Tag Archives for southwest airlines.
Southwest doesn’t want people automatically checking in 24 hours out, because it might cut into Early Bird check-in revenue. They don’t want people automatically checking price changes, because consumers might save money. They want self-service to be hard. And it’s both fine and reasonable to want those things. It’s neither fine nor reasonable for the government to subsidize those things by threatening innovators who want to use publicly available information.
I just booked what I hope will be my last flights of 2019, and my last hotel stays as well. Looking back on the year I realize I traveled less – fewer days than I’ve spent on the road in recent times since the birth of my daughter last fall.
Less time in the air and in chain hotels for me will still seem like a lot of time away to many readers. In 2016 I was gone half the year. That hasn’t been close to true this year. Still, I’m on track to renew several of my status levels.
The biggest return on credit card spending is earning a card’s initial bonus. After that it’s either benefits that may be earned at specific thresholds on a card, or earning more than one mile per dollar on specific categories of spending. For me it’s about earning the elite benefits I care about, and some special perks on top that let me travel with my family more than I otherwise would.
A flight attendant claims she caught two Southwest pilots live-streaming the lavatory into the cockpit for their viewing. This is when they were supposed to be flying their plane.
“The flight attendant entered the cockpit when one of the pilots went to use the lavatory. She noticed an iPad with the lavatory video feed. The co-pilot “panicked when he realized she noticed the device..[and] claimed it was part of a new security measure featured on all Southwest flights.”
The underlying issue isn’t “will Southwest Airlines try to buy another airline” it’s “how does Southwest Airlines grow without the Boeing 737 MAX in service and continued production?” And if Southwest isn’t in a position to grow its business, it can’t command the historically high price-earnings multiple it’s enjoyed relative to peers in the U.S. airline industry.
Mergers are costly. They rarely generate the promised benefits. They involve combining IT systems, fleets, unionized work forces, and company cultures. They’re fraught with risk. Southwest Airlines needs the MAX to be flying again soon, and likely to act on a plan to diversify its fleet (with the attenuated costs and complexity that brings) — potentially with Embraer E2 jets.
Southwest Airlines is eliminating expiration of points, raising the requirements for the Companion Pass, and announcing that starting in 2021 they’ll collect any changes in TSA fees and airport facilities charges when elites use free standby.
Kevin Smith made headlines in 2010 over Southwest Airlines’ customer of size policy, vowing never to fly the airline again. He flew them again in 2011 and had another altercation over the policy. He boycotted the airline until 2016.
It turns out his confrontation with Southwest led to the making of the brand new Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.
The best deal in travel has to be the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass.
There’s no question that a rewards card with big initial bonus offer is the easiest and fastest way to earn a Companion Pass (in addition to being really big on its own towards reward travel). However there are other fast ways to earn a Companion Pass even without a Southwest Airlines co-brand credit card. And it’s even more enticing with a new 2000 point bonus offer.
I submitted a new status challenge request around 4 p.m. on Sunday and then before 8 a.m. on Monday I had already been approved for another status challenge. They’ve added a quirk I don’t recall from the challenge last time. Fortunately there’s a way around it.
Since I earned the full year’s status through last year’s challenge, during the back half of 2018, I assumed I would have the status for all of 2019 and I’d be able to spend all of 2019 requalifying in order to keep the status for 2020. However, oddly, that’s not how this works.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
