Hey Ronda, you keep eating up Smith's story. The fact is, I wasn't there, maybe he's telling the truth, maybe he's not. Either way, this just wasn't that big a deal, there are much more important things in life to worry about than if a rich celebrity got his way. SW has apologized for boarding him and then taking him off, if that's not good enough for you, then that's too bad I suppose. Just fly someone else and pay more across the board, and get treated badly for your trouble. I've flown SW for years and have been delighted by the friendly service and reasonable prices. Did Mr. Smith have a bad experience? Perhaps, but if this was the worst thing that happened to him that week, he should count himself lucky.
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Yeah, 1600 posts written by 6 or 7 slackers that live in their parents basements.
I think the employee that took Smith off was wrong, but all that happened was that a millionaire filmmaker had to take another flight an hour or so later, oh the humanity.
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As a fan of Kevin Smith AND a fan of SWA, let me add my two cents. From what I understand, the only reason the airline would allow someone to purchase two seats is because of size. I have tried to purchase two seats, and was told I couldn't because I don't need two seats, and it wouldn't be fair to others that wanted on that flight. Kevin wouldn't know this, and purchases two seats for comfort and privacy, but he is a big guy, so employees wouldn't say anything because they figure his size was the reason he purchased two.
After reading everything, and listening to Kevin's Smodcast, I think I understand what happened. The girl at the gate wasn't sure if she should let him board the earlier flight, as far as she knows, people are only allowed to purchase two seats if they need them, not just for privacy. She relents and gives him the boarding pass, a bit later, the pilot is saying he wants any issues resolved so they can take off, she remembers giving the boarding pass to the customer that had purchased two seats, and according to policy, she wasn't supposed to let him board with one seat. She's afraid she could get in trouble, and wants to expidite the plane taking off, like the pilot asked. At this point, I agree, she was wrong, she didn't listen or pay attention to what Kevin was telling her.
It seems the employees were frazzled and didn't handle the situation very well (a bit of an understatement). Kevin has a right to be upset, but it appears to me they have investigated the situation, and have apologized, even if they didn't go as far as Kevin wanted. I know the size policy rankles some, but the fact is, every airline has basically the same policy, so flying another airline won't make a difference unless you purchase a first class seat, which is probably still higher than two seats on SWA in most cases. It's like watching that show Airline, seeing somebody get bumped from a flight, assuming that only happens on SWA,
and vowing never to fly them again, but all airlines have the same basic policy.
I'm still a Kevin Smith fan, I understand why he's upset, and he has every right to be. At the same time, SWA is my airline of choice, they are reasonably priced, on time, and normally provide great customer service. This situation wasn't a shining moment for them, but just as I don't judge Kevin based soley on Jersey Girl, I won't judge SWA based only on this incident. In fact, I will be flying them to see Kevin's Q&A in Austin soon. His take on this should be hilarious.
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