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Et tu Southwest? Airline to charge $40 to board first (sorta)

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Meh, I don't fly Southwest anymore. Too much of a pain in the ass with a little kid. By the time you add in the practically mandatory EB to get a row together, we might as well fly another airline - doubly so if there is a connection involved. Given that we fly out of a smaller regional airport, that's almost guaranteed.

Lately, I've been flying US, and they seem to have gotten their customer service act together. I don't have status but still get treated like a human being. Plus, out of PWM, they often offer me an upgrade to first at check-in for a pretty reasonable price, so it's rare that I'm paying bag fees either.
 
Flew them today with too very small children. We love them as parents. Family boarding between A and B group!

Also, if you want early boarding it is $10 when you first buy your tickets.
 
Meh, I would rather they do this than charge for checked bags or something.

I've gotten on late B and still managed to get in the exit row anyways. It's all about luck.
 
Ryanair - is a joke, no wonder they are 2 Star rated on Sky Trax...

I've read on news that Ryanair airplanes landed early without reaching destination - they had not enough fuel to reach destination airport...It happened not once.

Next thing Ryanair could prolly do -to take passengers without seats - standing passengers....
 
Flew them today with too very small children. We love them as parents. Family boarding between A and B group!

Also, if you want early boarding it is $10 when you first buy your tickets.

So if you are flying with an infant/stroller, is it moot to do the EB check in for $10?
 
This is not true. They allow you to "Re-use" your ticket if your plans change. And it has to be re-used within 365 days.

They allow you to use the credit towards another flight, while you have 1 year to use it, it is still better than other airlines which often give 0 to less than half credit.
 
They allow you to use the credit towards another flight, while you have 1 year to use it, it is still better than other airlines which often give 0 to less than half credit.


Right.. But you cannot "cancel anytime" -- that makes it sound like you can simply tell them you dont want to go and get a refund..
 
So if you are flying with an infant/stroller, is it moot to do the EB check in for $10?
Yes you'll always be able to get a full row between A and B. Most B boarders will be able to find a full row as well. The later you board just means you have to go further back to find an empty row. The late B boarders are the ones that might start to have problems finding a full row and the C boarders will be sitting between two fat people. If you have a C it will be worth it to upgrade for $40 if you are flying with someone. Only need to upgrade one of you since the first one on can save seats.
 
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Ryanair does this. It's kinda stupid but hey it's not my money and if it keeps ticket prices down by all means have this as an option. Every flight I take I see people do this. What you'll probably see is that they ask you to line up for boarding 40 minutes before they let you on the plane and those that pay that fee get in a really short line, get on the plane, and chill out while you stand in a stupid line.

And then everyone takes off at the same time anyway.
 
I could really care less. Any flight 2 hours or less I can deal with. Plus SWA has the most flights out of my closest airport so that makes up for any seat inconvenience.
 
Because when some guy decides that 25 cents is too much to go to the can and shits on the seat, the cleaning costs will outweigh the revenue.

This. You KNOW it will happen too.

I've found Southwest check-in to vary significantly on different routes. On my last trip to Vegas I forgot to check-in early flying out on a Monday and I still managed to pull an A number about 7 hours after check-in started on Sunday. Guess I should be thankful for all the drunks in Vegas who didn't check in either.
 
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