SWA should sell "seat saved" cards for $25. It's basically another boarding pass, with the date, flight number, and city pair on it. You can buy as many as you want at the gate. Cash/credit card only, not refundable. You board the plane and pick a seat for yourself and place your seat saved card(s) on all the seats you want to save. You can save the first 5 rows of the plane if you want. Those seats are unavailable to other passengers who board after you, until the passenger count reaches the point where those seats need to be taken, at which point your "saved seat" is gone, so it's a gamble for you. Prior to departure, the flight attendants will collect all "saved seat" cards and toss them in the trash. SWA thanks you for the $25 per, and no one has to argue over this childish behavior. Win-win!