The last three times I flew Southwest this year I had the following experiences:
Flight #1: I was standing in line for seating area A and a woman walked past everyone in line, ducked under the rope between the lines and cut in line near the front. When one of the passengers confronted her, she said, "I didn't know all of you were standing in line".
Flight #2: There was an empty middle seat in the row in front of me. A boarding passenger asked if the seat was occupied. The woman in the aisle seat said, "Yes, my niece is sitting there." The seat remained empty for the duration of the flight. Lesson: without assigned seating, people will lie in order to keep an empty seat next to them.
Flight #3: I arrived at the gate and walked up to the line for seating area B. There was one person in front of me. As I stood there, a woman who was sitting down started screaming at me that I cut in line in front of her. I had no idea that I was supposed to stand behind all the people who were sitting down! How was I supposed to know that all the people sitting in chairs had "virtually" claimed a place in line?
I'd love it if Southwest switched to assigned seating.
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