SANdyFlyer

I'm assuming that OP had a C group BP since nothing to the contrary has been mentioned. The irony of this whole situation is that if the FA had enforced a 'no seat saving' policy as OP would have it, in all probability, that aisle seat would have been taken by someone else anyways. I just find it silly that OP thought he should be entitled to it because he was willing to make the biggest stink.

Should the girl have been saving a whole row of seats, probably not. But IMO, OP's behavior was far more egregious than the minor transgression of 'seat saving'.

Getting confrontational with someone's kid also seems like a fast track for getting yourself into an escalated situation. Unfortunately for OP, if things progressed into a scuffle (apparently the father was already yelling), security would have escorted BOTH of you off the plane, and sorted it out later; regardless of your 'innocence'.

nsx

Did you offer to switch seats with him again later in the flight for another $50? @:-)

Orwaid

SANdyflyer -

I Did not make a big stink, I did not yell at anyone, I did not get confrontational with another passenger or a teenager.

What I did was take an unoccupied seat.

The person that was making the big stink and yelling and being confrontational was the dad that tried to circumvent WN's policies and procedures in order to save paying additional A1-A15 boarding fees.

lrickets

"I then look at him and say "Hey if you REALLY want to sit together, go to the ticket counter and pay for A1-A15 boarding. If you don't do that, you get what you get. Too bad.""

regardless if wn have or don't have seats saving policy, they're a family and should sit together if they can.

if you wanted an aisle seat, you could have gone to the the ticket counter and pay for A1-A15 just the same.

antinseattle

Do you even fly? Or are you just outraged because the OP, in your mind, seemed to have lost his mind? The OP was totally in his own rights to ask simple questions, if anything be pissed at the father that put the kid up to this.......like many who fly very often, I'll put myself in that group, we've seen every trick in the book. The irony is you're so annoyed by the OPs reaction, more than facts or logical assumptions of the situation......

Sounds to me, if anyone's in the wrong it's probably the father, followed closely by either the WN GA or FA, depending on what their conversation was.....

Next someone will be posting "Seems like the OP violently attacked the kid". None of this happened. This happens everyday on a WN flight somewhere......

antinseattle

He didn't really want it, or he would have.......but why pay for it, if its open when he boarded? If it wasn't open he would have sat in middle seat, but it was open........why is it him that it appears NEEDED an aisle? It's the family that NEEDED to sit together. They needed to pay, not the OP

srk123

Happened to me once two years ago. When I got to the exit row, a guy was sitting in the window seat with books on the aisle and middle. He said his wife and aunt had the other two seats. I asked where they were, and he said they were about to board. So I took the aisle seat and while he got mad and called me a name, I took the seat and moved the book to the other middle seat. When he realized that I would not relent (an FA was not nearby), he moved to a regular unoccupied row and saved that row by sitting in the window seat. Someone else took the other two seats in my row. No children were involved. I regularly post this when this kind of thread reappears, and I continually hope SW will make their policy clear instead of ambiguous. I don't fly them that often (mostly AA for me with assigned seats), but when I fly SW, I know my "rights" when selecting a seat after boarding.

lrickets

i'm sorry, the girl could have sat at the aisle and save the middle and window for her parents, then op would have just mozy on down to see if there any aisle seat left. if not, he still would have to sit in a middle seat anyway since that was all is left.

i'm sure the dad was not being confrontational by yelling i'm here like op said because he was just a few from op boarding. but from what op said after was really jerky and confrontational. And that gets no sympathy from me.

saneman

Simple solution if you WNers insist on holding on this open seating crap - Just charge a lower fees on a sliding scale for each additional member of a family. This might encourage family groups to pay for every early boarding slot instead of hoping to get away with just one of them and is a win win for both WN and the families. Each additional family member pays half the fees. While I was initially on the sideof the OP, I do understand that if the parents were not that far behind, it was really not unreasonable for the kid to save the seats for a mere few minutes. But WN is to blame more than anyone to allow for such confusion.

SANdyFlyer

I do indeed, and suppose that is why I am having difficulty empathizing with OP. I'm A+, usually board around A16 or so, and head straight to the 4th row. I never have to deal with 'seat savers', so you won't find me as discontent as some here.

If the father was in this thread, I would absolutely be asking "Why would you send your daughter to do your dirty work?"....but he isn't. Just because I don't agree with OP's actions doesn't imply that I agree with the father.

As far as I know, the 3 checked in way late and the daughter lucked out by receiving a re-issued A group BP from someone who cancelled. Heck..they may have even asked a SW employee about the variance in boarding positions, and were told "Oh...sometimes that happens. Now she can save seats for the both of you". It certainly wouldn't be the first time that I have seen an employee recommend saving seats. I suppose my fault is that I don't share your cynicism after seeing 'every trick in the books'.

It sounds like you have correctly summed up my comments. Though I fail to see the 'irony' of me not agreeing with OP's actions, and how those actions are 'non-factual'...

jamesteroh

Sounds like a lot people are assuming this is a young "kid". If she boarded without her parents she would have had to have been at least 12 years old or she would have been a UM.

If it's that important for parents to sit with their kids who are teenagers, then they should all pay for BS or EBCI. A teen should be able to go a three hour flight without sitting next to their parents and if they can't, they only need to be sitting beside one parent not both. Usually when I am near a teen on a flight they are playing a game or watching a movie anyway.

For a three+ hour flight I would have refused to have taken a middle seat as well if an aisle or window was available.

If it's that important for me to sit with a travel companion when flying I decline the upgrade to make sure we don't get split up or I pay for two first class seats. The family in this situation could have done that, paid for EBCI or BS for everyone in the group and they could have sat together.

Bonehead

These types of threads reinforce my decision to never, ever fly WN due to the boarding and especially seating nonsense that occurs all too often. Thank you, OP.

jamesteroh

I use to fly WN all the time, and I don't miss the boarding procedures at all. I like knowing that if I am not upgraded I'll have an aisle seat in either Economy comfort or the exit row and if I don't need the overhead space, I can enjoy finsihing my cocktail or answering my emails and be the last to board and not have to worry about getting stuck in a middle seat.

And no that they have the evolve seating I am even happier I don't fly them anymore.

Orwaid

Yes, I only fly WN now when there is no practical alternative for these and other reasons.

And the teen appeared to be in the 16 year old range, most certainly not 12.

And as far as me being jerky and confrontational, I asked the FA if it was still open seating on WN, then sat down.

The jerky, confrontational one was the dad who tried to game the system to save some money, got caught, and then tried being bellicose to get what he wanted without paying for it.

lrickets

i still don't see how it was the dad trying to game a system? it's open seating and not defining saving seats aren't allowed. it doesn't matter if the girl was 16 or 12 or even 6. they're a family of 3 and they want to sit together and 1 person saved seats, so what? I don't see what is so bad that you were all worked up for.

As I've said earlier, if this girl have sat at the aisle and saving the middle and window seat for her parents, would you sit in the middle right next to her or squeeze in the window seat anyway even if FA announced there were only middle seats left? or would you go down a little further to another middle seat?

what i often find when flying wn is that 2 people getting on board and 1 sit at aisle and 1 sit at window, leaving a personal item in middle seat pretending saving it for someone. when they announced the plane is full and every seat will be taken, but they didn't hear it still sit in window and aisle. then i just laugh when i see a very large person squeezing in the because they thought they will have the middle seat open for them.

anyway, life is short to have minor thing like this matter. don't let little things like this get to you, your heart will thank you for it.

who knows, someday you'll be flying with 1 or more family members and buy the $40 for a1-15 passes for each of your family members so no one will accuse you of "cheating the system."