Give it to me straight - forgot to check in on SW

[LockShockBarrel]

Yeah the snow apparently decided the Northtowns were the chosen ones and decided to dump everything on us. For those of you who are locals, I live on the Lackawanna/Blasdell border. I got hammered, and not in the good way.

 

[skelooch]

I wish someone could explain the logic of the SW boarding system to me. I can't figure it out.
Why not just let you select your seats when you book like most other airlines do. If you book early you get the pick of the litter, book last minute and you should get the left overs. After all if you book early they have your money early, you should be rewarded for giving them your money sooner.
All this business of having to call exactly 24 hours before your flight or paying for EBCI (which guarantees nothing) is madness, and if you forget or call a little later, you and your family are punished and sent to the back of the line, just like in kindergarten.

If you look up stupid in the dictionary, it should define it as SW boarding procedures.

Maybe Disney should try that with their ADRs, if you don't call exactly 24 hours in advance to confirm your reservation, there will be no guarantee you will be able to sit together. Wouldn't that be fun.
I know it's comparing apples and oranges, so no Flames please, but it would be just as stupid.

JMHO

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

Southwest likes to keep its planes in the air and they have found non-assigned seating to be the quickest way to board.

I fly them regularly and it really is not a big deal.

I can check in within 30 seconds from my phone, or let EBCI do it for me.

 

[brymolmom]

Your DH is a crazy man. I would have kept it 2 and 2 so both adults had a comfortable aisle seat. This would have still had each child with an adult. Rather than 3 by 1 with one adult in an uncomfortable middle squashed seat.

When my sis and I were kiddos we always sat 2 by 2 with the adults. It was always a treat to sit by Dad since Dad was always traveling for work so it was a special treat to have one on one time with Dad.

I also don't understand why 3 * 1 is more desirable. In the event of an emergency you would want a 1:1 ratio to adult. One parent should not be responsible for two small children in the event of an emergency. If there were an emergency each adult could help a child, instead your DH was squashed in a useless position away from anyone he cares about.

I agree that 2 and 2 would have been fine, but we've always preferred 3 and 1 (we prefer the 1 single right across the aisle from the 3, but obviously couldn't get it for that one flight, but that's usually what we get). Sometimes we let the kids watch a movie, so it obviously works better for this, I just swap the middle seat with one of the kids and they watch side by side with the laptop on one of their trays. Usually I am the one with all of the games/things to do/snacks with me and dh usually has the electronics on him. So by having both kids near me - i can give them both more easily their snacks and also if we play a game we can all play together. Dh wanted to have dd with me and to take whatever he could get - he prefers that the rest of us are setup as well as we can be and he can take the leftover.

And he got to put his seat back and rest and read the paper the whole flight - with me doing kid duty!! So honestly I should be the one who was fighting for the middle seat alone! On the way home, I took the single seat across the aisle and he had kid duty.

Oh and in an emergency - I would need both kids near me (if at all possible) - not sure I could exit a plane without knowing they were both going out at the same time. Hopefully I won't ever need to find out!!! Even if one is with dh at a different area of the plane - how can I know that dh isn't knocked out cold and our kid is scared and not knowing what to do next to him. I could do 2 and 2 right across from each other though.

 

[Tara]

I wish someone could explain the logic of the SW boarding system to me. I can't figure it out.
Why not just let you select your seats when you book like most other airlines do. If you book early you get the pick of the litter, book last minute and you should get the left overs. After all if you book early they have your money early, you should be rewarded for giving them your money sooner.
All this business of having to call exactly 24 hours before your flight or paying for EBCI (which guarantees nothing) is madness, and if you forget or call a little later, you and your family are punished and sent to the back of the line, just like in kindergarten.

If you look up stupid in the dictionary, it should define it as SW boarding procedures.

Maybe Disney should try that with their ADRs, if you don't call exactly 24 hours in advance to confirm your reservation, there will be no guarantee you will be able to sit together. Wouldn't that be fun.
I know it's comparing apples and oranges, so no Flames please, but it would be just as stupid.

JMHO

I fly a lot on various airlines and I find Southwest to have BY FAR the smoothest, easiest boarding process. They use this system because it allows for faster turn-around of flights - planes sitting on the ground are planes that aren't making money.

I'm not going to flame you, but when you say things like "If you look up stupid in the dictionary, it should define it as SW boarding procedures" when you have already admitted you don't understand the logic only invites people to discount your opinion or respond harshly. Just because you haven't thought it all the way through or don't have all the information doesn't mean there isn't a logic to it.

 

[skelooch]

I fly a lot on various airlines and I find Southwest to have BY FAR the smoothest, easiest boarding process. They use this system because it allows for faster turn-around of flights - planes sitting on the ground are planes that aren't making money.

I'm not going to flame you, but when you say things like "If you look up stupid in the dictionary, it should define it as SW boarding procedures" when you have already admitted you don't understand the logic only invites people to discount your opinion or respond harshly. Just because you haven't thought it all the way through or don't have all the information doesn't mean there isn't a logic to it.

I respect your opinion, I also fly a lot on different airlines including SW and have not experienced their boarding procedure to be any faster than any other airlines. If that is indeed the only logic behind it, I still think it is stupid because it isn't working. IMHO
Traveling a lot can be stressful enough without having to worry about whether or not you will be able to be seated with your family. That's more important to me, than for SW to get there planes in the air faster, which again I personally don't think they do.
That is what this thread is all about, the stress of your family members (especially small children) perhaps having to sit alone with strangers. I don't recall any one saying it's ok to split up my family as long as we get off the ground faster.

I for one will avoid SW unless traveling alone, when it doesn't matter where I sit as long as it's not in the first row, a middle seat, near the restroom, over the wing or in the last row other than that I'm cool

Again JMHO

 

[Tara]

I respect your opinion, I also fly a lot on different airlines including SW and have not experienced their boarding procedure to be any faster than any other airlines. If that is indeed the only logic behind it, I still think it is stupid because it isn't working.

I understand this is your perception, but I'm pretty sure there's a lot of documentation that Southwest has the fastest turn-around times among domestic carriers.

IMHO
Traveling a lot can be stressful enough without having to worry about whether or not you will be able to be seated with your family. That's more important to me, than for SW to get there planes in the air faster, which again I personally don't think they do.
That is what this thread is all about, the stress of your family members (especially small children) perhaps having to sit alone with strangers. I don't recall any one saying it's ok to split up my family as long as we get off the ground faster.

I for one will avoid SW unless traveling alone, when it doesn't matter where I sit as long as it's not in the first row, a middle seat, near the restroom, over the wing or in the last row other than that I'm cool

Again JMHO

I understand this is your opinion and I'm not trying to dissuade you from it. However, in my travel experience and simply from reading this board for a long time, I'd wager that Southwest actually gives you MORE ability to sit next to family/children. Assigned seating on other carriers feels nice, but we all know it is subject to change if flights change or equipment changes or the computer just hiccups.

 

[prncess674]

I wish someone could explain the logic of the SW boarding system to me. I can't figure it out.
Why not just let you select your seats when you book like most other airlines do. If you book early you get the pick of the litter, book last minute and you should get the left overs. After all if you book early they have your money early, you should be rewarded for giving them your money sooner.
All this business of having to call exactly 24 hours before your flight or paying for EBCI (which guarantees nothing) is madness, and if you forget or call a little later, you and your family are punished and sent to the back of the line, just like in kindergarten.

If you look up stupid in the dictionary, it should define it as SW boarding procedures.

By your theory those that pay the el cheapo first out fares (aka ma and pa kettle who fly once a year looking forthe absolute pick of the litter on seats) while the top paying last minute business people paying full fare should be told tough tootsies? I don't fly SW often but when I do it usually on a last minute business trip and I certainly don't want to be stuck in 32E between two people who paid $49 for their ticket and I paid $349. SW allows full fare customers to board first since they paid the most, then EBCI persons since they paid a premium and then the rest line up as to when they checked in.

Oh and in an emergency - I would need both kids near me (if at all possible) - not sure I could exit a plane without knowing they were both going out at the same time. Hopefully I won't ever need to find out!!! Even if one is with dh at a different area of the plane - how can I know that dh isn't knocked out cold and our kid is scared and not knowing what to do next to him. I could do 2 and 2 right across from each other though.

Well what if YOU were the one knocked out cold?

 

[Lewisc]

Take a look at SWs profits. Look it up in the dictionary, SW (including their boarding policy) is listed under the definition of smart not stupid.

Historically SWs boarding policy results in passengers getting to the gate early. Faster boarding.

Assign seats the way you describe and all the "best seats" go to leisure passengers who book low fares. Legacy airlines block out "better" seats for their elite fliers.

I wish someone could explain the logic of the SW boarding system to me. I can't figure it out.
Why not just let you select your seats when you book like most other airlines do. If you book early you get the pick of the litter, book last minute and you should get the left overs. After all if you book early they have your money early, you should be rewarded for giving them your money sooner.
All this business of having to call exactly 24 hours before your flight or paying for EBCI (which guarantees nothing) is madness, and if you forget or call a little later, you and your family are punished and sent to the back of the line, just like in kindergarten.

If you look up stupid in the dictionary, it should define it as SW boarding procedures.

Maybe Disney should try that with their ADRs, if you don't call exactly 24 hours in advance to confirm your reservation, there will be no guarantee you will be able to sit together. Wouldn't that be fun.
I know it's comparing apples and oranges, so no Flames please, but it would be just as stupid.

JMHO

 

[skelooch]

.
I understand this is your opinion and I'm not trying to dissuade you from it. However, in my travel experience and simply from reading this board for a long time, I'd wager that Southwest actually gives you MORE ability to sit next to family/children. Assigned seating on other carriers feels nice, but we all know it is subject to change if flights change or equipment changes or the computer just hiccups.

The vast majority of posts here regarding SW are about what group passengers were assigned, and would they be able to sit together. If SW actually gives you MORE ability to sit next family/children as you say, why are so many people here on the boards so stressed about it, it seems there are new threads about it every day. I guess they are just not enlightened yet.

Again, JMHO

 

[prncess674]

The vast majority of posts here regarding SW are about what group passengers were assigned, and would they be able to sit together. If SW actually gives you MORE ability to sit next family/children as you say, why are so many people here on the boards so stressed about it, it seems there are new threads about it every day. I guess they are just not enlightened yet.

Again, JMHO

The problem is the DIS is full of worry warts who panic and stress about every little detail. They all worry about not being able to sit together, but in a quick search I can't find a single recent thread where there is a first hand account by a DIS member not being able to sit at least one adult by each small child.

 

[Lewisc]

The vast majority of posts here regarding SW are about what group passengers were assigned, and would they be able to sit together. If SW actually gives you MORE ability to sit next family/children as you say, why are so many people here on the boards so stressed about it, it seems there are new threads about it every day. I guess they are just not enlightened yet.

Again, JMHO

Some of the posters are ignorant. They don't understand how easy it is for two people to sit together on SW. They don't understand seat assignments aren't guaranteed.

Have you actually counted SW posts? What percentage of posts are regarding seats? What do you consider vast majority? 70%? 80%?

My impression is the majority of posts are regarding schedule extension and the resulting fares. When will the schedule be extended? Why does SW wait to extend their schedule? What fares did you get when the schedule was extended. etc.

I'd like to see your statistics. Only a stupid person makes a statement without having any basis in fact.

The problem is the DIS is full of worry warts who panic and stress about every little detail. They all worry about not being able to sit together, but in a quick search I can't find a single recent thread where there is a first hand account by a DIS member not being able to sit at least one adult by each small child.

+1

 

[skelooch]

By your theory those that pay the el cheapo first out fares (aka ma and pa kettle who fly once a year looking forthe absolute pick of the litter on seats) while the top paying last minute business people paying full fare should be told tough tootsies? I don't fly SW often but when I do it usually on a last minute business trip and I certainly don't want to be stuck in 32E between two people who paid $49 for their ticket and I paid $349. SW allows full fare customers to board first since they paid the most, then EBCI persons since they paid a premium and then the rest line up as to when they checked in.

I don't understand why you think the passengers who paid the "el cheapo" fares are inferior to you because you paid $349 for your seat and they only paid $49. Or are you just ticked off because they have an extra $300 in their pocket. Would it make you feel better if the passenger that paid the $49 fare also shelled out the extra $10 for EBCI.

Being that you got to board first by virtue of paying full fare, do you make it a habit of asking anyone who tries to sit next to you how much they paid, and if not up to your standard, ask them to find another seat.

 

[skelooch]

The problem is the DIS is full of worry warts who panic and stress about every little detail. They all worry about not being able to sit together, but in a quick search I can't find a single recent thread where there is a first hand account by a DIS member not being able to sit at least one adult by each small child.

Well that should be reassuring to the family of 5 or 6 or more.

 

[skelooch]

Some of the posters are ignorant. They don't understand how easy it is for two people to sit together on SW. They don't understand seat assignments aren't guaranteed.

Have you actually counted SW posts? What percentage of posts are regarding seats? What do you consider vast majority? 70%? 80%?

My impression is the majority of posts are regarding schedule extension and the resulting fares. When will the schedule be extended? Why does SW wait to extend their schedule? What fares did you get when the schedule was extended. etc.

I'd like to see your statistics. Only a stupid person makes a statement without having any basis in fact.

Perhaps I shouldn't have said "vast majority" as I have no statistics to back it up, just my perception.
Why do you feel it necessary to call some posters ignorant or do you just feel superior to posters who don't know as much as you.

 

[prncess674]

I don't understand why you think the passengers who paid the "el cheapo" fares are inferior to you because you paid $349 for your seat and they only paid $49. Or are you just ticked off because they have an extra $300 in their pocket. Would it make you feel better if the passenger that paid the $49 fare also shelled out the extra $10 for EBCI.

Being that you got to board first by virtue of paying full fare, do you make it a habit of asking anyone who tries to sit next to you how much they paid, and if not up to your standard, ask them to find another seat.

I never said they were inferior, but SW is a business and they want to keep the high paying revenue passengers happy, hence why they board first and get pick of the best seats. I know that ma and pa kettle don't think it is fair, but sometimes life isn't fair. SW transported you via the COC, but in this world $$$ can buy you things and on SW it buys you better line position.

I don't care who sits next to me. I usually do the "invite in" if I know the flight is full. When it appears the plane is filling and most likely all the aisles and windows are taken I will gesture to a nice petite solo traveler and say "this seat is open" you should grab this one so you don't have to trek to the back.

Well that should be reassuring to the family of 5 or 6 or more.

I am not sure what your problem is? You are a family of 6 and if you have a kid under 4 then you board between A & B. Flying is an option, if you don't like SW's policy you can always choose an airline who has policies that meet your needs. The problem is that you want it both ways, you want the el cheapo fare but you want the pick of the litter with seats, well SW doesn't work that way!

 

[Tara]

The vast majority of posts here regarding SW are about what group passengers were assigned, and would they be able to sit together. If SW actually gives you MORE ability to sit next family/children as you say, why are so many people here on the boards so stressed about it, it seems there are new threads about it every day. I guess they are just not enlightened yet.

Again, JMHO

That's because a lot of people haven't experienced it and don't know any better. Heck, a lot of people don't even understand the system, period. But that's not because there isn't very clear communication about it from Southwest. A lot of people post that they're worried they won't get towel animals, too - that doesn't mean their worried are justified or even in proportion to the issue at hand.

And as Lewisc said, some posters are ignorant. And I mean that in the literal sense of the word, "lack of knowledge." Moreover, there's willful ignorance, and there's unintentional ignorance, where people just don't have experience or don't even know what they don't know. I'd put some of these posters in the unintentionally ignorant category. They're anxious because they don't have information and they're coming here for reassurance and education. One of my favorite lines in the movie "Coal Miner's Daughter" is when Loretta tells Doolittle that "I may be ignorant, but I ain't stupid."

 

[Lewisc]

If you look up stupid in the dictionary, it should define it as SW boarding procedures.
JMHO

Perhaps I shouldn't have said "vast majority" as I have no statistics to back it up, just my perception.
Why do you feel it necessary to call some posters ignorant or do you just feel superior to posters who don't know as much as you.

Generally posters who first, incorrectly, attack the intelligence of other posters or companies.

SW is the only major airline that's been consistently profitable.

 

[skelooch]

Generally posters who first, incorrectly, attack the intelligence of other posters or companies.

SW is the only major airline that's been consistently profitable.

In my original post to this thread, I simply stated that In My Humble Opinion I thought the SW boarding system was stupid (and I still do, no one has convinced me otherwise)
I believe I have as much right to that opinion as you do yours, that I incorrectly attacked SW Airlines, that's your opinion and I respect it. Why is your opinion the only one that counts.
And BTW you are the one who said "some of the posters are ignorant" not me, I don't believe I ever disparaged another poster.

I truly believe that most of the leisure travelers here on the boards are not checking the balance sheet of the airline they are booking with, but simply trying to get from point A to point B as cheaply as possible, myself included.
Perhaps the hardcore business travelers are concerned that SW has been consistently profitable, but not the leisure traveler, unless they own stock in the company.

 

[Lewisc]

If you look up stupid in the dictionary, it should define it as SW boarding procedures.

In my original post to this thread, I simply stated that In My Humble Opinion I thought the SW boarding system was stupid (and I still do, no one has convinced me otherwise)
I believe I have as much right to that opinion as you do yours, that I incorrectly attacked SW Airlines, that's your opinion and I respect it. Why is your opinion the only one that counts.
And BTW you are the one who said "some of the posters are ignorant" not me, I don't believe I ever disparaged another poster.

I truly believe that most of the leisure travelers here on the boards are not checking the balance sheet of the airline they are booking with, but simply trying to get from point A to point B as cheaply as possible, myself included.
Perhaps the hardcore business travelers are concerned that SW has been consistently profitable, but not the leisure traveler, unless they own stock in the company.

You're missing the point, perhaps we're not explaining it properly.

An airline isn't "stupid" when they follow a practice they found assists them in running a profitable business.

Historically the lack of assigned seats got passengers to the gate early, contributing to fast turnaround.

SW tested assigned seats and found their core passengers prefer the present system.

Assigned seats are complicated. An airline has to decide how many seats to block out for their elite fliers. How many seats to block out for gate assignment. Do they let a couple book an aisle and window seat, hoping for an empty middle seat. An increasing number of airlines are charging for assigned seats. Passengers who don't pay are worse off then a SW passengers. A lot of threads are from passengers who don't want to pay for an assigned seat but still think the airline should sit their family together.

I agree most DIS don't care if an airline is profitable. You said SWs boarding process is so stupid that a dictionary should use it to define the word stupid.
You don't have to like SWs boarding. You don't have to fly SW. A profitable airline is rare. Certainly not stupid.

I don't think too much of Spirit. Charge for checked luggage. Charge for carryon bags. They will be charging for bags over 40 lbs,industry standard is 50 lbs. Get those passengers who don't read the fine print. I don't think Spirit is stupid. They found a model that works for them.