Southwest Airlines Increases Charge for Early-Boarding Fees

[NHdisneylover]

I'm so glad that no one was that confrontational on my SWA flight. My mom and I were flying together and she wanted to use the restroom real quick before takeoff. When there was a break in the line of people coming in, she got up and used the cabin restroom in the front of the plane. Since we had paid for the tickets that automatically put us in 1-15, we were in the second row with boarding numbers #3 and #4 (or maybe #4 or #5, whatever). While she was gone, several people asked if the seat was taken even though she left her jacket and iPad on the seat. I responded, yes my mother is sitting there. They either said okay or shrugged and went to the multitude of seats available behind us. I would have been livid if someone moved her jacket and Ipad on the ground and sat in her seat simply because she was not in the seat at that very second. Personally, I would never make an assumption that I'm more entitled to an "open" seat that has stuff on it than someone who got there first.

If you'd said yes, she's in the restroom, and indicated the ocupoccu toilet, I'd not take the seat of someone who'd actually boarded. Good gracious, now I'm "confrontational" . This thread is certainly interesting.

 

[DisneylandDarling]

If you'd said yes, she's in the restroom, and indicated the ocupoccu toilet, I'd not take the seat of someone who'd actually boarded. Good gracious, now I'm "confrontational" . This thread is certainly interesting.

Okay, that's fair but not what your previous post implied ("if no actual person is already on the plane to be pointed out to me"). I'm just having a hard time justifying why someone would move another person's property onto the floor when someone can't/won't physically point out the person who is supposed to be sitting in that seat, especially when there are other open seats to choose from (albeit further back). If someone was the last few to board and people were still saving seats, then I would understand needing to do something like that. But in that case a flight attendant would be the one telling the other passenger (not removing themselves) to move their stuff. It's not the passenger's job to determine who is selecting/saving seats appropriately.

 

[buzzrelly]

My take on it is that except for a brief period while you are getting settled in your seat, your personal belongings do not belong on any other seat. I would be polite, but firm. "If you are not sitting in this seat, I plan to sit here. Please remove your belongings." If they say "I'm saving it," I would again firmly (but politely) say "I'm here first. Under the boarding policies of this airline, if you wish to board and sit with someone else, you are supposed to board with the higher boarding position Sorry. You can't save for someone with a higher boarding position." It really makes no sense that one person can spend the money, and keep someone with a lower boarding number from getting the seat over someone with a higher boarding number. The logic is ridiculous and you have to twist yourself into pretzels to justify it (general you, not YOU in particular....LOL).

Personally, I'd love to see Southwest be very clear about this and outright stop seat savers. It takes very little effort to announce "No saving of seats is permitted" and then the earlier boarding passenger would be less likely to do it, and there would be less disagreements.

I get it, but I'm telling you…at that time if you would have said that to me I would have been completely clueless since the Southwest agent is the one who told me it was okay to do so. Who knows if they are still doing this so there may be more clueless people who unwittingly think it's okay to save seats. In my case, the other two in our party were not that far behind us since I had checked them in exactly at 24 hours.

Unless the plane was insanely full (which it likely would not be since I do EBCI), I would just keep walking. I don't enjoy confronting strangers, especially about something so ridiculous as a seat.

 

[cabanafrau]

If you'd said yes, she's in the restroom, and indicated the ocupoccu toilet, I'd not take the seat of someone who'd actually boarded. Good gracious, now I'm "confrontational" . This thread is certainly interesting.

The way I look at it is people are likely to get irritated about almost anything these days. Irritated people are liable to react in unpredictable ways. Who knows if my exercising my right to select that unoccupied seat by clearing out someone's bag or coat is liable to trigger the person who placed it there to act out? On a plane environment the consequences of misunderstandings is incredibly high.

I absolutely understand what you're saying and agree you would be on the right side of things. I'm uncertain there would be onlookers to back you up if things got messy. A plane simply isn't where I would make that choice.

 

[ronandannette]

As a very frequent flier this thread reminds me why I never have and hope to never fly on Southwest. Westjet, Air Canada, Delta and Allegiant and never deal with this silliness.

Not to mention the last thing I want to do is board early and sit for 20 minutes in the chaos while everyone else gets situated. We check in on-line and don’t really care where we sit (although I do avoid the back, non-reclining row). Then regardless of our boarding group we wait at the gate until almost everyone else has gone through. We don’t take carry-on except my purse, so we just walk on, sit down and take off. If we ever had the chance to fly SW, I imagine we’d still do just that and let anyone who wants to pay for early-boarding have at it.

 

[morgan98]

[QUOTE="FairestOfThemAll37, post: 59653149, member: 461647"I honestly wouldn’t let it deter you. I’ve flown Southwest a fair amount and have had exactly one instance of seat issues. I find the boarding process on the legacy airlines way more tedious even with assigned seats and I usually fly 1st class because I’m fancy and awesome (lol not really, I’m willing to pay extra so my invaded space bubble anxiety is a little lower). Plus the flexibility of changing your tickets or cancelling on Southwest cannot be beat.[/QUOTE]

I understand and I am still not interested. Not flying Southwest is a choice I routinely make just like choosing to shop at certain stores, etc.

Having status with a large legacy carrier eliminates this nonsense anyway.

 

[cabanafrau]

Not to mention the last thing I want to do is board early and sit for 20 minutes in the chaos while everyone else gets situated. We check in on-line and don’t really care where we sit (although I do avoid the back, non-reclining row). Then regardless of our boarding group we wait at the gate until almost everyone else has gone through. We don’t take carry-on except my purse, so we just walk on, sit down and take off. If we ever had the chance to fly SW, I imagine we’d still do just that and let anyone who wants to pay for early-boarding have at it.

You mean you don't love every moment trapped in the too close confines of a smelly metal tube?

 

[ronandannette]

You mean you don't love every moment trapped in the too close confines of a smelly metal tube?

No, but I am coming dangerously close to loving Ativan - I’ve got 5 stashed away “just in case” for my upcoming vacation flights in September.

 

[GreatLakes]

I think it is a great move. There is no need to set a limit on the number you sell, you decide on the number you want to sell and if more people than that number are buying them you increase the price until that number falls to the desired limit. It is pretty much the first lesson you learn in Econ 101. Use price to shift the intersection of supply and demand to the desired level.

 

[dish rag]

The way I look at it is people are likely to get irritated about almost anything these days. Irritated people are liable to react in unpredictable ways. Who knows if my exercising my right to select that unoccupied seat by clearing out someone's bag or coat is liable to trigger the person who placed it there to act out? On a plane environment the consequences of misunderstandings is incredibly high.

I absolutely understand what you're saying and agree you would be on the right side of things. I'm uncertain there would be onlookers to back you up if things got messy. A plane simply isn't where I would make that choice.

I agree, we have had issues with the TSA ,customs and so forth, probably should have complained, but it's a no winning thing.

 

[dish rag]

I think it is a great move. There is no need to set a limit on the number you sell, you decide on the number you want to sell and if more people than that number are buying them you increase the price until that number falls to the desired limit. It is pretty much the first lesson you learn in Econ 101. Use price to shift the intersection of supply and demand to the desired level.

I agree totally, Southwest is not charging enough for the early seating. I would be pricing it much higher. People who want to pay will, those who don't, or can't won't.

 

[MillauFr]

Reading posts about Southwest and the seating fiasco is the reason I have never flown them and never have any intention of doing so.

Ditto. I like to board last. I fly Alaska where the checked bags are free and all of the seats are reserved. No reason to queue up and rush on the plane.

 

[bcla]

Ditto. I like to board last. I fly Alaska where the checked bags are free and all of the seats are reserved. No reason to queue up and rush on the plane.

Checked bags aren't free on Alaska.

 

[MillauFr]

Checked bags aren't free on Alaska.

Checked bags are free on most airlines. You just have to sign up for the credit card. The perks they give you on the Alaska Airlines credit card far exceeds what the yearly fee is. Getting those $700+ tickets to Kauai for $145 is a great perk of the credit card.

 

[Squirlz]

I've purchased EB several times in the last 5 years and it was always $25. I haven't been able to find a decent non-stop to MCO for the last 2 years though.

 

[gotomu212]

I'm so glad that no one was that confrontational on my SWA flight. My mom and I were flying together and she wanted to use the restroom real quick before takeoff. When there was a break in the line of people coming in, she got up and used the cabin restroom in the front of the plane. Since we had paid for the tickets that automatically put us in 1-15, we were in the second row with boarding numbers #3 and #4 (or maybe #4 or #5, whatever). While she was gone, several people asked if the seat was taken even though she left her jacket and iPad on the seat. I responded, yes my mother is sitting there. They either said okay or shrugged and went to the multitude of seats available behind us. I would have been livid if someone moved her jacket and Ipad on the ground and sat in her seat simply because she was not in the seat at that very second. Personally, I would never make an assumption that I'm more entitled to an "open" seat that has stuff on it than someone who got there first.

This is completely different. Once you are on the plane and have taken your seat I don’t think there’s any problem with using the restroom or getting in the overhead, etc. There’s a big difference between “yes my family of 3 is out at the gate” and “a woman is sitting here but is in the restroom”.

 

[sam_gordon]

I've purchased EB several times in the last 5 years and it was always $25. I haven't been able to find a decent non-stop to MCO for the last 2 years though.

Was that $25 for the round trip? It was $12.50 per destination, so it would be $25 for round trip. Now they're making it $25 for each destination, so $50 round trip.

 

[sam_gordon]

This is completely different. Once you are on the plane and have taken your seat I don’t think there’s any problem with using the restroom or getting in the overhead, etc. There’s a big difference between “yes my family of 3 is out at the gate” and “a woman is sitting here but is in the restroom”.

So all seat savers need to say is the person is in the restroom? Done.

 

[bcla]

So I fly out next week and I have copied your post and will be carrying several copies with me!!!!

That's not going to be of any use. Really. Showing a random message board post without any official standing is probably going to be ignored. It was just an anecdote expressing what happened in one case and not a matter of official policy.

Southwest has their own message board. There's one person who compiled a list of official Southwest Airlines Facebook posts where the "no official policy policy" was stated by representatives of Southwest Airlines, along with a letter.

https://www.southwestaircommunity.com/t5/Boarding/Saving-Seats/m-p/70964/highlight/true#M1380

Here's some examples:

 

[DisneylandDarling]

This is completely different. Once you are on the plane and have taken your seat I don’t think there’s any problem with using the restroom or getting in the overhead, etc. There’s a big difference between “yes my family of 3 is out at the gate” and “a woman is sitting here but is in the restroom”.

Except the other person in the example didn't say that, he said his wife was sitting in the seat. I get what you're saying, though. The only problem with that is that there is no difference in how the seat appears. The other passengers don't know whether the person is already on board or out at the gate unless they confront each seat with items on it, then when they aren't satisfied with the answer (or perhaps lack of answer) they put the stuff on the ground. That's the danger with passengers policing the policy rather than allowing the flight attendants to do it.