joshua362

Bad publicity was the reason for the refundability. And you must meet their COS definition, which apparent does change depending on whose evaluating. Someone on here got their extra seat taken away once on the plane because it was needed IIRC.

justhere

As I said, I'm not saving a seat that's any more desirable than any other seat on the plane. So it'll be a middle seat, same as any other middle seat. If you still simply must sit next to me rather than the row in front, behind, across, etc, than I can only presume that you are somehow infatuated with me. Because the other explanation is that you are doing it just to be a richard.

If you are infatuated with me then cool, I'll make sure that I talk to you the whole flight. Wearing headphones? Darn, can't talk. Guess I'll just have to keep getting up and down to use the bathroom, go talk to someone else, etc. Hope my coffee doesn't spill on you when I get up for the umpteenth time.

There can be more than one richard on a plane.

CodeAdam10

Yeah. I 'qualify'. If they want to squish a random passenger next to me even after seeing me, then I can only feel badly for that passenger. And even though I (should?) qualify under their COS policy, I didn't realize their policy isn't too friendly for those who may simply want some extra room by paying for it.

Podcat

I rest.

rickg523

I understood that they would refund the ES charge if the flight wasn't full enough that you could have just walked on and had two empty seats without the booking. I thought the idea of the booking was to help them control passenger count and load. I read that they prefer though do not insist that you preboard to avoid a musical chairs situation.
I believe COS who don't book an ES may be subject to having the second seat taken if the flight is full.
But I'm not COS so this is what I've understood from heavier colleagues who I've flown with.

joshua362

IIRC and that is a stretch lately, COS were to buy 2 and refund 1 if the flight wasn't completely full, otherwise you paid twice (seems fair if I was running an airline). Then a public incident came along (Kevin James?) and they changed it make the 2nd seat refundable no matter what (seems ridiculous).

justhere

Good luck with that if you insist on taking the middle seat I'm saving. I'm annoying you? Hey you're the one that insisted on sitting next to me when there were plenty of other seats to sit in.

SpaceCoastBill

[QUOTE=rsteinmetz70112;28336216]I think you are talking about the Customer of Size (COS) policy. It applies to passengers who don't fit into the seats and would invade the space of someone in the adjacent seat.

It is not necessarily for the convenience of the passenger but for the comfort of the adjacent passenger. If you don't meet the requirements of a COS then Southwest will not sell you an extra seat just so you can have an empty seat next to you. If you are a COS then they will refund the price of the extra ticket.
/QUOTE]

Why not? Why do they care who pays for the seats? If I buy 2 seats and only sit in one they are still getting paid for both.

steved5480

[QUOTE=SpaceCoastBill;28338642]Because that's their policy.

Some of the legacies allow (or used to allow) this sort of thing. Southwest does not.

Kevin AA

Buying a second seat at full fare should be allowed, but I can see why WN wouldn't bother with that and just say it's not allowed at all. After all, how many people would want to pay that? Not many.

rmiller774

Space Coast's proposal might save SWA $$$$ in fuel costs as a weight reduction measure.

rsteinmetz70112

Preboarding ensures you can get your seats together and place the "Reserved" placard in the adjacent seat. If you had a late boarding position there mat not be any adjacent seats.

Hondu54

You may be right to a certain degree but I don't think you know much about hearing loss. Too broad a brush.

A person can have a mild hearing loss and with a hearing aid can still understand announcements and speech without too much effort or error. But with severe hearing loss like mine, it is a deal breaker. Furthermore, if I remove my cochlear implant processor, I am in total silence. Ha! I have no problem sleeping in a hotel room next to a very noisy street or thunder rumbling all night.

I check Deaf/Hard of Hearing when booking flights. I pre-board on all airlines. This would not be necessary if all airlines would install a LED monitor at ALL gates so I would know when it is my turn to board.

I cannot understand (key word) the announcements to board or otherwise. If an announcement came over that the airport was being evacuated for whatever reason, I would not know except through "vision" that the passenger population was thinning.

Years ago, while waiting to board an American flight, the ticket agent promised to wave at me when it was my turn to board. Well, it so happens that the gate got changed for my flight. She never waved to get my attention to come over to the desk since things had changed. What I did notice was that most of the waiting passengers had gotten up and left. So I went over to her and she jotted down the new gate on my boarding pass.

If you were on board a flight with me and offer $1,000 to tell you what the FA or the pilot just announced, your money would stay safe in your wallet.

SpaceCoastBill

That makes sense.

Algebralovr

There is some question as to whether one can purchase an extra seat for other than COS.

I may test that, as I may need an extra seat for a disability other than COS. Then, the issue becomes why the COS gets a refund while a different disability does not. Could be interesting