Southwest tweeted this week that they will soon offer free same-day standby on all fares, which is an enhancement for those who book Wanna Get Away fares, and free Wi-Fi for those who purchase Business Select. I find the free Wi-Fi to be a bit of a snoozer benefit if only offered on Business Select fares, but free same-day standby is certainly a nice addition for those booking the cheapest fares.
The Deal
- Southwest has announced that they will soon be offering free same-day standby for all customers and free In-flight Internet for Business Select fares. We don’t know exactly when this will be implemented beyond “soon”.
Quick Thoughts
While it sounds nice that some passengers will get free in-flight Wi-Fi, it’s not all that special when you consider the fact that Wi-Fi only costs $8 per segment. Don’t get me wrong, I like to save eight bucks as much as anybody, but I think it would be a pretty rare instance where saving eight or sixteen bucks (if you’re flying two segments) on Wi-Fi would be the factor that makes it worth springing for Business Select over another fare type. The other options to get free Wi-Fi would be with A-list Preferred status or the Southwest Performance Business card.
More interesting to me is the chance for those on even the cheapest fares to get free same-day standby. Currently, Wanna Get Away Plus fares qualify for a free same-day (confirmed) change and I have paid more for a Wanna Get Away Plus fare for that feature. In at least some instances, I’d probably save the miles and book Wanna Get Away once Southwest begins offering free same-day standby so that I could try to hop on an earlier flight (though I’d probably still pay the small premium for a fare where I could confirm that change when traveling with my family).
Overall, these seem like positive changes. They aren’t major improvements in my opinion, but it’s nice to see positive changes nonetheless.
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I am guessing, based on the sketchiness of the info so far, that no one knows this answer, but I will ask anyway. Does the free standby only work for individual flights, or does it work for entire itineraries? For example, I have an upcoming ORD-DEN-EUG itinerary. Can I standby for any earlier ORD-EUG routing (e.g. through LAS) and, if so, do I have to wait for both of the legs to clear before getting put on the first flight?