The Airlines MIGHT be getting it right
One of the biggest benefits of still being a college student is breaks. Usually I just got home, relax, and reflect on the past semester, while catching up on all my missed TV shows and movies. So the before before leaving school town and going to home town, I check in online with my airline. I go through all the steps just like normal until the last one. 
It looks a little different. There is a new option for how I would like to receive my boarding pass… via text message. Are you serious!?!? This was crazy to me that the airline industry would do something proactive to provide convenience to customers. So I selected text message and with seconds, voila! A special bar code to scan at the airport.
This may not seem like a huge deal, but looks at the global impacts it can have. No more standing in line to print your boarding pass, no more wasting paper or ink at home, and no more worrying about losing that annoying slip. So back to my story. I walk up to security where they check my ID, show the attendant my cell phone, and she places it face down on a custom reader. Sweet! I make it through security (while they scan my body parts in their new machines) and go to my gate. Same thing happens there. Oh how I love technology.
But that’s not all. Also while I was printing my boarding pass, I saw a little ad on my screen. It wasn’t pesky, rather very helpful. The ad was by Google, and stated that from November 20th to January 2nd, all flights equipped with wifi would allow travelers to access the Internet for FREE. Oh how I love Google.
Although these are just minor steps, I believe they will help the struggling industry if companies continue to be proactive. In addition, the companies that continue to strategically align with others such as Google will have a huge advantage. Imagine, if I can fly Delta and pay $xxx.xx per ticket or fly American and have the same price but with free wifi, who would I chose? Southwest. JK.
What do you think. Do these added conveniences make traveling more appealing to you? Would you select one airline over another based on expanded service offerings?
-Austin
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It is smart for airlines to be proactive, but I feel like most airlines are just trying to find ways around SouthWest’s awesome service and prices. I’d still choose SouthWest because I’d rather the piece of mind that if something comes up I will be able to work with awesome customer service and won’t have to pay random fees if I have to change my flight. I always try to use SouthWest first, because to me the internet can wait during my flight.
I think we already see this in the works with Southwest actually! Not having to pay for your bags is often the benefit that leads so many loyal customers back to their departure gates time and again. However, these types of strategies are long term. Southwest didn’t just wake up one day with customer loyalty… they built it by being consistent and providing great prices to their customers. No company is too big to lose, ask Microsoft.
AWESOME!