Southwest Airlines (LUV) has been a disruptor in the airline business. The company, which is over 50 years old, has not held itself to doing things the way its rivals have always operated. That's a pretty freeing approach in an industry that has generally operated with a monopoly mindset.
Most airlines act as if customers have little choice because historically they often haven't. They might treat elite first and business-class flyers well, but those of us who take an occasional trip get stuck paying baggage fees, and getting charged extra for a seat assignment.
Southwest has built its business on a passenger-first mentality. It has kept its pricing simple and it does not charge for bags. It's fair to say the airline has been a pioneer in treating passengers well in a way that has forced the rest of the industry to take notice.
Like T-Mobile in the wireless space, Southwest identified passenger pain points and solved them. United Airlines (UAL), a more traditional carrier, has resisted some of those changes and has opted to go after Southwest (albeit good-naturedly) in a new ad campaign.
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Southwest Has a Unique Boarding Process
Southwest does not assign seats to its passengers. That's an intentional move designed to make it easier to fill its planes rather than having people opt for another carrier when they can't book seats together or know that they're going to get stuck in a middle seat.
After you buy your ticket, you are eligible to be assigned a boarding group 24 hours before your flight. To get the best boarding position possible, you should check in at the beginning of that 24-hour period. That's something you manually have to do unless you have A-list (or higher) status with the airline or you pay for the airline to automatically check you in.
Once you check in (or get checked in) you are assigned an A, B, or C boarding group with a number 1-60. Members of the A group board first and no seats are assigned. If you need to get on (and presumably off) first and aren't in the A group, you can pay extra at the gate for the A 1-15 positions.
United does assign passengers seats (unless they're flying Basic Economy) without charging extra for that (which many discount airlines do) but if you don't pay extra (either through a package with a checked bag or just for the seat), your only seat options are in the back of the plane.
Picking a better seat costs roughly $18-$100 and baggage-plus-seat packages are about $150-200 (and that's each way). You can easily double the cost of your fare by paying for a bag and a seat while Southwest doesn't charge for bags and EarlyBird Checkin costs between $15-25 each way. Paying for Business Select, which gets you in the A 1-15 group, costs $30-50 per segment when purchased at the airport.
Basically, you can buy your way into a decent seat pretty cheaply through EarlyBird or guarantee a top pick by opting for Business Select, all for less than what United charges. This has not stopped United from trolling its rival in a new ad campaign.
United Trolls Southwest
United has created a new website, notgroupc.com where it offers to send Southwest customers a reminder to check-in exactly 24 hours before their flight so they don't get a spot in group C.
"Once upon a time, a Southwest flyer forgot to check in exactly 24 hours ahead of their flight. And ended up in the dreaded Boarding Group C," the sparse website reads.
The airline also released a statement on the campaign.
"We’re sounding a lighthearted alarm to remind travelers who may not choose United that there’s an easier way to travel. Ideally, the next time these travelers are flying, they won’t need to check in 24 hours before or risk being in Group C, because they will have chosen to fly with United and not one of our competitors,” said United Airlines Advertising Managing Director Maggie Schmerin.
Easier is sort of a relative term when you're also going to be paying a lot more for your flight.
Yes, getting a C group boarding pass likely means a middle seat or one way back in the plane. That might be worth paying extra to avoid, which is something Southwest customers can do for well less than what they will pay if they want to get on a United flight with both a seat assignment and a checked bag.
United isn't being mean here, but it is being lazy. It's leaning into the idea that somehow having a different system is worse than using a broken, outdated system where everything costs extra and passengers most decidedly do not come first.
