Reserving Seats On Southwest/Exit Row

[SouthwestNovice]

Not a frequent SW passenger here, but had an experience on my flight this past week that I thought I would share with a tip to future passengers on how you can actually reserve specific seats on Southwest flights.

My travel party and I got on the plane and as we made our way toward through the plane several of us realized that exit row seats were open. We thought we would take advantage of the opportunity and gain the extra leg space by sitting in the exit row seats. One of the flight attendants was blocking the seats and when we asked to sit we were told "these seats are unavailable."

We asked were people sitting in them and were told "yes they are taken" by the flight attendant. We moved on to the rows behind the exit row and waited as we were disappointed but didn't want to make it a big deal. As we waited for the boarding to finish we realized that she was holding the seats for people who had not boarded yet as they came on with luggage behind us, stowed it and then took their seats. It was not a situation where someone had boarded and then gone to the restroom during boarding (not a great idea, but I know it happens).

I called into customer service after the trip to ask what the policy was for flight attendants holding seats for passengers and how that reconciled with the "open seating/first-come first served" policy and an active policy of not getting involved in the first come vs. saving seats policy.

I was told by the customer service rep on the phone that if you go to the gate agent ahead of time and tell them you would like to sit in the exit row that they will hold the exit row seats for you ahead of everyone else in the boarding priority or boarding order - whether they paid for early access or were in the queue ahead of you or not.

So there you have it, if you want the leg room you can request the reservation of exit row seating with the gate agent and they will hold it for you per SW customer service.

[bec102896]

I have never heard of a person being able to go to the gate agent to reserve the exit row. I have seen people get on a plane and save seats for people boarding later but some FAs allow it others don’t in the exit row I’ve seen both sides because you could be saving it for someone and if they are under 15 they can’t sit in the exit row then could be a problem if they are the last to board and the flight was full. 

With saving seats I don’t see a problem with the row your in but rows I frown on but I don’t care to fight it so I just move on 

[floridaguy]

This is an interesting story, but implausible.  Southwest has a policy of open seating and there is absolutely no way to reserve a seat.

My suggesting is to ask for a partial refund for your flight if this did, in fact, occur.  Southwest will investigate as to whether the seats were held and, if so, issue you some sort of credit.

I would have sat in the exit row since the policy is open seating.

[TheMiddleSeat]

Lol, request a refund? 

Go ahead and disobey a flight attendant and see how far that gets you.

--TheMiddleSeat

[floridaguy]

https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/interfering-with-a-flight-attendant-or-crewmember.ht....

[TheMiddleSeat]

Says "close the discussion" then continues to post. smh

--TheMiddleSeat

[SouthwestNovice]

I don't know what to tell you. Implausible as it may be, it did occur and the woman who answered the phone at SW customer service this morning said it was quite normal for people to be able to go and request that the exit row seats be held for them at the gate agent and have that done. I even asked her why that made sense because that meant someone could jump ahead of people who had purchased priority boarding and even said "I could do this and have that prime seat over someone who had slot A2 as a boarding position?" and she said "yes."

She said it was a thing because people who sit in exit rows have to be able to perform certain responsibilities and they like to know ahead of time they have people who can do those things and people requesting the seats ahead of time enables that need to be met so they will hold them.

[floridaguy]

I'll call Southwest later today and see if there is the remotest possibility that this is within their scope of operation.  If it isn't, I'd suggest asking for a partial refund/credit.

I would have sat in the exit rows.  Federal law covering failure to follow instructions call for reasonable instructions.  If the flight attendant says to eat your thumb, you do not have to follow that instruction.

Let's also leave the personal attacks out of the discussion.

[TheMiddleSeat]

---

@floridaguy wrote:

Let's also leave the personal attacks out of the discussion

@floridaguy why do you think every comment pointing out the ridiculousness of your statements is a "personal attack"? Yet another ridiculous statement.

--TheMiddleSeat

[floridaguy]

I called Southwest.  I asked if there are ANY provisions to present at the gate or check-in and specifically ask for exit row seating.  After a pause, the individual asked if I was asking whether Southwest assigns or reserves seats.  I respond "yes, that's my question".

I was told that under no circumstances does Southwest reserve seats.  The boarding policy was recited which includes preboard followed by A group, Family Boarding, B group, etc.  

Then I asked if a flight attendant refused to let me sit in a seat that was reserved what should I do.  I was told to report that to another flight attendant and ask for clarification since no seats are reserved.

As mentioned earlier, I'd suggest asking for some type of partial credit from Southwest.