I tried Southwest for the first time this past week. With my wife and 17 year old stepson, we flew SWA for our vacation. I was impressed with the efficiency and friendliness of the staff. However, the seating process will have me looking elsewhere when we fly again. Despite booking our ticket 4 months ago, we were 3 of the last 10 people to board on our return flight. Middle seats for all 3 of us, at least until a SWA employee traded seats which allowed 2 of us to be together. By the way, I'm not sure why an employee was able to claim a seat on an oversold flight before we were.
Also, I didn't notice that this seating policy decreased the aircraft boarding time. It seemed to take just as long as other flights I have been on.
A group of 10 of us will be flying in a few months, but I can not recommend SWA knowing that my aging parents may be subjected to this same scenerio.
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