Saving seats on SWA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We flew Southwest earlier this year with three kids and our au pair. We did family boarding but you are only allowed two adults with family boarding so my husband, the au pair, and my three kids boarded and I was in the absolute last boarding group. I was prepared to sit not with my family and the guy ahead of me made it to the back where my family was sitting before me. Unsurprisingly, when my husband pointed me out and said he was hoping I could sit in the middle seat between him and my three year-old, the guy choose to make his way back to the front and sit in the only other open seat, a middle seat not near a three year-old. It was kind of a pain for us to switch places and made it clear it is ridiculous to have a two adult cap on family boarding. The flight attendant told me next time to just all board together at family boarding and they would not stop us. But, we are rule followers and didn’t want to seem like we were taking advantage. In the end, our rule following slowed everything down.

Weird that you had the au pair board with your husband instead of yourself. What’s up with that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We flew Southwest earlier this year with three kids and our au pair. We did family boarding but you are only allowed two adults with family boarding so my husband, the au pair, and my three kids boarded and I was in the absolute last boarding group. I was prepared to sit not with my family and the guy ahead of me made it to the back where my family was sitting before me. Unsurprisingly, when my husband pointed me out and said he was hoping I could sit in the middle seat between him and my three year-old, the guy choose to make his way back to the front and sit in the only other open seat, a middle seat not near a three year-old. It was kind of a pain for us to switch places and made it clear it is ridiculous to have a two adult cap on family boarding. The flight attendant told me next time to just all board together at family boarding and they would not stop us. But, we are rule followers and didn’t want to seem like we were taking advantage. In the end, our rule following slowed everything down.

Weird that you had the au pair board with your husband instead of yourself. What’s up with that?

+1. Why do you need 3 adults to board with your family? You are all on the same plane, likely within 200 feet of each other for the whole flight!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I stopped paying for early boarding on southwest because they, like every airline in 2024, have hoards of not actually disabled being wheeled down in a wheelchair so they board first. I used to get a bulk head almost guaranteed with early boarding and I don’t remember the last time it was even close to available even in A1.

Yes. WTF is up with this. I was on a flight in the Fall where we had 18 wheel chair people. Only 2 of these people needed wheelchairs to get off the plane. I just can't with these older boomers and silent gen folks.

Which airline/destination? SWA?

This is SWA HOU to BWI. There are regularly 5+ sometimes 10+ wheelchair users on this flight. 18 has been my all time high. 18 folks to board with only 3 pushers. It took forever! Only two of these folks were in wheelchairs waiting for their luggage. I do accept that some/many may have been making connections but there were not a ton of wheelchairs waiting for us at the gate in BWI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve only done it for ourselves and child. So one of us will pay for group A then save 2 seats in our row for spouse and child.
I don’t have an objection to other people doing the same to sit with family.

You should be paying.for 3 early boardings if that is what you want/need.

If I fly by myself I intentionally sit in one of those seats. Eff people like this.

You would purposefully sit next to a stranger who wants to sit next to their child or spouse rather than sit next to a stranger who’s also traveling alone? You are what’s wrong with the human race.

I suppose that's one way to look at it. Another is I don't allow people who are seeking to skirt the system by paying for one Group A while getting the benefit of three Group A seats. It offends my sense of fairness. It's also a public service to all those who come behind me - even though I may be able to get a seat of my choice, someone else is going to get screwed by this selfish behavior.

For the record, I don't sit in the middle seat next to someone. I sit in the aisle or window seat that is unoccupied.

In addition, when on the Metro, I intentionally seek out a person who is sitting in the aisle seat with a bag on the other seat, hoping to deter anyone from sitting there.

American life would be a lot more pleasant if we all pushed back on these antisocial behaviors. I am happy to do my part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve only done it for ourselves and child. So one of us will pay for group A then save 2 seats in our row for spouse and child.
I don’t have an objection to other people doing the same to sit with family.

I hate people like you. “Going you skirt the rules for the convenience of my family and/or myself. I am me and rules don’t apply.”

Except … there are no rules against seat saving. So what rules are you referring to? Cite them, please.

If that's true, I there's no rule against me sitting there, either. It all depends upon what you consider polite behavior. Personally, I think that trying to get a benefit that you didn't pay for, to the potential detriment of others who did pay for it, is incredibly rude, and have no problem ignoring those people's plans (or actively thwarting them). Your mileage may vary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I stopped paying for early boarding on southwest because they, like every airline in 2024, have hoards of not actually disabled being wheeled down in a wheelchair so they board first. I used to get a bulk head almost guaranteed with early boarding and I don’t remember the last time it was even close to available even in A1.

Yes. WTF is up with this. I was on a flight in the Fall where we had 18 wheel chair people. Only 2 of these people needed wheelchairs to get off the plane. I just can't with these older boomers and silent gen folks.

Which airline/destination? SWA?

This is SWA HOU to BWI. There are regularly 5+ sometimes 10+ wheelchair users on this flight. 18 has been my all time high. 18 folks to board with only 3 pushers. It took forever! Only two of these folks were in wheelchairs waiting for their luggage. I do accept that some/many may have been making connections but there were not a ton of wheelchairs waiting for us at the gate in BWI.

Add this to the 1 million reasons why I avoid SWA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve only done it for ourselves and child. So one of us will pay for group A then save 2 seats in our row for spouse and child.
I don’t have an objection to other people doing the same to sit with family.

I hate people like you. “Going you skirt the rules for the convenience of my family and/or myself. I am me and rules don’t apply.”

Except … there are no rules against seat saving. So what rules are you referring to? Cite them, please.

Open seats are open seats. That's the rule. Nobody has to honor your "this seat is taken!" demand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I stopped paying for early boarding on southwest because they, like every airline in 2024, have hoards of not actually disabled being wheeled down in a wheelchair so they board first. I used to get a bulk head almost guaranteed with early boarding and I don’t remember the last time it was even close to available even in A1.

Yes. WTF is up with this. I was on a flight in the Fall where we had 18 wheel chair people. Only 2 of these people needed wheelchairs to get off the plane. I just can't with these older boomers and silent gen folks.

The flight healed them! It is a miracle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve only done it for ourselves and child. So one of us will pay for group A then save 2 seats in our row for spouse and child.
I don’t have an objection to other people doing the same to sit with family.

You should be paying.for 3 early boardings if that is what you want/need.

If I fly by myself I intentionally sit in one of those seats. Eff people like this.

You would purposefully sit next to a stranger who wants to sit next to their child or spouse rather than sit next to a stranger who’s also traveling alone? You are what’s wrong with the human race.

I suppose that's one way to look at it. Another is I don't allow people who are seeking to skirt the system by paying for one Group A while getting the benefit of three Group A seats. It offends my sense of fairness. It's also a public service to all those who come behind me - even though I may be able to get a seat of my choice, someone else is going to get screwed by this selfish behavior.

For the record, I don't sit in the middle seat next to someone. I sit in the aisle or window seat that is unoccupied.

In addition, when on the Metro, I intentionally seek out a person who is sitting in the aisle seat with a bag on the other seat, hoping to deter anyone from sitting there.

American life would be a lot more pleasant if we all pushed back on these antisocial behaviors. I am happy to do my part.

I'm really proud of you. See you at the cafe where we offer to sit with the person on a laptop hogging a four top when there is no other seating.

[Anonymous]

I fly SW a lot. I travel for work and will chose SW over every other airline. I have seen them enforce no saving seats, but I have never actually seen a family split up, even on a completely full flight. No one pays for their seat so there's less skin in the game and people are more apt to move for you if you need family together. They typically make announcements when it is getting close to just middle seats left, etc. and direct people to the back if there are still rows together. I've never seen a large group of wheelchair users taking up early boarding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We flew Southwest earlier this year with three kids and our au pair. We did family boarding but you are only allowed two adults with family boarding so my husband, the au pair, and my three kids boarded and I was in the absolute last boarding group. I was prepared to sit not with my family and the guy ahead of me made it to the back where my family was sitting before me. Unsurprisingly, when my husband pointed me out and said he was hoping I could sit in the middle seat between him and my three year-old, the guy choose to make his way back to the front and sit in the only other open seat, a middle seat not near a three year-old. It was kind of a pain for us to switch places and made it clear it is ridiculous to have a two adult cap on family boarding. The flight attendant told me next time to just all board together at family boarding and they would not stop us. But, we are rule followers and didn’t want to seem like we were taking advantage. In the end, our rule following slowed everything down.

Weird that you had the au pair board with your husband instead of yourself. What’s up with that?

Because they want the au pair working

[Anonymous]

I prefer SWA over every other airline. I appreciate not being nickeled and dimed for every bag and paying the same for every seat. Get in line and get on the plane. If you check in 24 hours in advance, you almost never have to sit in a middle seat. I never had a problem sitting with my kids when they were younger. But I also think it's incredibly weird that so many adults feel like they need to sit next to their spouse/partner/friend on a short-haul flight. As long as we all get on the plane, I don't care where DH and my teens sit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I stopped paying for early boarding on southwest because they, like every airline in 2024, have hoards of not actually disabled being wheeled down in a wheelchair so they board first. I used to get a bulk head almost guaranteed with early boarding and I don’t remember the last time it was even close to available even in A1.

Yes. WTF is up with this. I was on a flight in the Fall where we had 18 wheel chair people. Only 2 of these people needed wheelchairs to get off the plane. I just can't with these older boomers and silent gen folks.

WTF is up with someone not knowing that many elderly people and people with health issues are able to walk short distances, but not long distances, and that standing in line, like at security, is particularly hard? You actually didn't know this was a thing? Do you not have elderly relatives?

DP.

FWIW, this is a long-standing insider joke among airline industry folks.

SWA is a laughingstock for its Jetway Jesus problem.

I've been told (but have not verified) that SWA has vastly disproportionate wheelchair requests compared to other airlines.

Yes bigoted jokes often have long lifespans. Saying they are the laughingstock because they handle disability issues well and so have more disabled customers is no different than calling a business a laughingstock because they have black customers or LGBTQ+ customers.

That's certainly one possibility.

The other possibility is that a lot people are willing to feign disability to gain an advantage.

Considering that disability fraud is a $7B+/yr problem, I'm going with door #2.

Nope, that’s like saying it’s ok to be racist towards actual black people because some white people commit fraud by checking the wrong box on their college apps.

No, it’s really not.

It’s making fun of people who are NOT disabled and who are fraudulently pretending to be disabled to gain an unfair advantage.

This is the equivalent of anti-racism, NOT racism.

You’re not smart enough to be the morality police. Sorry.

So, you are assuming that every elderly person who claims to have a super common age related diagnosis like arthritis, or heart disease, or interstitial lung disease, or whatever that impacts stamina and means that they can walk short distances, but can't handle the trip all the way from the door of the airport to the gate, is fraudulently pretending? Because even if one of the people who come in a wheelchair honestly needs it, making fun of them isn't cool.

Not the poster you are arguing with but the only people made fun of just a little are the one who request wheelchair service to get on the plane but not to get off the plane.

We recently had to get wheelchair service through security and to the gate at Dulles because that is a lot of walking but once we got to gate we let the wheelchair go because our traveler could walk down the jetway unassisted.

Really curious what medical conditions make people need a wheelchair getting on the plane but not off?

So, you requested wheelchair service to get to the plane, and then didn't use it on the jetway because you preferred to slow everyone down, rather than preboarding to make things more efficient, because your pride is more important than efficiency? And therefore people who have more sense than you should be shamed?

Not PP but this really isn’t that complicated. A few years ago I had a broken foot and a walking boot. Could I get around? Yes. Quickly to meet a short connection? No. So I used the wheelchair service to go longer distances and then walked up and down the jet bridge myself, preboarding as someone who needed extra time. It was all very civil. I didn’t pretend to have a broke foot and big walking boot, but I also didn’t utilize wheelchair services I didn’t need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We flew Southwest earlier this year with three kids and our au pair. We did family boarding but you are only allowed two adults with family boarding so my husband, the au pair, and my three kids boarded and I was in the absolute last boarding group. I was prepared to sit not with my family and the guy ahead of me made it to the back where my family was sitting before me. Unsurprisingly, when my husband pointed me out and said he was hoping I could sit in the middle seat between him and my three year-old, the guy choose to make his way back to the front and sit in the only other open seat, a middle seat not near a three year-old. It was kind of a pain for us to switch places and made it clear it is ridiculous to have a two adult cap on family boarding. The flight attendant told me next time to just all board together at family boarding and they would not stop us. But, we are rule followers and didn’t want to seem like we were taking advantage. In the end, our rule following slowed everything down.

Weird that you had the au pair board with your husband instead of yourself. What’s up with that?

Why didn't each parent just take 1 or 2 kids and make 2 families? Was your 3 year old the only one young enough?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We flew Southwest earlier this year with three kids and our au pair. We did family boarding but you are only allowed two adults with family boarding so my husband, the au pair, and my three kids boarded and I was in the absolute last boarding group. I was prepared to sit not with my family and the guy ahead of me made it to the back where my family was sitting before me. Unsurprisingly, when my husband pointed me out and said he was hoping I could sit in the middle seat between him and my three year-old, the guy choose to make his way back to the front and sit in the only other open seat, a middle seat not near a three year-old. It was kind of a pain for us to switch places and made it clear it is ridiculous to have a two adult cap on family boarding. The flight attendant told me next time to just all board together at family boarding and they would not stop us. But, we are rule followers and didn’t want to seem like we were taking advantage. In the end, our rule following slowed everything down.

Weird that you had the au pair board with your husband instead of yourself. What’s up with that?

Not her, but maybe she didn't want to leave a teenage girl alone in the airport gate area.