Comments on: British Airways Builds Fee Comparison and Southwest Should Take It Further

By: Kateban

Kateban — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:06:22 +0000

Thanks. @ CF:

By: CF

CF — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:56:18 +0000

@ Kateban:
Hmm, that’s a tough one to solve without digging lot deeper. I’ve had no trouble at all with Southwest’s site, but you could always try emailing them:
https://www.southwest.com/cgi-bin/feedbackEntry

By: Kateban

Kateban — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:39:11 +0000

Not responding directly to this post, but mention of SW wedbsite caught my eye. I’m having trouble loading the SW site. I get so aggravated waiting that I just move on to the other sites I typically use to book travel. SW is the only site I have a problem with. It won’t load; and on the rare occasion that it does, the fare finder won’t load. Any idea what the problem might be?

By: Bobber

Bobber — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:59:24 +0000

@Neil S:

It doesn’t alone – he was merely pointing out that it’s an added expense. He also suggested there weren’t that many volunteers for the flightcrew.

By: JK

JK — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:31:21 +0000

In theory, fine, but to put it simply: “I don’t trust nothing about nobody!’

So often an airline’s own pricing information for potential customers is just plain incomplete, if not blatently misleading. Information about an airline’s type and level of service is largely hidden, assuming they would have any idea of what I consider as “service.” And to think an airline would be open and honest about some competitor’s prices and service?

I don’t think so. But, with Southwest, I have to admit they can change minds

By: kt74

kt74 — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:14:14 +0000

Personally I think it’s a fantastic campaign!

“it’s not directly in the booking path so plenty of people will miss it”… It might not be in the US version of the site, but there’s a big reminder on the very first booking page of the UK version reminding you there’s no charge for payment, seat selection, check in, baggage and food:
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/fx/public/en_gb

In addition, I think it’s been backed up by a press/online (banner adverts) campaign in the UK. To be fair, this comparison isn’t really relevant for the US market, so I’m not surprised Cranky hasn’t seen it…

By: Wonko Beeblebrox

Wonko Beeblebrox — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:07:01 +0000

Clever idea…. I like it!

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:05:37 +0000

I work in this field, and whilst its an admirable idea, i think it would be a technological and legal nightmare. From a technology standpoint southwest.com is a huge operation and this would be a complex addition, not to mention the hit in page load time and the distraction from the main purpose of the site; to sell WN tickets. Legally speaking, remember the stink AA caused about Kayak? I can’t imagine many carriers being happy about WN showing their (more expensive fares) on sw.com.

However I agree that the next step is to put this information into booking process, but i think it should just be simpler. Maybe another box on the price results page that shows a simpler comparison of the other airlines higher fees. How about another column that said something like “this ticket could be $XX more with Delta”, with a link/popup with more details. That way when the customers goto sw.com to get a price they see this information alongside before they move on to another airline/website to check other prices.

By: CF

CF — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:13:50 +0000

Ron – The online travel agencies are already struggling with their models right now. They’ve dropped booking fees on most itineraries, and they have to see the writing on the wall. This would be a way for them to get back in the game and steal a bunch of share. Why would they bother participating in metasearch sites if they didn’t think they could steal share from others? This could do the same. And Southwest’s fare calculator wouldn’t necessarily be better (though there’s plenty of room for improvement over what’s out there right now), but it would have Southwest fares. That’s the big winner.

Snappy – Certainly the big guys wouldn’t want Southwest to steal their bookings, but I have to think that Southwest could make this work somehow, particularly if they can partner with an existing agency. If their plan is to add fees like everyone else, then this is a stupid idea. I agree.

By: Snappy

Snappy — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:06:00 +0000

Cranky, two things…other airlines wouldn’t allow the Southwest travel agency to sell (or even display) their flights, why should they?
Second, SWA is already slowly adding and increasing fees – I wager they will launch bag fees in the next 12 months and will quickly back off their “No-Fees” marketing.