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I choose not to fly on Southwest because of the way they seat. Getting through security is dehumanizing enough without lining up for SW’s cattle-style holding pens for seats. I prefer a seat assignment chosen ahead of time.
I'm with you all the way. Not only that, because we choose less costly seats we aren't allowed to sit together? "sorry, you get the leftovers. Should have paid more for the same 6hrs of discomfort sitting next to your husband"
If you want to sit together, purchase the very inexpensive upgrade to board with the "A" boarding group for each person flying so that you can board together, choose seats together and sit together.
Perhaps people have their own definition of "very inexpensive." IIRC, it was around $50 when we did the upgrade I described earlier, and honestly, paying $100 for both of us so my 10 year old didn't have to sit alone didn't feel "very inexpensive" to me.
In any case, given that as I described earlier, my son and I take a middle and a window seat and not in an exit row because he is too young, and I don't feel particularly bothered that someone might not have gotten the middle seat of their choice because of what we did. It's not like we were trying to score two "good" seats, just one window seat (the selection of which was paid for via the upgrade) in a standard row and the middle seat next to that window seat.
I'm with you all the way. Not only that, because we choose less costly seats we aren't allowed to sit together? "sorry, you get the leftovers. Should have paid more for the same 6hrs of discomfort sitting next to your husband"
Nope, that's not how it works. The seats cost the same. The discussion here is about paying to board earlier so you have more of a selection of seats, but the majority of the time, as long as you check in promptly, you get a high enough boarding number to get two seats next to each other. You might not get on early enough to get an exit row, and you might be further back on the plane. But unless you check in very late, it's usually not that difficult to get two seats next to each other.
The situation I was describing for myself was a time where I couldn't check in at the 24 hour mark so we got boarding numbers way at the end. Chances are I could have asked people to switch around so I didn't have to leave my child alone, but I would have felt badly asking someone to move from a window or aisle seat into a middle which is what would have been needed to accomplish that. So in that case, I was willing to pay a fee to accomplish that. However, all of the other times we've flown together, we've never had an issue getting seats next to each other.
What is the fascination with the front of the plane? Is it more than getting off sooner?
I think for most people, it's getting off sooner, and it also means you've gotten on earlier when the plane is less full so there is room in the overhead compartment right above your seat rather than your carry on potentially being many rows away so you can't access it during flight and you may have to fight your way backwards to retrieve it before getting off the plane. Personally, I generally bring just one small bag on the plane that I put on the floor in front of my feet, and I leave the overheads for others, but for those who don't want to worry about having to pick up checked baggage, making sure you have convenient overhead space is important.
Being up front is also better for making the next connection if your plane is late or for large airports where the next flight is in a different terminal. I always book for at least an hour between flights and 1 1/2 hours is better. But my government employer had rules that you had to be booked on the next flight so I often ended up with only 45 minutes or less between connections and that could be difficult at DFW or Atlanta.
Airline travel is stressful enough. Why add to the stress with the uncertainty of where you're going find a seat. I would never fly an airline with unassigned seating
In exchange, Southwest relieves the stress that you may miss a flight or need to change the flight times/days without getting gouged $250 per ticket. Or the burden of coughing up $50 each way for 2 checked bags.
I love Southwest - free checked bags, no change fee, no cancellation fees, good availability of overhead space, and good fares. I have a free Companion Pass and SW guarantees a seat for my traveling companion.
I think the two bolded items are related. With free checked bags you don't have people trying to drag half their luggage onto the plane to save $25-50 each way. And it makes boarding faster. Southwest has some of the quickest turnarounds in the industry.
Nope. On Southwest, the screaming infants board between "A" and "B". I had one grab the window seat 7F directly behind me last Thursday. Bose noise canceling ear buds and my iPhone music cranked up drowned out the worst of it.
As a road warrior business traveler, I like Southwest. You can book/change a flight on fairly short notice and throw $15.00 at it to get an aisle seat and early boarding to have a spot for your roll-aboard. They don't have a change fee. I also fly United a lot but don't have any elite FT status with them at the moment. On short notice, there often aren't any aisle seats unless you shell out money the bean counters won't let me expense for Economy Plus. They also have an outrageous change fee so you usually end up eating any ticket you book in advance at a discounted fare.
All of that. The only downside is the lack of nonstop on some routes that I need to fly.
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