David, Billy, and I decided to get up and get some pictures of the sunrise on the Towers of the Virgin. We drove to the parking area at the Zion Human History Museum and went to the patio around back. It is a popular spot first thing in the morning and there were a number of "real" photographers there. The sun came up behind us and, little by little, lit up the towers in front of us. Beautiful.
We went back to the hotel, took showers, got Tom up, and went to our last buffet breakfast. After checking out of our room, we made a couple of stops at some rock shops on our way out of town. Then we were bound for Las Vegas. Bill still didn't get his wish of a trip down the "Strip".
We made it to the airport with plenty of time, and once again, ran into two of the Vermonters on their way back home. Tom also ran into a classmate that was on our flight. Even though Dave had logged in to the Southwest Airlines website right at 5:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. Nevada time) last night, we were still B40. I think more and more people are paying the extra $10/flight for early bird check-in. Some of the A seats were not sold out and for an extra $40, they were offering those seats. See you later guys! No, I didn't do that. The flight was pretty full though, so we did warn the boys that they might have to sit by themselves. They needed to think ahead and figure out what kind of seat they wanted. No indecision or the seat would be lost and they'd be stuck in the middle of a row. I was going to grab the first aisle seat I could and I got one next to a couple that was already seated in the inner two seats. Dave and the boys got aisle seats one behind the other across from me. We got home around midnight on Saturday.
Overall, I think this was a fantastic trip and would highly recommend it. Very do-able during April vacation.
My experience with Southwest recently has been the same: people are paying the extra money. Personally, I think that even offering it goes against the spirit of Southwest, but I guess that often happens as a company matures. I remember the days when I once checked in four hours late and still got a B pass.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, our same-day flight experience recently at least proved that you can't go lower than C. However, you can go lower than C-60, even though that's all they show on the signs....
There are two fees here, the $10 Early Bird fee, and the $40 fee to move up if the Business Select seats are not filled.
ReplyDeleteI think it's nice that the Early Bird service will get you a place in line if you can't get to a computer the day before your flight. I think paying for the service is fine. What I think is against the spirit of Southwest is giving those people priority. The service should access the queue at the 24 hour mark just like everyone else.
As for the $40 fee, I think I am okay with it. When I purchased my tickets, I decided not to pay the extra money for Business Select. I therefore have to expect to have a position starting at least at A16 (wouldn't that be nice). If the Business Select positions in line are not filled, then I am offered the choice again to pay extra to move up in line. If I again choose not to pay the extra, my original position in line is not changed. They are only filling positions that were previously held aside. If no one elects to spend the extra, then it is a bonus for me because I have essentially moved up in line.
The spirit of Southwest that is violated is having a separate Business Select class to begin with. When they offered cheap fares, people were willing to take the seat they got. But, their fares don't seem that much better than any other airline now, so they probably need to guarantee some of the people first picks in order to keep them as customers.