All good things come to an end as Southwest starts charging fees for early boarding
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | 2 Comments
Southwest Airlines has made a spectacle of itself by proudly boasting that it would not be charging fees for what “the other guys” charge for; such as first checked bag with their “bags fly free” ad campaign. Those days might be over for the company though, as it is has had a money losing year and will have to start charging fees to help make up for some of the losses.
Soon, those who want to bard the airplane first or get a head start on boarding, called EarlyBird Check In, will have to pay an extra $10 for the convenience. While this isn’t something that all passengers will have to pay for, it was something that used to be free for everyone.
The fee will go into effect today and the move appears to be a desperate way for the airline to make up lost revenues. I don’t think that the company is having dire problems, it is just looking to make up some of the money it lost over the past year while people weren’t flying as much and during last summer while gas prices were so high.
EarlyBird Check-in means that you don’t have to wait and watch the time or set an alarm to make sure that you’re one of the first people to be able to board the plane according to marketing chief for Southwest, Kevin Krone.
Southwest has yet to do things like US Airways, who announced that it would, once again, be increasing baggage fees for the first and second checked bag to $20 and $35 when you pay for your baggage fees online. These types of fees are not only frustrating but can be misleading when you go to pay for your plane tickets on the internet. One of the worst parts, in my opinion, when it comes to paying for your checked baggage online is that you can only pay for it 24 hours before your scheduled flight is going to take off. That means that you have to be able to be at a computer and print your boarding pass sometime the day before you are scheduled to take off.
I don’t know if I would pay extra to be able to board an airplane first or close to first. However, since you are unable to pick your seat on Southwest, I may be willing to pay the extra $10 to be able to sit wherever I want and be able to sit there first.
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Tags: southwest, southwest airlines, head start
Steven from Kangaroo Self Storage | Fri, Sep 04 2009
I do find airlines pricing policies very irritating. The hidden extra’s have become a joke. In the UK an advertised price often doubles or triples by the time you’ve paid for baggage, taxes, insurance, carbon offset’s etc etc. It’s a shame Southwest has followed. Keep the moral high ground – it’s what consumers want.
Jennifer McClelland | Fri, Sep 04 2009
It is irritating to see what is happening with all the airlines. It is the worst to watch fees increase while the service remains the same or in some cases, gets worse.