Greyhound gets priority boarding and assigned seating

by Catherine Bodry on

Greyhound is getting more than just a $60-million makeover; now the company is following its airline counterpart Southwest and offering priority boarding and seating. For only 5 extra dollars, you can not only reserve your seat, but you can be one of the first to board as well.

You won’t get to choose your seat and board early on every trip; the Los Angeles Times notes that Greyhound is introducing this service on only about a dozen popular routes. Furthermore, you can’t use the service through the internet — you’ll need to do it in person at the bus terminal anywhere from 45 days to 30 minutes before your ride leaves.

For only $5 extra, it seems like everyone will want to take advantage of this service. I’m wondering what will happen if everyone decides to go for the “priority” option. It could be a real bummer for those who are the last to register. What do you think?

Southwest airlines to allow higher-paying customers boarding priority

by Catherine Bodry on

Justin covered Southwest Airlines‘ boarding procedures as the company tooled around with changes (here and here). But as the boarding rules changed, one thing remained constant: all citizens were equal on Southwest flights. Here, the economy-class commoners mingled with business-class budgeters. There was no “class warfare” on Southwest, as there were no classes. It was all economy, all the way. No special boarding, and no special treatment.

But although Southwest is maintaining the illusion of a perfect democracy, those with more money will soon be able to board first and get their pick of seats. The airline isn’t adding a First or Business class, and presumably it’s still in the budget-airline category. But it is beginning to cater to business travelers by selling last-minute and more expensive tickets to “business select” travelers. Customers who buy these tickets are automatically placed in the “A” boarding group, which gets to board first. “Business select” travelers even get a complimentary cocktail!

Sounds like a new class has emerged at Southwest after all.

Read the full article here.

Remember Kyla Ebbert, the Southwest Airlines “Skirtgate” girl? Click here to check out her shameless MySpace photos.

Southwest Airlines Imposes Dress Code Yet Again: Passenger Ordered to Change T-shirt

by Catherine Bodry on

What’s going on with Southwest Airlines? Surely with all the negative media coverage the airline’s flight attendants should know better than to impose any kind of dress code — not with the very real potential for lawsuits these days.

Then again, every time a Southwest employee has made a judgment call on a passenger’s duds, the company gets loads of media attention. And all this attention means that Southwest is in the spotlight — never mind why. This attention — and the “specials” that have followed — makes all this clothing-censor business mighty suspicious as far as I’m concerned.

First it was Kyla Ebbert and her teeny-tiny skirt (which appears to be conservative for her, based on her MySpace page photos). This time, the passenger, Joe Winiecki, was a male wearing a “sexually suggestive” t-shirt. Although Winiecki felt that the employee’s request that he change his shirt or leave the plane was a violation of his First Amendment rights, he changed rather than risk missing a day of work. Naturally, a Southwest spokesperson said the employee made a mistake.

I wonder how Southwest will spin this latest incident into a fare special? Last time it was “mini” fares. I’m sure they can find some clever double-entendre in this case as well.

“Princess” Kyla Ebbert’s MySpace Photos: Her Other Outfit

by Justin Glow on

I’ve pretty much had it with the Kyla Ebbert, Southwest Airlines, skimpy skirt story, but a few interesting tidbits surfaced that were too good to pass up. I feel like the TMZ of the travel world, but here it goes — a real piece of journalese….

The geeks (I mean that in the nicest way!) over at Jaunted noticed that while Kyla quickly switched her MySpace profile to private after Skirtgate, Google’s cache of the page remained public. What did they find? Kyla’s airplane clothes may have been provocative, but that’s nothing compared to her “going out” lingerie clothes (right). To see a, uh, different angle, be sure and check out this image… though it could be not-safe-for-work.

“I can’t imagine what ‘oh seven’ will bring cuz 06 was AMAZING,” she wrote on her Myspace blog in January. I bet she never thought she’d be famous for the reasons she is — that’s for sure.

Westside!

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Gadling Readers Respond to Southwest’s Decision to Drop Family Pre-Board

by Justin Glow on

Yesterday we covered Southwest Airline’s decision to discontinue their pre-boarding service for families, and our readers are reacting.

“Traveling with a family on SW is (or was) really great, you got the low fares and were able to preboard, in essences cutting the line and sit where you wanted. Now that they take that away if you are bringing the family you have to get there really early (sitting in an airport for hours with small kids is no fun), run the risk of being separated on board, or hope a stranger is kind enough to switch with you so you can sit together. So for someone with a family flying southwest it is actually much less attractive than paying a little more for assigned seats.” writes Jennifer.

Another reader says, “Interesting…actually everyone boarding a plane will be affected…. so, even if I did not have any kids, I would still prefer families with children to board ahead, so they would not be in the way! Dumb move on Southwest’s part!”

“I am a new father, and having flown with and without children, this does not seem to be a very good policy. Without children, I’d rather not be inconvienced while i’m trying to board as families wrestled with their kids and various devices to keep them occupied during the trip. With children, I appreciate the room and time to sit and get settled without feeling rushed by the line of people behind me. On an airline with assigned seats, i can board last, as i did last weekend. However, this is not an option with SWA, and now flying with them is not an option either,” says another Gadling reader, Doug.

Not looking good so far, Southwest. Still no word about the issue on the blog…

Click here to read the rest of the comments, and leave a few of your own!