Raptech wrote:
Strange though, I don't fly LUV much as I hold Chairmans status on AWA and given the option I would rather pay a few extra dollars and get a free upgrade to first class.
Well, I have been doing a weekly roundtrip between SJC and PHX for about 3 years now. Earlier on, I took AWA, but got disgusted with their cancelled flights and policies, and I have been with SWA ever since.
Some people don't like the SWA cattle call. Guess what? That is precisely what I love about SWA. I got to really hate assigned seating when flight after flight on AWA, I would be assigned a middle seat, even when I appear 2 hours early at the counter. What I surmised was that AWA was blocking out the preferred seats to corporate accounts; they had two especially large ones in Phoenix. From that point on, they forever lost me as a passenger.
AWA's loss, Herb's gain.
With the SWA system, if I get to the gate early enough, I get the seat I want. What can be fairer than that?
Further, has anyone ever considered this? With assigned seating you may get your preferred seat, but is that what you really want? You do not get to choose who sits next to you: it could be some mass-challenged person, or worse, someone sneezing away with a bad cold. If you fly SWA enough, you usually get to know quite a few fellow travellers, who you can sit next to and have a nice chat with. On lighter SWA flights, I would even try to board last so I can choose where not to sit.
("lighter SWA flights" is often an oxymoron; this morning's PHX-SJC flight had 137 passengers on a 737-300. For those who are not familiar with the 300-series, that's every seat taken.)
Further, the SWA Internet Specials are great for flyers like myself who can plan months ahead. The only downside I see of the Internet Specials for LUV is that many of my fellow passengers hold off buying any ticket until an Internet Special appears, we then buy a whole block of them at a time. SWA is probably making some profit from the Internet Specials, but not a whole lot. PHX to SJC, a 1:45 trip, is about $51 each way. If you factor in the fact that you get one Rapid Rewards ticket for every 4 Internet tickets, that's only about $40 for each leg. But it sure buys SWA customer loyalty.
I have not taken the plunge of investing in LUV yet; I have been making sure that I have enough put into the wireless/cellular arena first. But I am getting awfully tempted. A company that treats it customers right, and one that treats its employees even better, surely is a company I would want to own a piece of. I have yet to meet a grumpy SWA gate agent, flight attendant or captain.
Other companies can try an emulate SWA's efficiency, but they are going to have a hard time cultivating the SWA culture among their employees.
Oh yeah, Herb will probably only retire after he drops dead :-).
Cheers,
Kok Chen
Disclaimer: I don't work for SWA nor own any LUV. But I fly enough on SWA to earn a Companion Pass. |
