Southwest Adds Online Booking, Revamps FF Plan
<H1>Southwest Adds Online Booking, Revamps FF Plan</H1><H3>By Jay Campbell</H3><I>Dallas </I>- Southwest Airlines last month became the largest carrier to offer air travel purchasing on the Internet.
Accessed through Southwest's homepage, the program allows users to purchase ticketless travel using a credit card; the traveler can either print out an itinerary as a receipt or have one faxed. A receipt also is mailed automatically.
The airline joins a short list of carriers, including British Midland and Alaska Airlines (BTN, Jan. 29), offering such a service. Virgin Atlantic also has announced that online booking will be available soon.
"Over the past year, we have tested and retested dozens of online purchasing options," said Kevin Krone, Southwest's manager of marketing automation. "We are thrilled with this product because it not only met our high customer service standards, but exceeded them."
Asked whether the program was developed to target corporate use, a source at Southwest said, "not necessarily. We just want to make our product available in as may varied ways as we can." Internet booking, he said, is not part of any larger effort to penetrate the corporate market.
The security of credit card information has prevented some airlines from moving forward with Internet purchasing capability, but Southwest said such information is encrypted and protected by a firewall developed by Harris Computer Systems.
Alaska Airlines said there have been more visits to its online booking site than anticipated in the first three months. The number of booked and paid tickets, however, has been modest. "We're selling tickets, but not a bunch," said spokesman Lou Cancelmi. "It seems people are curious but still not consuming. The product has, however, been very valuable in increasing awareness about Alaska Airlines worldwide."
Southwest also has revamped its frequent flyer program, adding new partners and renaming it Rapid Rewards. The program, formerly known as Company Club, offers a round-trip ticket for every eight round trips (or 16 flight credits based on one-way segments) flown within 12 consecutive months. While most other programs require 25,000 miles before earning a free domestic ticket, Rapid Rewards members can earn one after an average of 8,400 miles flown. The program also offers a year's worth of free travel for a designated companion if a member flies 50 round trips or earns 100 flight credits within a year.
Partners in Rapid Rewards include MCI, Alamo, Budget and Hertz. Southwest also continues participation in American Express Membership Rewards and Diners Club Rewards. Southwest award tickets are fully transferable.
In other Southwest news, Business Travel Contractors Corp. president Kevin Mitchell said Southwest, the consortium's first and only airline partner, has been invited to the group's advisory council meeting this month in Michigan. At the meeting, BTCC companies and Southwest will plan to shift market share to the airline.
In addition, a Southwest proxy statement revealed that chairman and CEO Herb Kelleher's salary has been frozen at $395,000 for the next four years as part of a five-year agreement made with the airline's pilots union. In the final year, Kelleher's salary will increase to $450,000. The pilots will take a five-year wage freeze in exchange for stock options.