Archive for the 'Southwest' CategoryPage 2 of 13

United Responds to Southwest’s Denver Promotion

Published
by
Dan Webb
on January 12, 2010
in Southwest and United
. 0 Comments

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Photo Credit: Chris Weyer.

Remember Southwest’s Denver promotion that I talked about last week? The one available atsouthwest.com/denverfree? I thought it was a shot at Frontier, and maybe it was, but regardless, it got United’s attention. United has gotten really creative and has launched a similar promotion, which can be found at, um, united.com/denverfree.

Southwest is giving out a free roundtrip for every Business Select fare purchased, and United is doing something similar – a free North American roundtrip for every roundtrip in North America, and a free systemwide roundtrip for every international roundtrip booked. One will earn two North American upgrades after the first qualifying flight.

Southwest’s promotion is targeted at Business Select, which is a fully-refundable ticket. While United hasn’t gotten that far, the promotion is not available for the more-heavily discounted economy fares (V,W,S,T,L,K), nor is it available for First Class or Business fares.

While the promotion focuses on Denver, it is available for any Colorado resident leaving from Aspen, Colorado Springs, Denver, Durango, Eagle, Hayden, Grand Junction, Gunnison, or Montrose.

Registration is required. Travel must be booked by February 14 and completed by March 5. More details here.

Denver’s certainly been fun to watch with all this competition. It actually make me think of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome at times. (And shame on you if you don’t get that reference.) :D

December Revenue Estimates

Published
by
Dan Webb
on January 8, 2010
in Continental, JetBlue, Southwest and US Airways
. 2 Comments

The carriers that usually report monthly PRASM estimates have done so, and below is a summary of the results. Overall, they’re pretty good, especially when one considers that the comparisons for US Airways, Southwest, and JetBlue were less favorable in December than November.

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Southwest came out with the biggest increase at 7%, and I have to think that a good chunk of that improvement is coming from the carrier’s efforts to optimize its schedule and shift capacity, as Southwest saw the biggest increase in load factor of the four carriers – a 6.5 point increase to 76.2%. Plus, Southwest has not been adding cities with new planes – they’ve cut routes that don’t perform all that well, and that capacity can be shifted into new stations like LaGuardia and Boston.

Since Continental revises its monthly estimates with final numbers, here is a graph of those results:

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So, we are absolutely seeing some strong improvements here, and comparisons should turn positive as revenues improve, but also because they will be off 2009’s simply horrendous numbers. But nevertheless, progress is good.

Southwest Gets Aggressive with Denver Promotion

Published
by
Dan Webb
on January 5, 2010
in Frontier and Southwest
. 2 Comments

This week, Southwest celebrates four years in Denver – and it has certainly been an interesting market to follow. While there has been interesting discussion (especially during Southwest’s bid for Frontier) about how profitable the city has been for the carrier, Southwest has nevertheless grown it operation there very quickly. In a relatively short time period, Denver has become one of the airline’s biggest markets with over 130 daily departures.

It’s not uncommon for Southwest to have special promotions for events like anniversaries, and Denver is no different. But while a large number of Southwest’s city-specific promotions have involved bonus Rapid Rewards credits, Southwest is instead promoting its Business Select product by offering a free roundtrip for Colorado residents that purchase a Business Select roundtrip from Denver.

For those who don’t recall, Business Select is a fully refundable fare that includes other perks such as priority boarding, a free drink (whatever isn’t complimentary, i.e. alcohol), extra Rapid Rewards credit, and priority check-in and security screening where available.

Clearly, Southwest is trying to build a loyal base of business travelers from Denver and the surrounding metro. But, personally, I see this primarily as a shot at Frontier, specifically its Classic Plus fare.

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Photo credit: Chris Weyer.

Continue reading ‘Southwest Gets Aggressive with Denver Promotion’

Southwest Responds to Air New Zealand

Published
by
Dan Webb
on December 15, 2009
in Air New Zealand and Southwest
. 2 Comments

A couple of months ago, Air New Zealand issued this challenge to Southwest as part of its “Nothing to Hide Campaign”:

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Well, now Southwest has released its response – no body paint, but very entertaining!

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It’s just nice to see two carriers have fun.

Southwest Is Awesome

Published
by
Dan Webb
on December 8, 2009
in Southwest
. 0 Comments

Anyone who has read this blog knows that I love Southwest Airlines, both as a customer and a blogger. Well, it turns out that it’s possible for me to LUV them more! One of the professors at my school occasionally reads my blog, and suggested to me that I try to get a guest speaker from the airline industry, so I contacted Southwest, and Linda Rutherford, the airline’s VP of Communications and Strategic Outreach, offered to come speak on campus!

Yesterday she gave a presentation entitled “Southwest Airlines: Planes and People Making LUV Connections,” really explained the essence of Southwest’s culture to my classmates. It appears that everyone liked it – many people told me later on that after learning about the company, they now wanted to work for Southwest!

So, many thanks to Linda for offering to come up from Dallas and sharing some great stories and insights. And, of course, thanks to the amazing Paula Berg for putting it all together. :D

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Looking at November Revenue Estimates

Published
by
Dan Webb
on December 7, 2009
in Continental, JetBlue, Southwest and US Airways
. 0 Comments

Well, it’s the beginning of the month, and that means we can now look over the results of the four airlines that provide PRASM estimates: Continental, JetBlue, Southwest, and US Airways. The good news is that all of the airlines mad progress compared to last month. The bad news is that there’s still more progress to be made. Here are the results:

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This month’s results were probably boosted by Thanksgiving – last year, the holiday fell later in the month, making some traffic go into December. It did fall a bit earlier this year, though, which boosts this month’s comparison. Southwest’s impressive 12% increase was also aided by the fact that the PRASM increase in November 2008 was only 1%, providing for an easier comparison here.

Since Continental actually gives revised final numbers, here’s a graph of their performance the past few months:

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So, progress is being made here.

Looking at October PRASM Estimates

Published
by
Dan Webb
on November 10, 2009
in Continental, JetBlue, Southwest and US Airways
. 0 Comments

There are four airlines that come out with monthly PRASM estimates at the beginning of every month, and here are the latest results. They look pretty good – the declines for Continental and US Airways were better than in the past. Southwest and JetBlue’s results were a bit worse, but both of those airlines had strong performance in October 2008.

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Comparisons for this quarter will be a bit tricky, though. For example, Southwest CFO Laura Wright said during the company’s most recent earnings call:

“…last October we were actually up 14% on a unit revenue basis. November was up 1% and December was up 12%. There’s some weird things going on with the holidays, as you are probably aware. Last year Thanksgiving was very late in the month of November with a lot of the return travel in December, so when you look at November and December this year, I think the December comp will be more difficult just because of the holiday mismatch….So I think December is going to be a more difficult comparison and certainly October is a tougher one because of the great results we had a year ago.”

I’d still expect, though that we’ll continue to see better numbers in the coming months as things improve (hopefully) and as more comparisons are made off the crummy numbers of a year ago.

Two Bonus Rapid Rewards Credits

Published
by
Dan Webb
on November 5, 2009
in Southwest
. 0 Comments

Just got this promotion in my e-mail:

Looking for a quick and easy way to earn two bonus Rapid Rewards credits this holiday season towards your next free flight*? Book travel for $250 or more in advertised fare (not including Segment Fee, Facility Charge, or Security Fee) by December 31, 2009, and you can do just that!

All you do is register for this promotion, book your travel, and fly between November 5 and December 31, 2009. Then we’ll bonus your Rapid Rewards account two credits, on top of the credits you already earn for flying. Just in time to start making your spring and summer vacation plans!

Oh, and don’t worry about spending $250 or more all at once. Just spend $250 or more on your flight travel before the end of the year, and you’ll have racked up your bonus credits toward your next free flight — and a great vacation. There’s plenty of time!

If you got this promotion, it seems like a no-brainer to register if you’ll be traveling anyway.

Now Might Be a Good Time to Sign Up For Rapid Rewards

Published
by
Dan Webb
on October 29, 2009
in Southwest
. 0 Comments

Generally, when one signs up for Rapid Rewards, he or she will get two bonus credits after signing up and opting in for e-mails. But, thanks to a promotion thanks to Southwest’s partnership with the Celtics, one can get eight credits after doing the same. 16 credits are needed for a roundtrip, so it’s a decent deal.

Just head on over to southwest.com/celticsrapidrewards if you’re interested.

Southwest Launches “4th Quarter” Sale

Published
by
Dan Webb
on October 27, 2009
in Southwest
. 0 Comments

Apparently, Southwest is feeling the need to boost its traffic before and after Christmas and New Year’s. Today, the airline launched its”4th Quarter Sale,” which lasts for 72 hours. The airline is charging fares based on distance, for example, a flight between 550 and 999 miles will cost $75. The sale fares are available for travel from December 2 – December 16 and January 5 – February 10.

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This kind of sale might sound familiar – and it is – this move is much like Southwest’s “$30, $60, $90″ sale from the summer, except with four farecategories. It appears that, overall, this sale is a bit more expensive than “$30, $60, $90,” except on the flights less than 550 miles. Nevertheless, this appears to be a good deal.

For those who already have travel booked during this time period, now would be a good time to try to change your fare, as Southwest does not have a change fee. If you’re booked on a nonrefundable fare, you will be able to use the difference between the old fare and the new fare on a future trip.

More details here.