SWA - I Think I'm Finished With EB Check-in Due To Seat Saving

This isn't Vegas-specific. But I know how many SW flyers are here and wanted to rant.

I love SW and have been loyal to them for years. I will even fly them when they fare costs more than a competitor because I appreciate the SW employees that have shared their smiles and good customer service with me over the years.

I just flew SW round trip from Denver to Maui. The flights were uneventful and on time. But I'm so angry about one aspect of the return flight. As usual, my SO and I bought early bird check-in, in both directions. We had hoped to get an exit row, if available. We were A32 and A 33, respectively, for the return flight.

The flight home from Maui originated in Honolulu, so there were a few through passengers. We knew those exit row seats might be filled by the through passengers, but we hoped for the best. As we boarded we were delighted to see plenty of exit row seats available - or so we thought. When we reached the row, we discovered a through passenger had spread his belongings out and reserved an ENTIRE ROW of seats for people who were boarding in Maui.

I became enraged. I asked the flight attendant if she was going to allow this man to save an entire row of exit row seats. She shrugged and said "We don't have a policy about saving seats." I wanted to toss his belongings on the floor and dare him to mess with me. But I fumed and retreated because I didn't want to be dragged screaming from the plane by the police, after breaking up what was sure to be a fist fight.

I understand that the flight attendant didn't want to become a referee. And I have no issues if a passenger wants to save one seat directly next to them for a travelling companion. But a whole row of exit row seats? At what point is enough, enough? What is the point of purchasing early bird check-in, if one passenger can save multiple premium seats for passengers who did not pay extra to board early?

The letter I wrote to SW was promptly replied to, but the writer indicated that SW has always had an open seating policy and went on to explain how it works. The open seating policy is not the issue. Saving multiple premium seats is the issue.
Thoughts?

 

I hate it, but don't let it ruin my trip. When you say a whole row, are you saying he was saving 5 seats, or two?

 

We had this issue leaving Vegas last month. We really like the first row seats. We paid EB seating and were delighted to see two seats int the front row open (the third seat was occupied). As we went to sit down we were told he was saving a seat for his daughter. His daughter boarded in C class. So he bought ONE early bird pass and then just saved a seat for his daughter who just about boarded the plane last. It should not be allowed. You would think SW would crack down on it as they are losing money by people not buying passes for everyone.

 

saving seats sounds like kids on a school bus......no thanks

 

I would have just sat down in one of the saved seats. If they aren't on the plane before you, screw that

 

Depending on how good/awful the remaining available seats are, (and my general level of cantankerousness) I would probably say in both situations :"Excuse me sir or madam, there is no seat saving on Southwest. I will gladly stand here and wait while you pick which of these three seats you want." If he/she refused, I would just stand there until the flight attendant came over.

 

Three options:

Take the held seat.
Sit elsewhere.
Fly an airline with assigned seating.

I know it's frustrating, but this isn't exactly an unknown phenomenon with SWA.

 

If one were to take the time, I would bet you could find about 8,894 threads and 49,672 responses about this.

Sorry about your experience though.

If you want to read more, a good starting place is over at the SWA section of Flyertalk.com

(side note, you could have had a 16 and those seats could still have been filled with people already - it happens)

 

I would have just sat on top of his belongings, there is no rule against that!
All we can do is play by the rules and it seems as if there are no rules about this.
On a side note how come you both paid for early boarding if you can just save seats? Seems like you could just pay for one person to board early and save a seat for the other

 

One of the significant drawbacks with SWA is that with no assigned seating, there is not much you can do about the seat saving if the company won't put a rule in place to prohibit it. The FA will not get involved because the airline has told them not to as they do not want them in middle of any kind of dispute. Personally I think SWA should just put in the tickets that seat saving is not allowed. It solves everyone's issues by putting it in writing so when this comes up, and it does a LOT, the people saving the seat are out of luck. Mainly it is because of the issue HeatherC mentioned where one person in a group forks over the money for EB and the others don't. If SWA needs incentive, changing the policy would probably lead to them making more money from people signing up for EB passes.

 

Seems folks think my rant was about saving seats or the open seat policy on SW. I have no issue with SW's open seating policy - in fact, I think it's a huge plus. I also have no issue with someone saving "a" seat next to them for someone boarding later.

I have an issue with someone saving an entire row (both sides of the aisle) of exit row seats. The man saved the ENTIRE ROW of seats.

 

I am confused on the difference...
So if a candy bar is free are you allowed to grab 1 for free? 2 for free? or as many as you'd like for free?

 

Agreed!!

 

Nearly the airline equivalent of resort fees. Time to start voting with wallets and seats. Or just tee it up on VMB every week or so.

 

We were once told by a FA on SW that there were no rules against saving even in an EB instance. Our son was EB B30s and the other 5 of us were EB A20s. We joking asked the flight attendant to sit down as we were talking and she told us to save the seat and that she could not tell us not to do it.

Now to save a bunch of seats and only paying for one EB is rude but apparently ok by SW. I believe by their standards if someone sat in a saved seat they could not tell them to move either.

 

It annoys the heck out of me as well. Fortunately, my flights are short, and I'm never without a drink coupon to make it a bit easier to just let it go. I sure hope that SWA refunded your EB.

 

I may start buying EB, then save any open exit row seats. Then I will sell them for $20 a piece

 

the open seating policy is not such a bad thing. but it should only be for one seat per person.
I suppose you could be an ass and stand there and block the aisle and slow down the boarding process until a FA intervenes.
actually, you wouldn't be the one holding up progress, it would be the pig that was saving 5 seats.

 

Most all of my tickets in the last few years have been reward tickets (as these two Maui tickets were). So, it seemed like a no-brainer to add EB check-in to get a good seat. Heck, the ticket was "free", so why not? But I'm thinking I'll just stop buying EB check-in except maybe for a the rare return trip home from PVR, where I might not have access to the app to check myself in. What difference does it make if I am B59 instead of A32? Not much if the seats are all saved. I guess I kind of wanted to know if others felt like they would also stop buying EB checkin.

 

I'm A list so don't ever have an issue getting an aisle seat in the first 7-8 rows. What chaps my arse is the number of pre-boards. My god, they let anyone get a pre-board now. They sit their in a wheel chair or not in the boarding area and I see them moving around on the plane better than olympic gymnast. It's the cheaters way to board early for some. For the ones that need it, fine, no problem but I'm going with 50% that don't. Rant over.