As flagged by View from the Wing, Southwest Airlines has just increased the cost for its Upgraded Boarding feature, which allows you to be among the first 15 passengers to board.
In this post:
Southwest Upgraded Boarding now costs $30-80 per flight
Southwest Airlines is known for its unique boarding process, which is because the airline has an open seating policy. You can’t assign seats on Southwest flights, so rather your boarding priority determines what kind of a seat you’ll likely end up in.
Boarding priority is based on three things:
- The first 15 boarding positions are for those who purchase Business Select fares, which are Southwest’s premium fares; if 15 Business Select fares aren’t sold, the airline sells Upgraded Boarding, which get you that boarding priority (and that’s the subject of this post)
- Southwest then sells EarlyBird Check-In, whereby you’ll automatically be checked in ahead of other passengers, and will get a boarding priority that corresponds to this; there’s no limit to how many of these Southwest will sell
- Lastly, after the above, boarding priority is determined based on when you check-in, so you want to check-in as close to 24 hours in advance as possible
Anyway, as of May 15, 2023, Southwest has increased the cost of Upgraded Boarding, in positions A1-15. While Upgraded Boarding used to cost up to $60, that price has now been increased to a maximum of $80. Specifically, Upgraded Boarding now costs anywhere from $30-80, depending on the length of a flight and the demand for this.
As Southwest explains in a statement:
Upgraded Boarding is one of Southwest’s most popular ancillary products, allowing Customers the option to buy an upgraded boarding position in Group A1-A15 (when available). We’ve shared with our Employees that Upgraded Boarding now will be offered in a variable range of $30 to $80. Upgraded Boarding price points will work the same as they do today whereby prices can vary based on the length and popularity of each flight. Price points within the new range are subject to change at any time, as they do today. We hope our Customers continue to enjoy this product.
My take on Southwest increasing Upgraded Boarding cost
I’m conflicted about Southwest’s increase in the cost of Upgraded Boarding. On the one hand, I couldn’t imagine paying $80 just to secure early boarding on Southwest. After all, you could spend that amount of money and not even get an aisle or window in a bulkhead or exit row, in which case there’s not much incremental value.
At the same time, Southwest is selling a limited number of seats this way, and I imagine there is significant demand for this. On some flights there might not be any Upgraded Boarding positions available (if 15 people purchase Business Select), while on other flights you might have a dozen seats available this way.
At the end of the day, Southwest is only shooting itself in the foot if the pricing is so high that people don’t buy this, since it’s quite literally free money for the airline.
Lastly, keep in mind that some co-branded Southwest credit cards offer four complimentary Upgraded Boarding purchases per year as a perk. Depending on how you look at it, the value of that has just increased, as each of those boardings could save you a maximum of $80 now, rather than a maximum of $60.
Bottom line
Southwest Airlines Upgraded Boarding now costs $30-80, while previously they maxed out at $60. The price varies by flight depending on demand. I suppose this increased pricing reflects that the demand for this exceeded the supply, so I can’t blame the airline for raising prices. I suppose this increases the value of having a Southwest credit card.
What do you make of Southwest’s new Upgraded Boarding cost?
I don't know how much this has been exploited. I paid for early boarding for my party of 3 on a flight from Kona to Las Vegas. What would happen if a group of 6 paid for 2 early boarding to go and "save" seats for the rest of the party? With the uptick in prices, I'd expect more offenders.
This didn't happen to us, but it was a real concern. BTW, this was a full flight so I imagine it could be a real problem.
All those new Max's aren't cheap!
On a SWA 737-800, 16 seats are exit row seats. I always have found an exit row seat available by buying up to A1 to A15. It is possible when there are thru pax who move into exit row seats that not all 16 would be available on boarding. I am 6'2" and buy up for any segment longer than an hour.
IRL, just as many A1-A15 boarders choose the bulkhead or close to the front of the cabin.
Everything has gone up in price, EVERYTHING, including the cost to operate an airline that gives you two checked bags I clouding in your ticket.
Completely agree with you, even when boarding mid A group we rarely have trouble getting the seats we want. Must people sit as far forward as possible and so exit seats are pretty easily found.
Early Bird purchase is nearly a must, checking in at 24 hours lately has left me early B group. I didn't requalify this year for A List, what a shame...
Why do consumers in the US put up with being treated like this? Always baffles me…
Because it’s a cheaper ride.
I only use this because I have the SW Priority Card but I couldn’t imagine paying that without the credit.
I would totally take advantage of this if I were rebooked and dumped into the C group on my new flight, especially if it was a long one. I could also see myself potentially taking advantage of this if I were booking a same day flight where Southwest was the best/only option, but due to WN’s pricing structure, the last minute fare differential between Business Select fare and the lowest available fare is often within that $80 range.
I'm not surprised about this. I've noticed in the past year that A1-15 often seems full. Whenever that happens, Southwest is leaving money on the table.
An economist would love the setup with Southwest boarding. Scads of immediate data that should let the airline understand the demand curve and price optimally.
They need to eliminate both pre-boarding and seat savers like Gary Leff. Full stop.
There is absolutely no reason to pre-board. People who need more time and want to board first should pay for it. Otherwise, they're free to take their time with everyone else.
I fly often with SWA. On long Non stops, BWI to San Diego, makes sense to upgrade, if available, vs-buy business class. Of course you take the chance if you wait until 24 hours ahead, but can always check on line if they will be available.
In regards to "pre-boarders, this is out of control... anyone can claim anything and have the privileges' of paying business select and of course , choose the best...
I fly often with SWA. On long Non stops, BWI to San Diego, makes sense to upgrade, if available, vs-buy business class. Of course you take the chance if you wait until 24 hours ahead, but can always check on line if they will be available.
In regards to "pre-boarders, this is out of control... anyone can claim anything and have the privileges' of paying business select and of course , choose the best seats (bulkhead, aisle, use as much overhead bin as necessary)... at least they can't choose exit row. One flight from Florida to BWI, recently had 23 -boarders.. no kidding... that's nearly 15% of the plane with ADA issues...Fortunate to be healthy but this is out of control for SWA and amounts to giving away best position to some who fain issues/veracity to beat the system. I wonder on airlines with no advantage in seating, if there are far less flying ADA claimed status when little or no status exists.
My suggestion is to "allow" pre boarders to chose the last 1/3 of the plane only with the exception of wheel chair bound patients
You forgot to cover that amex is offering 20% targeted bonus to CX
I have 1000% paid for this when I’ve been rebooked and ended up with a C boarding pass to ensure I can sit 1) in a decent seat and 2) with a companion!
You should update the section about boarding tiers. There are actually two more tiers that you didn't mention. Southwest reserves slots for A-List and A-List Preferred status holders early in the boarding process. These slot between the "early bird" purchasers and the "general boarding". So if you are A-list and check in say 10 hours before the flight, you'll still be ahead of the very first general boarding person who checked in at T-24. It...
You should update the section about boarding tiers. There are actually two more tiers that you didn't mention. Southwest reserves slots for A-List and A-List Preferred status holders early in the boarding process. These slot between the "early bird" purchasers and the "general boarding". So if you are A-list and check in say 10 hours before the flight, you'll still be ahead of the very first general boarding person who checked in at T-24. It would be something like this:
A1-15 - Business Select
A16-22 - Early Bird (assuming 7 people bought it)
A23-25 - A List Preferred (assuming 3 there are A-List preferred + companions on flight)
A26-35 - A List (assuming there are 10 A-List + companions on flight)
A36 onwards - General boarding
The size of the buckets varies based on the number of status members on the flight.
WN need to raise funds to upgrade their computers. Herb Kelleher wants his 8086 he lent to WN back.
Yeah, but that 8086 is in a souped - up Tandy 1000!
IBM all the way.
Those Tandy doesn't come with hard drives, 160K isn't enough to run an airline right until the 2022 meltdown. Herb needed all those 20MB and stacks of paper to dispatch his fleet.
Might be useful if you end up with a B or C and don't want to end up in the back, especially with flights to Florida that are chock full of elderly pre-boarders and/or families. And as you noted, those of us with SWA-branded cards get X number of freebies there.
If you are in the front or the back of the plane or the middle I think the plane gets there at the same time for all three sections now correct me if I'm wrong if the plane does not get there at the same time if one is in the front of the plane maybe they get there 2 hours before the back of the plane I don't know but I was always under the assumption that the whole plane got there at the same time maybe it's changed
John, do you ever change planes? On a full Southwest flight, it often takes passengers in the back 10 minutes or more ... waiting, waiting, waiting their turn to deplane. With a tight connection, sometimes this is no joke.
I was under the impression that the whole plane got to the destination at the same time maybe I'm wrong maybe the front of the plane gets there before the back of the plane or the middle but I just thought the pole plane got there at the same time did they change that?