No More Open Seating?

[consipio]

Anyone else thinking they won't be flying Southwest anymore because of this change to get rid of open seating? I've maintained accounts with a couple of other airlines, but do 90% of my flying with Southwest. This is largely due to my preference for the open seating though. I just cannot wrap my brain around this decision.

[consipio]

For additional context, I've been a loyal Southwest airlines customer for well over a decade now. With my last employer, a large international technology integrator, the main reason virtually everyone in the company flew Southwest Airlines was the way open seating worked. The same is true for the vast majority of other industry professionals I know and collaborate with outside of my previous employer across the west. At a minimum, I think we are all likely to just go back to finding the best overall flight option across airlines rather than going to Southwest Airlines directly. How does removing one of the key things that makes you different when you have a loyal customer base make any sense?

[DancingDavidE]

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@consipio wrote:

For additional context, I've been a loyal Southwest airlines customer for well over a decade now. With my last employer, a large international technology integrator, the main reason virtually everyone in the company flew Southwest Airlines was the way open seating worked. The same is true for the vast majority of other industry professionals I know and collaborate with outside of my previous employer across the west. At a minimum, I think we are all likely to just go back to finding the best overall flight option across airlines rather than going to Southwest Airlines directly. How does removing one of the key things that makes you different when you have a loyal customer base make any sense?

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The A-List and sometimes ALP have been very rewarding for me along with two free bags and no change fees.

Depending on what the transition is where some existing A-list benefits won't be as useful with assigned seats there will be new ones announced and personally I'm hopeful for the overall benefit to remain with Southwest for the majority of my flying. 

New seat assignments means new pricing methods so I've saved a lot through the years and as long as I continue to get good value then I don't expect  to change my habits other than booking earlier than I do now to lock in my favorite seats instead of winging it on the day of flight.

[bballflyer]

I fly with mainly because of the companion fare, the great miles program and the flexibility (same day changes/standby, easy to rebook if prices drop, easy use of RR points, easy to earn RR points)  I book flights frequently w/o knowing what time I need to be somewhere or what time I can return and these benefits are the most valuable to me.  I am waiting to see how the seating works with same day changes and stand by.  As of now, you are still able to get good seats if A-list or AP, even when you do a same day change because of the open seating and they let you board in between A and B groups.  I fear this will change in the future. 

[LongTimeFan199]

I hope to continue using Southwest, but I worry this is just one step towards being like everyone else. Southwest's own studies showed that open seating encouraged faster boarding. If assigned seats make gate times longer, will Southwest compensate with more fees elsewhere?

I like the atmosphere with open seating. I have seen groups of people rearrange themselves to help families sit together. I have not witnessed much of that behavior when flying with assigned seats.

[M2par]

Weighing those options now.  If I'm paying for a seat what's the difference in the other big guys.  I average between 100-150 flights per year on SWA and am always A16.   If I'm going to have to pay for the option to get my desired seat (I'm an early on early off first few rows person) there's not differentiator.  I can "buy" a seat on any airline.  I currently do 10-15 flights a year with the other guys, and have always been a little envious of those "clubs" where I would get free food, drinks, etc, with the type of status I could achieve there.  I'll wait until it happens to see the outcome but, certainly looking harder at the options more than ever before.  They need to announce details of what this will look like to at least inform the loyal masses.    

[DJ_Ran]

A-list Perferred with companion pass and I will definitely continue flying Southwest. I welcome the change and been asking for assigned seating for a couple years now ever since the pre boarder scammers started getting out of control. I'm tired of seeing that one person paying for early bird check-in and saving seats for the entire crew who are boarding in C group. If open seating was such a great policy tell me why not one other airline copied that policy?   I actually hope many of you do move on to another airline because that's more free space on Southwest to stretch out.. Just remember the grass isn't greener on the other side especially if you've been flying non-stop on Southwest. Enjoy those layovers elsewhere as well as paying those baggage fees.

[boatorgolf]

Well you can go to another airline and pay for your seat if that is what you want... 

[epcot]

that's the problem, too many people were doing that and WN has been falling behind

[88738344]

Feel free to go to any other airline then...