Once again, Southwest Airlines is introducing a new product to make traveling a little easier for our Customers. Many of you have told us how important it is to get an early boarding position so you can find that coveted seat without having to watch the clock for your 24-hour window to check in. Today, I am excited to introduce EarlyBird Check-in - one more way Southwest is providing convenience during your travel experience. For just $10 (one-way), EarlyBird Check-in Customers will automatically obtain a reserved boarding position before general check-in begins. You no longer have to worry about checking in for your flight as we will do the work for you to help you get a better boarding position, which of course leads to improved seat selection and earlier access to overhead bin space.
This project is one of many that we have been working on to bring you more options. The process has been fast and furious, but with the help of several Southwest Teams, we were able to bring this new product to life in just a matter of months. It started with just an idea on the whiteboard, but quickly went from an idea to a creative concept online that is now EarlyBird Check-in. The fun part was coming up with the name for the product. Check out just a few that didn’t make the final cut, and let us know what you might have called the new product.
- Shotgun
- Leapfrog Check-in
- Jet Ahead
- Gimme a Lift
- First Dibs
- Jump Seat
Of course, we continue to offer Customers our premium Business Select product, which guarantees that you will be one of the first Passengers onboard your flight—with a drink; extra Rapid Rewards credit; and FlyBy Security Lane access (at select airports) as added benefits! EarlyBird Check-in Customers will begin boarding the plane after our Business Select and Rapid Rewards A-List Customers. For more information about EarlyBird Check-in, visit our web site: http://www.southwest.com/flight/early-bird-retrieve-reservation.html
Comments
This is just a "checked bag fee" by another name. I suggest you delete it or pull your ads about no checked bag fees before AA and Delta eat you alive for being such a hypocrite. I am VERY disappointed in you Southwest. This is a very non-Texas way of doing business, you should be ashamed of such shenanigans.
Bryan, yes, you have as you said answered the "How is check-in position ordered" question several times. Unfortunately, you've answered it incorrectly each time. It is NOT ordered by time of purchase. From Southwest's own FAQ page: ( http://www.southwest.com/flight/early-bird-faq.html#ebQuestion6 )
"Is there an order in which EarlyBird Check-in Boarding Passes are reserved?
Yes, Customers who have purchased Anytime Fares will receive priority over other fare types during the initial boarding position assignment. "
That is, someone who purchases a WGA or DING! fare the day the schedule is extended will still be placed behind someone who purchases an Anytime fare at T-37. Maybe *within* those categories it's ordered by time (but if so, we have only word to that, as it doesn't say so on the FAQ), but to say that is ordered by time as a blanket statement is simply not true.
BTW, that FAQ has some other great tidbits:
"Will EarlyBird Check-in Customers get an "A" Boarding Pass and be among the first to board?
Probably, but not always. It depends upon how many Business Select, Rapid Rewards A-List, and EarlyBird Check-in Customers are on a given flight"
"Will the number of EarlyBird Check-in Passengers be limited on each flight?
No. All eligible Customers can purchase EarlyBird Check-in. "
In other words, you could shell out your $20 round trip for this fee, and still get a C-17 boarding pass. With no way of knowing in advance what you're paying for, and no way to get a refund if you're not satisified with it.
As for those claiming "this is an option, not a fee", no, it's not. In order to have the same experience that I have come to enjoy on Southwest - being able to obtain a BP in the A15-A30 range 9 times out of 10, I now have to pay a $10 fee. If I don't pay that fee, I will be relegated to a lesser position. Depending on how many are willing to pay that fee, it may be a MUCH lesser position. Instituting a "service" that directly detracts from the experience of those who "choose" not to utilize the "service", is a fee.
I think it's great! If I moved more of my flights to SWA, I'd be A-List anyway, but I'm not quite ready to make the full move. But you just might get me yet because this gives me a OPTION.
Good job, SWA!
I am quite concerned that so many people will sign up for EBCI that people who don't will risk the dreaded "All available online boarding passes have been issued, check in at airport" even if they check in close to T-24. If that ever happens to me, I think that would be enough for me to permanently sever my relationship with Southwest.
I feel that the idea is workable if the number of EBCI is limited and if the price point is raised a bit. Otherwise, we are being extorted for "protection money" to save us from the possibility that we might have the absolutely lowest boarding prority and risk involuntary bump.
Are there different boarding rules for people with special needs? Such as the elderly lady using a walker, or a person in a wheelchair or on crutches? What about a mentally handicapped adult? Are these people given help or priority boarding, and if they have a caretaker or attendant with them, are they seated together? If so, why should it be different for a young child or baby? By nature they have mobility and cognitive issues, and so should be allowed the same accommodations as any adult with the same limitations. Separating a young child from his or her caregiver should be against all airline policies. The main question should be, what constitutes "young". Well, I will be flying with my 14 year old soon, and if she isn't seated next to me, I hope the person who is will be willing to hold her hand and comfort her during take off and landing. She has only flown a few times and is still VERY nervous. I think that for a child between 10 and 18 it should be their choice to be separated from their caregiver. If they aren't comfortable with it, then the airline should be responsible to make sure they can stay together. Are there really people out there who really want to sit next to a crying 2 year old or chatty 6 year old that doesn't belong to them? As for me, having a "good' seat definitely comes after being able to sit with my kids.
Long, long-time 100% loyal Southwest Airlines customers here, but this new policy will have us shopping other airlines. Tacking on a fee of $10 per person per flight for us to TRY and sit together (family of 3) - not even guaranteed because if everyone does it, we'll be god knows where in line - that's just terrible. It ticks me off so bad, I don't want to do business with this company anymore. They don't look or act like the company that secured my loyalty in the past.
A big question mark for me will be what steps SW takes to ensure fairness and prevent passenger conflict, since the new policy clearly exacerbates a couple existing problems. A couple posters have mentioned the seat-saving problem. I will add another: the passengers who ignore the boarding numbers and cut in line. Almost every time I fly, someone holding a late boarding number will pretend to be clueless and try to board early. Sometimes the passenger is politely turned back by the gate attendant, but often he isn't. My sense is that so long as a passenger is in the right letter group, the attendant will let him board, even if he is A57 and has jumped ahead of the A16-20 passengers. This happens a lot, since the gap that forms between the Business Select passengers and A16-20 is just too inviting for some people to resist.
Before, this behavior was merely irritating. But now that most A group passengers will be paying extra for their boarding number, SW had better enforce the boarding order more rigorously, or things might get ugly.
Where is the loyalty? When I called to ask about this new "convenience," I find it is hardly convenient at all. I pay my $10 each way - and my companions (so that one of isn't holding a seat for the other one) and I still have to have my fingers hovering over the key board at exactly 24 hours til my flight so I can hopefully scoop an A ticket. Call me crazy but if everyone falls for this, we all can't be A tickets! Some of us will (horrors) get B or even C tickets.
Southwest -this is the nuttiest thing you've come up with in a long time. You are not the cheapest airline to fly anymore, not everyone entertains us with jokes or songs but you still have the free bags thing going on. Decide on who you want to be and who you want your passengers to be. Make the real call. Do you go back to where you were and just charge more for your tickets or do you start assigning seats???
Pick a lane and stay in it. Give us a reason to stay with Southwest.
Bill in PHX,
You are right, and I am sorry for the bad information.
Brian
I've had a few days to calm down about this (okay, it really didn't affect me that much, I do have more important things to think about), but I agree with Mark DC on limiting the # of EarlyBirds per flight to some statistically determined number just like they do for Business Select. That way, you KNOW what you're buying with your $10, and then let the customer know what boarding number they're buying, or at least let the customer know that the # is limited, so the value proposition is more defined and you'll have a steady response to the initiative.
I'd go for that. And I'd probably pay $10 for the privilege.