Southwest to change seating program

Wow, this made my morning! My daughters live in Florida and we're in Massachusetts. For six years now I've been flying back and forth from a secondary nearby airport (not Boston) to Florida where Southwest offers the best routes/schedules. Every time I go I absolutely dread the whole boarding process. I even started flying Breeze Air when the flights work, but they only offer one flight per day and not every day.

Thanks for the great news!

I regularly fly Southwest. I've always liked their seating model, and used it to my advantage for my own travel situation.

With the forecast seating changes, I've been wondering why I wouldn't just fly United.

About the only differentiator that may still keep me is their flexibility with buying one way tickets.

ETA: Southwest does have far more flights per day to my US destination, so I guess that will be the other reason I'll still fly them.

I like being able to scan the passengers as I board. I can choose to avoid sitting next to the large person or the toddler. The more uncomfortable flying becomes, the better driving looks.

I really disliked the open seating process! From needing to stop what you are doing and check in exactly 24 hours before boarding to be able to get an earlier boarding position to the mass lining up and mad rush to pick a seat, it made for a stressful experience. I currently only fly Southwest if there are no other options, so am pleased with this change.

We quit flying Southwest more than 10 years ago when we realized if we were not early birds the flight cost more than the competitors. Now that we can choose our seat we must check again...

I fly Southwest two or three times a year with my minor child because it is the only direct option on our route. It's been miserable since the child aged out of family boarding. Luckily, the gate agents seem to realize that six is too young to cap family boarding - even most ten year olds don't want to sit separately from their adult (do other adults really want to sit next to them either?) - and often let us board with family boarding. I have been saying for years I'd rather fly another airline. I really welcome this change.

I'm always booking months ahead for frequent trips with total flexibility on days. Even after I buy my tickets, I can often cash in on a fare sale. So my tickets are usually pretty cheap, even if not at first.

I typically fly on SW from Burbank, where they load from both the front and back doors. So even with a boarding number in the low Bs, you can still find an aisle seat.

My concern with the extra legroom seats is that they will reduce the seat pitch in the standard seats to compensate - right now SW has decent legroom.

Will fares rise as a result of this change? And I agree with earlier comments that SW is only a budget airline if you buy way in advance, or on flights with excess capacity.

Free checked bags and the ability to change tickets when fares drop are two more important reasons for us. Southwest has the largest number of flights from our airport, and you can get to just about anywhere domestically including Hawaii. So we'll still fly them. I'm OK with them going to assigned seats as long as they manage the boarding process better than the competition. There are too many cheaters as is. And it will eliminate that hostile "don't-you-dare-pick-that-empty-seat-next-to-me" look when you make eye contact.

My question is, will Southwest start charging to pick the seat, as other airlines do? I understand paying more for extra leg room, but for a "normal" seat - is that extra, or is it included in the ticket price? That will make the biggest difference for me.

We flew Southwest exclusively for years, mainly because most of our travel was me alone with a baby, and then alone with a baby and toddler. I couldn't get the two/three of us on PLUS carry-on luggage, and Southwest was the only airline that had free checked bags. Also at the time (11 years ago now!), there were multiple non-stop options from Hartford to Florida. Now, the price is higher, and there's only one non-stop a day. Not sure how much longer we'll be flying Southwest. We took United down on our most recent trip with a connection in Dulles. We had some hiccups, but I will say United customer service was pretty darn good. I agree with Joann, I was pleasantly surprised with Breeze and would fly them again.

Too many people cheated. It was your diligently obtained A group against families and wheelchairs who maximized their advantage, and the others who got A and then took over two whole rows waiting on the B friends and family to arrive.
Too much drain, too much combat.
All airlines gravitate to mediocrity.

Posted by markcw

Will fares rise as a result of this change?

This was my first thought. Will there still be Wanna Get Away fares?

I like the open seating. Only time I've been disappointed in being in the A group is getting on a flight that originated somewhere else and the plane was half-full or more when I boarded.

I hope they don't change the seat size or pitch. They've always been the most comfortable to me, especially when I was much larger.

The last few times I’ve flown Southwest it’s been just a fiasco. Family boarding was mom, dad and grandma and grandpa and uncle erf

And of course grandma needs a wheelchair and she also needs to bring six family members to help. I’m not going to assume people are using a wheelchair that don’t need one but you don’t need six family members with you

My all-time favorite was the grandmother who boarded early and proceeded to try to hold like four rows with all of her stuff. people started moving her stuff and she went running to the FA because people were moving her stuff and while she’s off whining people moved even more of her stuff. Flight attendant, of course, was not getting involved in grandma’s little drama. She’s screaming about how she needs to hold those seats for her “children “. so literally just before they close the boarding door her children stagger on the plane they are drunk They had decided that since grandma was holding a seat, they could stay at the bar and slam back a few more drinks for the road They make a scene and the pilot comes out and tell them they have two choices take the empty seats that are left or get off the plane. the pilot also warned them the flight attendants will not be serving any alcohol to you on this flight. There was applause from the passengers.

Southworst

Does this mean no more Jetbridge Jesus flights?

-- Mike Beebe

AKA Southwest miracles?

I have personally witnessed the “Southwest miracle”. On a recent flight 30 people boarded early in wheelchairs but only 5 deplaned in wheelchairs at our destination. If assigned seats stops the fraudulent boarding, then I will keep flying SWA.

In answer to a couple of questions. Yes you will be paying for good seat assignments. Southwest has been very clear they are doing this for monetization.

My bet is “want to get away” will become what Delta calls basic economy, etc. They will be the ones without the advanced seat assignment

As for the southwest miracle, I do not judge. And I basis that on my mother. She lived in Knoxville Tennessee. When she was in Atlanta, we got her wheelchair so she would get to the plane in a wheelchair. Knoxville is a very small airport when she got off the plane she did not need a wheelchair. It was not a miracle. It was not an attempt to defraud anybody or do anything wrong it was just the reality of the airport. But I’m sure when we got to Knoxville they were people making snide comments about her using a wheelchair in Atlanta

I'm very happy about this. Travel has enough chaos - I prefer to have a seat ahead of time. I would (and have) pay for a connecting flight on Delta rather than a direct flight on Southwest, so this gives me more options.