WTF !!

Way to go Aggie CEO, you're an idi…….. not smart

Hate to break it to you, but those bags aren't "free".

This would be an attempt to compete with the "Basic Economy" fares that the other carriers have.

When an activist company buys your companies float you don't have much option but to listen and make those changes.

Sorry if my last sentence wasn't clear, but that's exactly what I was getting at.

Wow!

FWIW my wife works at SWA and is decently in the know. She typically knows changes before they become public

This is the first she and her team have heard of this

Anybody want to dump their Southwest points let me know……

Fins Up! said:

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Bye bye SWA. Looks like I'll be racking up more UA and AA miles.

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I have a companion pass and about a million miles on SW. once I exhaust those, I'm moving over to United. I'll probably go ahead and get the United card to start building up.

Bayou City said:

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When an activist company buys your companies float you don't have much option but to listen and make those changes.

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Not necessarily. Work for a fortune 100 that had a similar situation, and while it was years of hassle, we outlasted him and he eventually moved on. His ideas were not in the best long-term interest of our business

AgOutsideAustin said:

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Anybody want to dump their Southwest points let me know……

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How much you offering for them?

I'm looking at flights from Houston to NYC for the week after Christmas, and United is ~$100 cheaper for a flight to LGA. If this continues I'll probably switch to UA or DL full time.

Also, I don't understand the secondary airport complaint. For flying out of Houston, HOU is significantly easier than IAH. It's light on amenities, but being able to park in the garage and walk through security to the gate with no hassles is preferable to the **** show that IAH has become.

I wouldn't call it a complaint as much as a fundamental difference between them and the Delta/AA/United that people seem to think these changes are meant to compete with. They also don't have lounges like all of them, something that business passengers on the big three have come to expect, even if they're overrated.

Southwest isn't moving in the direction of those airlines; they're moving in the direction of Frontier and Spirit.

Frontier and Spirit currently are operating at a loss. They 100% are not trying to be those airlines.

There's a difference between saying they're TRYING to move in that direction and saying they ARE moving in that direction.

In your mind, how do these changes move them toward United/Delta/American and not the other direction?

UAL, Delta and AAL are all operating positive per route. LUV JBLU and Spirit run an operating loss per route. They 100% are not trying to be in that cohort. They're trying to fit a hybrid mold between UAL and their previous iteration of self. None of the airlines you listed are preferred by business travelers. LUV is trying to position themself as a business friendly alternative not a budget/value airline. Outside of business lounges, that's the direction. More amenities more up charges and less families.

They want to pick up the business traveler that flies once a week and pays for upgrades and eschew the boat load of people of Walmart and their kids that currently are their bread and butter.

Frontier changed their fare classes in April. LUV is not following their lead. What they proposed follows suit with UAL AAL and Delta far more than the new Frontier classes.

You keep saying what they want to do. Yes, we all know they WANT to move toward profitable airlines.

Quote:

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Frontier changed their fare classes in April. LUV is not following their lead. What they proposed follows suit with UAL AAL and Delta far more than the new Frontier classes.

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How so?

Southwest isn't offering first class. I know Frontier is blocking middle seats on two rows, but the new Southwest seating is a lot closer to that and Spirit than it is to the big three with their actual first class.

I will use my points up and a gift card i got for travel in 2025 then start looking at new carriers for future


It isnt a great deal anymore

But just got a email about companion pass promotion for three months

Thanks for the heads up. Cancelled and rebooked a trip I have for November. A bit extra (used credits), but I know I've got at least 2 RTs with my wife in that span.

Four Seasons Landscaping said:

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Southwest Airlines Polls Customers on Changing Free Bag Policy

I bet they miraculously find out "80%" of customers don't like free bags either.

They're on the fast track to becoming Spirit.

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SWA is being pushed by new investors to maximize revenue by:

1. Paying for checked luggage and,
2. Moving to assigned seating.

They will lose market share with these moves.

austinag1997 said:

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Four Seasons Landscaping said:

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Southwest Airlines Polls Customers on Changing Free Bag Policy

I bet they miraculously find out "80%" of customers don't like free bags either.

They're on the fast track to becoming Spirit.

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SWA is being pushed by new investors to maximize revenue by:

1. Paying for checked luggage and,
2. Moving to assigned seating.

They will lose market share with these moves.

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Are we sure these new investors aren't actually shorts? Seems like they are trying to undo what made Southwest unique. Next they are going to go to a hub and spoke system.

austinag1997 said:

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Four Seasons Landscaping said:

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Southwest Airlines Polls Customers on Changing Free Bag Policy

I bet they miraculously find out "80%" of customers don't like free bags either.

They're on the fast track to becoming Spirit.

---

SWA is being pushed by new investors to maximize revenue by:

1. Paying for checked luggage and,
2. Moving to assigned seating.

They will lose market share with these moves.

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yup. Elliott Management now owns a significant chunk of Southwest. They are going to do everything possible to scrap every penny. Kelleher's Southwest has been dead for a while. It is going to get worse.

Do customers really enjoy the cattle call boarding system of SWA? I purposely avoid SWA because of that. Its not like SWA is any cheaper than the major airlines either, I cant recall many times in the past 10 years where SWA was cheaper than United or AA flying out of Houston. Even their mileage redemption options arent that cheap compared to the other major airlines. I also prefer flying out of IAH vs Hobby because of the IAH lounges and food options.

Not sure what competitive advantage SWA has these days that would cause someone to choose them over another airline with similar or cheaper prices. Sure, I would choose them if they were significantly cheaper than the competition, but they typically aren't cheaper at all.

Petrino1 said:

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Do customers really enjoy the cattle call boarding system of SWA? I purposely avoid SWA because of that. Its not like SWA is any cheaper than the major airlines either, I cant recall many times in the past 10 years where SWA was cheaper than United or AA flying out of Houston. Even their mileage redemption options arent that cheap compared to the other major airlines. I also prefer flying out of IAH vs Hobby because of the IAH lounges and food options.

Not sure what competitive advantage SWA has these days that would cause someone to choose them over another airline with similar or cheaper prices. Sure, I would choose them if they were significantly cheaper than the competition, but they typically aren't cheaper at all.

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I actually like it most of the time because I can pay $10-15 for early bird checkin and generally get a window or an aisle near the front of the plane, and most of the time can get an exit row seat with more legroom. To get those seats on any other airline is going to cost me $30-90 per leg. Their cattle call system is no different than all the "boarding group" lineups for United or any other airline. At least southwest gives you your place in line ahead of time so you can just walk up right before boarding starts and get in your spot in line.

I was on a United flight a few weeks ago where the gate agent came on and said "this plane has undersized overhead bins space and after the first 25 large roller bags, everybody else is going to have to gate check their rolling bags. They didn't even get through all of group 1 before they started gate checking carryons. So your position in line even in those first few groups sometimes matters and you can't just sit around until a couple of minutes before boarding before getting in line.

CDub06 said:

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Thanks for the heads up. Cancelled and rebooked a trip I have for November. A bit extra (used credits), but I know I've got at least 2 RTs with my wife in that span.

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Sweet looking for a quick cheap trip as i have possibly four trips planned for side gig during that time with another person

I have flown SWA for years exclusively. Usually pretty short trips. Flying this week with golf clubs that fly for free... for now. Its a pretty good value right now.