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Comment by tiffanyh | Hacker News Reader

Priority Boarding

This always fails because half the plane consists of business travelers with priority boarding due to status.

This is something that Southwest got right by not having assigned seats. And as a result, they turn planes faster than any other airline.

https://www.cnbc.com/id/43768488

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I absolutely hate flying southwest and would pay double to not have to deal with that chaos.

This is how I feel about WOW Airlines. No amount of savings is worth that experience. I did WOW long-haul SF to Frankfurt. Never again! One side of my seat didn't even have an arm rest.

Well you can rest easy, they went out of business four years ago.

That's too funny, I was just in Bangkok on a work trip and I saw a WOW airlines place at Bangkok airport while my plane was taxi-ing. Must not have been repainted yet. When I saw the plane out the window I was like, "well, we meet again, my old foe."

I loved them. Sooooo cheap they went bankrupt running full flights.

But it's also why people pay a premium to not fly Southwest

Do they? Southwest is often far from the cheapest option.

No they don't. Southwest is not the cheap airline option, that would be Frontier/Spirit/JetBlue. Southwest is often cheaper than United/Delta/American by a bit, but it's not that much.

I share a similar experience. I’m puzzled by the common perception that Southwest offers low prices. In my case, their fares are often quite comparable to American Airlines and United. Sometimes, the flights I prefer are even more costly with Southwest. I don’t have a strong preference for any specific airline; my choice is mainly based on the quickest route with the fewest layovers and reasonable hours.

And personally I very much dislike the Southwest approach to boarding. I feel much calmer knowing that my ideal seat has been reserved.

Southwest is not a budget carrier -- they were never that cheap.

But I would pay a premium not to fly Southwest. If there was Delta flight that was a $100 more than an equivalent Southwest flight, I would take the Delta flight.

That's what OP meant by paying a premium.

But that's the point - Delta (and others) aren't that much more. So people aren't paying a premium to avoid Southwest, because there isn't a premium to be paid.

It’s a hypothetical premium. Fares for the same route can differ between carriers depending on airport, time of travel etc. even among mainstream carriers. I would pay more not to fly Southwest.

I really dislike Southwest's boarding system.

I set a check in timer and I still get group C -- after being bit twice, I decided to never fly Southwest again.

SWA veterans tell me I need to be A-list but it's a chicken and egg scenario. I dislike them so much that I will never fly them frequently enough to get A-list, and without A-list I will continue to dislke them. So I just never fly Southwest.

That's true, but really group C is almost always fine anyways. I've only rarely been unable to snag a window seat (my preference) even in C group. But you are definitely right that you have to check in the millisecond it becomes available to get into B. A is just impossible to get unless you pay $15 for early bird check in (which I only do if it's an early flight or I know I'll be busy during check in time, since early bird is also automatic).

10 minutes turn around sounds unbelievable. I fly Southwest all the time and just disembarking takes 10 minutes. Were these small planes with no carry-ons allowed?

Southwest has a 737-only fleet. They allow carry-ons.

Agreed, I think this is corporate lore and mostly bullshit. I've flown Southwest many times and they're not turning those planes around in anything approaching 10 minutes, it's more like 30-45 mins. I don't doubt that they aimed for that and maybe even hit it here or there, but I'm highly skeptical that it was the norm.

It works for the market Southwest serves, but that’s not the same market United is going after.

United's market is masochists

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