These friends of mine previously only had Continental and later United (after the merger) to fly between Washington-Reagan Airport and Houston. They saw the cheap-seat flight cost more than double after the merger and, whenever they had to make changes, they were faced with $150 and, eventually, $200 change fees.
Now, with Southwest Airlines serving Houston non-stop from Washington-Reagan, they have become faithful Southwest fliers. They swear by Southwest for its reasonable pricing, the free baggage and the lack of cancellation and change fees. Their appreciation of Southwest has increased since the airline received these DCA-HOU take-off and landing slots when Spirit Airlines abandoned their service at Washington-Reagan back in 2013.
For business travelers across the country, cancellation/change fees are becoming a major issue. And, for leisure travelers, Southwest’s “Bags Fly Free” initiative means major savings for families and vacationers.
The story has always been that Southwest is amazingly strong in the leisure market because of its low fares, but it will never make it with business travelers because they don’t have a first class. The airline is beginning to prove these pundits wrong for the last half of that sentence. Business travelers are beginning to shift in the direction of Southwest as they learn the amazing benefits of no cancellation fees and change fees.
Initially, my friends from Houston were overjoyed that Southwest was beginning to fly the Washington-Reagan-to-Houston route. They had visions of very low fares and amazing savings. Reality proved not so dramatically different. Advanced-purchase non-stop airfares were less, significantly less, than the non-stops on the merged United. However, it was the no-change fee policy that ultimately made the biggest difference. Flexibility became a game-changer.
Let’s look at airfares. The “Southwest effect” still exists. After the United/Continental airlines merger, airfares steadily increased. The merged airline provided the only non-stop service between the two city airports. According to friends of mine, the merged airline more than doubled airfares based on their experience. Where they once were able to fly round-trip between the destinations for $300 to $400, finding available seats on the United-dominated route (DCA-IAH) for less than $600-$800 became almost impossible.
Now looking ahead to November, with a 30-day advanced purchase, airfares have returned to the $300-$350 range. Last minute and flexible airfares can still top $1,000 round-trip. However, purchasing airline tickets and changing flights has dramatically changed my friends’ behavior. With change fees on United Airlines at $200, any change or cancellation is a dramatic financial hit. With Southwest Airlines, where there is no change or cancellation fees, the money originally spent is returned to the passenger’s account to be used on a future flight.
Then, as schedule changes might come up, the financial hit is not as significant. Plus, passengers still have an opportunity to search for a far more reasonable airfare than offered on Southwest. And, when the free baggage is added to the equation together with $12.50 for early bird check-in and boardng, my friends ask, “Why would anyone fly any other airline?”
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
