john398

Technically you could of grabbed the empty seat

TomMM

Free checked bags??

ILovetheReds

Or no change fees. If you fly first class it includes free checked bags. American and Delta gives you three 70-lb free checked bags in F along with a 50% bonus on EQM's.

ursine1

With that price differential you could check many bags and still come out ahead.

justhere

Good thing she didn't cheat then. She preboarded as allowed by WN and she saved seats, also allowed by WN.
Depends on WN's definition of "available". If she saved the seat, it is no longer available. WN only says that you can sit in any available seat.

ILovetheReds

If WN allows preboarders to save seats, does that apply to everyone who has a boarding pass number before their companions?

If that's the case why should I pay for EBCI for three passengers when travelling with my wife and daughter??? I've always been able to find a row of three seats when paying for EBCI. I may as well just pay for EBCI for myself and even if they end up with C passes just save them the other two seats.

I'm surprised people travelling with a spouse or kids with a low boarding pass number just don't have one of the people preboard and then save seats if they all have bad BP numbers.

Blitzjb

SW is renowned for its "miracle flights" Pre-Board in a wheelchair and Run off the plane at your destination. It is a miracle!!

pinniped

Yes, you are permitted to save as many seats as you like. You're only limited by how many bags, coats, etc. you have to throw over the seats and your desire to angrily bark at anyone who dares look at them funny. Buy 1 EBCI, scurry onboard and hoard 8 seats...the flight attendant will just stand there and watch you. Go ahead and save some nice, premium seats too: Southwest does not prohibit it.

ILovetheReds

I would never do that and was kidding in my post. But I feel like a sucker now for being ethical and paying for EBCI for two to four people, depending on if I fly with one or both kiddos.

Allan38103

Also, don't forget that if someone DOES tell you a seat is saved, there's nothing to stop you from taking it anyway. Southwest does not prohibit that either.

pinniped

I know...I'm kidding too, but it illustrates how ridiculous it is that WN has no clearly articulated policy about seat-saving.

Joe K.

Someone in a wheel chair had to sit in a bulkhead. What's the advantage of them sitting in a bulkhead? The seats are just as narrow. Do wheelchair bound people tend to have longer legs? No. If the ADA was so concerned about people with disabilities having "special accomadations" then why isn't there regulations ensuring that the airlines seats were wider and spaced further apart. As so many here have pointed out, including the OP, there are far more "disabled" passengers than "special" seats to accomadate them.

justhere

I think it's more like there's nothing stopping you from arguing with the seat-saver. WN simply says you can take any available seat. They don't say open seat. Depends on how you define available as WN doesn't define it. If we define it as open=available then what's to stop someone from taking a nice, open exit row aisle when the person stands up to go to the bathroom or get something out of the overhead?

Nothing really, right? So it just comes down to etiquette and the fact that most people don't want to argue. Occasionally though people will argue and you have to be careful that if the FA gets involved you don't know if one or both of the people are going to get kicked off the flight.
The advantage is that it's easier to get into and out of. The ADA doesn't apply on an aircraft. It's the ACAA. And what makes you think that people in a wheelchair need a wider seat or seats spaced further apart. If they are too big to fit in one seat, they'll just lift the armrest up. Just like any customer of size might do on WN. And WN doesn't even charge extra for the extra seat.

camaross

The fact that WN hasn't used the "blue sleeves" that the OP claims to have seen waving in years tells you all you need to know. BS story indeed.

Ponyboy

Not a BS story. The group approached from clear across the terminal and were waving *what I assumed was* a pre-board blue sleeve. Perhaps just a boarding pass.