Southwest Airlines customers now have to pay up to $149 if they want to board the plane early, a huge increase from the previous cost.
Unlike traditional airlines, Southwest does not assign seats on tickets. It has open seating, so those who board first have better options.
The Texas-based airline offers customers two paid services that allow them to board earlier than they otherwise would to get a preferred seat.
It has increased the price of both by up to 300 percent.
Early check-in now costs between $15 and $99 each way per passenger, instead of $15 to $25 previously.
Enhanced boarding now costs $30 to $149 per passenger per segment. Before it cost between 30 and 80 dollars.
Southwest Airlines increased fares that allow customers to board earlier, giving them a greater variety of seats.
This means that those who want the early check-in option could pay four times more.
Southwest does not assign seats when passengers check in.
Instead, passengers board in a specific order depending on whether they are in Group AB or C. Once on board, passengers can sit in any available seat.
They can be promoted to a higher group in three main ways:yalty program status, bury a business seat, how early they registered and whether they paid more for early boarding.
Anyone who pays for upgraded boarding, available 24 hours before departure, usually gets to the A group that goes first.
Only customers with disabilities board before them. Families with children board after group A, then B and C. Each group has 60 people.
Those who would get EarlyBird upgrade the pool of passengers so they can speed up the boarding process, although it does not guarantee A. This service is available within 36 hours of a flight departing.
“This increase in price range is the result of our periodic evaluation of ancillary product pricing based on market trends and customer demand and will generate incremental revenue in support of the business,” Southwest said.
All other major US airlines sell first class or business class seats with more space and amenities.
Companies like Delta, American and United assign seats before passengers arrive at the airport.
Increasingly, these airlines are charging more if economy class passengers want to choose a particular seat, such as one in the exit row or near the front of the cabin.
These policies generate important “auxiliary income.” Eight US airlines (the three mentioned plus Allegiant, Frontier, JetBlue and Spirit) charged a total of $4.2 billion in seat fees on their domestic networks in 2022, according to WorksCompany.
Southwest allows open seating, meaning passengers can sit wherever they want. But it can create a fight to get on board.
Southwest CEO Robert Jordan is considering changing his old open seats
Southwest said last week that it lost $231 million in the first three months of 2024.
CEO Bob Jordan gave a hint in April that a turnaround in the airline’s quarterly profits was coming, when he revealed that it lost $231 million during the first three months of 2024.
“We’re looking at new initiatives, things like the way we sit and board our planes,” Jordan said in an interview with CNBC.
Southwest caused holiday chaos in April when it announced it would eliminate flights to four airports and lay off 2,000 employees.
Since it began flying in the 1960s, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines has distinguished itself from its competitors with a very different approach to seating.
At the same earnings event, Ryan Green, Southwest’s chief commercial officer, assured customers that it would not begin charging for baggage. It is the only US airline that allows passengers to check one or two bags for free.
He said Southwest also will not install curtains like those that separate premium cabins from the economy class section on other airlines.