My Experience: I Won't Fly Southwest Anymore: New Boarding Policy

In mid-September I flew from Maine to Maryland on Southwest Airlines, and it was the first time since they changed their boarding policy. It was AWFUL and although I paid for seat, I got text messages saying I was on "standby" which caused anxiety. Today's blog is about that experience.

Southwest was ALWAYS my Go-To airline. It was reasonably priced, there were boarding groups, and one bag was free. When Southwest changed it's format, ALL of that Disappeared. It's now totally Awful. The only good thing are the people who work for the airline. 

MASSIVE PRICE INCREASES - Flying roundtrip from New England to Baltimore used to be about $249 in 2023. Now, that same flight is minimally $555. On top of that, they encourage you to BUY a seat starting from an additional $24 up to about $60. Then, you have to pay a BAG fee, which is also New.  (That means your flight would be about $100 more)

PUTTING ME IN THE LAST BOARDING GROUP UNLIKE OTHERS IN MY ROW - I Paid for seat 6E, and my boarding pass put me in Boarding group 8, the last group, so I realized there would likely be No Bin space for my carryon bag. Here's what Irritated me:  The other 2 people sitting next to me in Row 6 said they were in BOARDING GROUP 2 and they had to get out of their seats for me to get in. WTH?  

SEAT FIASCO AND PUT ON SURPRISE STAND BY- Southwest gives you the "option" of not picking a seat and letting them assign you one if you don't want to pay extra. Well, that didn't work.  Although I paid for a seat going to Baltimore, I opted not to buy one for the return. 

ANXIETY TEXTS! My flight was at 2:10pm. 

TEXT#1 - At 12:06 pm  when I was at the airport,  "Overhead bin space may fill up before groups 6,7,8 board. Lighten your load and check your carryon for free with a Customer Service Agent." OF Course, since I didn't have an assigned seat, I knew I was likely going to be in Boarding Group 8 AGAIN... and I was. I was in the last 5 people to board.    

TEXT #2 - At 12:19pm when I was at the airport, I received the following text: "Standby alert: You have been cleared for flight 294 from BWI to PWM, departing at 2:10 pm. Get your boarding pass(es) here: XXX  ***WHAT??!? - So I was put on Standby because I didn't pay EXTRA for a seat? What if I wasn't cleared and got stranded? I had NO idea. That's pretty awful to do to someone who bought a ticket.*** 

The gate agent explained that people who don't pay for seats are always going to get a "standby" notice. 

BOTTOM LINE - For a flight that I paid over $500 for, to take a 1 hour flight, and get stuck in the last boarding group with no room for 1 small carryon, and face the anxiety of being "On Standby" - I consider myself DONE with Southwest Airlines. It's a shame. I've flown with them for 20 years. They have LOST their way.