Attention Southwest People

[mmouse50]

I am sorry but I think that I am in the minority of liking to be able to pick my own seat. The price difference between the lowest fare and the second to lowest fare (where I get to pick a seat towards the back of the plane) isn't much more than the price that I had to pay for "Early Bird" which I always paid for. Me knowing that I have my seat already picked for my entire party and I don't have to fight the seat saving because only 1 person in a party of 5 or more with kids bought early bird but they all want to sit together or that I bought early bird but ended up in Group B after all the family boarding (which didn't buy the early bird} out of Orlando is much better for me. Assigned seating was the only reason I would fly United but the cost would always draw me back to Southwest and make me purchase the early bird along with free bags. I do have a Southwest credit card so I still don't have to pay for bags. Paying for my suitcase to go on its own vacation with United irked me to no end.

 

[longboard55]

We have credit cards for Hawaiian, Delta and American mainly for the free bags and discounts. Usually one trip more than pays for the yearly fee. Always pay to pick your seat. Had a vacation totally ruined when I tried to go cheap on airfare. Not really worth it.

What I would like to see is airlines enforce the carry on size rules, I see these huge back packs all the time

 

[focusondisney]

Had this happen to me on a Southwest flight and I just sat down anyway lol don't really have the patience for that nonsense. The person didn't say anything to me but they glared at me like I was the most evil person on earth. Not like I care honestly.

I can be pretty assertive, but my husband is a Don’t Make a Scene type person. I had already seen the group arguing & getting nasty with the gate agent. The daughter would definitely have made a scene if I tried to do that. Sure, it ticked me off at the time. But starting my vacation upsetting my husband, stressing myself & spending over 2 hours getting our seats kicked from the group members behind us wasn’t worth being a few rows forward.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I was reading the other day someone reported that with the assigned seats, he finally experienced a flight that wasn't overrun with pre-boards. Sounds like the pre-board stuff got way out of control.

Yes, the pre board stuff was way out of control. Some flights had more than 25 people "needing" to pre board, then when they got to their destination, those same people just walked off the plane, ignoring the wheelchairs. But pre boarding got them a nice seat near the front, plenty of overhead bin space, and often people would also try to save seats for their friends. On one recent flight, they announced that there was a shortage of wheelchair pushers for pre board so if you could walk, please do so. About 90% of the people jumped up from their wheelchairs and hustled down the jetway as fast as they could go. Meanwhile, the few of us who were physically unable to walk were blocked in by the numerous abandoned wheelchairs.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I will pay to choose seats. DS30 has autism and although he could sit away from us, he would be very uncomfortable. He gets anxious being close to or bumped into by people he doesn't know. I always reserve a row of 3 seats so he can be with DH and me. When we flew Southwest in the past, I bought the Early Bird Check-in to ensure we could get a row together.

 

[Dznypal]

Interesting reading--we just flew home on SW from wdw--we were in the old system going down and the new asigned system coming home--
I always booked EBCI so paying for seats wasnt that big of a deal--its one or the other
I did do the upgrade when booking for the extra legroom anf the seats were real nice--we were happy with them--we were in row 4 aisle and middle
We also liked not having to have family boarding between A and B--between B and C would have seemed like a better idea--since usually its mom dad 1 kid and great aunts uncles and cousins twijce removed all getting to board before B
Unto to the WC group we always have to laugh we went to vegas a few years ago and when we landed they brought out 3 people in WC and said someone will come to pick you up--well it seems no one was coming fast enough so all 3 got up and just walked away like all was fine with the world--
I really would have liked if perferred seats had a better benefit then just being a bit closer to the front--a bit more legroom then basic but maybe not as much as extra legroom

am I correct in this that if you buy the lowest fare that your only option is to just take what they give you at checkin theres no option to upgrade from basic

happy flights

 

[pweyl36]

We fly Southwest a lot out of BWI and will be boarding our first flights since they changed things in about two hours into Fort Myers. We both have Southwest credit card so we get free seats and free bags and don’t feel any great change. I’ll report back!

I dont know how far from Delaware you are but have you tried Avello in new castle

 

[Darcy03231]

We used to fly exclusively on Southwest. Between getting rid of almost all of their non-stop flights to places we go, and with price increases, we found that they were no longer the best deal in town several years. Lately, we've found we do better on Delta, JetBlue, or American. I still check when booking flight because every now and then they'll have a great deal, but not often.

 

[mmouse50]

Yes - if you buy the lowest fare (Basic) they assign your seat at the gate. For you to pick your own seat ( which is done when you book your flight) you have to buy atleast the next cheapest fare (which to me is the same as adding EB to my old “Wanna Get Away” fare).

 

[longboard55]

We used to fly exclusively on Southwest. Between getting rid of almost all of their non-stop flights to places we go, and with price increases, we found that they were no longer the best deal in town several years. Lately, we've found we do better on Delta, JetBlue, or American. I still check when booking flight because every now and then they'll have a great deal, but not often.

They seem ti have low fares if you book months in advance, but they fade quickly, also unless it is a short flight they will probably not be non stop

 

[SirDuff]

Yes - if you buy the lowest fare (Basic) they assign your seat at the gate.

At the gate or when you check in? Doing it at the gate (which would be just before boarding), seems insanely chaotic.

 

[china mom]

At the gate or when you check in? Doing it at the gate (which would be just before boarding), seems insanely chaotic.

I don't think you have to actually go up to the customer service agent. I think the app assigns it and updates your barding pass in the app. I think you only have to approach the actual agent if there is an issue. If you don't check in online before a certain amount of time before the flight, you would have to check in with the customer service agent. I am not sure when you ahve to do it by but you can do it as early as 24 hours before your flight.

 

[slo]

I didn’t read all the replies, but I thought I’d chime in since I just booked two flights yesterday.

Picking your own seat has its pros and cons.
Pros - it was very nice to pick our seats. On the map of the plane it showed the seats that are more and the extra price on them.
Cons - When booking under 2 seperate accounts, you and the other person have to be booking at the exact same time, to guarantee you get seats next to each other. My DH and I had to do this last night. I book under my SW account and my DH books my DD22 so we can use the points from his Chase SW.

When it comes to paying or not paying for a suitcase - I called SW about this to get clarification. He said that even though my DD22s ticket is booked with my DH’s points, she will still need to pay to check a suitcase because he is not with. The charge is $35 or $70 round trip - this I’m unhappy with. I’m not sure what we are going to do. We may just use our carry on suitcases and if we buy anything on our trip that doesn’t fit, we’ll just stop at a UPS Store (or an equivalent) on the way to the airport and ship it home.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

DS27 flew Southwest from New York to California a couple days before Christmas. I bought him the Early Bird Check-in so he could get a window seat close to the front of the plane. He almost missed his connection in Denver because a woman with two kids (around 9 and 12) boarded the plane dead last, then proceeded to loudly order people to move so she could sit with her kids. She said she had an earlier boarding position but she was late to the airport and it wasn't her fault.

The flight attendants explained that she could "ask" people to change to one of the random middle seats that where left on the full flight, but that they could not "make" people move. They also explained to her that she and her family needed to be seated so they could push back from the gate on-time. The woman continued to raise her voice, approach people in full rows and tell them to move, etc. Flights attendants were mumbling as they passed my son's row, "Heaven help me! Here we go again!" One got on the phone with the captain, then went back to the woman and spoke with her. My son tuned the whole thing out at the point. They did eventually push back about 30 minutes late. After take-off, they announced that passengers going to four cities were now in danger of missing their connecting flights. Luckily, my son's wasn't one of them, but how sad for those people who likely booked their Christmas travel weeks or months in advance only to have it messed up by an entitled woman who couldn't get to the airport on time.

In Denver, my son had exactly enough time to get off the plane, walk down six gates and take his position in line since his plane was already boarding. No time to use the restroom or grab a sandwich as he had planned. This is one reason why I like reserved seating.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

When it comes to paying or not paying for a suitcase - I called SW about this to get clarification. He said that even though my DD22s ticket is booked with my DH’s points, she will still need to pay to check a suitcase because he is not with. The charge is $35 or $70 round trip - this I’m unhappy with

This is pretty normal stuff and isn't new with respects to SWA. If you buy a ticket for someone else and you're not on their reservation with them perks that come with your account don't carry over. With respects to the checked baggage fee this has been the case for SWA since they started charging for them last May.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

DS27 flew Southwest from New York to California a couple days before Christmas. I bought him the Early Bird Check-in so he could get a window seat close to the front of the plane. He almost missed his connection in Denver because a woman with two kids (around 9 and 12) boarded the plane dead last, then proceeded to loudly order people to move so she could sit with her kids. She said she had an earlier boarding position but she was late to the airport and it wasn't her fault.

The flight attendants explained that she could "ask" people to change to one of the random middle seats that where left on the full flight, but that they could not "make" people move. They also explained to her that she and her family needed to be seated so they could push back from the gate on-time. The woman continued to raise her voice, approach people in full rows and tell them to move, etc. Flights attendants were mumbling as they passed my son's row, "Heaven help me! Here we go again!" One got on the phone with the captain, then went back to the woman and spoke with her. My son tuned the whole thing out at the point. They did eventually push back about 30 minutes late. After take-off, they announced that passengers going to four cities were now in danger of missing their connecting flights. Luckily, my son's wasn't one of them, but how sad for those people who likely booked their Christmas travel weeks or months in advance only to have it messed up by an entitled woman who couldn't get to the airport on time.

In Denver, my son had exactly enough time to get off the plane, walk down six gates and take his position in line since his plane was already boarding. No time to use the restroom or grab a sandwich as he had planned. This is one reason why I like reserved seating.

Reports at the moment are showing a fairly large number of people saying boarding is taking longer than before with assigned seating. You'd be out of luck with a 35min connection time and could be the same with 1 hour connection time so assigned seating isn't helping someone there. It will be up to that particular flight if they hold the plane for persons in this situation and forget overhead bin space at that point (well for many people at least depending on if you're towards the front you'll have less shot of overhead bin space) and given that SWA has gone more to connections over non-stops this will become more of a risk to passengers as a regular thing. I do hope they get more efficient over time, it does seem like they FAs may be more policing overhead bin space which might help speed it up a bit.