Jet Blue in San Antonio?

[doss1]

Jet Blue.....lots of this the past few years:


Image copyright: Andrew Marino (used with permission according to source).

I know, I just love SouthWest!

[firstclassflyer]

Originally Posted by Chaka

I just don't get the system. I can handle cutting amenities, but how does assigning seats cost anything?!

It costs them time
. Supposedly, they've conducted study after study and have concluded that they can board an aircraft faster (and cut layover times) by not assigning seats. The less layover time, the more time their asset has the potential to be in the air, generating revenue. Let us not forget that seats are an expiring commodity.

[V3rtigo]

Originally Posted by Chaka

I just don't get the system. I can handle cutting amenities, but how does assigning seats cost anything?!

because they sell 210 tickets for a 200-person flight, hoping that 10 people don't show up. i dont see how they could let people pick seats and still overbook.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by V3rtigo

because they sell 210 tickets for a 200-person flight, hoping that 10 people don't show up. i dont see how they could let people pick seats and still overbook.

Every airline overbooks, that's nothing unusual. Seems like more SW fliers just show up....

The time argument sort of makes sense - they are very fast to turn around, however I don't understand how it should take more time to board with assigned seating. I realize SW has fast seating times, but that's because they're (politely) hounding people to hurry up and sit down. Presumably other airlines could do the same.

[firstclassflyer]

Originally Posted by Chaka

Every airline overbooks, that's nothing unusual. Seems like more SW fliers just show up....

The time argument sort of makes sense - they are very fast to turn around, however I don't understand how it should take more time to board with assigned seating. I realize SW has fast seating times, but that's because they're (politely) hounding people to hurry up and sit down. Presumably other airlines could do the same.

Here are two articles explaining a little better. Note: this first experiment failed and SWA went back to their original plan, then tweaked it. Folks don't seem to like it....but it's efficient.

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Business -- No 'cattle car'? Southwest plans S.D. boarding tests

http://www.wired.com/science/discove...urrentPage=all

[datacity]

Originally Posted by Chaka

Which requires you to have a computer and printer easily accessible 24 hours in advance.

I just don't get the system. I can handle cutting amenities, but how does assigning seats cost anything?!

And then, if your first flight is delayed so you arrive at your next airport without a lot of time, you're SOL for the next flight, even if you have kids. Just way too stressful IMO.

You can check in for you flights via mobile phone on Southwest... works really easily and well; you get your boarding pass from a kiosk when checking bags in or a separate one for those with a carry on only.

As has been mentioned before, the open seating has proven to be very efficient for Southwest and the new tweak where they assign you a group and individual position eliminates a reason to get to airport early and/or stand in a line 1 hour before your flight.

Lastly, although there are lots of Southwest flights with a change of plane involved, there are also many with nonstop and direct routes so you do not have to change. Indeed although Southwest has many "hub" like airports, they for the most part operate on a point-point system.

Southwest is not for everyone, but I am glad they are around if only to provide competitive pressure. It is good also to see that an airline like JetBlue try to differentiate itself from Southwest by adopting some efficiency, and adding amenities you can't get in coach on the large domestic airlines.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by datacity

You can check in for you flights via mobile phone on Southwest... works really easily and well; you get your boarding pass from a kiosk when checking bags in or a separate one for those with a carry on only.

And what happens when your flight arrives late at the next airport and no matter how early you checked in, you're last to board?

They do have non-stops, just never to where I need to go......

If they were cheaper I might be willing to deal, but it's been ages since I've found a cheaper flight on SW - outside Texas at least. I have flown them internally on business.

[raven69david]

Originally Posted by Hoot Owl

Airtran is another discount airline that flies in/out of SA. All flights connect in Atlanta. Their fares are super low. They do have baggage surcharges. But, still, fares are very low. Flown them many times. No complaints.

Right now you can $25.00 off per person per one-way flight. Enter your e-mail and get the coupon. This is where you request the coupon: AirTran Airways - Share A Little Sunshine and Visit Florida

If you have a gmail account, you can get as many as you want if you place a period anywhere in your e-mail address, like this: my.email@gmail.com, myem.ail@gmail.com, my.ema.il@gmail.com. You can use more than one period as long as they are placed before the @ symbol. If you are booking round trip flights, make sure to book two separate one-way trips (i.e. 3 people one way to Orlando, then a separate booking for one-way trip from Orlando to San Antonio). My family of 3 is savings $150.00 on our trip in 3 weeks to Disney. We're paying $190.00 each way for all 3 of us.

[raven69david]

Originally Posted by Chaka

Every airline overbooks, that's nothing unusual. Seems like more SW fliers just show up....

Allegiant Air does not overbook. Too bad they only fly out of Laredo and McAllen. I used them in May to go to Disney and paid $9.00 per person each way. Unfortunately Allegiant Air only flies to Florida from McAllen and not Laredo and then they only land in Sanford, Florida (SFB).

Take a look at this site and find out how bad Southwest has gotten, which is unfortunate because I love their airline, well, at least them always being on time. The Aviation Herald Just type in "southwest" in the search bar in the upper right-hand corner of the page. Be warned, once you look at the amount of incident reports it may cause you to think twice about how good SW maintains their fleet. I know it's freaked me out since I found this site a few months ago, but I still plan on flying SW.

A few I looked up:

9 incidents for AirTran
23 incidents for Southwest
32 incident for JetBlue

[firstclassflyer]

Originally Posted by raven69david

Allegiant Air does not overbook. Too bad they only fly out of Laredo and McAllen. I used them in May to go to Disney and paid $9.00 per person each way. Unfortunately Allegiant Air only flies to Florida from McAllen and not Laredo and then they only land in Sanford, Florida (SFB).

Take a look at this site and find out how bad Southwest has gotten, which is unfortunate because I love their airline, well, at least them always being on time. The Aviation Herald Just type in "southwest" in the search bar in the upper right-hand corner of the page. Be warned, once you look at the amount of incident reports it may cause you to think twice about how good SW maintains their fleet. I know it's freaked me out since I found this site a few months ago, but I still plan on flying SW.

A few I looked up:

9 incidents for AirTran
23 incidents for Southwest
32 incident for JetBlue

Number of incidents is not a good indicator. You need number in aircraft in fleet and how many daily flights. Some of the legacy airlines are MUCH larger than these and naturally will have more "incidents" over time.