No More Open Seating?

[ThatGoodLife]

I always use Southwest over other airlines when I have the opportunity to do so. I am very disappointed that they are ending open seating. Now they will be just like every other airline and I will no longer favor them over other airlines.

I hope they reconsider their decision to end open seating. Perhaps they will revert their decision when the decrease in sales to loyal customers who appreciate the flexibility provided by open seating outweighs the increase in revenue they generate from charging people to pick their seat.

[jwienberg]

Southwest:  Please don't change your open seating policy.  It's one of the few things that makes you special and worth the extra cost of Anytime or Business class.  If you are going to force us to pick seats in advance, then all the perks of same day change and business travel are lost.

[floridaguy]

I believe that the number one reason that Southwest is going for assigned seats is the abuse of the preboard system.  The number of preboards is so far above the average count for other airlines that there MUST be a root cause.

Because a preboard has the best selection of seats AND you can be first in line for seating by buying the lowest cost fare, you have the abuse.

Pre-board pre-board over the ocean blue...You paid for Business Select and I got on board ahead of you...

[consipio]

So, they should fix that problem rather than getting away with the whole system and penalizing everyone right?

[brightongal1]

You so nailed it!! The preboard situation was totally out of control, sad SW couldn't even have the stomach to enforce their own boarding laws. 

[BobNoxious123]

Pre-boarding will still get to board first and take all the carry-on space.  They just wont get the good seats without paying first.

[DancingDavidE]

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@BobNoxious123 wrote:

Pre-boarding will still get to board first and take all the carry-on space.  They just wont get the good seats without paying first.

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Is this a big problem for you? In all my flights this year maybe one of them ran out of bin space and it didn't affect anyone that was in the A's, B's, or early C's.

[seeking]

The legacy carriers still have pre-boarding, but it is significantly less than WN. I've been on flights with ZERO pre-boarding on the legacy carriers. On the other hand, I don't recall a WN without at least 1. I was pleasantly surprised on a recent trip when there were only 4.

As it is now, A boarding should be B, B is C and C would be D. I appreciate open boarding and will miss it. I will appreciate the lack of frustration when assigned seats are implemented. The question will be what boarding group you will be assigned which will determine the risk of having to check a bag.

[dfwskier]

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@seeking wrote:

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"The legacy carriers still have pre-boarding, but it is significantly less than WN. I've been on flights with ZERO pre-boarding on the legacy carriers"

My alternate carrer is United and my experience is 180 degrees different than yours. 

Here's who United lets prebowrd

1) Regular pre-boarders

2) Military

3) Families with kids

Lots more pre boartders than SW and a much more chaotic pre boarding process.

[michaljordan]

It’s definitely surprising to hear about the change to open seating. If Southwest is committed to this move, perhaps they could consider implementing a system where passengers have the option to choose open seating for a reduced fee, blending the best of both worlds. gbwa. gbapponline.com/ It might help maintain their unique selling point while accommodating those who prefer reserved seats.