Southwest Will Assign Seats!
When I was in college, I flew Southwest a lot. Back then, they had no assigned seating; people would board in groups “A”, “B”, or “C”, depending on when they checked in. It worked pretty well for me, and since I mostly ended up on cheap, empty flights, I usually ended up in a good seat.
In recent years, the boarding system has gotten a lot more complicated, but there was still no way to show up at the airport knowing what seat you would be in. That was a big source of anxiety for me these days, and a big reason I would never book Southwest if there was any way to avoid it. Apparently it wasn’t just me, as 80% of Southwest’s own customer base wanted assigned seats, and even more non-customers wanted the change. And recently, Southwest finally obliged. Details on how the new seating system will work, but there are some interesting implications for the world of credit cards.
Changes to SWA’s co-branded credit cards?
Currently, all three of Southwest’s personal credit cards offer some kind of perk related to SWA’s boarding process: two offer early-bird check-in, while one offers upgraded boarding. In a world with assigned seats, what will become of these perks? One likely outcome is the “priority” boarding offered by most other airline credit cards. But while boarding advantages were invaluable with Southwest, getting on the plane early with assigned seats just means sitting down longer. Although this might come in handy if you want to ensure your carry-on doesn’t get gate-checked, this would likely be a downgrade on these cards unless SWA offers something a little more meaningful.
On the flip-side, though, these co-branded cards (and their often-massive welcome offers) are now suddenly much more appealing. The Southwest cards never held much appeal to me, as you’d have to use the points they offered to fly… Southwest. Without the old boarding ordeal to deal with, though, these cards could offer tons of free travel across the US and even a few international destinations.
Big boost to Chase Sapphire cards
The other big implication of this change is that Chase Ultimate Rewards points are suddenly more valuable.
To be certain, Southwest never was—and still is not—the best way to redeem Chase points. Transfer partners like Hyatt and United offer higher value, international partners have potential for high-upside luxury redemptions, and the 25-50% Sapphire bonus means that points used directly with Chase will usually go further than with Southwest.
Still, it may make sense to transfer points to fly Southwest on some occasions, and the assigned seating now makes that prospect much more palatable.
Conclusion
Southwest’s open boarding was a unique feature beloved by some (and Mythbusters-approved), but time was ripe for a change, and I, for one, am ready to consider my first SWA flight since 2009. Rapid Rewards-earning cards might be more valuable now, and the rewards will definitely be more appealing, as using them won’t thrust you into the chaos and uncertainty of open boarding.