Southwest to finally offer assigned seating.

[Magical2017]

I think it's great. It makes me want to fly SW again.

 

[sk!mom]

How does Southwest handle families that are coming from a connecting flight that is late and they show up after the C group?

In my experience, if the family had a very young child (like under 5.) They will ask if anyone is willing to move so that one adult can sit with the toddler. I was given free drinks to move from my aisle seat up a row to a middle so that a mother and small child could have my aisle and the middle beside it on a flight.

Older kids, Southwest was not the airline for you if you felt that they could not sit alone.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

We have no need to sit anywhere specific and I hugely resent having to pay for seat selection and baggage. I would LOVE to be able to fly SouthWest, compared to the exponentially higher prices, terrible customer service policies and increasing unreliability of Canada's two major airlines.

Southwest has long since ceased being the heavily discounted airline it once was. It still comes in on average a bit under say Delta or United. But that difference has decreased over the years.

Edit: I should add that it should be no secret given the incremental changes Southwest has made over the years and given the negative changes in passenger behavior in general that this was going to be coming.

 

[leebee]

I am not happy with this change. I like open seating, like being able to choose to not sit next to the person coughing up a lung, the toddler with sticky fingers, the oversized person who needs 2 seats (and I'm not bashing, that used to be me). I think they got into trouble when they started to offer family boarding between A and B. I'm not sure why they went that route. Get online and book at T-24 OR buy EBCI. That worked well for decades, but then they started announcing family boarding and they raised the price of EB. From my airport, EB has tripled, from $10 to $30 each way. I think the combination of the raised price as well as being far down the line due to family boarding if you got a B assignment for early bird, really annoyed people.

I have no idea how they are going to do boarding, and I don't believe that 80% of the customers want this changed. I think surveys can be designed to push people to answer in a way that the survey sponsor wants.

 

[HeatherC]

I am actually glad about the seating changes but hope they don’t change their free baggage policy!

 

[LoveDaisy]

I am disappointed in this change I loved the open seating and this will impact my decision to fly with them. Waiting to see what the seat roll out looks like before making decisions but I just see this costing everyone more money. I am sure there will be charges for your seating choice, not just for extra legroom.

 

[mom2rtk]

I am not happy with this change. I like open seating, like being able to choose to not sit next to the person coughing up a lung, the toddler with sticky fingers, the oversized person who needs 2 seats (and I'm not bashing, that used to be me). I think they got into trouble when they started to offer family boarding between A and B. I'm not sure why they went that route. Get online and book at T-24 OR buy EBCI. That worked well for decades, but then they started announcing family boarding and they raised the price of EB. From my airport, EB has tripled, from $10 to $30 each way. I think the combination of the raised price as well as being far down the line due to family boarding if you got a B assignment for early bird, really annoyed people.

I have no idea how they are going to do boarding, and I don't believe that 80% of the customers want this changed. I think surveys can be designed to push people to answer in a way that the survey sponsor wants.

Exactly this.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I am not happy with this change. I like open seating, like being able to choose to not sit next to the person coughing up a lung, the toddler with sticky fingers, the oversized person who needs 2 seats (and I'm not bashing, that used to be me). I think they got into trouble when they started to offer family boarding between A and B. I'm not sure why they went that route. Get online and book at T-24 OR buy EBCI. That worked well for decades, but then they started announcing family boarding and they raised the price of EB. From my airport, EB has tripled, from $10 to $30 each way. I think the combination of the raised price as well as being far down the line due to family boarding if you got a B assignment for early bird, really annoyed people.

I have no idea how they are going to do boarding, and I don't believe that 80% of the customers want this changed. I think surveys can be designed to push people to answer in a way that the survey sponsor wants.

We've been flying SW a long time, and unless my memory is faulty (which is definitely possible!), I recall family boarding used to be part of the pre-boarding process, even before the A group. I recall family groups with one little one and a half-dozen adults/older kids getting on the plane. I think they decided to move that group to between A and B, and enforce a limit on how many could board.

As for their survey numbers? I believe a majority of guests were asking for assigned seats over the years (we're not one of them - we like open seating). But their biggest driver is probably the fact that 10 years ago, they'd be rated as the top airline annually. They're now middle of the pack and felt the need to pay attention to the customers a bit more and see if they can improve their customer standing again.

We'll see how the changes go before deciding how much we'll continue flying them. Ultimately, flying tends to come down to price and flight availability for where we're going!

 

[White Cat]

I am disappointed in this change I loved the open seating and this will impact my decision to fly with them. Waiting to see what the seat roll out looks like before making decisions but I just see this costing everyone more money. I am sure there will be charges for your seating choice, not just for extra legroom.

Typically you won’t have to purchase a seat and one will be randomly selected for you when you check in on your phone. Not something I care to take a chance with especially with SW.

We travel a lot. It’s become very expensive in the last few years especially. Rides to and from airports or airport parking. Pet fees. Food at airports and on planes, tips along the way. Hotels at airports on late flights, rental cars. We recently had to spend $200 on a hotel as the car agency was closed. Health travel ins. Things come up. For us it’s just part of it. We purchase seats near the front and board early.

 

[sam_gordon]

I'm curious, for all those that say they like the open seating because they can choose who to sit with (or not)...

Do you board late?
OR
What happens if you sit in an empty row and then one of the "undesirable" (young baby, overweight, coughing person, etc) seat mates sits next to you? Do you get up and move?

 

[BrianL]

I'm curious, for all those that say they like the open seating because they can choose who to sit with (or not)...

Do you board late?
OR
What happens if you sit in an empty row and then one of the "undesirable" (young baby, overweight, coughing person, etc) seat mates sits next to you? Do you get up and move?

Nah, man, don't you know how to do it? You sit there, put your bag on one of the other seats, act all disorganized, and cough a lot. Then when a person you want to sit by is coming, clean it all up and sit perfectly still.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm curious, for all those that say they like the open seating because they can choose who to sit with (or not)...

Do you board late?
OR
What happens if you sit in an empty row and then one of the "undesirable" (young baby, overweight, coughing person, etc) seat mates sits next to you? Do you get up and move?

We don't buy EBCI and end up mid to late B's. Never have had a problem finding 2 seats together in the back half of the plane and hope for the best. Would never actually get up and move. But more times than not it works out fine. Sometimes end up with that 3rd seat empty.

 

[BrianL]

We don't buy EBCI and end up mid to late B's. Never have had a problem finding 2 seats together in the back half of the plane and hope for the best. Would never actually get up and move. But more times than not it works out fine. Sometimes end up with that 3rd seat empty.

I would travel with a friend sometimes, a larger guy, so he would sit in the window and I would take the aisle. NOBODY wanted that middle seat! But, on a full flight, sometimes someone would come for it, and then they won the lottery because I would just scoot over and give them the aisle. Not that I wanted to be crammed up agianst my friend, but at least I know the guy!

 

[Dznypal]

Just mentioning pre boards in wheelchairs. We were in Vegas and in the airport there were 3 people who were together in wheelchairs waiting for assistance which was taking somevtime. All of a sudden all 3 just got up and walked away. Just leaving the chairs.

 

[White Cat]

I would travel with a friend sometimes, a larger guy, so he would sit in the window and I would take the aisle. NOBODY wanted that middle seat! But, on a full flight, sometimes someone would come for it, and then they won the lottery becauseI would just scoot over and give them the aisle. Not that I wanted to be crammed up agianst my friend, but at least I know the guy!

See that’s one of the problems with that concept that I hear people complain about and would rather not deal with. It’s a tactic that’s just not right and rude.

 

[BrianL]

See that’s one of the problems with that concept that I hear people complain about and would rather not deal with. It’s a tactic that’s just not right and rude.

What's rude about it? That seat is available for anybody to take. Technically I could keep my aisle seat and I wouldn't stop anybody from taking that middle seat. I just defer and they get the aisle. It's actually not always a late boarder either - sometimes somebody just wants it, and it's no problem. I'm the type who will take that middle seat near the front in a second when I am travelling alone. That actually annoys others sometimes, but I still do it.

 

[_19disnA]

I prefer to have an assigned seat prior to boarding and I think Southwest was one of the few airlines with 'open seating'. The main issue with boarding are those who act like this is the first time they have ever been on an airplane, have no grasp of how seats are numbered or what seat they have been assigned and take forever to get seated. Everyone piles up behind them until they finally take their seat. Dragging your luggage onboard to avoid paying the checked bag fees also slow things down as people try to find an available overhead bin to use.

 

[BrianL]

I prefer to have an assigned seat prior to boarding and I think Southwest was one of the few airlines with 'open seating'. The main issue with boarding are those who act like this is the first time they have ever been on an airplane, have no grasp of how seats are numbered or what seat they have been assigned and take forever to get seated. Everyone piles up behind them until they finally take their seat. Dragging your luggage onboard to avoid paying the checked bag fees also slow things down as people try to find an available overhead bin to use.

The great thing about Southwest though is that checked bags are still free! There is no need for people to drag on so much. I hope that they never change that policy.

 

[Robber Baron]

We had ECBI once with a very low A number. We got on and took the aisle and middle seat in the front bulkhead row. Across from us was a couple who sat in the aisle and window and kind of sat sideways with their legs crossed blocking the middle seat.

After a little while a gentleman walked in, stopped at their row and said "excuse me" to get to the middle seat. As soon as his butt hit the cushion the lady says, "Would you like the aisle seat, so my husband and I can sit next to each other?" He replied, "No, I'll just stay here."

 

[sam_gordon]

See that’s one of the problems with that concept that I hear people complain about and would rather not deal with. It’s a tactic that’s just not right and rude.

I'm also curious about what's "nor right" and "rude"?

When flying as a couple, assuming seating is 3x3 (so A, B, C, aisle, D, E, F), we will book A/C or D/F, leaving the middle open. If it gets filled, the "stranger" either gets the aisle (normally) or the window so we can sit together.