which means a license to hunt for seats earlier when there are still decent seats left, I now have (3) options.
- Buying a Business Select fare which is more expensive, even, than a refundable ticket but comes with one of the first 15 boarding spots (and a free cocktail).
- Checking in exactly 24 hours prior to flight You’re in a Hunger Games quest to check in as soon as you’re able to, because boarding positions are assigned in order once the check-in window open. It’s you against everyone else. There used to be services that would automate the process for you, but Southwest’s lawyers largely put those out of business. You need to set a calendar reminder and sit at your computer and then the moment check-in opens you’re ready to pounce.
- Early Bird check-in often priced around $25, you are given a boarding position prior to anyone checking in on their own 24 hours out. This usually means a high A boarding number or low B boarding number (so somewhere around the first 60 or 65 to board and probably getting an aisle seat).
Sometimes Business Select isn’t that much more but it depends on the route and whether there’s low fare competition. Truth is that I’m just not able to set aside time to check in 24 hours out exactly for every flight. I get stuck in a meeting that goes over, where I can’t just say “sorry, I have to take a break to check in for my Southwest flight” or maybe I’m on another flight and the wifi doesn’t work – a decent chance flying United or… Southwest.
So I’d invest the $25 for Early Bird check-in. The problem is that, as I was first to break the news two months ago, Southwest no longer sells Early Bird check-in on every flight. They seem to think it means more people will buy up to higher fares, like Business Select?
On a recent flight search I’d decided to fly Southwest Airlines from Austin to Chicago Midway airport. They had the best flight time for me. But they weren’t offering Early Bird check-in. So instead of paying $25 more for a decent boarding position I’d need to pay around $150 more. Not going to happen. In order to fly Southwest it was going to mean risking a “C” boarding position and probably a middle seat.
Since Southwest is no longer selling Early Bird check-in on every flight, and not selling it on the flight I wanted to buy, I simply… didn’t buy the Southwest Airlines flight. And I won’t buy Southwest flights without it most of the time, and certainly not for a two and a half hour flight.
Southwest’s decision not to take extra money for Early Bird check-in is a bet on earning more money. It puts at risk not just the roughly $400 million per year in fees it generated. In my case it meant selling fewer tickets, too.
While this doesn’t address your “stuck in a meeting” situation, I’ve pretty much stopped buying early bird check-in in favor of the A1-A15 upgrade at the time of check in. It’s pretty much the same price, I get 4x per year with the SW Premier Card, and it’s a better deal than getting a “B” group after paying for early bird.
One of my personal goals in life is to NEVER fly Southwest. So far, so good….
Not much simple about Southwest – overrated
You’re missing the fourth option, the ability to buy up to A1 through 15 without buying a business select fair. I found this available on most flights.
I’d only fly SW as a last resort. Not worth the hassle of doing the “ line up”.
Don’t understand, this contradicts your recent article (https://viewfromthewing.com/the-dark-side-of-pre-boarding-how-scammers-get-the-best-seats-on-southwest-airlines/). In it, the comment was made “This passenger complains that they paid for the most expensive Business Select fare which ostensibly means being one of the first 15 passengers to board, and they weren’t even in the first 50 to board.” Essentially, all three of the options that you laid out today are contradicted by that article. I’m with the “never Southwest” crowd, so it doesn’t impact me one way or the other, but I have seen the “Southwest Wheelchair Scam” in many airports so there’s little doubt it’s true.
You don’t want to join the Jetway jesus group?
I’ve always been sort of curious about this. WN will board certain groups at the end of A before B/Family who should have otherwise been eligible for A. So my guess is they know that there will be too many A spots on this route — and perhaps too many early birds/A-tiers already have tickets? If you bought early bird but were essentially A61+ would you be happy?
I continue to fly them only on short hops >2hrs, if best price and if early bird available. But what Gary sez here moves me further away from them, along with the increasing freq of people using the ‘free early bird’ wheelchair scam
Just by random coincidence, I was invited to take a lengthy online survey last week that started out covering general attitudes toward airline brands, but eventually zeroed in on Southwest value perceptions relative to other carriers, and eventually on Southwest boarding procedures.
The central questions were about how much stress I felt during the gatehouse lineup and boarding, how stressful I felt open seating was, and whether adopting an industry-standard pre-assigned seating scheme would reduce my interest in Southwest.
In a text field, I did have the opportunity to say I felt the traditional Southwest boarding plan relied on a kind of genial social compact that has largely collapsed in this country within the past few years — and now has been wrecked by waves of pre-boards, fake cripples, seat savers, Southwest’s own monetization / buy-up schemes, and the inability or refusal of staff on the scene to do anything about it.
There was much more but that is the gist.
My wife and I generally fly WN on domestic routes, but the loss of EarlyBird has us reconsidering that preference.
@TexasTJ – no contradiction, removing the option to buy Early Bird and have a high likelihood of an aisle seat means I want to avoid flying them
@Mehul sheth – it’s more than early bird was, and it may not wind up available, certainly not available at time of booking… so a roll of the dice i’m not interested in
@Greg – I think it’s great that they have more legroom in standard coach than United/Delta/American – and it’s nuts that they fail to market this
I used to consider Southwest the way I consider Spirit but changed about 15 years ago. Now, I consider Southwest to be nearly the same as the other major airlines. If Southwest has a non-stop but American or Delta doesn’t, Southwest has priority in making a reservation unless I consider the airfare to be unreasonable.
The worse seat on a Southwest plane is not so bad. It’s very rare that I would get the worse seat. If I board after half of the plane has already boarded, then the chance that I will sit next to a very obese person is essentially no chance. With assigned seating, it is possible to have an obese neighbor.
Sigh! I miss the Herb K. days when flying was fun.
I’m based in DEN and apparently WN flies from there. Never flown them. And hope I never have to. The way they handled their winter melt down was enough for me. Flying WN is like extreme dating. A flurry of activity but no real satisfaction…
Odd that SW is taking this approach and not just charging more for early bird on those flights. Although people would complain about that, at least it would keep the same option that frequent SW flyers are used to.
I can totally see WN being a nonstarter for people who want specifics seats ie exit row or the front. As a leisure traveler I’m pretty neutral on the boarding process. I used to fly WN a lot more when I lived in Houston and chose between them and UA solely on price.
I am an aisle seat guy. I always try to play the 24 hour game when possible and I’ve gotten as high as A17 (was very proud, never mind there ended up only being 17 people on the flight lol) and as low as B37. Never had a problem getting an aisle (knock on wood) but I have seen it’s not rare at all people getting one with C.
Boarding dynamics are fascinating to the nerd in me. Do the people before you prefer being in the front or grabbing the aisle? How many families ahead of you that would sit together freeing up another aisle seat? Almost feels like a game theory simulation.
All in all (solely based on empirical observation) unless you have a very specific seat preference (like exit row or in the very front) you usually end up having a decent chance of getting what you want unless you are C and even then you can get lucky. But I don’t blame anyone who stresses out over a later board position — sometimes especially if you have no checkins it’s just worth it to pay more and take a different airline if there’s a choice. All prices equal I too would choose the alternative.
I’m a 3 million mile flyer, 6 inches taller than you with no status with anyone. I will not pay extra for any flying bus. I’ve also flown for free (miles) for the last 20 years. WN has fully cancelable fares, have more seat room and offer free checked bags so they are still the best of the lot.
You all need to consider your own jet if you are that inflexible.
What next -the toilet seats are too hard?
I love Southwest. My favorite airline especially since I can fly out of Dallas Love Field instead of DFW. I actually like their boarding process, the space between their seats, two free checked bags, and for the most part their flight attendants. I have flown more than 75 flights on them since 2021 always sitting in the front quarter of the plane. My wife and I both have business and personal Southwest credit cards which give us each two early bird check ins, and four upgraded boarding positions. We also each have Amex cards that give us each $200. for Southwest purchases like upgraded boarding and also early bird check in. I also have a companion pass which allows my wife to fly for free except for the $5.60 fee and it also gives her a free early bird checkin boarding position next to mine.
Since Southwest announced they will not be selling earlybird check in on some flights we have not encountered it. We have been able to purchase it on every flight we have booked through February. By using earlybird check in, if we dont get in the A group when the boarding positions are announced then we purchase an upgraded boarding position for myself. When I board the plane i sit in a row where someone is already in a window seat and I enquire if they are saving the middle seat and if not I sit in the ailse seat. We typically end up in the first six rows.
We have also found Southwest to generously reward us with flight credits due to delayed or canceled flights. With those credits and points we earn on their credit cards we rarely pay much of anything to fly. We understand their boarding process and are able to utilize it to our advantage. It seems to us the most frustrated passengers are the ones who don’t really understand it.
Southwest low fares, unlimited seats that can be purchased by points, have enabled us to travel much more than we could ever afford otherwise. For me I don’t want them to change anything. It is obviously working for them since most flights are full. For all those persons who say they will never fly Southwest, I don’t think the airline is missing them.
@ Gary — I think it is a matter of when not if WN switches to assigned seating. Until then, I won’t even consider them an option.
The previous commentary regarding the ongoing abuse by the fakers in the Jetway Jesus group pretending to need pre-boarding for unproven “disabilities” is correct and this has become a common problem. I stopped wasting my money buying earlier boarding rights for specifically that reason after regularly seeing 20 or 30 pretend disabilities board the plane first and walk off at the departure end.
I prefer Southwest’s boarding process. I like being able to choose who I sit by and being able to avoid sitting by crying babies coughing people, etc. I prefer this to the gamble of not knowing who one is seated next to on other airlines.
I don’t see how it is a big deal having to check in exactly 24 hours in advanced. I am a professor and have excused students from class briefly to check-in for their Southwest flight. I have been with others at various social situations and it is common for one to take a second to briefly check in for their Southwest flight. I have even known people who have someone else check in for them when they are not available to check in for the flight.
I am with Gary.
I only fly WN if I can do early bird checkin AND if the price to do so is no more than another airline w/ all of the other associated benefits and costs for each.
WN needs to fix the pre-board problem first and foremost.
This last weekend I flew to Nashville from Denver on Southwest. Outbound flight checked in right on time and got middle C’s. I opted to pay $60 for A1-15. On return flight bought early bird checking and got the B’s. Southwest is becoming more of a hassle. Not worth the low fares.
The whole musical chairs, jetway jesus, and people attempting to reserve entire rows sucks about Southwest but it’s hard to beat the companion pass benefit.
I just burned my last SW points (don’t fly them much so was happy to redeem them) when there was the half price sale last month. R/T CLT to DAL (via STL) for around 13,500 points.
Remembered I could status match for 3 months of A List (can do this every 12 months as I recall) so did that. Worked out well for me – priority line to check my golf clubs and was assigned seats from A23 to A34 on all segments which got me an aisle in first 5 rows every time.
Flew them this past spring and paid for early bird. Ended up in B group. Didn’t realize all A List and higher are assigned seats before early bird so not unusual to end up in B even after paying for early bird. Waiting until 24 hours would probably be 2nd half of B (or even C). And of course after A boards SW lets any families go plus any remaining A List members before starting w B.
This trip worked out ONLY because of the status match. Wouldn’t want to fly them otherwise and frankly glad they ended early bird since rather not pay than pay the fee and end up in B group.
I’m fine with open seating. As long as I’m one of the first on the plane. I go for every promo to get A-List because I do need to fly WN once in awhile as they have the most convenient schedule on a few routes, and namely later flights out of STL than American (though Delta has a late flight to DTW that connects nicely to a few eastbound connections).
Southwest hasn’t charged fees for things in the past because they pretty much couldn’t. Their res system until recently was so antiquated it didn’t know what day it was unless they turned it off and back on to signify it’s a new day. Cash acceptance at the airports was a terribly onerous process unless you limited to just one or two people at a time having a drawer.
The preboards and seat saving are out of control. And getting worse with so much media and blog attention. The fact that WN tells its crews to basically throw up their hands and not get involved is gonna get a few passengers some felonies one day. I don’t think the crews are as good as they used to be. I know that they made it pretty easy for people internally to transfer to inflight. They’ve had whole new hire inflight classes that are mostly ramp agents. Nothing against ramp agents but kind of a different personality there. I know a few there who went to inflight because they got sick of working outside in the heat.
Nice to see you took the 4th option not flying SWA.
I’m waiting a report on how well being part of the Jetway Jesus crowd works. Maybe every one on a flight could request a wheelchair. If everyone did that, Southwest would be forced to deal with the situation.
The last several times we’ve paid for early bird we still ended up in the B 30-40s group. Ended up paying to upgrade to A 1-15 anyways. We’re on the west coast so it’s great for short hops but I’m completely over it for cross country flights
If I check in 24 hours ahead to the minute, the worst position I’ve ever gotten is mid B, flying out of a “hub” like LAS. It’s usually late A.
That’s the One Simple Hack to virtually guarantee you an aisle.
I’m with jns. Name a flight and date.
An airline I used to work for once upon a time got signed up by marketing to be the official travel airline of a paralyzed games (Olympic style thing). They booked some flights with 60-70 wheelchairs. And everyone of course had sport chairs (like for the distance races, or hand bikes and such) in addition to their own daily chairs. They didn’t check with operations first. We had a lot of openings in the group sales department about a week after it. One station took a nearly 3 hour delay because of 40 or so aisle chair pax. And the ground handler was American and after the first two agents went off in the ambulance after getting injured assisting and loading motorized chairs, the rest refused to work the flight.
Yes let’s get 136 of our closest friends and request chairs on adhoc basis (about 70% of wheelchairs aren’t booked in advance) and show up at the counter 48 minutes to departure.
Only thing worse than flying Southwest is flying Delta.
I only use SW as a last option now and only on short flights. I used to purchase the early bird option but have avoided the airline completely, recently. I few my niece to Oregon from Washington DC last summer with a stopover in Denver. They were stranded by SW for a day and a half, which cut into our time together by a 1/3. No compensation (hotel, meals, etc.) has me avoiding them like the plague.
Gary – as a travel blogger, you should know you can be status matched easily and obtain A+ status which checks you in 36 hours before flight time, and ensures you’re in the A group
I used to fly Southwest religiously — even made up trips because they flew from my MacArthur Airport on Long Island direct to approximately everywhere — and generally to the older, smaller airports nearer the city.
Then they got successful, became like AA, and abandoned all those regional airports that grew their airline.
I have not been on a Southwest flight since they left.
Are you listening Bob Jordan? Your customers are ticked. I am sick of people “saving seats” for other people. If Southwest wants us to feel the LUV, enforce that policy and punish those that break the rule so the rest of us get a shot at securing a seat. I always get Early Bird but it ain’t worth it for Group C, which I experienced three times in two weeks. I have lots of choices flying out of ATL. If you really want to fix this . While your at it, find a way to qualify your preboards. An awful lot of families abuse that courtesy. It’s almost biblical the way a Southwest Flight loads way more people with need than gets off the plane.
Another woe is me article, and why did you find the need to add “(by law)” to the reference of National airport?
It’s not THAT difficult to get into DC from it, as a local, if you were adding that to somehow birch about the airport, I’d laugh at you
Southwest should just switch to assigned seats already.
Good call. Southwest used to be my favorite domestic airline. Now I avoid them like the pest.
Tom nailed it above. The social contract for their boarding process is gone in this country. I was a AList Preferred for a decade. But unlike Marriott, Hertz, and others, SW allowed my status to laps and I switched to AA (the other PHX airline). I made EP quickly and now love the lounge, no stops east of Texas, access for premium economy seats for free, 1st upgrades about ha their of the time, boarding first with the cattle call, and more. Their model just doesn’t provide enough value for frequent fliers.
good god that was a lot of entitled pussy whining leff.
If Southwest switches to assigned seats, I will stop flying them. I love being able to pick who I sit next to. The system works great for me.
It will ruin Southwest if they change like other airlines. Starting to charge for what is considered a premium seat like the other airlines do. Next they will charge for luggage and add more seats to their planes. All bad moves.
Imagine how I feel – back when it was literally first come first serve with no way to pay to take cuts in line – you needed to physically be at the airport early. Which many of us do. Now there are people who have paid the premium or checked in online (and we might be holding the plane for them later).
If you want to be first, you should need to be first at the airport. Period.
Last time we flew SW, there were more than 10 ‘wheelchair’ pre-loads. In the previous 40 years of flying with many airlines (including earlier SWs) we RARELY had more than 2. The system is BROKEN. Earlier years there may have been savings by SW that were gained by not having a seat reservation system, but NOT NOW with faster computers, internet and software. Open seating is neither cost effective nor efficient.
Will never fly SWA until they offer assigned seats. Uncertainty is stressful. Not knowing where you will have to sit adds stress. Travel is stressful enough, I don’t need worrying about jossling for position to get a good seat and remembering to do tasks in addition to normal stresses.
As far as I’m concerned, the ability to change/cancel for free, the free carry-on (I almost never check a bag but that’s free too), the free same-day standby are enough for me to put up with the slight chance I may get a middle seat. And even then I can choose which middle seat to pick. Southwest is still way ahead of all the other airlines.
@gary, it’s still significantly more than EB was, but the anytime fare now includes EB and isn’t quite as steep as business select.