Southwest Trying New Boarding Process

That, my friend, is the bottom line. Something that I do from time to time...on SWA...is just shove my carry-on in the first available overhead space there is. Again - just me - but I don't need access to my carry on luggage once we've boarded. Anything I need / want is in my hands already. And when I'm deplaning, my carry on is still where I put it....closer to the front.

 

I never put my backpack under the seat. I always get a window seat and just keep my legs over it on the floor. Youre so crammed in there anyway its either hard to see it or they really dont care.

 

I applaud SWA for continuing to tinker with ways to improve. I'm fine with the current process and fly SWA whenever possible. Some people are just born to be unhappy.

 

I do the same thing but sometimes they catch it on departure but never on landing.

Mark

 

The issues with some airports are the gangways and clearing the Wingletts on the planes on rear loading. There has been damage to these with the gangways and that's why some don't use rear boarding.

 

I have flown with only west jet or air Canada for the past twenty years. Both airlines allow check in and seat selection 24 hrs. before departure if you buy the basic fare. So, unless you don't care about your seat location you can do your best to pick a desirable one in advance of boarding. For someone who only has carry-on luggage you can bypass the airline ticket line, head straight to security with your boarding pass and then stroll over to the gate. To better ensure an overhead bin for carry-on bags we try to be first in line for our seating zone.

 

That damn seat saving, those people need to burn in hell. If I want to sit my fat ass in a middle seat right next to some hot babe by the window, I sure as hell am gonna do it, I don't care if she's saving the seat for Hulk Hogan in his prime. And it saves so much time over me moving further back and sitting by a window.

I'm still wondering how much faster this cattle call system is. People swear Southwest is more efficient. I've never read how many seconds are saved per plane full of people stopping at arbitrary points to fill middle seats in row 6 versus aisle seats in row 15.

 

I just flew swoop, one of Canada's low cost carriers, while they had seats assigned in advance they loaded the plane back to front. It seemed to go much quicker. It also helped that hardly anybody had carryon as they charge more for carryon than they do checked luggage.

 

I will say that Southwest is the fastest in getting people off the plane.
Plane parks, door pops open and people are out the door (well, most of them).

 

I grew up in Grand Island and much of my family, including my parents, still live in that area. Flew out of the GI airport a few years back and was amazed that we actually walked out onto the tarmac to board. They have remodeled the airport since then so I am not sure if that is still the case.

 

Seats savers don't bother me. Been there. Sometimes it happens and Not a big deal.

I've been AList for years. I think the slowdown is from people who Don't fly very often.

Heck, they can't even figure out where to Stand before they board!
Ever try to fit in the line when youre A 25, and you got 5 people who are Suppose to be behind
you, standing in Front of you? Happens ALL the time....

The biz folks & regular flyers tend to get their seats quickly. carryon in overhead, or underseat.
Bam! Done.

Then you get Ma & Pa, who got TSA Preck even thou they don't know what they're doing.
They fly once a year, and now theyre standing in the aisle, trying to fit their luggage in the overhead,
and discussing seats.... While the line grows behind them..... etc.

I hope they keep the regular system. I really Don't think assigned seats will help the newbies.

 

It was made clear to me on this board, you're an ass if you save a seat. It may not bother you, but it's a BFD. No question.

I never understand why people who pay to get on the plane before me (I don't pay) are concerned if I get on after them and then save a seat for 90 seconds because somehow my girlfriend and I are 25 boarding spaces apart, despite having booked our tickets together via a companion pass and checking in at the same time, 24 hours prior to departure. It's weird, but it's a huge, huge deal, whether it bothers you or not.

It makes sense to me that Southwest uses this gimmick for revenue generation.... in the end I guess it's better than charging for bags, it saves me money. And I can see how paying for one person to board early and save a seat for the second person defeats the purpose of the system.

What baffles me is that almost every time I fly, the plane is full, essentially, and yet two dozen people will try to maintain an open seat in their row. Those are the worst people on the planet, and should burn in eternal hellfire.

Common sense ain't all that common, they say.

I think the answer is that everyone is in a bigger hurry than you are, they've got to get on the plane faster, and off the plane faster, than you do. Have to. And they're just smarter than you.

Happens to me all the time. I'm just not a VIP in life. Somehow being the first to the baggage carousel isn't critical for me. Major malfunction on my part.

 

Never liked the non assigned seats. That being said will only fly SW for "free".

 

Southwest, and likely most other airlines, would board faster if people in the aisle seats would refrain from buckling up and setting up shop until the passengers wanting or needing the middle and window seats in that row are settled. On most of our flights it's been announced at least a half dozen times that the flight is COMPLETELY full, yet it seems to be a great imposition for some people in the aisle seats to have to make way so other people can get into the empty seats Sigh after sigh after sigh...get over it. You didn't pay for the entire row.

**Try not to argue over who gets the rights to the armrests. You're going to make us all late for already tight connections. We were on a SW flight on Saturday, seated behind two people in the first row having an elbow jabbing argument over the armrest. Middle seat man stated he had rights to both arm rests. Aisle seat lady went ballistic. We had already started taxiing to the runway, but when one of them wouldn't calm down, and after threats by the FA that if they couldn't share the space for the duration of the flight that we'd have to go back to the gate, we had to do just that. It took 40 minutes for security to get the statements, remove the unruly passenger and all her trappings, and then go through, once again, the usual rigamarole of safety checks, etc. before take off.

 

All the people who are so upset about Southwest and can't stop complaining about them, there is an easy solution: fly another airline and relax

 

I’ve got a travel partner that refuses to fly SWA. Rather pay the difference on a legacy plus extra baggage fee for golf clubs. He’s happy and so am I. Sometimes you just gotta decide what is best for you.

 

You know, it's actually kind of fun watching people gripe about another airline, instead of the one I worked for.

 

Man, lots of pent up anger over SWA. As a frequent flier for 25 years now (old guy on a soapbox), pick your battles. I'm A list and on the very rare occasion Sarah flies with me, you're dang right I'm trying to save her a seat. I put my backpack in the middle seat and guess what....it doesn't slow anyone down. A simple 'is that seat taken' if asked and a 'yes' is about the extent of an inter-personal transaction and we go about our merry ways. If pressed I give it up and deal accordingly. I guess I'll burn in eternal hell.
Flying / traveling is hard enough. Baggage claim brings out the absolute worst in everyone. Rush to the front of the carousel and block anyone trying to be decent and kind, waiting for your bag to go round and round. Long walks to rentals, shuttles here and there....strange hotel beds and often eating alone in cities you don't know....weather delays, airplane issues....travel is NOT fun. So SWA wants to change things....for years they were the ONLY airline turning a profit, so if they're changing things, it's going to be good for them and I bet the sheep follow along because it will remain cheap for us. I'm one of the sheep.

We get to the airport an hour ahead of our flight...drive time to the airport, flight time...is an extra minute or two getting on / off the flight really that big of a deal?

 

You sound like exactly the kinda traveler I have to deal with almost every time I fly, which now is down to12-15 times a year and almost exclusively on Southwest, though I believe a sizable portion of your comments are meant to be taken tongue in cheek and I like that.

I'm 6' and a couple pounds over 3 bills. I have very broad shoulders and a wide ass. I make arrangements with Southwest Airlines prior to every flight for an extra seat. Because I have 2 seats reserved, my boarding pass automatically prints out a seat-reserved card along with the regular boarding pass that also comes marked for pre-boarding. So at the start of every trip I'm one of the first 8-10 to board and endure the looks from most of the boarding crowd of "why the hell is he pre-boarding, looks fine to me." Yeah, I've heard it and I read it on here ALL the time in these threads... many people judge the F@#k outta the pre-boarders. I don't really need to pre-board, but it comes with the extra-seat, so I'm damn well gonna take advantage of it, as would any of you. I'm A-List Preferred, so I would still be boarding fairly early in any event. Going with the pre-boarders allows me the time to request the seat-belt extender before the flight attendant get busy. It's not a lotta fun to have the attendant walk down the aisle after we're all seated yelling, "which one of you needed the extender?" while holding it up in the air... yes this has happened.

I always check my bag, though I'm only toting a carry-on 90% of the time, so I throw my laptop bag under the seat and sit in a window seat... I NEVER get up until we land, no matter how long my flight. So, I don't play the same bullshit games most of you do with the over-head bins that slow shit down both boarding and deplaning... you know... put your bag in the overhead several rows behind you so when the plane lands you have to swim upstream to retrieve it. I'm also not up and down annoying people the entire flight either.

When I settle in my seat, the Reserved Seat card they provide me is supposed to be placed in the seat next to me (middle seat). I learned early on that doesn't work, as it's difficult for boarders to see it down there, especially when someone sits in the aisle seat, which happens very soon after I sit down, cause I'm usually in Row 4-6. I put down the middle seat's tray-table and place the card right there and turn it so it's easily readable from the aisle and I leave it there until we're ready for take-off. The "Seat Reserved" lettering is not near as large as I'd personally like to see it, but I don't run the airline. Many of you seem to, so maybe you could do something about that, so it's more visible.

Every flight, starting about mid-way thru the B boarding group and continuing through the loser C group, I get 5-6 people who stop look at the card, look at me, look at the card, look at me and then say, "is someone sitting here?" "Or are you saving this seat?". It's very rarely said politely, but more usually said as a substitute for, "what the F@#k is this?" As in "I'm here now... I want to sit"! My response has been fine-tuned over the past few years to a very polite, "I have both seats." I'm a big guy, but not so disgustingly large that people avoid me, just large enough to meet SWA's requirement. There have been times when SWA has oversold their flight and I voluntarily pick-up the card squeeze over a bit and let someone sit there and square things up with the airline later... they're GREAT about it!

Anyways, you'd be amazed how many times my "I have both seats" isn't the end of it. Lately, more often than not, I get a "why?" and the person stands there looking at me. These days I'm done with being polite to those folks and just sternly say something to the effect of, "cause I'm too fat to comfortably fit in one seat... anything else you'd like to know?" At that point, almost all scurry further to the rear of the plane, but I have had a ditsy lady still stare at me and call a flight attendant over about the situation and she wasn't buying the flight attendant's reply either that "the seat is not available to you" and left with a loud "whatever", as if we're the f-ed up ones. I also had a dirty, disheveled man tell me once that I didn't "look that big to him and I'm just another guy gamin' the system."

So... my long winded response to your very valid concern about seat-savers is to please just make sure there's not a seat-reserved card displayed before you over-judge said seat-saver.

And yes... I realize that my plea "not to judge" is filled with many "judgements" of others... guess this judging thing is fun!

 

However, I've seen it multiple times, they will announce "This is a completely full flight. Every seat will be taken." and when boarding is complete there are still seats open, usually center and way in the rear. I guess it's another example of Vegas Style Exaggeration (tm).

All of us who fly frequently know that Southwest is the absolute worst airline there is, except for Delta and Untied and Allegiant and Spirit and Frontier and all of the others!