Peoriaman1

Upon further review.... I think I noticed it but didn't open/unfold it. I didn't realize it was a table!

jeffandnicole

More than once, after we boarded the plane, my wife or I will quickly use the bathroom onboard. So not only is the seat 'saved', but it's already been sat in.

jeffandnicole

But that voids point 2.

If the middle seat is empty 75% of the time already using his strategy, his success is much better than most people get in those further-back rows.

elsenor

That is my problem with seat saving. Not that this is what you did for a flight that you both forgot to check in or "that one time" but your m.o in over a hundred flights. When you could just as easily board with him or choose seats near the back of the plane. Not to mention you have canned responses and retorts for anyone questioning or hoping to sit there.

Kevin AA

seat-saving jerk

palmetto86

If you truly think seat saving is that big of a problem, find another airline with assigned seats.

I flew on 169 Southwest flights in 2016--not once was someone else saving a seat an issue for me. I don't think it's a systemic problem by any means, and I have no issue with my or others savings seats for their companions or small family for that matter.

elsenor

I don't know if it's that big of a problem, I was merely commenting on your admission of doing it frequently. I also didn't start the thread. I mentioned my experience earlier because it happened to my wife and I multiple times on multiple flights for the first time this past October. And my point was, it's a bit of a narrowed/rare issue for me/us and really only something I notice when it's:
1) near the front of the plane
2) prevents 2 people from sitting in the row

I don't really care if someone is saving the middle seat when both the aisle and window are taken, especially if I'm a single and can go to the next row or the one after and on and on down the plane. Very different from saving a seat that prevents 2 pax from sitting in that row.

*edit* Of course you wouldn't have a problem with someone else seat saving since you do. AND since you are boarding A1-15, you'd so seldom see it. But board with your companion for 10+ flights this year in B15-45 and see if you ever run into it. Not saying you would or wouldn't but you might think a bit differently about it.

lexdevil

This is exactly why he does it. And why I have sympathy for him. If a no status passenger checking in at T-24 often gets a boarding pass somewhere between B15-B45 (or worse), the whole "board later with your seatmate" option means that it may be difficult to get seats together, especially if the flight has a decent number of through passengers.

Many may think that this is fair, but it seems like a crappy way for an airline to treat its most frequent customers. Why should solo elite flyers get prime seat options, but those who would like to sit with their spouse/significant other have to risk sitting in poor seats (and possibly not getting to sit together anyway) in order to have even a chance to sit together?

palmetto86

That's pretty rich that the person complaining about Southwest's seat saving non-policy is someone who flies Southwest because they get a free Companion Pass. (Unless your boarding numbers are that low because you're choosing to board with the lowest boarding number? Even in that case, that's something you're choosing to do.)

When the official policy of the Southwest is "we don't have a policy for seat saving," no one should be afraid to save or shamed for saving seats. If seat saving upsets you, then there are plenty other airlines that have formal seat saving policies, i.e. assigned seats.

Saving seats doesn't make you a jerk. (There are a small minority on this forum that may call you a jerk, but in reality, no one you run into actually cares.) The majority of people that fly Southwest are decent human beings who understand why you might be saving a seat for your significant other, daughter, son, grandma, coworker, or whomever else that other person may be.

If you're nice, and smile, and kind to your fellow passengers--no one cares about your saved seat. The only time someone saving a seat becomes a jerk is when the person with a lower boarding number becomes a jerk to that seat saver. That's a very rare case. And when that happens to me (once or twice a year), I stand my ground.

Nirvana91

I agree that saving seats isn't a huge deal but I think that once someone asks to have your "saved" seat, all bets are off. THEY are not the jerk for asking for a seat that is unoccupied, and I believe that YOU would in fact be the jerk in the situation described above. In fact a HUGE jerk. If you keep acting this way don't be surprised if somebody some day takes you up on your offer to "get through you," resulting in you both being thrown off the flight. Depending on tone, in my opinion telling someone that they would have to "get through you" to get to an unoccupied (and therefore open for them to sit in, despite the tray table being down and your belongings being there) window seat is unnecessarily aggressive and physically threatening. At the very least I'd hold up boarding while I requested an FA explain to you that I can sit in the seat without physical harm. At worst we'd both be off the plane. The best way to stop bullying is to bully right back.

palmetto86

My point is that, I'm not a jerk until someone else chooses to be one. On Southwest, if I say a seat "isn't available," 99% of the time the other person moves on. In that 1% of cases, I'll guard the seat I'm holding which is well within my right as a passenger on Southwest.

elsenor

That's a pretty, pretty, pretty good point that I hadn't thought about... Maybe give the super ultra master flyers companion early boarding credits or something similar? Or it automatically puts them at the front of B group?

I typically try to check us both in the earliest I can. I don't think we've be off by more than 1 boarding number or so and often A50's or B1-5. I understand there are "plenty of other airlines blah blah blah" of course, 100% agree. The ONLY reason why I'm even posting is because of my most recent experience. The flight with 1 seat saver followed by the flight with THREE (middle of the plane and back). FWIW, I am 110% always polite on flights to FA's and other pax. After the second refuser, I merely mentioned, "I'm sorry, we're just trying to sit down and those 2 seats are open." Which was met with scoffs and attitude I didn't deserve. Again, not you, just my experience, but unfair and not appreciated for an airline with an OPEN seating policy

I'm not saying you or anyone that saves a seat is a jerk, but as Nirvana91 mentioned below, insisting that I'm a jerk for trying to sit in the two seats next to you (or someone else) that don't have rear-ends in them is itself kindy jerky. And saying that you "stand your ground"?

100% agree and why I have a problem with it.

But again, I have ZERO problem with the aisle or window person attempting to save the middle seat. None. But saving it in a row with 2 seats open and thereafter forbidding pax like my wife and from sitting there is unfair, jerky, whatever you want to call it.

But I think you unfairly and improperly characterize the seat requester as a jerk merely because they ask to sit there. And your insistence on "guarding" it proves it (sadly).

palmetto86

It's a little more nuanced than that, and maybe I didn't make that clear in my detailed playbook earlier. I'd never try and save two seats if I know the flight is going out full. I agree, that's a jerky thing to do. I'd also never say "both seats are taken." I save the window seat, and Row 9 is always one of the last rows for middles to be taken. A bag placed in the seat also sends folks somewhere else, without me even saying anything. Again, if someone wants that middle seat, I'll take it and give them the aisle so I can sit by my partner. That just doesn't happen that often in my experience when flights aren't that full.

Nirvana91

I think we'll likely have to end up agreeing to disagree, but I believe that you become a jerk multiple times before anybody else is even in the picture: as soon as you put the tray tables down, as soon as you put the stuff on the window seat, as soon as you start fake-getting-stuff-out-of-your-bag, as soon as you lie (despite what mental hoops you jumped through to convince yourself this is not a lie, I'm sorry to say this is a lie) and say a seat "isn't available," and ESPECIALLY when you respond in a threatening way to someone that is wanting a seat that is open for them to sit in.

I'm sure that these tactics work the vast majority of the time, as you mentioned, so kudos to you for ending up in a situation that is most beneficial to you and your friend. I'm actually a bit jealous (who wouldn't want an empty middle with their friend at the window, right?), but I think you'd be better off just saying "I'm a seat-saving jerk, it works for me, buzz off" instead of trying to justify these actions as normal or acceptable. Can you imagine the chaos that would ensure if every single person boarding in the A group did this?

Allan38103

In situations like these described in the recent posts, I will just exercise my choice and sit elsewhere. After all, it's also MY choice in open seating and I would prefer not to sit next to a jerk if I can avoid it.

If it's your goal to not have me sit next to you, then I guess by being a jerk you win. Congratulations!