04-17-2019
05:18 PM
I am quite aware of the unhappy customers like myself who regularly put up with discourteous passengers who save seats and write about it on this forum. Do we think SWA also monitors this forum? I think they do, so this is also a place for opinions to be expressed. I have and will again make my displeasure know directly to SWA, however moving forward will no longer be passive with the policy. Thank you for your wise counsel. The policy is very clear, “Open seating”. There is no opinion, the first passenger to sit themselves in a seat has that seat. If there is a purse or a bag in the seat, that seat is open, unless the purse or bag became an animated being and paid for the airline ticket, in which case it would need a separate seat from its owner. Most people will be courteous to the discourteous, or ignorant, however I think that time is over. Since this is a customer forum, I call all educated, courteous passengers to stand your ground since SWA won’t, and move any personal objects in a seat that you want and sit down. Ring the attendant call button so the SWA employee can explain the “Open seating” policy to the person who is obviously the most important person on the plane, and doesn’t need to follow the rules like everyone else. if you want a reserved seat, fly another airline. That is the most simple answer there is.
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04-17-2019
03:04 PM
Flight 2256 4.17.19; PHX to DAL - two entire rows of seats saved? I am currently on this flight contemplating whether I will turn into the Open Seat enforcer from now on, and put both the flight attendants and other customer in a bad mood, or if I will say goodbye to SWA and pull my A-list preferred travel dollars over to American. Does either of these benefit SWA-sitting in saved seats and upsetting passengers or me moving my high frequency business to American? All SWA has to is simply have a published and CLEARLY stated policy that seat saving is not allowed or tolerated, and have the flight attendant and/or pilots enforce the policy. Why they continue to upset their loyal, SWA educated and frequent customers is a mystery.
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07-28-2018
02:58 PM
3 Loves
Yes, it is very possible that he was carrying for someone else and completely legitimate. It is those instances when some people think to themselves, "well if it is just me doing this it won't be an issue" that tend to boil the blood. A) thinking they are special & above everyone else and B) if everyone thought that way, things don't work. Unfortunately, it seems more and more people are thinking they are entitled to "special treatment". I blame the Kardashians : ) Anyway, this is a minor infraction compared with the "I'm saving this seat" SWA passengers.
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07-28-2018
02:38 PM
1 Love
I have no reason to doubt that is true. This simply changes the burden of tracking who is with who and how many bags the "group" is allowed from the crew to the Ops Agent. Regardless, it is an unwise practice and undue burden to place on both the Agent who is often in a hurry to board passengers, and the rest of the passengers as the Agent takes additional time to count group members and baggage numbers. Let's make an attempt at empathy for the Ops Agent and imagine a flight to Orlando during holiday and 20-25 families with children.
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07-28-2018
01:43 PM
Absolutely a possibility the passenger was assisting another passenger with only one carry on item. How would the flight crew make this determination without communicating with the passenger? It is highly unlikely there was any communication as I was directly behind the passenger and the crew didn't deplane. In any case, allowing this practice would make for a headache for the flight crew as their job is difficult enough dealing with people who aren't intelligent enough to follow rules or believe that the rules are for everyone and they are special. Flight crews don't need to be keeping track of which passengers are with who and net baggage counts. Example: If Passenger B18 with three bags is asked about three items, then claims passenger A19 is traveling with B18, should we expect the crew to remember that A19 only had one carry on item? Do we want them to have a spreadsheet and keep a tally of everyone while boarding?
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07-27-2018
09:49 PM
July 27, flight 1377 A15 or A16 passenger walks on with backpack and two large bags in each hand. After I pass the flight attendant (who I see looking at the passenger and his carry on items as he passes the front door) I say to her, “three carry on items per person now, this is great”. Yes, that was sarcasm - I am an awful person. after I happily help the person in the window seat in my aisle place her very heavy bag in the upper storage, I look back to see if flight attendant is pursuing 3 bag passenger. Nope. I do not understand why Southwest does not enforce its own policies.
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But it is open seating so you cannot save a seat. Think of others please, instead of just yourself. The person wanting that saved seat may have paid for the opportunity to sit in the seat of gheir choice. You are denying someone from a service they have paid for and you have not. Additionally, by saving seats you are creating an atmosphere of hostility amongst the passengers. When you shop at the grocery store do you stand in line with no groceries and ‘save’ the checkout register for the other person you are with? Inconsiderate of others to save seats when there are limited options.
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