Originally Posted by justhere

Or perhaps the concept is too complex for you? In any event, boarding and seat selection are two distinct and separate events and it's very different to the grocery store and traffic. I don't think anyone is suggesting that it's ok to cut in line when boarding. But to suggest that saving a seat is "having a seating priority" is a false dichotomy. You are presuming that everyone that should have boarded prior to the savee would have wanted the saved seat. While that may be true, it certainly isn't a universal truth. Many people save a middle seat. And you also don't know why everybody buys EBCI. Some people might buy it because they just want to line up and board so that they can help each other and then sit in a window and aisle seat. They may be hoping for an empty middle and there have been many posts here by people who say that if someone sits in the middle, fine, but they are sticking to their aisle and window so as not to have to sit in a middle seat.

And just because people don't buy EBCI but save a seat doesn't make them any less of a person no matter what you think. EBCI isn't necessarily a good deal and often doesn't do what you so steadfastly believe it does when you have connecting flights. If the first leg is late, it may well do nothing for you but WN doesn't care. They don't give a refund in that situation. You may not care that you paid twice the price for what you go out of it and that's your prerogative.

So back to your analogies. The line at the store is simply a line, much like the line at the ticket counter. You wait in line and when you get to the front, you complete your transaction. No one says anything if, as the next person in line approaches the counter, someone else in their party comes up to the counter with them. Or brings up a last grocery item or two as you are unloading your cart. The guy cutting you off at the highway exit IS doing something illegal. If they cut you off, then it was an unsafe lane change and could easily get cited for that. If there's enough room in front of you that they can safely change lanes, then they aren't cutting you off.

The thing is, if people act like adults and treat each other with respect whether in the grocery store, on the road, or on the airplane, it's amazing how well things can work out regardless of whether a seat is saved or not.