While it’s anyone’s guess what comes of this, it appears that Southwest Airlines is at least considering making changes to its lucrative Companion Pass program, as flagged by Danny the Deal Guru.
Continue reading: Uh Oh: Southwest Airlines Surveys Companion Pass Changes
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
It’s obvious: they’re going to enhance the companion pass by eliminating it, based on customer feedback.
Southwest is facing financial trouble. Some call it corporate greed but it is no secret that Southwest has been forced to rethink its entire business model. This is an obvious target. How to game this benefit with credit cards has been the subject of countless blog articles. And, ole Barney Fife told them to nip it in the bud.
well said.
WN's root issue is that they are flying too many seats and not doing as good of a job in filling them as other airlines - in part because they have been unable to fly the MAX 7 that they ordered a decade ago.
WN mgmt - forced by Elliott - is now realizing that the MAX 7 is not coming and WN will have to just retire their -700s when they run out of time and run a larger gauge airline.
The answer to filling more seats is not to keep giving away revenue that doesn't generate a profit. and that includes the companion pass.
DL made a pivot almost 2 decades ago; UA has done it within the last decade. Large airlines can successfully walk away from major parts of their former identity.
WN was once the most consistently profitable airlines in the world; they want at least to have industry-comparable levels of profitability and have set goals to be far more profitable than what AA and most of the LCC and ULCC game thinks they can accomplish.
WN has deep pockets (a very strong balance sheet) and will successfully pivot. If companion passes and free baggage make sense, they will be given to the people that can turn them into revenue and profits.
"Let me of course emphasize that this is only a survey, and it’s not entirely clear how Companion Pass would change. "
No, the change is already a done deal. This survey is designed to tweak the changes and market around the changes.
This is just the cherry on the “southwest is now a regular carrier, but worse” sundae. First they crapified their other policies and rendered elite status indistinguishable from having one of their credit cards. Now this, the last differentiator. They sure are making it easy to switch back to united airlines.
I think that the only real reason these days some people continue to fly Southwest is either their loyal to their loyalty program and/or they fly to some airports that are less common so it is more convenient. Otherwise they are becoming like any other airline. The quirks that I did not care for is exactly what some people liked about them. I suspect that they will lean toward the credit card loyalty for the companion pass given their relationship with Chase and with Visa, as other airlines have done. I don't think they will eliminate it completely. If they do not offer enough benefits for their credit card people will tend to not keep it.
Everyone calls southwest Spirit #2. Can you address your horrible wifi connectivity to attract business folks? I’m forced on SW on several long routes regularly to West Coast and know with out a doubt I can’t work unless its all offline and no one reclines in front of me. Hard seats, bad wifi, and guarantee of 50 degree siberia conditions at 10,000ft are the reasons I avoid as much as possible. Also constantly delayed after boarding and slow baggage 4/5 flights in past month on SW were delayed onboard 30+ min, bags take 10-15 min longer to come out compared to AA or DL.
The clearest clue that Companion Pass is on the chopping block is the deafening silence in all of the prior public statements regarding CP. Now the survey. The best travel perk by far is doomed.
Our family has loved Southwest for over a decade and it has been our preferred airline. The investment group's decisions have included laying off pilots, as well as killing the fun-loving culture that is at the airline's core. Picking our seats has been one of the features we've loved, and now the airline wants to be like everyone else. How old With the loss of that culture and the companion pass, the results will show loss of loyalty from the consumer.