EBCI ~ holding rows

[delmar411]

I haven't heard much about people abusing the EBCI but on our trip home from MCO on June 1st there was a Mom and her 2 kids who used EBCI (based on how low their A boarding passes were). When we boarded the plane between the A & B groups I saw that the mom was holding a row, and each of her young sons were also holding a row. They were obviously not willing to fork over the $10/pp to get the whole family booked on EBCI. It didn't impact our ability to get seats together but it did sour me on the whole thing. Row holding shouldn't be acceptable esp on a sold out flight where someone is going to have to sit apart from their traveling companions.

Am I just being cranky about it? Or is row holding and not paying the EBCI fee for the whole group, wrong/bad etiquette?

 

[mrsstats]

I feel the same way. I was on a flight where people with the blue sleeve got on the plane and they were allowed to have 1 person go with them. They were all from the same family and then held about 3 rows. I wrote to SWA and their response was they expect it to happen and they have no rules about it. They did say you could sit in any open seat but who wants to get into a fight with someone on a plane.

 

[2infinityandbeyond]

Pre-boards do the same thing. It's not cool, but as long as SWA doesn't stop it, it will continue.

 

[n2mm]

Yep, saw the same thing on our April flight this year. Not an issue for us since Dulles will stop flying non-stop to MCO starting this summer, so I won't be flying with them again. (unless we ever fly out of BWI).

 

[goofy4tink]

I have no issue with one person saving one seat. But one person saving an entire row? No.
There was one SW flight I was on a few years ago where this happened to the nth degree.
There was a family of about 7 or so that boarded before me. I was about half way through that first boarding group. When I got on board, this family had really spread out...they put one or two people in a row, hoping to keep that middle seat open for the extra room..they took up about 3 or 4 rows, just for themselves. I found two seats for my dd and I just behind the wing.
Well, you should have seen that family jump when the FA came over the PA to announce that it was a full to the brim flight and there were no empty seats available..every seat would be filled. They flew to be seated together!! It was actually comical....the kids were panicking because they didn't want to sit with strangers between them.

I did buy EBCI for my dd and I on our flight down to MCO this July. I didn't buy it for my dh. I figure I can save one seat for him. I don't have an issue with that, but this practice of someone saving mulitple seats has got to stop. SW is going to have to deal with it now that they have EBCI. I will be 'you know what' if I pay for EBCI, but the woman in front of me pays for only herself and her dd but gets on the plane and proceeds to save 4 seats, in two rows, for those non-EBCI people in her group. Nope, that's not fair.

 

[Jestocost]

Officially, Southwest does not have a policy allowing or forbidding passengers who board early from saving seats for passengers boarding later. While I guess that's an easy way for them to try to stay out of direct involvement in any disputes that may arise, I can't imagine that they are going to be able to stay noncommittal on the issue forever.

In the end, EBCI may be the catalyst that forces them to take a stand against seat saving; not because of customer service issues but because widespread seat saving will cut into the revenues generated by the program. As time goes by, more and more people will recognize that SWA's lack of a seat-saving prohibition means they can pay for EBCI for just one or a few of their party who can then save seats for the rest of the group. Once that becomes the norm, the percentage of passengers paying for EBCI certainly will decrease and their revenue stream along with it. That actually has the potential to get them to take a stand.

 

[seashoreCM]

You do EBCI because you might not be able to get to your computer 24 hours in advance.

You do EBCI for everybody because the flight might be full and others in your party have to sit apart.

Or you can not do EBCI and instead take your chances that the above might not happen.

Who wants to start a fad? (Can't because I'm usually alone)
In a twosome, on sight, take the two seats in a row being saved by one person when no empty rows are in plain sight (for fear you get all the way to the back and still see no empty rows).

(If two persons are saving one seat, you really don't want to sit in between.)

 

[goofy4tink]

You do EBCI because you might not be able to get to your computer 24 hours in advance.

You do EBCI for everybody because the flight might be full and others in your party have to sit apart.

Or you can not do EBCI and instead take your chances that the above might not happen.

Who wants to start a fad? (Can't because I'm usually alone)
In a twosome, on sight, take the two seats in a row being saved by one person when no empty rows are in plain sight (for fear you get all the way to the back and still see no empty rows).

(If two persons are saving one seat, you really don't want to sit in between.)

Okay, I'll bite. I do EBCI simply because I don't want the hassle of sitting at my computer, hoping to get a certain boarding group. And for the return home, I don't want to worry about checking in. It is worth the $10 pp to just do whatever I want to do on that last full day in WDW, rather than worry about getting checked in
And because I usually did sit at my computer, at the 24 hr window, I was never overly concerned about the flight being full. In all my flights with SW, I have only one time gotten a B boarding group, and that wasn't even for me, it was for my ex-dh and his family..and they were traveling home from MCO so there were a lot of EBCI people checked in first. All other times, I have gotten low to mid A group.


The only time you are not going to find 2 seats together, is if you have a C grouping. Those in B usually have no problem finding seats together.
Now...if I had a high A grouping, and I got on the plane and found that there were no 2 seats together, you can bet your bippy that I would be plopping down in a row that was 'empty' but being saved by one person. And I would have no issue with that. BUT...that just isn't going to happen to those in the A group and seldom in the B group.

 

[BigTigger]

(If two persons are saving one seat, you really don't want to sit in between.)

If the gate agent tells me the plane is full or mostly full, I will "split" the two people and sit in the middle seat if they are in that left side exit row with the incredible leg room. I'm 6'5" and I don't need width, just length. It's amazing how many people will either move together or if solo travelers leave the exit row for another empty row when you sit in the middle. As long as SWA says no reserved seats then I'll sit anywhere that looks comfortable and is not occupied.

 

[dioxide45]

I have never flown SW, but from reading this it does seem that SW has a rule on this. In their view any seat without a human in it can be sat in by someone boarding the plane. So with that, that indicates no seat saving, doesn't it?

 

[dacky041208]

I have never flown SW, but from reading this it does seem that SW has a rule on this. In their view any seat without a human in it can be sat in by someone boarding the plane. So with that, that indicates no seat saving, doesn't it?

Yes but it is enforced as harshly as cms enforce disney rules (basically, not at all).

 

[dioxide45]

Yes but it is enforced as harshly as cms enforce disney rules (basically, not at all).

While they don't enforce it, there really isn't a need to. If you sit down, then too bad for the seat saver. The agents won't back them up. They can either move or live with it. They really won't have SW on their side.

 

[mousefan1972]

While they don't enforce it, there really isn't a need to. If you sit down, then too bad for the seat saver. The agents won't back them up. They can either move or live with it. They really won't have SW on their side.

Right, but as a PP mentioned, who wants to get into a fight on a plane? I'm as assertive as they come, but I won't go looking for a confrontation. If we're boarding the plane and the first few rows have "seat savers" in them, I'll keep walking until I see 4 seats together for me, DH and our 2 young kids. With my luck, I'd plop down in a "saved seat" and some ****** would threaten me or my kids. Not worth it.

I agree w/goofy4tink: I will always purchase ECBI for our flight home from Disney. Even though I can check in w/my blackberry, it is much nicer to pay the $40 for SW to check us all in, and not have to worry about it. For our flight to Disney, it depends on if we're flying at a busy time (MA school break week I bought it; mid October I did not) or not as to whether or not I'd purchase ECBI.

 

[seashoreCM]

With my luck, I'd plop down in a "saved seat" and some ****** would threaten me or my kids. Not worth it. .

Straying from the immediate train of thought:

You do EBCI for everyone because some ****** might threaten you or your kids if you didn't let him plop down in the seat you saved.

Poll question paraphrased from another poll post.

If (two of) you have poor boarding passes (namely C's), and got to the back finding all the rows saved, do you:
1. Sit in a row back there?
2. Work your way forward again and then be seated?

 

[delmar411]

Straying from the immediate train of thought:

You do EBCI for everyone because some ****** might threaten you or your kids if you didn't let him plop down in the seat you saved.

Poll question paraphrased from another poll post.

If (two of) you have poor boarding passes (namely C's), and got to the back finding all the rows saved, do you:
1. Sit in a row back there?
2. Work your way forward again and then be seated?

DH's view on it was, if there weren't any open rows (we need 2 full rows for our party of 6), then he'd take one of the kids and immediately sit in a row that had a seat saver in it, even if there were other rows w/o seat savers. While we didn't pay for EBCI ($120 RT is over the top for us), neither did the person they are saving the seats for.

 

[Alexander]

I totally do not understand an airline not having assigned seats. We have never flown SWA mostly because the nearest airport is almost 3 hours away from home, but I really don't think I'd go through that hassle anyways. We have flown from the airport they're in, but only on JetBlue or NWA. I have to know where my seats are and be assured that we are all together. I guess SWA just isn't for me.

 

[tjmw2727]

I totally do not understand an airline not having assigned seats. We have never flown SWA mostly because the nearest airport is almost 3 hours away from home, but I really don't think I'd go through that hassle anyways. We have flown from the airport they're in, but only on JetBlue or NWA. I have to know where my seats are and be assured that we are all together. I guess SWA just isn't for me.

Well the "legacy" airlines don't guarantee seats either. After incidents with AA, Delta and Jet Blue whre equipment changes cause the computer to re-assign seats I have had our seats separated from my kids on all those airlines. Most are pretty good about getting your seats back together, some are not so good a few times my oldest dd sat alone and I have had to politely ask a passenger to switch with my then 3yo so we could sit together.

I like SWA for lots of reasons but mostly because of the open seating. With SWA I feel that I can take matters into my own hands, check in on time or use EBCI, get to the airport early and choose seats that work for us. If I needed a seat that was being saved I would probably choose it but only if I felt it was the only opportunity for us to sit toghether. Otherwise I would just move back until we found seats together.

 

[Tam1067]

We've flown Southwest many times--and I have never had a problem sitting next to my family. We're 5, so we sit 3 in one row and 2 in another. We always sit across from each other. Before EBCI, I checked in right at 24 hours, and we always got decent A passes.

I've done ECBI for 3 of my last 4 flights. We have not had problems with people hogging the seats. I'm not saying it would never happen, but I think most people are pretty reasoanble...most that is.

FWIW, the only flight I did not purchase EBCI was Chicago-San Francisco, an 8:25 a.m. non-stop on June 3. I checked in right at 24 hours and got A59 and A60. The flight was not completely full either, so I think it shows that EBCI is pretty popular.

 

[mousefan1972]

Straying from the immediate train of thought:

You do EBCI for everyone because some ****** might threaten you or your kids if you didn't let him plop down in the seat you saved.

Poll question paraphrased from another poll post.

If (two of) you have poor boarding passes (namely C's), and got to the back finding all the rows saved, do you:
1. Sit in a row back there?
2. Work your way forward again and then be seated?

I meant that if I tried to sit in a seat someone else had been saving, then they give me the "hey, that seat is saved" and I say "but there is no warm body in it" and they say "my wife, husband, aunt, etc is in the "C" group and I'm saving this seat"..... I didn't mean I would be the one saving the seat. I would never do that. When I purchase ECBI, I do so for all 4 members of my family. So we never end up with poor boarding passes.