DANG! America's Most Awesome Airline, Southwest, just got slightly less awesome (I think) -- they're introducing a new $10 early bird check-in to guarantee a boarding number assignment 12 hours ahead of the general boarding queue.
On the one hand, okay, early boarding is clearly a thing with value -- I always set an alarm for my 24h reminder in order to secure A-group status, so in boarding I can stow the bag up top in front and find a comfortable aisle seat nearby. Is it worth $10 of value? Probably not, especially if a well-timed regular check-in still gets you in the A group. And that's the kicker -- I assume this isn't going to be a transparent market. I doubt you'll be able to extract from Southwest two days before travel the number of people who've already reserved early bird status, such that you'd know whether it was worth it for that flight. It's that uncertainty which may encourage some to reserve it needlessly, in turn making it more needed by the rest of us.
So, fellow Southwest travelers, collective action time: if we all agree to boycott the new $10 early bird check-in, then none of us will be harmed by not purchasing it. Who's with me?
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