Originally Posted by
ursine1
The fact that Southwest refuses to define what "available" means is the crux of the problem.
More and more, many people are indeed getting into confrontations over this.
Southwest monetizes "early" access to available seats, and yet has no policy against seat saving, which would seem to be in conflict, and some would say is unconscionable.
This is absolutely true.
It was less true back in the days of the plastic boarding cards when the cards were handed out on a first come first served basis. Anyone could get to the airport early and get a boarding pass, family groups would generally get passes at the same time.
I would say if someone wants to save a middle seat for a companion I don't have any real problem with that - UNLESS they are trying to save an Exit Aisle or Bulkhead. Accommodating other people seems to me to be common courtesy. I don't even mind couples who position themselves on the Window and Aisle seats in hopes of diverting people from taking the middle seat. My wife and I often do that (if the LUV seat isn't available) but if someone shows up and wants the middle, my small wife moves to the middle. We've never had anyone demand to sit in the middle seat.
But when someone tries to snag all of the good seats, that crosses the line from common courtesy to banditry and boorishness.
Southwest is abdicating their responsibility for fairly implementing the policy they promote and profit from.