Southwest Inconsistency

Southwest Airlines recent media campaign has been very effective in differentiating itself from other airlines, essentially calling other airlines "onerous" policies such as fees for bags, food, drinks, and other things "ridiculous." It's because of these ridiculous policies that I've become a very loyal Southwest customer - these days I fly Southwest exclusively.

But tonight I experienced one of the most ridiculous policies ever with Southwest. I was flying from Chicago to Reno, with a connection in Las Vegas. I arrive Las Vegas at 8:15pm. My scheduled flight to Reno is at 9:50pm. However, I discover that there is an 8:55pm flight to Reno. So I go to the gate. I ask if there are seats available. Sure, the agent says, but it will cost me $143.00 extra. What?!?!? Then he tells me that if my 9:50pm flight is 15 or more minutes late, then he can put me on the earlier flight without charge - but my 9:50pm flight is only 5 minutes late at this time. So no can do. So we're at the point of arguing over 10 minutes. You gotta be kidding me.

Now, SWA has conditioned me that if I want to take an earlier "originating" flight, I have to pay extra if I have a discounted ticket. I'm fine with that. That is reasonable. However, extending this policy to a connection that I had no control over (as it turns out, the 8:55pm flight is an "illegal connection" because it is less than 45 minutes from the arrival time of the previous flight -- that's why swa.com didn't include that connection when I booked) is stupidity in terms of brand consistency.

So now I'm cooling my heels in Vegas, with nothing to do but flame SWA for their ridiculous policy. And this is after my I watched my business partner (three weeks ago) do what I tried to do successfully as he connected from Chicago to Vegas to San Diego.