Southwest Airlines Jumping on the "Cashless Cabin" Bandwagon

It was reported by Bizjournals online that Southwest Airlines:
is jumping on the so-called “cashless cabin” bandwagon.The Dallas-based
airline said all of its aircraft will be equipped with devices to
handle credit- and debit-card transactions from passengers. Cash will
no longer be accepted for beverage purchases during flights, beginning
next Tuesday.Good idea? Southwest sure seems to think so.....


--
Rik Brown
Message Origin: TRAVEL.com

Rik Brown wrote:
It was reported by Bizjournals online that Southwest Airlines:
is jumping on the so-called “cashless cabin” bandwagon.The Dallas-based
airline said all of its aircraft will be equipped with devices to
handle credit- and debit-card transactions from passengers. Cash will
no longer be accepted for beverage purchases during flights, beginning
next Tuesday.Good idea? Southwest sure seems to think so.....


Cash is a big hassle to flight attendants. If they don't have sufficient
change then they give the passenger the beverage and tell them that
they'll come back later to collect the money when they have change, but
they often forget or never get enough change.

So few passengers lack a credit or debit card that it shouldn't be a
problem for alcoholic beverages. For airlines that sell food it may be
more of a problem because older kids traveling alone often have no
credit or debit card.

You see more and more businesses in general moving cashless. A few
retro-grouch customers are lost, but there are sufficient advantages to
not taking cash to still make it a net positive.

"Larry in AZ" wrote in message
.. .
Waiving the right to remain silent, SMS said:

You see more and more businesses in general moving cashless. A few
retro-grouch customers are lost, but there are sufficient advantages to
not taking cash to still make it a net positive.

On our US currency it is printed: "This note is legal tender for all debts
public and private" As such, anyone not accepting it in the correct
amount
is most likely breaking federal law.

Being acceptable as tender is not the same as a requirement
that it be accepted.

Bob M.

In article ,
Larry in AZ wrote:

On our US currency it is printed: "This note is legal tender for all debts
public and private" As such, anyone not accepting it in the correct amount
is most likely breaking federal law.

This is not what ``legal tender'' means.

An airline is a private enterprise, the passenger has no debt to it
before ordering the drink, they can require whatever form of payment
they want.

In message SMS
wrote:

Cash is a big hassle to flight attendants. If they don't have sufficient
change then they give the passenger the beverage and tell them that
they'll come back later to collect the money when they have change, but
they often forget or never get enough change.

So few passengers lack a credit or debit card that it shouldn't be a
problem for alcoholic beverages. For airlines that sell food it may be
more of a problem because older kids traveling alone often have no
credit or debit card.

You see more and more businesses in general moving cashless. A few
retro-grouch customers are lost, but there are sufficient advantages to
not taking cash to still make it a net positive.

For the cash-only society, we'll probably see airport vending machines
start selling Visa-logoed prepaid cards right in the airport, allowing
planes to remain cashless, while allowing the cash-only crowd to
effectively buy a voucher for plane food.

"DevilsPGD" wrote:
For the cash-only society, we'll probably see airport vending
machines start selling Visa-logoed prepaid cards right in the
airport, allowing planes to remain cashless, while allowing the
cash-only crowd to effectively buy a voucher for plane food.

They could do what some cruiselines do: At check-in, issue
their own on-board charge cards which runs up debits against
a cash deposit or a credit card. But then, where would they
put the casino?

Rik Brown wrote:
It was reported by Bizjournals online that Southwest Airlines:
is jumping on the so-called “cashless cabin” bandwagon.


Am not opposed to this in concept. However, i think there are still a
lot of people who do not have credit cards. Perhaps in the USA it is
different, but in Canada, one now needs to be 18 to have a credit card.
(and one needs to be 16 to get a credit card attached to their parent's
account).

I take it that Southwest will authorize credit card transactions "live"
thorugh some wireless (satellite or ground station based) system ? Or
will they just collect all credit card transactions and have then
processed when the plane next lands at an airport where a data
connection can be established ?

I can just see now "sorry sir, you can't drink that can of coke until we
fly over a tower and I can get a confirmation that your credit card is
valid".

Now that VISA and MasterCard have pretty well abandonned the concept of
any VISA card being usable anywhere in the world, I wonder if Southwest
(and other airlines who follow) will only accept USA credit cards on
board. Tourists from other countries would be caught in a bind, unable
to pay for drinks in real US currency, and having their non-USA credit
cards rejected.

Larry in AZ wrote:
Waiving the right to remain silent, SMS said:

You see more and more businesses in general moving cashless. A few
retro-grouch customers are lost, but there are sufficient advantages to
not taking cash to still make it a net positive.

On our US currency it is printed: "This note is legal tender for all debts
public and private" As such, anyone not accepting it in the correct amount
is most likely breaking federal law.

The restaurants that don't take cash are the type where you pay first,
so no debt is incurred that needs to be paid.

DevilsPGD wrote:

For the cash-only society, we'll probably see airport vending machines
start selling Visa-logoed prepaid cards right in the airport, allowing
planes to remain cashless, while allowing the cash-only crowd to
effectively buy a voucher for plane food.

Perhaps. Remember that those prepaid cards often have very hefty fees
associated with them. There are activation fees, monthly or annual fees,
inactivity fees, and reload fees.

One of my banks is relatively unique in that they charge none of those
fees for their prepaid Mastercard.

Do they still allow you to bring your own food and drinks on board?

---
http://www.moviesitearchive.com/travel

On Sep 3, 11:56*am, Rik Brown Rik.Brown.3f6...@no-
mx.forums.travel.com wrote:
It was reported by Bizjournals online that Southwest Airlines:

is jumping on the so-called “cashless cabin” bandwagon.The Dallas-based
airline said all of its aircraft will be equipped with devices to
handle credit- and debit-card transactions from passengers. Cash will
no longer be accepted for beverage purchases during flights, beginning
next Tuesday.Good idea? Southwest sure seems to think so.....

--
Rik Brown
Message Origin: TRAVEL.com