For a while, I've observed that WN rarely ever fits into the "low-cost carrier" requirements, at least in terms of airfare.

In most instances, it is far more expensive to fly WN than Spirit/Frontier. And more interestingly, it's often cheaper to fly the US3 legacy carriers than WN! This is based on several roundtrip airfares I've looked at from MDW, however, it also applies to most of WN's hubs.

Even in its advertising of "cheap fares," one-way tickets are marketed as maybe $69 on a good day for one short route. Whereas the other aforementioned carriers have far greater and more frequent deals.

Is WN that great at selling seats that it need not discount its airfare as heavily as the other LCCs and the US3's Basic Economy products? Is it right to consider WN an LCC in the first place?

Low cost means low operating/business costs.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

but they're not keeping up with modern development.

Dont get me started...

TWA772LR correct LCC is a business model based on out sourcing just about everything including crew in extreme cases .

What people confuse is the front end .

Almost all these companies operate a complex algorithm for fare modelling - they are far better called flexible fares carriers imho.

LCC does not mean LOW fares never did - that’s just marketing !

And ULCC is ever more meaningless

Another topic that comes up weekly... WN is very much a LCC. There is an LA Times article from 1989, discussing the demise of PSA and quoting the CEO of USAir as describing OW$100 — then the new lowest fare on LAX/OAK-SFO-SJC — as being “fair priced.” Then WN became the 800 lb. gorilla in the market and 29 years later, you can regularly purchase tickets for $39-$59. Just because other airline have adapted, doesn’t mean WN still doesn’t have an impact.

It goes beyond fares. WN permits two free checked bags + one full sized carryon, and does not charge a change fee. The legacies’ lowest fares are often Basic Economy, which permits NO changes.

rutankrd wrote:

TWA772LR correct LCC is a business model based on out sourcing just about everything including crew in extreme cases .

What people confuse is the front end .

Almost all these companies operate a complex algorithm for fare modelling - they are far better called flexible fares carriers imho.

LCC does not mean LOW fares never did - that’s just marketing !

And ULCC is ever more meaningless

Southwest actually doesnt have that much outsourced work. Granted some smaller stations are outsourced, but there is a threshold to be met to gain direct-hire employees. And as far as HDQ goes, there is a fair bit of temp workers, and a lot of them hire on after their term/project ends.

And Thanks

PatrickZ80 wrote:

Today people don't need luggage anymore

? Unless you're some sort of packing wizard or are going on a trip of longer than about 3 days you're going to need checked luggage. No matter how advanced our fancy new tech age gets people are still going to be going on long trips where they'll need more than what you can fit in a carry on.
Or maybe I've misunderstood your point.

N415XJ wrote:

PatrickZ80 wrote:

Today people don't need luggage anymore

? Unless you're some sort of packing wizard or are going on a trip of longer than about 3 days you're going to need checked luggage. No matter how advanced our fancy new tech age gets people are still going to be going on long trips where they'll need more than what you can fit in a carry on.
Or maybe I've misunderstood your point.

The girlfriend and I regularly pack for 5-7 nights in a standard euro LCC carry on... It's possible with some tight packing!

LCCs do not equal cheap, just cheaper than the legacies.

If we talk of fares and services provides, I wonder what's the difference today between low cost and majors. I can talk about Europe, where I regularly fly Air France, British, KLM or Lufthansa because their fares are very competitive with those proposed by EasyJet for example. Other times low cost are better because for the same price they take you from A to B without stopover. You can chose wether to pay for checked luggage or not, and their aircraft are more comfortable (talking of cabin aspect and cleanliness).

If we look at the corporate structure and airline operations things change completely I suppose...

PatrickZ80 wrote:

No, they're not. They once were, but now they're just a full service airline.

Carriers without premium cabins, seat assignments, meal service or even buy-on-board food are not full-service airlines. Maybe your expectations have been dumbed-down by Ryanair.

rutankrd wrote:

TWA772LR correct LCC is a business model based on out sourcing just about everything including crew in extreme cases .

What people confuse is the front end .

Almost all these companies operate a complex algorithm for fare modelling - they are far better called flexible fares carriers imho.

LCC does not mean LOW fares never did - that’s just marketing !

And ULCC is ever more meaningless

"Low cost" doesn't mean "low price."

"Low cost" means that they've managed to keep their operating costs relatively low, which means that they can (but don't have to) offer significantly lower fares than competitors when doing so makes business sense.

MIflyer12 wrote:

PatrickZ80 wrote:

No, they're not. They once were, but now they're just a full service airline.

Carriers without premium cabins, seat assignments, meal service or even buy-on-board food are not full-service airlines. Maybe your expectations have been dumbed-down by Ryanair.

Carries without real service to passengers, such as US3, are not really full service as well.
Premium cabin services are used by single digits percentage of passengers, while small pitch and routine disconnects are fed to majority.

These threads are always really silly. Don’t think WN is a LCC? Look at CVG-CHI — before WN entered then market, the lowest OW fares were in the mid-$200 range, but after WN arrived, they dropped below $100. After WN withdrew from DAY, the reverse happened.

Fact is, WN has never been “always the cheapest,” nor will it ever be. That’s because once it enters a market, the legacies drop their fares, and whoever’s the lowest can vary based upon inventory. That’s basic business — one can only reign in cost leadership for so long.

But that doesn’t mean WN isn’t the 800 lb. gorilla in driving airfares in the USA. If WN upped its lowest fares/sale fares, you can bet your booty the legacies will too.

N415XJ wrote:

PatrickZ80 wrote:

Today people don't need luggage anymore

? Unless you're some sort of packing wizard or are going on a trip of longer than about 3 days you're going to need checked luggage. No matter how advanced our fancy new tech age gets people are still going to be going on long trips where they'll need more than what you can fit in a carry on.
Or maybe I've misunderstood your point.

My family of four takes two 10-21 day intercontinental trips with carry on bags only, not to mention numerous domestic trips. The last time anyone in my family checked a bag was when we were moving.

You don't really need all that stuff.

This summer I needed to cancel a vacation trip, use the funds for a family issue, rebook and then cancel. All of this without change fees. For me, WN is an LCC.

Aliqiout wrote:

My family of four takes two 10-21 day intercontinental trips with carry on bags only, not to mention numerous domestic trips. The last time anyone in my family checked a bag was when we were moving.

You don't really need all that stuff.

You don’t need to take two 10-21 day intercontinental trips per year, either; you do it because you want to. Just like most people want to dress up — many people, especially women, enjoy wearing a different swimming suit every day of their vacation and different outfit at night when they go out for dinner.

Even women who work for Big 4 and take 3 night/4 day wok trips regularly bring 2 bags, since unfortunately our society judges us on the way we dress and they feel obligated to be ready for the occasion.

US airlines collected 4.5 BILLION in bag fees last year, and that number will swell as UA, AA (and probably DL eventually) increase Econ Basic.

compensateme wrote:

These threads are always really silly. Don’t think WN is a LCC? Look at CVG-CHI — before WN entered then market, the lowest OW fares were in the mid-$200 range, but after WN arrived, they dropped below $100. After WN withdrew from DAY, the reverse happened.

Fact is, WN has never been “always the cheapest,” nor will it ever be. That’s because once it enters a market, the legacies drop their fares, and whoever’s the lowest can vary based upon inventory. That’s basic business — one can only reign in cost leadership for so long.

But that doesn’t mean WN isn’t the 800 lb. gorilla in driving airfares in the USA. If WN upped its lowest fares/sale fares, you can bet your booty the legacies will too.

Exactly, in the last year I have flown UA from ORD-CVG for $45, WN from CVG to MDW to $60, and just last week WN from MDW to CVG for $69. Short of a few Friday night last minute deals on United, it was hard to find a round trip between CVG and CHI for less than $400, before WN.

WN may not be the cheapest, but they charge an honest fare.

To put it into perspective, on a similar length flight, CVG to DTW which is only operated by Delta, a one way ticket on August 17th costs $229, on the same day CVG-CHI, is $70-80 depending on the airline. Even more notably are same day fares, if you want to fly to Detroit today, it costs about $500 on Delta, want to fly to Chicago today, it costs $220 on WN, UA, AA, and DL.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

pdp wrote:

LCCs do not equal cheap, just cheaper than the legacies.

Actually it's the legacies that adapted their prices to the LCCs.

In my opinion there's one airline that can be called the king of LCCs, that's Ryanair. Ryanair has set an example, lead the way for other LCCs. Both in Europe and in other parts of the world. Air Asia for example have shaped their business model after Ryanair. Wizzair is almost identical to Ryanair. And in the USA you see Spirit and Frontier more or less following what Ryanair is doing in Europe. But Southwest doesn't follow Ryanair, they stick to their own business model. Michael O'Leary may have looked at Southwest when he came up with the idea for the business model for Ryanair, but he improved it. Southwest was never improved.

Southwest hasn’t had an unprofitable year in 3 decades. I’m an LCC guy, in the last year I’ve flown AirAsia, AirAsia X (all the way from HNL to KUL), Malindo, Lao Skyways, Wow (over the Atlantic), and Ural Airlines. I am not an airlines snob. But, when in the U.S., I’ll pick Southwest. Last week, after a cheap long haul flight on Hainan, Southwest was able to get me from Chicago to Cincinnati for cheap. Plus, this being a chance to restock supplies before another year in China, I was traveling with bags. But, even last winter, I paid a few more bucks for a Southwest flight when I was in the middle of 8 weeks of backpacking, because it is more than free bags on Southwest. There ticket changing fees are very customer friendly.

I find ticket change fees much more maddening than bag change fees. What is worse, an airline makes some operational changes and has to move your flight two hours, do you think they are paying you their $150 change fee? No, it is a-symmetrical power. Southwest is just a more customer-friendly airline.

I’m not really sure what Southwest has to improve, they make money every year. They made money even during the dark times of 9/11, late-aught fuel spikes, the housing crisis, etc. Rather than every airline doing the same, there is value in brand differentiation.

I think WN has proven a company in general can be both customer and employee friendly and still be consistently profitable. I have always respected their willingness to avoid the Wall Street wolves that think successful companies need to be ruthless. Since lounges and occasional upgrades are important to me I rarely ever fly them but many business travelers could care less about those kinds of extras.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

No, they're not. They once were, but now they're just a full service airline. Their pricing is reasonable, but not the very cheapest like Spirit and Frontier.

I guess you can consider Southwest a LCC if you need all additional extras. If you need checked luggage Southwest might just be cheaper than the competition, but they're not keeping up with modern development. Today people don't need luggage anymore and just by excluding that airlines like Spirit and Frontier are able to be cheaper than Southwest.

Yes WN is a LCC.

DL, UA, AA are legacies.

WN is a LCC

G4, F9, NK are ULCCs.

I would consider AS and B6 to be full service airlines that aren't legacies.

MIflyer12 wrote:

PatrickZ80 wrote:

No, they're not. They once were, but now they're just a full service airline.

Carriers without premium cabins, seat assignments, meal service or even buy-on-board food are not full-service airlines. Maybe your expectations have been dumbed-down by Ryanair.

Legacy is a better term. LCC has lower costs and profits off fees and anxillary revenue.

WN, like JetBlue, is in a middle.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

I can easily go for a week or longer on a hand luggage size suitcase, done so quite a few times. It's all a matter of priorities and whatever you can buy at your destination you don't need to bring along. Once met a guy who went for a couple of weeks with no luggage at all, just a passport and that's it. If he needed something on the way he bought it locally. That included clothes as well.

.

So if you buy all these things in your destination how do you get them back if you don't have checked luggage?

DesertAir wrote:

This summer I needed to cancel a vacation trip, use the funds for a family issue, rebook and then cancel. All of this without change fees. For me, WN is an LCC.

This is the biggest "low cost" aspect of WN for the consumer. If there is any chance you'll need to change your plans, they are the only carrier that you won't get charged prohibitive fees when using a reasonably priced fare.

Sometimes, you even get credit back!

I've probably taken adavantage of this an average of twice a year.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

DesertAir wrote:

This summer I needed to cancel a vacation trip, use the funds for a family issue, rebook and then cancel. All of this without change fees. For me, WN is an LCC.

No, they're not. An LCC would have charged you for all of those things. They didn't, that's missed income for them. It's real good service of them doing all of that for free with them taking the costs for it, but that makes them a full service airline.

What differentiates WN from the others is the service. Every Southwest flight has a comfy seat with good legroom. Every (for the most part) WN employee loves what they do and will do anything for the customer. Im a CSA for WN and worked a delayed flight recently; to liven the mood, i played gate games with the customers which included a paper airplane contest. An 8 year old girl was the winner and i gave her the same thing i would've given Herb, Colleen or Gary if they won, a $25 LUV voucher.

People dont come to WN for the low fares (wanna get away fares are the first to go, always). They come for the ease, simplicity, and Hospitality of the service. Ive had UA 1k's say they made the jump to Southwest to become A-List(Preferred) and theyve never looked back.

Had to get family down to the San Francisco Bay Area from Portland this week on 3 days notice. SWA and Alaska were $630 RT but thanks to Allegiant I flew them down for $180 RT out of Eugene and flight was full and on time. Shame on SWA for not having reasonable walk-up fares. So on that basis alone they are no longer an LCC

N415XJ wrote:

PatrickZ80 wrote:

Today people don't need luggage anymore

? Unless you're some sort of packing wizard or are going on a trip of longer than about 3 days you're going to need checked luggage. No matter how advanced our fancy new tech age gets people are still going to be going on long trips where they'll need more than what you can fit in a carry on.
Or maybe I've misunderstood your point.

no luggage needed if you wear all your luggage contents at once

While WN's fares on most of its routes are often more expensive than they were in the past, WN is still referred to as a LCC for historical reasons.

I would classify the US market as Legacies (AA DL UA AS), LCC - B6 and WN, and ULCC- Spirit Frontier etc.
WN sit between them all, quite nicely. ULCC are not the new LCC, they are a new tier. WN has not changed, others around the have.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

DesertAir wrote:

This summer I needed to cancel a vacation trip, use the funds for a family issue, rebook and then cancel. All of this without change fees. For me, WN is an LCC.

No, they're not. An LCC would have charged you for all of those things. They didn't, that's missed income for them. It's real good service of them doing all of that for free with them taking the costs for it, but that makes them a full service airline.

There are still things that distinguished WN from being a true "FSC", i.e. lack of catering in general (other than snack), no lounge, no premium class. Fare system is still LCC-like (i.e. basically round-trip fare is two one-way ticket, rather than FSC's one-way ticket being way more expensive).

For me, operation-wise WN is still run more like a LCC than a FSC. Single fleet type, single class, simple fare structure. Yes, they're not necessarily "cheap" anymore, and their base cost (CASM) is only slightly lower than that of the legacies (and way higher than G4/F9/NK). Ultimately, WN is WN, and they're almost one of a kind in which they're supposively a LCC that actually provided better services than FSCs.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

Another thing about LCCs in America versus Europe is that in America they fly out of the major airports, making use of services like jetways and such. The reason? Convenience. Don't those airlines realise that convenience costs money?

Southwest has always used jetways. They allowed Southwest to turn their planes faster. That's part of being a low cost carrier. When they came to CRP in 1977, no gates had jetways. They built one at their gate from ground level up to the door level of a 737.
Actually they did more than just add a jetway. They enclosed the waiting area at their gate, carpeted and air conditioned it. None of the other airlines at CRP had a jetway or even a enclosed waiting area at their gates till the new terminal was opened in 2002. I suspect every other small market airport they served got the same gate upgrades.

zackary747 wrote:

Yes WN is a LCC.

DL, UA, AA are legacies.

WN is a LCC

G4, F9, NK are ULCCs.

I would consider AS and B6 to be full service airlines that aren't legacies.

2017 CASM

AA/UA/DL over 12 cents
WN 11.48 cents
B6 10.76 cents
AS 9.92 cents
G4 9.38 cents
NK 7.63 cents

Of course, there are no cut-offs which define LCC and ULCC, so one would have to consider if between AS and G4, either is a ULCC.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

DesertAir wrote:

This summer I needed to cancel a vacation trip, use the funds for a family issue, rebook and then cancel. All of this without change fees. For me, WN is an LCC.

No, they're not. An LCC would have charged you for all of those things. They didn't, that's missed income for them. It's real good service of them doing all of that for free with them taking the costs for it, but that makes them a full service airline.

I think we still need to separate concepts of cost and service a bit better. Yes, some services do cost extra and an be sold for profit, sometimes greedy pays twice instead of being paid.
Low underlying cost have little to do with certain aspects of service. And baseline costs - fuel and aircrew - cannot be trimmed below certain level. Aircraft - somewhat, e.g. with simple fleet and large orders; but cost is still there and cannot be eliminated (well, FR could do that to some extent)
Backoffice, however, is more flexible. In case of WN, user friendly approach - cancellation with credit for next flight, or upgrade for standby, probably reduces (expensive) phone support personnel - e.g. costs.
So it is entirely possible to be a high service level low cost airline (cancellation policies ARE part of service) or be a full cost low service AAirline.

WN seems to pick those service aspects many ordinary folks like. Yes, they don't have J/F; but I never flown up front, and that is not a factor for me. And getting B15 as line number certainly beats getting boarding management card instead of boarding pass.

I think Southwest is still an LCC despite the fact that they make a different set of trade offs than other LCC and ULCCs. The answer to the question is not as clear as it once was. There are some things that the early low cost carriers did that make so much sense, that they are copied by all carriers including the FSCs. There are also new entrants to the market that offer a lower cost for a much lower level of service.

The thing that I think makes Southwest an LCC is the customer they are targeting. They are still targeting the economy customer. As far as I can tell they are not targeting the big spenders at all. They still do a lot of things to cut costs, but unlike the ULCCs, they channel some of those cost savings into providing a better level of service.

For Southwest there are definitely costs to offering the level of service that they do. There are also big benefits for them as well. As an anecdote earlier this year I took a trip with my family to Europe that included a self connecting flight to and from LAX on Southwest. I knew the self connecting part was a gamble, so I made sure to choose Southwest. On they way home from Europe my plane was delayed. I missed my final flight home on Southwest by minutes. I went to the ticket counter, and they booked me on the next flight with no additional charges. Was there a cost to Southwest to put me on the next flight, of course. How much was it really though? The next flight was not completely full, and if it was they would have made me wait for empty seats on another flight. Without their change policies, it is unlikely I would have chosen them. In this case it cost them, in that they had to trade empty seats on one flight for empty seats on another.

They did cut peanuts out of their budget recently and spun it as a a good thing. But really, who cares what they call themselves?

compensateme wrote:

These threads are always really silly. Don’t think WN is a LCC? Look at CVG-CHI — before WN entered then market, the lowest OW fares were in the mid-$200 range, but after WN arrived, they dropped below $100. After WN withdrew from DAY, the reverse happened.

That has nothing to do with whether WN is an LCC or not. When you have multiple carriers entering or exiting a market, regardless of who it is, the existing competitors are able to fluctuate their pricing.

TWA772LR wrote:

What differentiates WN from the others is the service. Every Southwest flight has a comfy seat with good legroom. Every (for the most part) WN employee loves what they do and will do anything for the customer. Im a CSA for WN and worked a delayed flight recently; to liven the mood, i played gate games with the customers which included a paper airplane contest. An 8 year old girl was the winner and i gave her the same thing i would've given Herb, Colleen or Gary if they won, a $25 LUV voucher.

People dont come to WN for the low fares (wanna get away fares are the first to go, always). They come for the ease, simplicity, and Hospitality of the service. Ive had UA 1k's say they made the jump to Southwest to become A-List(Preferred) and theyve never looked back.

People aren't paying a premium to have gate agents and F/As sing stupid songs to them, sorry.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

For an LCC, the thing that attracts people to them is the low price. Southwest may occasionally be the cheapest, but that goes for every airline. They're not unique in that, neither is it a goal by itself for them to be cheap.

I've lived in two big WN cities(STL and PHX), and I've never flown them because they've never been the cheapest.

These threads always amaze the hell out of me because of how few airline fanboys actually understand the meaning of low......cost........carrier.

Who cares if WN is referred to as an LCC or Legacy carrier! What counts is that I don't get charged to put a bag in the belly or overhead biin; and if I have to change my ticket, I don't get charged an exorbitant fee!

TWA772LR wrote:

People dont come to WN for the low fares (wanna get away fares are the first to go, always). They come for the ease, simplicity, and Hospitality of the service. Ive had UA 1k's say they made the jump to Southwest to become A-List(Preferred) and theyve never looked back.

The advance fares can be really inexpensive. My wife and I flew from AUS to BOS via DAL for just $98 each back in December buying the tickets 3 weeks in advance.

Also, senior discounts are still available even after all the Wanna Get Away fares are gone. I usually do the booking for my Mom's trips. Even though the Wanna Get Away prices are usually lower, it is quite helpful that I can get the senior discount for her closer to the day of the flight. The 2 free bags come in handy if she is flying by herself. If she doesn't have 2 full sized bags, I have her check the roll aboard that she normally uses as a carry on. That way, she only has to carry her personal item and boarding pass to connect between flights. Before she had both of her knees replaced, I had requested wheelchair assistance for her, and it was very helpful. I would have qualms about putting her on some of the other carriers by herself.

I recently sent my wife on a trip to Florida on Spirit Airlines in part to check it out, but also I didn't have knowledge of the trip dates far enough in advance to get the flights cheaper on Southwest. By the time you add in a 40 pound bag, IAH-FLL was about $100 more expensive than SAT-FLL if I had booked that just a few days earlier. Not only do they limit the bag to 40 pounds for $30, it's another $30 for a bag between 40 and 51 pounds.

I had been curious about Spirit, because KAYAK had generated some potential round the world iteneraries that included legs on on Spirit. The connections all had several hours or even overnight stops between flights, because Spirit doesn't interline. The baggage policies alone make that totally untenable. I'm pretty sure everyone on the trip would be traveling with 2 50lb bags plus a carry on. That's $155 in baggage fees per person for one flight in addition to the airfare. Also, Spirit only guarantees availability of space for one checked bag. Under those conditions, there's no way I would ever consider including legs on a long international trip on Spirit. Considering such a trip would have a long lead time, I could get flights on Southwest including bags for less than the baggage fees alone on Spirit.

Southwest is also quite convenient for transporting my in laws around the US when they come to the US to visit us and some of their friends in other parts of the US. Due to the generous baggage limits, they can bring everything without incurring additional baggage fees. The next time they come here, I will have them get their international tickets issued from Europe to NYC, and returning home, IAH to Europe. All the travel in between will be on separate tickets mostly on Southwest. I like the idea of the international legs being separate, because that easy any screw up on domestic legs won't cause the cancellation of the return trip.

I can’t believe there is a thread where people are arguing over whether WN is a LCC or not. Who cares? And to top it off someone is upset because we don’t nickel and dime all passengers for every possible thing that we can. I can’t tell you how many passengers have told me one reason they fly us is no change fees. So you say we are idiots for not charging for that. Well if we did charge for changes how do you know we would keep those customers. Again why does it matter if we are an LCC or not on A.net? Do we get a prize if we are?

PatrickZ80 wrote:

Allright, you said it yourself. What attracts people to Southwest is service. Nothing wrong with that, but then don't call them an LCC. For an LCC, the thing that attracts people to them is the low price. Southwest may occasionally be the cheapest, but that goes for every airline. They're not unique in that, neither is it a goal by itself for them to be cheap.

The industry has classified Southwest as an LCC as it's business model has a lower operating cost structure relative to the majors. It's not the traveling public that has coined the word or defines it by experience.

flyabr wrote:

Who cares if WN is referred to as an LCC or Legacy carrier! What counts is that I don't get charged to put a bag in the belly or overhead biin; and if I have to change my ticket, I don't get charged an exorbitant fee!

SWApilotfarmer wrote:

I can’t believe there is a thread where people are arguing over whether WN is a LCC or not. Who cares? And to top it off someone is upset because we don’t nickel and dime all passengers for every possible thing that we can. I can’t tell you how many passengers have told me one reason they fly us is no change fees. So you say we are idiots for not charging for that. Well if we did charge for changes how do you know we would keep those customers. Again why does it matter if we are an LCC or not on A.net? Do we get a prize if we are?

The title of the thread seems pretty clear. If you don't want to discuss the topic, you shouldn't have clicked the thread.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

DesertAir wrote:

This summer I needed to cancel a vacation trip, use the funds for a family issue, rebook and then cancel. All of this without change fees. For me, WN is an LCC.

No, they're not. An LCC would have charged you for all of those things. They didn't, that's missed income for them. It's real good service of them doing all of that for free with them taking the costs for it, but that makes them a full service airline.

Missed income? Really? If you change your ticket, the seat freed up can be sold again. The closer to the date of the flight, the more that seat can be sold for. If you bought a ticket well in advance, the newly available seat can be sold for several times what it was originally sold for. Have you checked Southwest's prices for seats sold the same week as the flight?

777PHX wrote:

TWA772LR wrote:

What differentiates WN from the others is the service. Every Southwest flight has a comfy seat with good legroom. Every (for the most part) WN employee loves what they do and will do anything for the customer. Im a CSA for WN and worked a delayed flight recently; to liven the mood, i played gate games with the customers which included a paper airplane contest. An 8 year old girl was the winner and i gave her the same thing i would've given Herb, Colleen or Gary if they won, a $25 LUV voucher.

People dont come to WN for the low fares (wanna get away fares are the first to go, always). They come for the ease, simplicity, and Hospitality of the service. Ive had UA 1k's say they made the jump to Southwest to become A-List(Preferred) and theyve never looked back.

People aren't paying a premium to have gate agents and F/As sing stupid songs to them, sorry.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

For an LCC, the thing that attracts people to them is the low price. Southwest may occasionally be the cheapest, but that goes for every airline. They're not unique in that, neither is it a goal by itself for them to be cheap.

I've lived in two big WN cities(STL and PHX), and I've never flown them because they've never been the cheapest.

These threads always amaze the hell out of me because of how few airline fanboys actually understand the meaning of low......cost........carrier.

Thats why i dont sing.