Southwest Airlines Community

I stand corrected, we are not allowed to SIT together.  Valid call out. So my reward for 50-100 flights a year is to sit by a stranger, but we can board together. You are correct. Not a solution.   or we save seats... (tactics documented above).  so why not board together at the highest vs the lowest?  Where is the logic behind that? Again, SW employee response?   we all paid a fare, so that point doesn’t resonate.   your “take your business elsewhere” (paraphrase) comment ... you are correct, free markets do operate that way.  But you likely don’t work for Southwest and my guess is they would rather I not do that.  Odd “get off my lawn” comment frankly with no value.   As an A list preferred, I don’t want to sit by your family, I want YOU to sit by them.  If you have A16 and a family of 4.... great!  Sit together and my A17 is Fine as really an A20.  And this will happen to me 50-100 times a year to my 1-2 for me.  Happy to trade. Appearantly you will all save the seats anyway....so why object.   BTW, Defending an illogical status Quo on behalf of a company is really an odd behavior for passengers.  I am open to A listers who demand A17 remain exactly 17....but the obvious counter point to that is... if they are saving seats anyway, is A17 really A17?   Ideally we get either Southwest to chime in OR someone to say “saving seats is 100% NOT ok and point to the policy.”   Simple request for SW, I want a valid business reason why we can’t board together ...on the highest number, not the lowest. ... View more

Very much appreciate the hypothesis as to why.  Would LOVE a SW employee to chime in.   To paraphrase for you: - your customers create work around for your policy they don’t like - it doesn’t often lead to confrontation or worse (but can) - should it get news worthy, SW would consider a change (our hypothesis) - change would make customers happy, reduce your risk, and align better with your seat saving policy  - no valid business reason for NOT changing (perhaps you have one) - we believe something bad has to happen to a passenger or child first for you to act   Would love an official response.  Multiple assumptions are made that don’t paint a flattering picture.  No ones intent, but does offer insight as to how your customers view  your desire to serve them.  Seeking clarity on a valid business reason to NOT fix your boarding issues with ALL families and companion pass holders.   Also, I had two of your employees encourage me to post as they stated, “they don’t listen to us, they only listen to customers.”  I found that ironic.....     ... View more

I am fascinated by folks that are willing to create a work around for a simple/logical change.   again, I know HOW to save a seat, but I don’t control how people respond to IF I save a seat.  So the “doesn’t have to lead to confrontation” is out of my control.    If saving a seat IS allowed and CAN lead to confrontation, why not just let people board together?   If saving a seat IS allowed, and COULD lead to a child in a dangerous situation, why not let them board together?   can someone explain why we should NOT be allowed to board together?     All good on seat saving tactics 😉 ... View more

I have saved seats in the past, I go to the back of the plane and do just that.  One day, with just my wife I was waiting for and plenty of open seats, I had a women ask if she could sit by me, I pointed to my wife who was about 5 people back, and said I was waiting for her.  She yelled at me that I can’t save seats, she didn’t care, and would sit next to me anyway.  A family and flight attendant stepped in and gave her a seat next to them and closer to the exit.   I understand and the mechanics of how to save a seat, that’s not the point.   My point is, why even put people in this position? That incident was a good brand image? And if you can save seats, why bother seperating at boarding?  Especially children.   it makes no sense and creates ill will. ... View more

Also A list preferred with companion and I could not agree more. There are a lot of ways to view this:   1) I Am A list preferred and you either make me pay more to sit with my family or make me lose my status I earned by being away from my family.  Thanks.   2)if you did let my family board with my family, do you think some would NOT take a middle seat?   3) why take the harassment of a minor risk by having them sit next to a stranger?   4) as an a lister, I grow tired of waiting for planes as flight attendants are pleading with people to move so a mother can sit next to her child.  It’s rediculous for them to ask, me to hear, us to be late. Note, in his scenario, someone might board before me.  I can live with that.   5) if I travel with a companion - even an adult - how often does that happen per flight that it screws other A listers out of an aisle seat? Likely, a middle is taken by companion, but if not, it’s not like half the flights are companion.   its a pretty simple fix:   1) companion passes board together 2) families board with highest ticket 3) if really low seat and traveling with a minor, board in family boarding   in thw cureent political climate of seperating kids from parents, do you really want some bad press about an incident that went wrong in that regard?   also, don’t think your “employees wouldn’t let that happen”.  I received this gem when boarding with my family.   ME: Can my 8 year old board with me, I am A, she is C.   Them: No.   Me: Family boarding is under 6, sooo....   Them: you can board at C or she can board alone.   Me: you want me to leave an 8 year old alone and to your care?   them: she is not my responsibility if something happens to her.   Why even put your employees in a position to say that....   Please re-consider a sensible/easy solution.   ... View more

I appreciate the forum and response Lindsay, but it's not an answer to a problem.  I also am A preferred and your benefit of "free wi-fi" isn't a benefit.   Southwest is in the value game, not the free game and you are making 2 major errors    1) assuming ad revenue and "free TV" is value for occasional flyers at the espense of frequent flyers   2) assuming a regular flyer sees no value in paid plus ads   Your bandwidth is destroyed by free and cheap and ruins the experience for biz travelers.  Facts are, you should charge 2-3 x what you do now, can still be under the competition, and can still show ads because the experience will be lightening fast with 1/2 the people on it.   this will make business travelers happy and those that choose to use, happy.  Facts are, if I don't want to pay $25 for my kids to watch a movie, I download to iPad before I travel and problem solved.  If I want convienence, I pay and get quality.  Either way, I found value.   for A list, make me pay the $8 vs the 24, I find value, expense it, improve my quality, AND you make more money.   in the long run, you should make more money, we prefer the service, and you can afford to continue to upgrade where your competitors are struggling because of the cost of taking flights off line for 2-3 days of work.  Every plane you upgrade hardware wise is further distance from them bandwidth wise.   again, your airline is about value not price and your wifi is anything but value.  Change it and we will all happily pay or adapt.  But continue to serve me in a fashion where google can't load and I find you cheap, not valuable.   good luck ... View more