Southwest shuts down seat assignment proxy site
I'm saddened to report that Southwest Airlines has effectively shut down Pass-a-matic, the service that would act as your proxy to retrieve the coveted A-1 boarding pass. The service, which I raved about two months ago, would take your reservation number and use it to jump on the Southwest Web site precisely 24 hours before your flight's departure time to grab the good seats.
Southwest, clearly, was not amused, and recently amended the terms of service for its Web site with this proviso: "You may not use Southwest's web sites for or in connection with offering any third party product or service not authorized or approved by Southwest. For example, online check-in service providers may not use the Southwest web sites to check-in Customers online or attempt to obtain for them a boarding pass in any certain boarding group."
An email from Pass-a-matic notified users of the shutdown: "Southwest Airlines has asked us to stop the operations of our boarding pass retrieval service for their airline...We are complying with their request immediately."
I mourn the passing of Pass-a-matic. It was a civilized solution to a barbarous process.
Rafe Needleman writes about start-ups, new technologies, and Web 2.0 products, as editor of CNET's Webware. E-mail Rafe. 
Except that it's not a civilized solution. Remember that the elderly fly quite a bit too and they NEED the better seats. The elderly are not as wired as we are and wouldn't know how to use it.
Sorry, but I disagree with you on this one. Stuff like that is down and dirty and doesn't give a fair chance to ALL good and loyal customers of any service.
The disadvantage from the airline's point of view is that once some people grab their seats the remaining seats are scattered around and not useful to groups. This is like what happened to us 2 years ago with Iberia that just seat family with small kids all across the plane and then tells the families"when you're on board try to get someone to switch seats with you".
A solution might be allowing people to provide several alternative requested seatings (or seating formations) in advance and use some algorithm (including possibly human intervention) to arrange everyone in advance according to requests, and then allow change a few hours before when possible. Otherwise people will need bots to try to grab the wanted seats before everyone else gets them like this service did. They can perhaps block such a service. It would be more difficult to do this with PC based bots that would make traffic look like regular human connecting using a browser.
tickets. That software nabs hundreds of the best seats. The user then sells them
for much more.
First, when Pass-o-matic was in business, there was no "A-1" boarding pass; there were simply A, B, and C passes. Beginning 24 hours before a flight, Southwest allowed online check-in that assigned a given number of A passes, then a given number of B passes, and finally a small number of C passes. At the time, pre-boarding privileges were extended to the elderly, disabled, children traveling alone, and families with small children. Presumably, the last group was included so that children could be seated near their parents. However, what often occurred was that a family group of, say, two parents, their three kids, the mother's sister, the father's mother, and who knows who else would all board "as a family", and each kid would want a window seat, so the "family" ended up scattered over multiple rows anyway but having snagged a bunch of good seats.
Meanwhile, since there was no "order" to the boarding groups, everyone with an "A" pass was crowded up to the front of the lines half an hour before boarding in the hopes of getting a good seat, and even the B groups were trying to hang in at the front hoping to be first in the B section. THAT was the barbarous part - not the fact that seats weren't assigned, but that you had to stand for so long if you wanted a shot at a decent seat.
Southwest recently revised its boarding procedure. Each boarding pass, as it's issued, is assigned a sequential number (A1 through A60, then B1 through B60, and so forth). Passengers don't need to line up until boarding is about to begin, and you stand in groups of five (A1-5, A6-10,..) in order. So if you check in early, you get a low A number, and you get a good choice of seat. More importantly, families with children are allowed to board together as a group, but only between the A and B groups, after the early check-in folks get seated. Pre-boarding is allowed still for the elderly, disabled, and kids traveling alone (presumably the last so that flight attendants can keep track of where they are).
With all due respect to the fellow who's 6'2 and 300 lbs, no standard coach seat is going to fit you comfortably, no matter what airline. You're going to be edging into the folks seated next to you, or sticking out into the aisle, and that's not the fault of Southwest's boarding process. Perhaps airline seats should be made wider to accommodate the ever-widening American carcass, but don't blame a boarding process for the fact that you're just too big for standard seating.
at least southwest finally fixed (enabled?) the mobile site. (it started working for me a week or so ago, but may have been up earlier than that.)
As far as standing in line too long -- if you have a physical limitation, the pre-boarding consideration allows for this. If you're just irritated that someone else beat you out for the seat you wanted, well, life is not fair -- better luck next time.
I'm primarily a business traveler and have to make reservations on many different airlines with only a couple of weeks notice or much less quite often. At least SouthWest's process gives me a chance to get a seat I prefer while conventional seat assignment processes put me in a middle seat...and maybe back by the restrooms where other factors add to my discomfort.
Why don't we all focus on complaining about the real problem -- seats made for Hobbits. While I'm not a "6'2", 300lb" XXXX, I am big, but physically fit. First Class offers the only seats that are comfortable. Even when I can afford them, they are not available more times than not.
For consideration: facilitate gate baggage check-in; stop people from bringing the 'kichen sink' on board; lobby for better seat design (write your airline? congressman? Santa Claus?)
Finally, maybe the answer is the golden rule. Take every opportunity to help others whenever possible. Let elderly sit and hold their spot in line, switch seats with someone when asked to help place parents & children together...or even husbands and wives (go figure) and be considerate of the person's space sitting next to you. It seems as a society, we're grown to expect a rule of process to solve all our problems and not our own actions.
Another thing. There is no first class on Southwest. All the seats are the same size. Most of us prefer an aisle or window seat but being forced to sit in the middle does not represent an extreme physical hardship. This whole thing about the elderly deserving the best seats doesn't make a lot of sense. And if it's so important for families to sit together then the should choose another airline. Southwest is not always the cheapest and even when they are it's usually not by much.
Finally, I've read recently that Southwest was planning to go to assigned seating. If that's the case then this all becomes a moot point. I'd like to see Southwest do this. Maybe charge a little more for the aisle and window seats. But then people might complain that this is unfair to some groups because now only the most affluent would be getting the preferred seats. Life's so darn unfair, or maybe we just like to whine about things.
Either I am on missing something here or I am on the most laidback SW flights in the system.
That being said, I prefer the old fashioned method of having a seat assigment to SW's crazyness.
Stop grinding this axe, my friend, and find a more rewarding hobby.
The game is to figure out how to beat those odds. I never used "Pass-A-Matic" but I wouldn't have called it a solution to a barbaric problem - it had flaws like every other seat assignment system.
All airlines seating systems can be categorized as "barbaric" (especially if the only choice you get is a middle seat). Some airlines charge more for an preferred seat. As soon as I hit an elite level of some other airlines frequent flyer programs, WHOLE ROWS opened up that were never available to me even when flying on a high-priced ticket.
Southwest has chosen to reward early check-in - certainly in line with the operational efficiency and egalitarian images they portray in their marketing. They are content with not having people who insist on pre-assigned seats as customers. Before web checkin existed, people with time on their hands (seniors, some families) would get the A passes. As pointed out before, Pass-A-Matic shifted the reward to on-line saavy people "in the know" about the service. I agree that it was only a matter of time until the owners of Pass-A-Matic would start pricing their service along the lines of "$10 if we get you an A pass".
If I were Southwest, I would not want third parties outside of my control affecting how I deliver my customer experience. It is one reason why Southwest did not use travel agents when they started up 35 years ago. I am content with leaving their "not-duplicated-elsewhere in the airline industry" practices be. If they work for me for a particular trip, I fly them; otherwise, I fly someone else.
- by insurit2 November 28, 2007 7:56 AM PST
- I just called the Southwest consumer relations department today to explain what I consider to be a real problem with their new system and the way they are trying to protect it. My concerns got me a response of "fly more as a revenue passenger to get the guaranteed A". That's not really a very nice thing to say to someone who flys a lot as a revenue passenger that is also on even more SW flights as a non-revenue companion pass customer.
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(18 Comments)The company wants to shut down any other way to obtain priority boarding other than paying them. The TOS for online check-in that they are trying to enforce with cease and desist letters are such that ONLY the person that is flying can do the check-in. According to the interpretation of the SW legal minds you are breaking the rules by having anyone else check you in. So, no secretaries or family memebers better check you in or you are violating the terms of service. This means that all of the free automated services that would check you in on your behalf are being threatened with litigation. SW has resorted to defining them as "travel services business" to enforce the SW TOS.
As a frequent flyer I see multiple problems.
1. There are now 60 A boarders. They renamed a fair amount of previous B boarders and now call them A's.
2. Anyone traveling on a companion pass is on their own and doesn't get the same A pass as the person they are tied to in the ticketing system.
3. As a person that flies frequently with multiple trips, check-ins right at the 24 hr mark are sometimes impossible. Sometimes it's the SW system that refuses to allow check-in unless you have flown all your previous segments, sometimes it's that you are in the air and can't get it done. Your buddy get the A and you get whatever there is by the time you can check in. And I really don't want to hear "your buddy should save you a seat" nonsense.
When I clearly explained these issues to the "consumer affairs" rep, I was told I need to take more paying flights and then I'd be guranteed and A boarding pass. Maybe it's time to go elsewhere as the "customer service" and appreciation is gone at SW.