Southwest to have assigned seating

[scrappinginontario]

SW has been our go-to airline for 20+ years and planning to keep it that way if their pricing stays competitive!

We like SW for their:
- reasonable airfares
- free changes
- travel credits when price drops
- free baggage

But now the big question - Whatever will I do with myself when others are boarding and I'm actively trying not to make eye contact so that they don't fill the empty seat in our row???

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Which is the problem. You are not supposed to save seats. If I were boarding and a seat was vacant that I wanted to sit in and someone said they were saving it for someone in a boarding group after me, I'd sit there - especially if I paid for EBCI. If you want to sit together in better seats, pay for it like the rest of us do. If the $25 is going to break your vacation budget....

Or check in right at the 24-hr mark to get your best options to sit together without paying extra......

 

[thanxfornoticin]

SW has been our go-to airline for 20+ years and planning to keep it that way if their pricing stays competitive!

We like SW for their:
- reasonable airfares
- free changes
- travel credits when price drops
- free baggage

But now the big question - Whatever will I do with myself when others are boarding and I'm actively trying not to make eye contact so that they don't fill the empty seat in our row???

Now you'll have to watch for that one person who's actually been assigned the seat!!

 

[Sykes]

I'm pretty torn on the change. I fly Southwest a lot these days and I find open seating to be a mixed blessing. On one hand, as long as I buy a ticket at least 24h in advance I can almost guarantee myself a good seat--on legacy airlines often the only seats available close-in are middle seats. Having said that, if anything goes wrong on the itinerary--my connection is late, there are irrops that force me onto a different flight than originally planned, etc.--I have very limited options to avoid a middle seat. As such, I only ever fly Southwest on nonstop itineraries where I don't have to connect.

I will welcome this change. My DS29 has autism and is always anxious about having to sit next to strangers. I buy the Early Bird option so we don't have to worry about getting split up. If I can't justify paying extra, I am extremely vigilant about checking in exactly 24 hours before the flight to get a decent boarding position.

Developmental disabilities qualify for preboarding with Southwest, so you may want to consider that in lieu of paying for Early Bird. (I understand that it may not actually be that simple if your DS has concerns about having to explain his anxiety.)

I really hope that they don't get rid of the free luggage and cancellation policy.

I think it's pretty unlikely that they completely get rid of them given the current competitive landscape. All of the majors offer free changes/cancellation for flight credit on most of their fares originating in the US, and I think it is operationally advantageous to encourage customers to check bags. I won't be surprised if they do implement a "basic economy" type fare that is more restrictive though.

 

[DisneyTarheel]

Are they planning to scrap a few rows of seats with this design? If not, that extra legroom would have to be achieved by moving the other seats closer together, right?

 

[Skippy918]

I wonder if A-list preferred will get premium seating. With A list we had A boarding group.

 

[disney-inspired]

I haven't checked a domestic bag since 2013, and that's just because I took a jar of olive salad back from New Orleans for my brother-in-law.

My proudest carry-on-only trip: Weekend wedding in LA (suit/tie), to 10 days in Kauai (beach wear), then to a 7-day business meeting in Las Vegas (business casual). Yes, I did have access to laundry in Kauai, but still....

YOU CAN DO IT!

I don't usually fly SW because they never have direct flights out of LAX and pricing is comparable to the airlines that do.
I'm going to attempt a carry-on only to WDW next week. I get a free checked back with United but I'm going to challenge myself to see if I can do carry-on only for the 4 day trip.

 

[Mle8308]

I don't usually fly SW because they never have direct flights out of LAX and pricing is comparable to the airlines that do.
I'm going to attempt a carry-on only to WDW next week. I get a free checked back with United but I'm going to challenge myself to see if I can do carry-on only for the 4 day trip.

You can do it! 4 days is doable! And then if you buy a lot, check a bag and carry one on!

 

[VandVsmama]

Ok, I could maybe be close to pulling that off if I decided not to care about my hair lol. Warm weather clothes don't take up much room. Other than Disney, most of trips tend to require hoodies and multiple layers. We go to Denver for football games quite a bit, and by the last 1/2 of the season, it's pretty chilly.

I am curious tho. For those of you who don't check bags, do you just use hotel toiletries? Or can you really get buy a whole week on those little travel size things of shampoo/conditioner?? Maybe this is just more of a problem for people with lots of curly hair lol.

I use the hotel shampoo & conditioner. I have curly hair. I pack a 3-oz travel tube of my anti-frizz hair gel stuff. Sometimes I have brought a travel container of shampoo from home. you can also save some room in your quart-sized liquids bag by switching to a powdered toothpaste that one would only use when traveling. the powdered toothpaste wouldn't have to go in the liquids bag (they sell the powdered stuff at Sprouts).

Between a roller carry-on bag and the Nomad Lane bento bag I use (it's a phenomenal bag), I can get a whole week's worth of vacation-wear and stuff and have a little room left over for souvenirs.

 

[DVC-Don]

As a wheelchair user (and needer) on Southwest, I welcome that! On my last flight, when they announced that they were short of "pushers" to push wheelchairs down the boarding ramp, so that if you could walk please do so, you wouldn't believe the number of people who suddenly had a miracle and hustled themselves down the boarding ramp as fast as they could. The problem was that they just jumped out of their wheelchairs and left them, so that those few of us left (who really needed the wheelchair assistance) had to push the wheelchairs out of the way to get to the doorway.
Since I have 3 upcoming flights on Southwest (all of which have made changes since I booked), I'd also like to know when this starts.

Exactly what happened on a flight I took last week.

 

[LoveToDisney]

Are they planning to scrap a few rows of seats with this design? If not, that extra legroom would have to be achieved by moving the other seats closer together, right?

I hope they don’t move seats closer together! I barely can get my knees in for their 700 series….really tight!

 

[jimmymc]

But it's still a significant change overall. And they appear to be talking about extra leg room seats, and premium (first class?) seating, which will be more than adjusting seats front or back. Only speculation for now how this plays out, but it's a change that will take a lot of time and money.

The only thing they would need to buy extra is wider seats, if they plan on offering those. Planes are taken out of service for maintenance about every 8 months for a few days, and they can re-space the seats then.

 

[NotUrsula]

It is almost a sure bet that the extended-legroom seats will mean removing at least one row, even if the existing seat pitch (now a relatively generous 32-33 inches, depending on the age of the equipment) is reduced, which it probably will be. They are also planning to replace all the older seats, adding electrical outlets to the seatbacks, and it *is* a sure bet that the new seats will have a thinner profile than the older ones, and perhaps be a bit less tall as well, because they are also changing out the overhead bins for larger ones that have lower bases.

IME, changing existing seat pitch on SWA shouldn't require replacing the carpet; the seat-anchor rails are normally exposed and mounted flush with the carpeting now. All it takes is 2 guys with battery-powered drills fitted with ratchet bits, and an entire aircraft can have the seats repositioned in about an hour if none of them are changed out for new seats.

PS: buy your dongles now, because the seatback outlets have one USB-A and one USB-C socket, with 60W from the USB-C, which is being advertised as enough to handle most laptops (but not mine, which requires 100W).

 

[MICKIMINI]

I fly Southwest often and the number of wheelchair passengers has significantly increased over the years. Southwest airlines is truly magical as 75% of those passengers are miraculously cured during the flight and no longer need assistance when arriving.

Big airports vs small airports. You may see people taking a short walk in those small airports. What you do not see is the extreme pain. It was humiliating when I had to start using a cane a decade ago. I try hard to not look like I am screaming inside with pain when I am. I really hope you are not the one trying to catch my eye to shame me?

Please be kind.

 

[tseitel]

Sorry…I do this. It’s so expensive to add on early bird for the entire family both ways.

You were definitely taking a chance doing this.
On my last flight, there was a woman saving 2 seats. A man boarded and asked if the seats were taken. She explained she was saving them for her family.

He actually said “oh well, no saving seats” and sat down. She was furious, tried to get flight attendants to intervene, which was difficult with the stream of people coming onboard. She ended up moving to the back of the plane when her two C group family came on, but they were not all seated together in the end.

 

[jimmymc]

I'm happy about this change. I really prioritize getting an aisle seat and will pay for it on other airlines. And recently, it seems like even when I check in at 24 hours exactly, I'm at the end of B group, after all the pre-boarders and families. Checking in early no longer guarantees a good seat, so I would need to pay extra anyway.

 

[jimmymc]

Big airports vs small airports. You may see people taking a short walk in those small airports. What you do not see is the extreme pain. It was humiliating when I had to start using a cane a decade ago. I try hard to not look like I am screaming inside with pain when I am. I really hope you are not the one trying to catch my eye to shame me?

Please be kind.

I would never accuse someone of faking pain at the airport, but it's pretty well known that people request assistance just for the ability to preboard on Southwest. People who would not request it flying the same airports on an airline where your seat is assigned.

 

[Genie+]

 

[Sparrow'sLady]

I already paid for early bird both ways for my September trip, I wonder what happens now. When does this go into effect.

It will be in future flight releases next year. None that are already booked.

 

[Sparrow'sLady]

Sorry…I do this. It’s so expensive to add on early bird for the entire family both ways.

We have a friend who works from SWA. He said some of them will heavily enforce "no seat saving" if another passenger is upset about it.

You have been fortunate, because the Flight Attendants WILL tell people they cannot save seats if somebody wants to sit. We have seen it first hand as well with full planes.