This is probably one of the sole reasons I fly Southwest. I'm spontaneous and whimsical, yet hard-working and change my plans often.
The lack of change fees, allow me a jet-setting lifestyle at a fraction of the cost of any other carrier!

I need to agree with Loren on 2 points (I don't fly enough to get a companion ticket). I like that I can make a reservations and, if something causes me to have to change the reservations then I'm not out even one thin dime. And open seating! I can't say enough about that! I love it today, loved it ever since I took my first flight on SWA decades ago, and will always love it in the future.

I had an incident back in October '06 where my travel plans changed during my outbound layover and it was then that I first realized how amazing Southwest customer service is.

Having been hit with change fees from other airlines for even the most far off dates, it has been refreshing to be able to make summer travel plans and have the flexibility to change them on a whim (which I have). It's one more reason why I like to fly on Southwest when I can and why I suggest it to my friends. I am an Emergency Medical Services provider at my university and I helped plan a group trip to a conference in Baltimore. Southwest was a great fit for our group because of the price, but also because I knew if someone had to cancel, the credit could still be used towards future travel without penalty.

L2K there is a lot to do in getting a flt ready for takeoff, one is you have to know how much wieght is on board so you know how much fuel you need. By boarding passengers at the last minute you add wieght, and if the fuel truck has left, now you have to call it back to add more fuel,and wait,now the flights late. And if you add the fuel ahead of time and you do not add passengers, you use more fuel to fly the added wieght of the fuel you did not need, which adds cost to company which they in turn pass to the passengers in higher fares. So to help keep cost down they don't change without a charge. Although 1 or 2 people won't hurt, 5 or more will make a difference. Thats only one reason to not move people. not enough room to explain the others.

Angela - I'm surprised that you are surprised that the lack of change fees is a huge factor in purchase decisions. The top three reasons people espouse over and over again about their preferences for SWA are:

1 - Open Seating
2 - Lower Prices
3 - Lack of gouging over change fees.

Actually, the number one reason is the Employees - it is just more pleasant to fly SWA than anybody else.

Personally, the lack of change fees is not a factor for me - I think I've had to change my flight maybe five times in the last 20 years (though last month I did miss my most important flight ever - and the next flight to Dallas would cause me to arrive too late).

And Southwest is facing new challenges, Mr. Kelly has already stated that some kind of change is coming to the boarding process, and it isn't an automatic given that SWA will have the lowest fares. Since there is a cost to SWA for changing a flight, it would not be surprising to see some sort of penalty imposed at some point.

If/when this happens, all we ask is that you don't gouge the Customer. it would be great to have no fee up to 96 hours in advance, then maybe $5 or $10 in the four days prior to departure. Since hotels can somehow manage inventory control by allowing changes or even complete cancellations (with full refunds) as little as 24 hours in advance, surely airlines could too.

Since you didn't ask, the three biggest negative factors people mention about Southwest seem to be:

1 - The devaluation of the Rapid Rewards program.
2 - Standby requires upgrading to full rack rate.
3 - Open Seating.

1 - It used to be that somebody with a Rapid Reward ticket had the same privileges as the person paying full fare. It seems like SWA considered RR tickets as well earned and treated RR pass flyers accordingly. Any flight, any time, any day (except four or five near-holiday days). Now SWA claims no blackout dates, but in reality many flights are blacked out.

And - earning Rewards is still unbalanced. If I take a $30 Ding flight from El Paso to Albuquerque, I receive the same reward benefit as the person as a person taking a $350 flight from Baltimore to Phoenix.

2 - The standby issue is well known and well discussed, and I absolutely understand Southwest's reasons. But is in in essence a one-day-only change fee. Maybe increased revenue from an across the board change fee would offset revenue from the "standby requires upgrading to full fare" policy.

3 - And of course, please ignore anybody who lists the open seating policy as one of their reasons for not liking Southwest - they know not of what they speak.

And (this is just me personally, but I'm sure many others would feel the same way), even if SWA eliminated their Rapid Rewards program, always sold seats at or slightly above the competitors price, and added change fees - they would still be my first airline of choice.

Why? It's simple - the people of Southwest are just the best to be around. From reservations, to check in agents, to gate agents, to flight attendants, and all the way to the (rarely needed) person who is in the baggage claim booth. The number of positive interactions between Customers and Employees at Southwest is light years above that of any other airline - and probably any other business too!

I think it may be true you haven't done enough to let people know about the lack of change fees. With other airlines going to insane levels ($200?!) this is a big differentiator for SWA, and certainly many of my friends have been unaware of it.

The beauty of your system is if one flies enough on SWA (and I do) one can consider all fares fully refundable! I just have to leave the cash in the "SWA bank" for a little while and use it for next time. However, I do wish you made it easier to use funds from previous tickets--it seems like you could keep track of them rather than me.

I wouldn't mind a non-zero change fee for the days leading up to a flight if it's causing problems. Just keep it super reasonable (under $20) and I'll feel almost as good about it.

Angela,
Another great post! To add to some of the examples above, about eighteen months ago, my college-age son was scheduled to attend a conference in Arkansas with several other students from UT. They had booked on aanother, unnaamed aairline because it was a group package, and therefore got pretty good fares.

About a week out, one of the other students had to be hospitalized and my son tried to convince someone else to go with them in his place, and since the ticket was already purchased, he assumed the alternate could just reimburse the hospitalized fellow and use his ticket. The other student was very enthused about going until he called thaat other aairline and found out that it was going to cost him $100 to change the name on the $125 ticket. Guess who wound up not going to the conference? Right -- TWO people -- the one in the hospital who just forfeited $125 and the other one who would have gone but couldn't justify spending $225.

I told him in the future, their group should book with the airline that LUVs its passengers!
Kim
External Blog Boy :)

Angela

"And (this is just me personally, but IÃ

The rationale for Southwest's idiosyncratic standby policy is fully explained (from an outsider's perspective) at http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Standby_rules_%28SWA%29

Back on topic, freedom from change fees has a quantifiable value. I recently booked international vacation flights and a hotel room, in both cases choosing a refundable rate over a slightly (10% or so) less expensive nonrefundable and nonchangeable option. If Southwest would trumpet this feature louder it could charge higher fares and/or win market share.

Southwest's current policy also helps lock in customers for repeat business as we become accustomed to having some uncommitted ticketless funds hanging around most of the time. It ain't broke, so don't fix it. Just promote the heck out of it.

FT's full outsider FAQ on SWA is at http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Southwest_Rapid_Rewards

Lack of change fee is possibly the number one reason I fly WN.

You need to spend more time at Flyertalk learning what your customers like and don't like. Much better than trying to wing it, or whatever you've been doing.

I am a devoted SWA customer because of the great customer service they have given me over the years. I won't fly any other airline unless I'm traveling to a place that SWA doesn't fly.
I recently had to cancel a flight ticketed to my husband and was able to book my daughter on that ticket/fare without any hassles. I want to thank Sandy in Customer Relations for making this happen. She was so helpful and made it all come together in a matter of days.
I have no complaints with SWA and recommend them to everyone I know.

When booking flights, I used to just look for lowest cost and best flight times. But, I will now look to book with Southwest every time. We just booked a flight to Denver in Feb, 2010, and then had something important come up and couldn't fly on those dates. Couldn't believe how easy it was to change the reservation and at NO cost!! We've even bought flight insurance on other airline tix in the past to ensure we could change flights if an emergency arose. Now with Southwest we could save that cost. I am spreading the word about this terrific customer service. Thank you Southwest! This is a huge stress reliever.