SWA is raising their early boarding fees from $25 to $30 RT. It seems the all-inclusive fees at southwest are going away bit by bit.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/ ... /82894224/

This is minor compared to change fees and baggage fees of other airlines and this OPTIONAL

A price increase confirms my hunch that Early Bird boarding has been very popular. I never pay for the option and over the years my check-in position has crept from “high A” group to “mid B” group.

The date on the article is April 2016. This has already happened.

Old news.

DfwRevolution wrote:

A price increase confirms my hunch that Early Bird boarding has been very popular. I never pay for the option and over the years my check-in position has crept from “high A” group to “mid B” group.

I think on the past earnings call they said it has become a $100 million revenue stream, which was the original plan when it was first introduced

Look at it this way...if half the plane buys it, early boarding becomes meaningless. And don't forget there's business select and A-list pax who get better position too. So there's got to be a limit to how many early boarding passes they sell, and if they are selling out then the only logical thing to do is raise the price. Leads to the most economically efficient outcome in which early boarding goes to the people who value it the most, and Southwest maximizes revenue.

ericm2031 wrote:

DfwRevolution wrote:

A price increase confirms my hunch that Early Bird boarding has been very popular. I never pay for the option and over the years my check-in position has crept from “high A” group to “mid B” group.

I think on the past earnings call they said it has become a $100 million revenue stream, which was the original plan when it was first introduced

Nice to have see that quantified. At $15 per check-in, that is roughly 6.5 million travelers who purchase Early Bird. Southwest carried about 130 million revenue passengers last year. Roughly 5% of a given flight is buying Early Bird. That means Early Birds would occupy positions A16-A25 on a given flight.

Hmm. That conflicts with my anecdotal experience the last 1-2 years that high-A boarding groups are hard to snag without Early Bird. I would have expected the number to be about 20-25% of passengers buying Early Bird.

DfwRevolution wrote:

Hmm. That conflicts with my anecdotal experience the last 1-2 years that high-A boarding groups are hard to snag without Early Bird. I would have expected the number to be about 20-25% of passengers buying Early Bird.

Don't forget the rapid rewards "A-list" benefit which secures you a boarding number just behind the Early Bird purchasers. Depending on the route this group can easily take up the rest of the A numbers and even the low Bs.

Primarily flying MDW-BNA, in 2005-2009ish I would always get an A pass by checking in right at T-24. More recently it's hard to get anything better than B20 or so. Doesn't really matter to me, and I'm sure as hell not paying extra for a 1:15 flight.

I think Southwest is very expensive with early boarding. If I compare them to Ryanair, they only charge € 4 for priority boarding and that includes taking large hand luggage into the cabin which otherwise would be gate-checked. I've already flown Ryanair several times with priority, not to be the first on board but to take my luggage with me. On Southwest there's no reason for that since luggage is free on them anyhow, so it would be just to be the first on board. In my opinion that's not worth it.

I'm still surprised Southwest is so old-fashioned generous with luggage, allowing everything for free. No other airline in the world does this anymore, or only on long haul. In my opinion it's time for Southwest to start charging for luggage.

DfwRevolution wrote:

A price increase confirms my hunch that Early Bird boarding has been very popular. I never pay for the option and over the years my check-in position has crept from “high A” group to “mid B” group.

This increase is not for the Early Board checkin, This is for the unused Business Select positions A1-A25 that Southwest sells starting 40 minutes before the flight,

This topic is trending on Yahoo news. Here's a link to a more recent article. They're raising the cost of last-minute leftover Early Bird positions from $40 to $50 in some markets.

I didn't even know you could pay extra for these. I can't believe this article is trending. Must be a slow business news day.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/southwest-increases-fee-last-minute-early-boarding-183350874.html

I avoid Southwest for all my travels but my wife does use them on occasion. She still thinks that there are no fees for any extras. That is good marketing on their part although they are becoming more and more like Allegient.

DfwRevolution wrote:

ericm2031 wrote:

DfwRevolution wrote:

A price increase confirms my hunch that Early Bird boarding has been very popular. I never pay for the option and over the years my check-in position has crept from “high A” group to “mid B” group.

I think on the past earnings call they said it has become a $100 million revenue stream, which was the original plan when it was first introduced

Nice to have see that quantified. At $15 per check-in, that is roughly 6.5 million travelers who purchase Early Bird. Southwest carried about 130 million revenue passengers last year. Roughly 5% of a given flight is buying Early Bird. That means Early Birds would occupy positions A16-A25 on a given flight.

Hmm. That conflicts with my anecdotal experience the last 1-2 years that high-A boarding groups are hard to snag without Early Bird. I would have expected the number to be about 20-25% of passengers buying Early Bird.

Depends on the route and how full it is. When I flew WN PIT-DAL, my original boarding group, even after paying for Early Bird, was in the low-to-mid B range, so I upgraded on the day of the flight (and happened to get A-2 boarding); only other time I upgraded in that fashion was when I flew to STL last August (similar circumstances; was in B-group, but paid at the gate to move into high A-group). Generally, most of my boardings have been in the A-30 through A-50 range.

That said, I wonder if it's even worth it, because even after paying for Early Bird, I still have to wait 24 hours instead of the 36 hours promised, unless I'm misunderstanding how it actually works.

kiowa wrote:

I avoid Southwest for all my travels but my wife does use them on occasion. She still thinks that there are no fees for any extras. That is good marketing on their part although they are becoming more and more like Allegient.

Oh, so G4 is not charging for bags or change fees? I guess I missed that part of their business model...

ctrabs0114 wrote:

DfwRevolution wrote:

ericm2031 wrote:

I think on the past earnings call they said it has become a $100 million revenue stream, which was the original plan when it was first introduced

Nice to have see that quantified. At $15 per check-in, that is roughly 6.5 million travelers who purchase Early Bird. Southwest carried about 130 million revenue passengers last year. Roughly 5% of a given flight is buying Early Bird. That means Early Birds would occupy positions A16-A25 on a given flight.

Hmm. That conflicts with my anecdotal experience the last 1-2 years that high-A boarding groups are hard to snag without Early Bird. I would have expected the number to be about 20-25% of passengers buying Early Bird.

Depends on the route and how full it is. When I flew WN PIT-DAL, my original boarding group, even after paying for Early Bird, was in the low-to-mid B range, so I upgraded on the day of the flight (and happened to get A-2 boarding); only other time I upgraded in that fashion was when I flew to STL last August (similar circumstances; was in B-group, but paid at the gate to move into high A-group). Generally, most of my boardings have been in the A-30 through A-50 range.

That said, I wonder if it's even worth it, because even after paying for Early Bird, I still have to wait 24 hours instead of the 36 hours promised, unless I'm misunderstanding how it actually works.

You are misunderstanding Early Bird because with Early Bird Southwest automatically checks you in 36 hours before your flight. You just can’t see your boarding position until 24 hours before the flight. With Early Bird you can do the first look at your Boarding Position 30 minutes before the flight and it would be the same position if you had first looked 24 hours before the flight because you are checked in 36 hours before the flight. The only passengers who are checked in before those with Early Bird are the A list passengers and any Early Birds from a connecting flight.

ctrabs0114 wrote:

kiowa wrote:

I avoid Southwest for all my travels but my wife does use them on occasion. She still thinks that there are no fees for any extras. That is good marketing on their part although they are becoming more and more like Allegient.

Oh, so G4 is not charging for bags or change fees? I guess I missed that part of their business model...

Or non alcoholic drinks, snacks, or offering free tv. Plus wifi options... lol

737tanker wrote:

You are misunderstanding Early Bird because with Early Bird Southwest automatically checks you in 36 hours before your flight. You just can’t see your boarding position until 24 hours before the flight. With Early Bird you can do the first look at your Boarding Position 30 minutes before the flight and it would be the same position if you had first looked 24 hours before the flight because you are checked in 36 hours before the flight. The only passengers who are checked in before those with Early Bird are the A list passengers and any Early Birds from a connecting flight.

Thanks for clarifying that.

DfwRevolution wrote:

ericm2031 wrote:

DfwRevolution wrote:

A price increase confirms my hunch that Early Bird boarding has been very popular. I never pay for the option and over the years my check-in position has crept from “high A” group to “mid B” group.

I think on the past earnings call they said it has become a $100 million revenue stream, which was the original plan when it was first introduced

Nice to have see that quantified. At $15 per check-in, that is roughly 6.5 million travelers who purchase Early Bird. Southwest carried about 130 million revenue passengers last year. Roughly 5% of a given flight is buying Early Bird. That means Early Birds would occupy positions A16-A25 on a given flight.

Hmm. That conflicts with my anecdotal experience the last 1-2 years that high-A boarding groups are hard to snag without Early Bird. I would have expected the number to be about 20-25% of passengers buying Early Bird.

Sorry, to clarify, for the 4th quarter, it was the first time it was over $100 million. For the year, it was about $400 million per the earnings call