Southwest's Fee-Fighting Marketing Efforts

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  ab@...08/07/08 Report as spam
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  RE: Southwest's Fee-Fighting Marketing Efforts

  This article missed the boat completely. It appears this author had no idea as to how and why Southwest can run a marketing campaign like this. Southwest pre purchased their gasoline through 2010. They are not facing the same pricing pressures as the other airlines and this is the perfect opportunity to take market share. Seems like that is a key fact that should have been mentioned.

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  NaniMadrina08/07/08 Report as spam
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  RE: Southwest's Fee-Fighting Marketing Efforts

  SWA is smart in many ways. Buying oil in advance was one, capitalizing on the advantage it gives them is another. Read NUTS to get a broader idea of the philosophy behind this revolutionary company....and why they are head and shoulders above their competition. And, no I don't work for them or have any relatives that do.
  

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  preethan200408/08/08 Report as spam
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  RE: Southwest's Fee-Fighting Marketing Efforts

  sounds crazy .........ridiculous !!!

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  ajitksharma08/08/08 Report as spam
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  RE: Southwest's Fee-Fighting Marketing Efforts

  The reasons for No-fee marketing campaign are not clear. But if SWA is gaining from this idea, then there is real cause for concern for the competitors.

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  brett snyder08/26/08 Report as spam
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  RE: Southwest's Fee-Fighting Marketing Efforts

  Sorry I didn't respond to this earlier. There was a problem with the comments system so I couldn't actually tell that these were sitting here.
  
  ab@ - Yes, Southwest hedges their fuel, and yes, that keeps their costs lower, but it doesn't explain their willingness to avoid fees. Their fuel costs have been steadily rising, and their financial results have deteriorated over the last few years. While they do remain profitable, they need to do whatever they can to improve profitability.
  
  For Southwest, it's easy for them to slap on a $25 change fee (or more) and start charging for other things as well. But they've made a conscious decision to avoid that and try to increase revenue via ticket prices instead.
  
  I must admit, I don't understand all the bitterness toward Southwest for hedging fuel. So many people seem to think that they're somehow cheating and have an unfair advantage. There's nothing unfair about it. They just run a good business and had the option to hedge fuel while others couldn't because their balance sheets were too weak.

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  Geetu08/26/08 Report as spam
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  RE: Southwest's Fee-Fighting Marketing Efforts

  South west has always had innovative marketing ideas and somehow caring for customer always makes for better marketing .whether they hedged the fuel or not is irrelevant what comes across more is trying to make the customer feel justified.the campaign is good and excellent idea for thinking out of the box.