SANdyFlyer

As I see it, there are multiple discussions taking place in this thread. One is the question of "Is seat saving ok, and to what extent?" IMHO, that discussion has taken place ad-nauseam this site. Many are offering their opinions varying from "any seat saving is ok", to "as long as it is not in the bulkhead or exit row", to "middle seats only", but all they are doing is giving some insight into what they would do personally as a 'seat saver'. Ultimately, these varying opinions add no clarification to a seat saving policy, because there is NONE. Other then an occasional jest, I consider myself to be agnostic on the topic.

A second discussion taking place, and the one I find far more remarkable, is your behavior and reaction to the situation. Afterall, seat saving takes place on EVERY single SWA flight; there is hardly anything remarkable about that. I however have NEVER seen someone bark at an FA, and subsequently preach to another PAX. IMHO, your behavior is mutually exclusive from the topic of seat saving. I am of the opinion that you should NEVER yell to get an FAs attention from several rows away, or demean them with ridiculous retorts like "that was a YES or NO question"; unless there is an emergency. The fact of whether the teenager should or should not have been saving the seats in the first place is irrelevant (ever heard the saying "two wrongs don't make a right"?). If you can explain to me how you getting an aisle seat qualifies as an emergency, then I stand corrected.

I can completely understand that you would just prefer no one discuss and criticize your behavior and stick solely to the topic of 'seat saving'. I can also understand how you interpret these critiques as personal; afterall, we are discussing YOUR actions. However, while you may choose to ignore or be tone-deaf to these comments by myself and others, they are by no means any 'less valid'. You do realize that our critiques of your behavior are our 'salient points'....don't you?

Soccerdad1995

I would respectfully disagree with everyone who says that Southwest does not have a policy for the OP's situation. Southwest policy states that you are free to take any "available" seat at the time that you board.

The word "available" can be considered somewhat vague, of course (as can most words in the English language if you try hard enough). In common parlance related to non-assigned seating (movie theatres, bars, certain sporting events) a saved seat is not "available".

However in this case, we also have repeated instances where the company HAS clarified what they mean by "available" by having their representatives tell people that it is OK to save seats for later boarding companions. In other words, those saved seats are not "available" as that term is defined by Southwest.

You can argue that Southwest should change their policy, but it's pretty hard to argue that the policy is actually different from what their own employees are consistently telling customers.

john398

They have said in customer letters they do not have a policy either way

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/south...rouhaha-5.html
post 69 letter to customer says:

"Truthfully, we don’t have a policy either way--for or against--saving seats. In fact, we share our perspective on this issue on southwest.com as follows: "because Southwest Airlines maintains an open-seating policy, general-boarding Customers may sit in any open or unclaimed seat." With this in mind, as long as there is no Safety concern, it would be acceptable for a Customer to "claim" a seat for his/her family member or traveling companion who may be in a later boarding group. We are aware that the saving of seats is a by-product of our policy, and as long as the boarding process is not delayed and other Customers aren't inconvenienced, it usually isn’t a significant issue."

Peter T.

What do you mean that they don't have a policy either way?

In your quote of the Southwest letter I've italicized (and colored it in blue) where they explicitly state that it is is acceptable (hence permitted) to save seats for others.

Peter T.

Bingo!

john398

Well reading the first sentence of that paragraph from Southwest Airlines to the customer says they don't have a policy

rsteinmetz70112

Peter T.

I read that as they aren't either in favor or against passengers saving seats, but barring any safety concerns that they DO ALLOW passengers to save seats (as the letter goes on to state).

john398

I see your point, also it does say seat not seats but maybe we should go with they meant seats

Peter T.

My overall opinion of Southwest's attitude to seat saving is this: they allow it, but don't want to encourage widespread adoption of this practice.

Hence, their unofficial policy appears to be to try to sidestep this issue by not issuing any clear written statements about it that one can easily access on their website (or elsewhere).

ursine1

That letter is 100% double-speak BS, and clarifies nothing.

Peter T.

Disagree.

ursine1

The letter is irrelevant.

• It was written as a response to a individual customer's experience, it's not publicly published policy
  
• It was written in 2011 and references website language that no longer exists regarding "claimed" seats
  
• It itself includes the statement "Truthfully, we don’t have a policy either way--for or against--saving seats."
  

SANdyFlyer

This may not clarify a 'seat saving' policy, but it sure does add clarity to SWA's definition of 'open-seating'. In light of that, I would hardly say that 'clarifies nothing'. Many here have been stating that 'open-seating' implies they can take any unoccupied seat, regardless of whether it has been claimed by a friend or relative. This is clearly not the case...

"Because Southwest Airlines maintains an open-seating policy, general-boarding Customers may sit in any open or unclaimed seat."

dliesse

WN has done well for me in my portfolio, but the open seating policy is just one of a long list of reasons why I'll fly them only as a last resort.

It does seem to me, though, that the best solution would be to modify the check-in software. As I understand it -- and someone can correct me if I'm mistaken -- every passenger has to check in individually, even if two or more are in the same PNR. Why not fix it so that those on a single PNR are checked in together and guaranteed consecutive boarding numbers?