Upgrades and Downgrades — August 29, 2007 — Lineups, fees, fab pilots, and the death of paper tickets
First time here? Check out the site's "greatest hits" or read a random post from the archives. Feel free to ask a question, and consider subscribing to the latest posts via RSS or e-mail. Thanks for visiting!
Upgraded… or is it Downgraded?: Southwest boarding
Southwest Airlines has been test-marketing alternate boarding processes for a few weeks now. (Such as the family-only section test.) Now, in one of the latest tests, they are having passengers line up in the precise order in which they checked in. Not just Group A, B, or C. First person to check in is #1. This makes checking in early all the more important, since getting the last A pass is effectively the same as getting the first B pass. Seems like a major revision of their model (again, it’s only in a market test, not rolled out everywhere.) Reader Eric sent me this photo (I’m not sure of the original source), showing an example of the new lineup procedure. Is this really an improvement?? (Thanks, Eric!)
Downgraded: Ryanair check-in counters
I remember when First Chicago, now part of Chase, started charging a fee whenever bank customers used a real human bank teller. The fee was meant to force customers to use the ATMs. Now, it’s the web: Europe’s WalMart of the sky Ryanair is rolling out a new fee for customers who don’t check in online. Starting September 20, passengers will need to pay £2 or €3 (about US$4) if they check in at the airport. Swank.
Upgraded: The human touch
The counterpoint to the all-automated Ryanair way, perhaps: Scott McCartney has a nice feature on human touches that make the inflight experience more enjoyable. In this case, it’s United pilot Denny Flanagan, who hands out business cards with handwritten notes thanking customers for their business, orders takeout for passengers when there’s a diversion, and phones parents of unaccompanied minors when there’s a flight delay. Wow. Give that man a bonus. (Or maybe just his old pension back.)
Downgraded: Paper tickets
Rest in peace, muchachos. With e-tickets to become the international standard for all air travel on June 1, 2008, the International Air Transport Association placed its last giant order for paper tickets. 16.5 million of them will have to last through next May. Then they’ll be “collector’s items.” Stock up and save?
RSS Feed / Subscribe
Subscribe to Posts by Email
August 30th, 2007 at 5:47 am |
Isn’t this a return back to the way Southwest used to board planes pre-9/11 and before online check-in? Show up at the ticket counter and get your plastic boarding card with a number stamped on it?
August 30th, 2007 at 6:25 am |
If I recall correctly, the old way was for passengers to get their plastic boarding cards when they arrived at the gate, and a range of numbers (20 or 30 at a time?) would board together, effectively creating the A/B/C zones by another name. I don’t recall the precise mechanics of the lineup procedure. (Corrections, anyone?)
Now, with the numbers are assigned at check-in, it’ll be all the more important to scramble online 24 hours before your flight.
FYI, Southwest only abandoned the plastic card system in the summer of 2002. It seems like ages ago.
August 31st, 2007 at 2:49 am |
Some searching found two articles that detail what they are calling ‘enhanced boarding’ procedure. One is over at the Southwest Blog the other an article by the Dallas Morning News.
Looks like they are keeping the A-B-C groups but also pinning a spot number inside the group’s pecking order in an effort to keep the crowds from dashing like mad to the front of the queue once the first brave soul stakes their claim to the No. 1 spot an hour and a half before boarding begins.
I can see this helping not only the crowds but also those crafty people that doctor their B/C passes to A-status with a sleight of hand and the Southwest online check-in. Having several people showing up to the gate with the same A1 printed on their ticket could raise a flag or two. Full Disclosure: I did use an automated boarding pass retrieval service to (somewhat) legitimately nab an A-pass on my pair of Southwest flights.
August 31st, 2007 at 3:40 pm |
Thanks for finding that. The Dallas Morning News article you cite has some more “color” on this (and has the same photo):
Also, with regard to your use of the automated check-in systems: There’s nothing illegitimate about them. It’s your reservation. Manage it however you see fit.
For more details on these services that guarantee you a spot in the A-group, sometimes even for FREE, see here.
Now let’s see those sites fight it out to see who can guarantee group A, spots 1 through 5!
September 3rd, 2007 at 7:14 pm |
I’m sceptical that paper tickets will be completely gone by mid next year.
I recently got a paper ticket that was hand-written - issued by a major airline at a major hub. Not only was it a paper ticket for a common fare type, unable to be e-ticketed due to computer restrictions, but apparently the ticket also couldn’t be printed.
I can imagine the logistics for ensuring e-ticketing works even on complex tickets at remote, third world locations.
September 4th, 2007 at 11:04 am |
I LOVE Southwest for their A/B/C system. I make certain the second I am within the 24-hour window, I reserve my A pass. Then I make very certain I am there early enough to make a b-line for the emergency row. That way I am assured no little beasties will be seated next to me. Gotta love that under 15 rule.
Now for the idiot parent who can’t control their beastie and it kicks my seat, pulls my hair, screeches, throws food or other items or does something else incredibly annoying, I have have no problem embarrassing the parent until they figure out how to control their kid. I have also been know to make formal complaints to flight attendants when the situation has been completely out of control. Someday an airline is going to make a child-free section in the plane and for that I will be eternally grateful.
September 20th, 2007 at 4:28 pm |
[…] new seating plan The experiments are over, and the San Antonio model has won out. Starting in November, the new system will be nationwide. Each boarding pass will have […]