New Southwest changes will not affect me personally. They are a mistake and will change the airline.
True confessions up front. As a travel agent, I almost never booked flights on Southwest since they finally ended all commissions in 2007. Nor do I fly them. These Southwest changes won’t affect me.
As someone who travels mostly longer domestic flights out of a major hub (for United), I like the extra legroom and the ability to buy club access even if upgrades are few and far between.
Southwest has had its maddening idiosyncrasies. Not allowing standby until recently was a big one. Others include limited food options and no agreements with other airlines.
Travelers who love Southwest Airlines love them.
It’s a simple product. The rules have been straightforward and you know what you’re getting. If you care a lot about a seat, you pay an early boarding fee, or you do the 24-hour in-advance check-in down to the minute. (Most Southwest travelers have fun stories about that.) Many of their fares allow a name change on the credit.
Plus, free checked bags are a bigger deal than many think. Maybe it’s “only” 35 dollars or so. But if you’re thinking of buying wine, liquor, jams, or even suntan lotion while traveling, that extra cost can make a difference, at least psychologically. “Can I avoid checking on the way back?”
Also, the advantage of free checked bags is that people on the edge with larger bags are more likely to check them than trying to cram them into overhead bins. Which means fewer delays in boarding… (And haven’t we all been there, when travelers somehow manage to get into the plane late when all the bins are full? Often it means flight delays, as they have to return to the front to check them, sometimes after pretending they fit under the seat.)
A hedge fund, Elliott Investment Management, has taken over Southwest’s board. Hence we have the recent Southwest changes.
Free bags will be gone, and paid assigned seats are coming — all under the guise of “higher revenue.”
Except for “higher revenue,” travelers are probably already on different airlines. If you care about a Club lounge at the airport, you’re probably not flying Southwest. If you care about free checked bags and travel frequently, you probably fly another airline that gives free checked bags via several flights or a credit card. And if you care about flying first class ever, you’re not flying Southwest. (Yes, first-class upgrades are near impossible with many carriers, and yes, first-class mileage awards are sky-high. But one can dream.)
Now, Southwest won’t lose that many travelers where they have the only nonstops. And it’s not clear how much some of their other perks will soon be gone, like the companion passes at a certain level and the A-list privileges that seem to be attainable, for starters.
I am sure loyal fliers reading this post know more than I do about their favorite perks. They feel like the Southwest changes are a mistake.
But one thing is true. An airline that has been iconic for decades is about to become much more average. It’s quite possible as a generic no-frills carrier they may not even survive. And that’s a sad thing.
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Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
