Not all Southwest passengers on board with EarlyBird Check-In

By Richard N. Velotta (contact)

Fri, Sep 11, 2009 (3 a.m.)

Sam Morris

Passengers in Reno wait to board a Southwest Airlines flight in February.

Love it or hate it, Southwest Airlines’ new EarlyBird Check-In program isn’t going to go away anytime soon.

One week after the Dallas-based carrier, the busiest operator at McCarran International Airport, unveiled the program that enables Southwest customers to buy their way to a better boarding position, airline officials say they’re happy with the initial response the program has received.

“Our customers are responding very well to it,” said Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins without providing any numbers as to how many passengers have paid the additional $10 per flight to get the upgraded boarding position.

But not every customer is responding well. When Southwest announced the program, critics, many of whom consider themselves to be loyal customers of the airline, scalded the airline on its blog, Nuts about Southwest, with comments on how bad the EarlyBird idea is.

Similar criticisms were posted as comments to various online newspaper articles nationwide announcing the program, including remarks in the Las Vegas Sun, In Business Las Vegas’ sister publication.

Most of the criticism surrounds Southwest not limiting the number of EarlyBird check-ins sold, which prevents any guarantee that a passenger will be among the first one-third of those boarding. Others resent that they’ll be shoved down the boarding pecking order by people who can buy their way to a higher place in line.

But Hawkins said he thinks the comments are coming from a vocal minority and that Southwest has no plans to back off from the program that began Sept. 3.

Southwest, which doesn’t assign seats on its planes but generally boards passengers in the order they check in, offered EarlyBird as an optional check-in program that will generate millions of dollars of revenue for the company. Getting on the plane ahead of others is important in the Southwest system because there are only so many window and aisle seats and overhead bin space fills rapidly.

Here’s how EarlyBird works: Customers who buy a ticket on Southwest are given the option to pay an additional $10 for EarlyBird boarding. The option can be purchased as far in advance as tickets are sold.

At 25 hours before flight time, when the EarlyBird option is cut off, Southwest’s computer system sorts out who bought early boarding first and creates a numeric line. At 24 hours before flight time, passengers can log on to Southwest’s site to print a boarding pass.

First in line are Business Select passengers, those who pay a premium price for seats, followed by Rapid Rewards A-list passengers, those who fly the most on the airline. They’re followed by the EarlyBird purchasers and then by those who didn’t buy them.

As an example, for a midweek trip to Reno in February, a round-trip Business Select ticket — which is fully refundable and includes first-in-line boarding, a free alcoholic beverage and an extra one-quarter frequent-flier point — costs $337. The least-expensive round-trip option, which is nonrefundable but can be changed at no cost, is $149. Adding the EarlyBird option would bump that cost up to $169.

Because Southwest isn’t limiting the number of EarlyBird seats it sells, a passenger who buys one could hypothetically not even board in the A group, the first 60 people to get on the plane. That’s a point of contention from some Southwest customers who want the assurance that if they buy an EarlyBird seat, they’ll get an A boarding pass.

“If they wanted to really do this right, they should tell you what your check-in position will be before you purchase it,” said Brett Snyder, a self-admitting “airline dork” who writes an award-winning consumer blog called The Cranky Flier. “They could even charge more for the highest spots if they wanted. At the very least, they could cap the number of seats so they can guarantee value.

“I know some people are moaning that this is a fee and Southwest said they wouldn’t add any fees (now they say no ‘hidden’ fees), but I disagree,” Snyder said in a blog posting. “To me, this is an example of creating additional value in a way that many people will appreciate. It makes it easier if you don’t have to sit by the computer waiting for that magical 24-hour time to check in. They should have done this long ago.”

Hawkins said the program is a value-added charge.

“We want everybody to keep in mind that this is an option,” he said. “You can still check in for free if you like.”

EarlyBird is a new revenue source for Southwest which, like other airlines, has struggled in 2009. The airline is cutting capacity in several markets to beef up service to new cities. Earlier this summer Southwest started flying to New York’s LaGuardia International Airport, and last month it began service to Boston’s Logan International Airport. In November the airline adds Milwaukee to its map.

Las Vegas has long been Southwest’s busiest station, but the airline has cut 8 percent of its service to McCarran over the past year. The latest schedule cut, which takes effect in January and February, will mean a net of three fewer daily flights, bringing the total down to an average 213 a day.

Hawkins noted that because air travel numbers are stagnant, Southwest has embarked on an effort to increase revenue despite the downturn — and EarlyBird is expected to generate more money.

Based on revenue increases Southwest experienced when it introduced Business Select service, EarlyBird should generate an additional $75 million a year. Some airline analysts say that could be even higher as passengers pay more to avoid a scramble for their favorite seats.

But based on a sampling of passengers arriving at McCarran after the Labor Day weekend, the program may need a little more marketing to generate the kind of revenue Southwest is hoping for.

“I think it’s a decent deal,” said Craig Johnson of Denver, who arrived at McCarran on Sept. 8. “But I didn’t buy it because I didn’t think I needed it.”

Business traveler Jill Crockett of Denver said she flies Southwest “because everything is free.” But she said her employer wouldn’t spring for EarlyBird seating because it was an added cost that she didn’t need.