There seems to be a flash mob battle between Atlanta based carriers. Last week I posted a link to Delta’s flash mobs in four locations, which were well produced, though can hardly be called “flash mobs” since only one of them seemed to be done in public.

Well, AirTran/Southwest seemed to have a flash mob of their own in Atlanta a few days ago, and damn, they’re good. You can check out the video here:

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I especially love the beginning where “security” is called over paying for checked bags.

So which one do you guys prefer, Delta’s or AirTran/Southwest’s?

(Tip of the hat to Stef)

Chase has just announced that starting January 5, 2012, Southwest Rapid Rewards will become a transfer partner of Ultimate Rewards, the program associated with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and Chase Ink Bold card.

Oddly Southwest has been the “missing link” for a while, given that you can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to just about any program they have a co-branded credit card with, including British Airways, Continental, and United on the airline front, and Hyatt, Marriott, and Priority Club on the hotel front.

Now of course I’m not rushing to transfer points to Southwest, but it’s yet another option that makes the Chase Sapphire Preferred card the most well rounded card in the industry.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is literally a Chase “super card,” worth well more than the $95 annual fee that comes with it. Hell, if they added a couple more benefits, they could slap on an American Express Platinum-esque annual fee and probably get away with it.

Per The Points Guy, the redemption values are something like this:

Southwest points can be redeemed towards any Southwest flight and each point varies in value depending on the type of fare you redeem for.

Wanna Get Away: 1.67 cents per point
Anytime: 1 cent per point
Business Select: .83 cents per point

I really have to wonder about the economics behind these cards as they relate to their airline and hotel partners. In other words, aren’t the airlines and hotels slowly getting miffed that Chase has created a card that earns more points for everyday spend than the individual card with the program does?

Take the Chase Southwest Visa, for example, which earns one point per dollar on all purchases and two points per dollar on select travel categories. The Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers the same, not to mention there’s a 7% annual points dividend, so you’re really earning more points for booking a ticket on Southwest with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card than you are with the Chase Southwest Visa. And that doesn’t even factor in that Ultimate Rewards points are so much more flexible than Rapid Rewards points, since you can transfer Ultimate Rewards points instantly to all of the above programs. The only thing worth noting is that points transfers from Ultimate Rewards don’t count towards a Southwest companion pass.

As more and more savvy consumers turn to the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, I have to wonder at which point Chase will get a bit of backlash from the airlines.

Full disclosure: I receive a referral bonus for anyone that signs up through the above links. As always I will only provide a referral link if it offers the best available sign-up bonus.

Admittedly I usually only write about my more “glamorous” travels, be it Qantas A380 first class, or even Virgin Atlantic Upper Class. This trip report is the opposite extreme — coach on a no-frills airline between two exceedingly mediocre cities.

I needed to be in Birmingham the Monday after Thanksgiving, and didn’t end up booking my ticket until two days before departure.

Not surprisingly the walk up fares were outrageous on most airlines, except Southwest. There’s one common misconception about Southwest — people think they have lower fares than the legacies. That’s definitely not true, except for walk-up fares. The maximum fares they’ll charge are much lower than those of the competition, and that’s consistently the case. But up until then you have as good of a chance at finding a cheap fare on American as you do on Southwest.

I ended up purchasing a Business Select ticket for $266 one-way, which, while not cheap, was five times cheaper than anything the competition offered. Business Select tickets come with priority boarding and security lines (and a free alcoholic beverage, though I don’t drink), which was enough for me, given that the cheapest non-Business Select fare was $240.

I checked in about 22 hours before departure (because I was trapped at the dungeon known as Ikea 24 hours before departure… don’t ask) and got a boarding pass for A3 (boarding group “A,” position “3″).

I got to the airport about two hours before departure. That’s not because I actually thought I needed to arrive that early, but because I had to stop at Ikea on the way to the airport. And if you’ve ever been to Ikea, you know there’s no such thing as a “stop” at Ikea. Fortunately it was my quickest trip to Ikea ever, meaning I was in and out in about two hours, which is a personal record.

Security lines were shockingly short given that it was the Monday after Thanksgiving, so the priority security line only saved me a few minutes. The TSA was friendly, and my private massage was especially firm this week, just the way I like it.

I had never actually been in the Southwest terminal in Tampa, which is stunning, definitely the nicest terminal in Tampa. Unfortunately I quickly noticed that my flight was the only one delayed by more than a few minutes.

Knowing I wouldn’t get a pre-departure beverage aboard I stopped by Starbucks.

The gate agent announced our flight would be getting to the gate at 6:20PM and that we were expecting a 6:40PM departure. This is where you’ve gotta love Southwest — the famous 20 minute turn. Any other airline will take at least 45 minutes to turn a plane, while Southwest can do it in nearly half that time.

Sure enough when the plane arrived it took passengers about 5-10 minutes to deplane, and then a minute later boarding began. I was in the first boarding group because of my Business Select fare, and was the fourth person to board.

As someone that’s used to assigned seating, the open seating thing really threw me off. My strategy was to sit in the aisle seat in one of the first few rows, though oddly they were already all taken. I guess Southwest lets those passengers on a “direct” flight stay aboard for the connection, so they snagged up the best seats.

At that point my strategy was thrown off so I headed back to the exit row in hopes of snagging one of those seats. Unfortunately little did I know Southwest has some odd exit rows on their plane, since they’re different on both sides of the aircraft (see seatmap here). So by the time I decided on seat 12D and realized the seat wasn’t in an exit row, all the other good seats were taken (the guy in front of me snagged 12F, which doesn’t have a seat in front of it). So I chose a standard seat half way back on the plane. FML.

The flight was packed so I figured the boarding process would be hellish as people try to figure out where to sit, especially when it comes to families. But shockingly enough, boarding was not only civilized, but faster than I’ve seen on any other airline. Because the seats are all first come first serve, people are motivated to move fast and choose a seat before all the good ones are gone. Kind of brilliant, kind of really stressful. But it does help with making those 20 minute turns happen.

The other stressful part of boarding is trying to do everything in your power to ensure you have an empty middle seat. There was someone in the window seat and I was in the aisle, so I avoided eye contact with those walking down the aisle at all costs. I even faked sleeping in hopes of them not disturbing me to claim the middle seat. It worked till the end of boarding, when a guy took the center seat.

The flight itself was uneventful. The flight attendants was polite though far from overly-friendly. They certainly weren’t going to do the Southwest Shuffle (you may find portions of this video to be disturbing… you’ve been warned!):

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One of the things I’ve always noticed from a distance is how fast Southwest planes taxi. Legacy pilots seem to taxi as if they’re trying to lose a race to a snail, while Southwest pilots taxi fast enough to get a speeding ticket on the Autobahn. At one point I was fairly certain we were going to take off on the taxiway. Hey, I guess if that’s what it takes to keep the flight on schedule…

During his post takeoff announcement the flight attendant mentioned the buttons for the reading lights in the panel overhead. He then mentioned the call buttons next to them, and indicated they were broken on today’s flight. Funny enough, this was probably a reverse Southwest joke. I laughed while the rest of the plane didn’t, since I assume they don’t fly often enough to know that doesn’t really happen and he was joking. So I guess they thought he was being serious. Or maybe he was being serious?

Southwest’s cabin service is super-efficient. There are no drink carts, which is great, since instead they take all drink orders shortly after takeoff and then distribute the drinks after that on trays. That’s awesome given that the aisle isn’t blocked, making for easy lav access.

After the drink service was complete (maybe 20 minutes before landing) the flight attendants distributed bags of nuts. Gotta love Southwest for still having good ‘ol nuts (though they weren’t warm). ;)

We landed just a few minutes behind schedule, and I saw another way that Southwest achieves those 20 minute turns. While there was one flight attendant saying bye to passengers at the door, the other was already cleaning the cabin and folding seatbelts for the next flight. That’s how you make a 20 minute turn happen.

And unfortunately I found myself in chilly Birmingham upon landing… cruel, cruel weather.

On the whole Southwest was exactly what I expected. They’re incredibly efficient, and it comes down to teamwork of all the employees. The flight attendants were no different than the average crew found on a legacy airline, though I’m sure Southwest has better crews as well.

Of course the lack of a first class and “real” frequent flyer program that will earn me international first class tickets are what will prevent me from flying Southwest in the future, at least with any frequency. Still, I certainly wouldn’t mind flying them again if their schedule was convenient. They’re nothing to actively avoid.

And if anyone (that doesn’t know) can guess what I was in Birmingham for, you score bonus points…

Lesson learned: don’t wait till two days before to book travel for the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Yes friends, this is going to be a first for me. Wish me luck and learn from my mistakes. ;)

A Southwest pilot frustrated about the number of gay, overweight, and old flight attendants at Southwest decided to share his “experiences” with his fellow pilot, though as it turned out the mic was keyed and he was actually transmitting what he was saying to the whole frequency. Here’s a video that includes some of the stuff he says (and the response from another pilot):

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He was suspended without pay and had to undergo diversity training, though is now back on the job. Your thoughts? Was the punishment fair?

Whether we like it or not, pilots probably often have these types (by that I mean negative conversations you wouldn’t want to know about) of conversations, be it about flight attendants, passengers, or how bad the company is. Obviously it’s not professional, but it happens and it’s not preventable. That being said, when someone is so dumb as to go off on a two minute tirade and have the whole thing available on public airwaves, they kind of have it coming for them, in my opinion…

There was a hilarious segment on Saturday Night Live this past weekend about the Southwest Airlines hole-in-the-roof incident last week. You can check it out on Hulu. For those of you not in the US, here’s a YouTube link, though I have no clue for how long it’ll stay up (please, no “that’s what she said” jokes).

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Southwest is offering a 15% off code for those with a Signature Visa credit card here. Any card which says “Signature Visa” on it will qualify (for many of us, that would be the British Airways Signature Visa), and it is good for any “Wanna Get Away” fare. The ticket purchase must be made by April 30, 2011, for travel by June 1, 2011.

(Tip of the hat to MilesQuest)

Admittedly this isn’t a frequent flyer program I’m all that passionate about, but I do feel like it’s worth mentioning nonetheless. While Southwest used to have a fairly simple frequent flyer program, based on the number of segments flown, their program is now revenue based, much like JetBlue and Virgin America. Unfortunately it’s not the simple, “fixed number of points per dollar” system like other programs offer, though. Instead, you earn a different number of points per dollar depending on the type of fare you book (Wanna Get Away, Anytime, or Business Select), ranging anywhere from 6-12 points per dollar. So not only do you naturally get more points for a more expensive fare because you’re spending more money, but you earn more points per dollar as well. Not the simplest of systems, in my opinion.

Redemption is equally confusing, and based on the revenue cost of a fare. However, you pay a different number of points per dollar depending on whether you’re booking a Wanna Get Away, Anytime, or Business Select fare. So yeah, there are no blackout dates, though you’ll pay an arm and a leg for the last seat.

Ultimately this is probably a positive change for those that frequently travel on expensive, Business Select fares, though a negative change for just about anyone else.

Now, there are some other options for spending your points, like international travel on other airlines, though it’s an even worse deal than the options above.

Ultimately I think Gary is spot on in his analysis, especially when he says:

In my experience the other low cost carriers view their frequent flyer programs as a tax rather than a profit center, something they’re obliged to offer because everyone else does and something they just want to keep as inexpensive to run as possible.

So true. It’s funny, because on one hand it’s great that Southwest doesn’t need a frequent flyer program to be profitable, while at the same time a couple of the legacies might have liquidated a few years back if it weren’t for their frequent flyer programs and ability to leverage miles with banks/credit cards.

And, much like Gary:

This program holds zero appeal for me.

Check out Southwest’s new set of commercials, revolving around their lack of change fees, as passengers take the “other” airlines to “change fee court.”

Here’s the first ad:

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Here’s the second ad:

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And here’s the third ad:

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Thoughts?

A friend (around my age, a bit older) recently flew an afternoon transcon on Southwest, and shared a rather, erm, interesting story with me.

I was flying Southwest back home and around ¾ of the way through the flight went to use the lavatory. As I got to the back of the plane the flight attendant was standing in the rear galley, talking to another guy around my age. The situation got my attention when I noticed she was lotioning his hands with Gold Bond lotion….when I got back there – mind you, I was dressed in business clothes! – she rubbed my hands and asked if they were soft. Then she runs her hand down towards my crotch and asks if something else is soft. I was speechless! I hadn’t seen her the whole flight, it was obvious she was certainly under the influence.

Unbelievable, eh?

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