{"id":17341,"date":"2010-10-29T17:49:53","date_gmt":"2010-10-29T21:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/?p=17341"},"modified":"2010-10-29T17:49:53","modified_gmt":"2010-10-29T21:49:53","slug":"more-thoughts-on-airtran-and-southwest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/more-thoughts-on-airtran-and-southwest\/","title":{"rendered":"More Thoughts On Airtran And Southwest"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a huge Southwest fan, my initial reaction to the merger announcement was quite ecstatic<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Since then, I have had some more time to digest this and read other’s opinions.\u00a0\u00a0 Over at The View From The Wing<\/a>, there is speculation that Southwest’s invasion of Atlanta might signal the end to bag fees.\u00a0\u00a0 He makes a good argument, but I would counter with the fact that between Medallions and Amex Gold card holders, many people are already getting these fees waived.\u00a0\u00a0 Furthermore, Southwest already blankets other airline’s hubs in fee free goodness, like Denver, yet United and even Frontier have not backed down from their stupid fees.\u00a0\u00a0 I have a hard time believing Delta will react much differently.<\/p>\n

What I could see happening is the expansion of bag fee waivers and discounts.\u00a0 I could see bag fees being waived for people booking vacation packages, or bag fees being included with certain sale fares.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I could see it happening, but I wouldn’t bet on it.\u00a0\u00a0 Airlines like Delta see these fees as the reason they are profitable.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The could retrench, like United to catering to business and premium travelers who either don’t care about these fees as they are reimbursed from their company, or who are exempt from these fees anyways.\u00a0 By doing this, Delta would merely be focusing on their most profitable customers, rather than the market as a whole.<\/p>\n

According to reports from Southwest’s media event this week, they feel that there is actually room to grow in ATL, and that it could easily be their largest market.\u00a0\u00a0 What this merger will do is bring the Southwest effect to Atlanta.\u00a0\u00a0 For those of you who don’t know, the Southwest effect is what happens when fares come down and service levels go up, due to competition.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It is really easy to book a Southwest flight, knowing that without change fees, you are assured of receiving a lower price if the fare later goes on sale.\u00a0\u00a0 You can also cancel your trip and use all of the amount paid towards a future flight.\u00a0 Neither is possible with Delta.<\/p>\n

With extensive coverage in the Southeast, they will now become a truly national airline.\u00a0\u00a0 In fact, with Airtran’s service to Mexico and the Caribbean, they will become an international carrier.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 From an aviation standpoint, the Caribbean flights require over-sea flight equipment, something they will also need if they are to fly to Hawaii.\u00a0\u00a0 Southwest has acquired other carriers before, but it is becoming clear that the Airtran deal will completely change the scope of Southwest and the landscape of the competitive market in North America.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a huge Southwest fan, my initial reaction to the merger announcement was quite ecstatic.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Since then, I have had some more time to digest this and read other’s opinions.\u00a0\u00a0 Over at The View From The Wing, there is speculation that Southwest’s invasion of Atlanta might signal the end to bag fees.\u00a0\u00a0 He makes a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMore Thoughts On Airtran And Southwest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/more-thoughts-on-airtran-and-southwest\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"More Thoughts On Airtran And Southwest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As a huge Southwest fan, my initial reaction to the merger announcement was quite ecstatic.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Since then, I have had some more time to digest this and read other’s opinions.\u00a0\u00a0 Over at The View From The Wing, there is speculation that Southwest’s invasion of Atlanta might signal the end to bag fees.\u00a0\u00a0 He makes a […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/more-thoughts-on-airtran-and-southwest\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ask Mr Credit Card Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-10-29T21:49:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jason Steele\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jason Steele\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/more-thoughts-on-airtran-and-southwest\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/more-thoughts-on-airtran-and-southwest\/\",\"name\":\"More Thoughts On Airtran And Southwest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-10-29T21:49:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-10-29T21:49:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/18331587d05ff4eaeee29fd913227597\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/more-thoughts-on-airtran-and-southwest\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/more-thoughts-on-airtran-and-southwest\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/more-thoughts-on-airtran-and-southwest\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"More Thoughts On Airtran And Southwest\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Ask Mr Credit Card Blog\",\"description\":\"Just another WordPress site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/18331587d05ff4eaeee29fd913227597\",\"name\":\"Jason Steele\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/author\/jsteele\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"More Thoughts On Airtran And Southwest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/more-thoughts-on-airtran-and-southwest\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"More Thoughts On Airtran And Southwest","og_description":"As a huge Southwest fan, my initial reaction to the merger announcement was quite ecstatic.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Since then, I have had some more time to digest this and read other’s opinions.\u00a0\u00a0 Over at The View From The Wing, there is speculation that Southwest’s invasion of Atlanta might signal the end to bag fees.\u00a0\u00a0 He makes a […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/more-thoughts-on-airtran-and-southwest\/","og_site_name":"Ask Mr Credit Card Blog","article_published_time":"2010-10-29T21:49:53+00:00","author":"Jason Steele","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jason Steele","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/more-thoughts-on-airtran-and-southwest\/","url":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/more-thoughts-on-airtran-and-southwest\/","name":"More Thoughts On Airtran And Southwest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-10-29T21:49:53+00:00","dateModified":"2010-10-29T21:49:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/18331587d05ff4eaeee29fd913227597"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/more-thoughts-on-airtran-and-southwest\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/more-thoughts-on-airtran-and-southwest\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/more-thoughts-on-airtran-and-southwest\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"More Thoughts On Airtran And Southwest"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/","name":"Ask Mr Credit Card Blog","description":"Just another WordPress site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/18331587d05ff4eaeee29fd913227597","name":"Jason Steele","url":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/author\/jsteele\/"}]}},"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17341"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17341\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}