Originally Posted by
Proudelitist
That's a bit insulting to the non frequent flier. It's not like they are stupid, and it's not that complex on the legacies if you know how to use a mouse, point, and click. It's cooked into the purchase flow.."transaction complete. Select seat?". Depends on the airline, but most have seat selection for no charge in rows towards the back and in non-premium seats. Others are blocked for elite seat selection.
I'm not insulting anyone. I'm a frequent flyer and find the legacy airlines choices to be unnecessarily complex, so I assume it seems even more complex to once-a-year flyers. (basic vs regular economy and why are you charging me for a carryon!?, are there really no seats left except back-of-the-plane middle-seats?, why should I have to pay for my kids to sit with me?, what the heck is boarding Group 1 when it seems like half the plane has boarded ahead of me?, etc) I've read plenty of complaints about all those issue and more on Flyertalk, the travel blogs, and other media outlets.
For most flyers, Southwest is less complex. Family boarding. Free carry-on AND checked bags. Numbered boarding pass. No confusion (except for misunderstandings about EBCI)