Arizona woman paid $25 for a front seat on Southwest. Then they pulled the rug out and made her feel stupid: ‘I avoid them’
Alden Hultgren (@theravemama on TikTok), a disgruntled Southwest Airlines flyer, explained why she avoids them “like a plague.” The budget airline has been trimming down on customer benefits, and this has been disappointing to customers like Hultgren.
“The new policies reflect how little they know their customer,” Hultgren said on her TikTok post. She claims that the airline is “disconnected” because they’ve been taking away perks that customers care about.
“The loyalty customers? The credit card customers? They’ve lost basically all of their benefits.” There have been several changes to the perks of the loyalty program. Stripped from loyalty benefits is the two-free checked-in bag program, which was once accessible as a standard perk. Now, only A-List Preferred still has access to the program. Rapid Rewards credit card holders could only check in one free bag.
Seating is now assigned at Southwest, which is another point of complaint for customers. This is largely standard practice, but a benefit that customers like Hultgren will surely miss. In addition to the changes, plus-sized passengers will no longer be offered extra free seating. This is a point that Hultgren was too frustrated to talk about during her rant.
But credit card customers don’t fare any better either. For those relying on miles to save them a trip, Southwest credits will now be subject to expiration.
Unnecessary upgrades from Southwest Airlines
“In the spirit of wanting to know your customer and knowing that they’re flying you because you’re cheaper, I sat in front of that plane. I paid $25 to pick a seat, I was alone. Your customers aren’t even willing to pay $25 for a seat. They’re trying to keep every single dollar in their pocket and every policy you’re introducing is trying to nickel and dime them at every chance that you get. You are not in touch,” Hultgren told Southwest.
The airline changed the perks, adding free Wi-Fi for Rapid Rewards members. But these are domestic flights. In most cases, people can stave off a couple of hours without Wi-Fi, making the so-called upgrade negligible.
Other upgrades introduced by Southwest include power ports for charging, online tools for tracking and managing bags, Redeye flights for long, cross-country trips, and the introduction of a basic fare.
The latter two benefits are arguably the best upgrades for the crowd the airline is catering to. But even the basic fare program has no free checked bags, and customers will still have to purchase extra legroom if they need to. Arguably, Redeye flights that allow customers to arrive early and leave late on long trips are the only pro passengers get, especially if they want to travel urgently on budget.
But these new “perks” are not exclusive to Southwest. As a budget airline, their extra checked-in baggage was a selling point for them. Moreover, charging gadgets and Wi-Fi are the last thing on passengers’ minds, since they expect to fly cheap with Southwest. Customers might bring powerbanks, or they might even still have a Wi-Fi connection since these are usually flights from one state to the next.
Hultgren is not alone in her complaints against the airline company. Other TikTok users have been commenting on the issue, saying that free checked bags and open seating are the only reasons they chose Southwest over other airlines. Southwest’s model is either going to persist or they’re going to learn a very costly lesson.
(featured image: Soly Moses)
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