InkUnderNails

You should have been around in the plastic boarding card days and seen a real circus.

nsx

Call Rapid Rewards and ask about a status match or challenge. Please report your results here.

Once you learn to play the open seating game well you may prefer it. Some do, some don't.

sean5280

Great minds! In January I'd emailed them; here's what I heard back:

Thank you for your e-mail and for your request that we transfer your status from another frequent flyer program. We are unable to honor your request as our program is designed to reward Customers with benefits and amenities on Southwest who either fly with us or use our Partners. We're sorry to disappoint you.

Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. We appreciate your patronage.

Now that I have a few segments under my belt, they might reconsider - but - I'm also no longer Gold, and I can't imagine they'd award A-List for a Silver. Any other tricks about playing well with open seating? I do EB already, and I know about the super-awesome window exit with no seat in front of it...

InkUnderNails

$40 for BS upgrade at gate, buy BS ($$$) or earn A-list. Didn't help much, did I?

The boarding order game is one many of us have seen played dishonestly and played well. It boils down to this in preferential order:

Preboard if you can, but don't scam the system. That is way uncool.

Buy BS.

Upgrade to BS at gate

Earn A-List Preferred

Earn A-List

EB

T-24

Hope for SEB

Board with the masses.

Also in the uncool:

Lie about your BP#, break line, hide your C boarding pass and board between BS and A-List or fake a limp.

Best legal way, slightly uncool, befriend a lone preboarder and board as an assistant. It might be good if you actually assisted. You still DO NOT GET AN EXIT ROW because you preboarded.

Look for a COS that preboards. That aisle or window seat will stay open a long time. Some view the "Seat Reserved" document as a sort of curse. It is quite the opposite. It is open middle all the way.

sean5280

You rock. An update, I called CS now that I've flown a few one-ways, and was offered a tier match challenge. Printing off my documentation and emailing it off! Thanks!

OzzyOzzie

New devolve seats coming to a plane near you?

http://www.runwaygirlnetwork.com/201...width-numbers/

Too bad it is width, and not seat pitch that will be improving though.

"Southwest Airlines, the largest operator of Boeing 737 family aircraft in the world, used the show to launch its new economy class seat developed in partnership with B/E Aerospace. The company is touting increased seat width, a rather impressive development given that the fuselage diameter has not changed in decades. Various outlets are reporting an increase of up to 0.7 inches per seat, more than 4 inches overall in each row."

United_727

As a self admitted 'kettle' ,I only fly once of twice a year. I love WN . Their agents are always friendly , or as friendly as they can be dealing with the public all day.After being a long time UA flyer,the difference is night and day . Especially after dealing with the old,crotchety UA staff in MIA. No extra charge for baggage and streaming entertainment to my android phone is a plus . I just wish WN would add ROC-FLL

WillCAD

I keep hearing about how horrible Evolve seats are, but the one time I managed to experience them, I actually preferred them over the old seats.

The seat pan was less comfy. I found that the seat back felt the same. The tray table seemed more stable (could have just been because it was new). But most impressively, the knee room was increased, despite the decrease in seat pitch.

Being 6'-4" tall, I have always had difficulty fitting into WN seats. But on a trip I took in December, I flew outbound in the legacy cabin setup, and returned in an Evolve setup only a few days later. Perfect comparison. My knee room was increased by about 2", due to the slimline seat pocket and the thinning of the seatback. 2" may not sound like much, but when you spend an entire flight with your knees pressed into the sharp metal edges of the armrest pivots in front of you, then sped the return flight with them NOT pressed into the pivots, you can appreciate that 2".

I've been flying WN long enough to remember that carp. I remember the crowd of people who used to camp out at the A gate up to an hour before boarding, spreading out on the floor like it was a picnic in the park. You'd think they were selling Beatles tickets, or a new iPhone.

Current boarding is pure heaven by comparison.

As a COS who just started purchasing two seats about 1.5 years ago, I can second this. I always take AB in whatever row I choose, and when some lucky duck sits in C, I explain to them why B is half empty, what the reserved document means, and tell them, "You just won the seating lottery! This seat will stay empty through the flight."

Mostly, they're thrilled.

I only fly once or twice a year (2-4 segments), but I like to think that I'm no longer a kettle. I pay attention on FT and to the news. I know how to negotiate the security c/p, how to check and claim my bags, how to negotiate an airport, and most importantly, how much time to alot for everything, so I'm not rushed.

You don't have to be a Ryan Bingham to be a savvy flyer.

alggag

737-800? IIRC the -800s have the same pitch with the thinner seats which gives you more legroom. The -700s have less pitch.

That said, I still agree with you that the Evolve seats are more comfortable but we're definitely a minority opinion around here.

United_727

I'm a kettle as far as number of flights a year,not procedures and the like.

nsx

...and due to the fact that it was a different aircraft. The 737-800 (blue or pink ceiling lighting, much longer cabin) does have superior legroom. It's the older aircraft where the new seats are squeezed.

WillCAD

Well, that explains it. I'm pretty sure it was an 800.

I wasn't aware that the 800s actually had greater pitch. I knew the cabin config was slightly different, but I thought the overall length was the same as the older models.

I have yet to encounter the Evolve seating on an older model. I fly almost exclusively BWI-MCO, which they never put on sale and seem to equip exclusively with 300 or 500 series planes. My return flight in December was my first experience on any newer equipment, and I think it was an aberration; my last flight experience was MCO-BWI at the end of February, and it was a non-Evolve 500, I think.

I did find the thinner seat pan on the Evolve seat to be less comfy than the old ones. I think if I were flying long-hauls, I'd be bringing my own seat cushion with me, despite the hassle of carrying extra gear. After a 2-hour flight, my butt hurt pretty bad. That never happened on the old seats.

Cardboard55

Regarding #3, I have never managed to get an exit row seat via Early Bird. Maybe I'm just unlucky or fly the wrong routes. But the only times I've gotten an exit row are when I (or, my company I should say) spring for Business Select.

I fly WN enough to have a decent perspective (at least for the routes I fly), but not enough to earn A-List (though this may be my year). For me, the annoyance of open seating outweighs most of the benefits, and I'm not sure that A-List status would change that dramatically (largely because my annoyance is with having to arrive at the gate early to secure my spot -- no status helps with that).

I think open seating, much like free changes and free bags, are things that benefit infrequent and/or leisure travelers at the expense of business travelers (or at least without benefiting them). For example:

• As a business traveler, I fly enough to have status and get good seats on my preferred airline, so open seating is just another source of stress. But I understand why infrequent travelers love being able to pay only $12.50 and get a decent seat.
• As a business traveler, I almost never check a bag (and I get free bags on most airlines anyway). I get why leisure travelers love free checked bags.
• As a business traveler, if I have to make a change to a flight, my company is covering the cost, so it's no skin off my back. But if I were paying for myself, free changes would be great (as it is, I virtually never change my personal flights).
• As a business traveler, sometimes I run short on time and need to eat on the plane even if the food is expensive and crappy, but WN has no "real" food. I can see why others would rather have the free snack selection than paying for lame sandwiches.
• As a business traveler, I get sick of flying all the time, and the tiny amount of extra comfort afforded by the rare first class upgrade makes a real difference. I understand why people who never get upgrades (and won't pay) don't care that there's no first class.

Anyway you get the idea. I do fly WN with some frequency and they're fine. I just find that the things that are touted as benefits are either things I don't care about, or things I actively dislike. To each his own.

texashoser

I'm not sure I get where you're coming from here...

Cardboard55

If I have an assigned seat on American or United, I can stroll up 30 seconds before they close the door and still have my good seat. Even if I have A1 on WN, if I am not at the gate when they start boarding, I'm SOL.