Proudelitist

Depends on the nature of seat saving...there is saving a middle in some back row. No biggie really...unless you are a C holder with a companion who is but who cares about them? Then there is saving the infinite legroom seat , or an exit row seat, or a first row bulkhead seat, or multiple seats. The worst I observed was a guy trying to hold an entire exit row. Point is, not all seat saving is equal and by $ and right, BS and A list people should really get first shot at the primo seats. Even if you are a mid level B, you could be losing out on the last window or aisle because of a saver, when by virtue of having a better BP than the person they are waiting for, you end up in the middle.

Seat saving corrodes boarding order value. What good is having A40 when C20 is going to snap up a seat before you using their companion with A29 as a proxy?

rsteinmetz70112

There is simply not that much seat saving going on. Except for a few "special' seats all aisles, all windows and all middles are pretty much alike.
As A-List I usually board pretty early. I always choose an aisle seat. I gave up on exit rows a long time ago. I'd prefer an empty middle any day and I'm more likely to get it than sitting in a exit row.

rickg523

This is the crux of the issue. Unlike other carriers, WN does not use seat assignment as an emblem of status. In fact, status itself is such a minimal consideration at WN, to denizens of the legacy carriers it must seem non existent.
For flyers committed to carriers that do engage in the rather Victorian stratification of customers, this is unsettling at best. If they are highly invested in identifying as an elite while flying, this may seem to be apostasy, attacking the every foundations of their preferred social order. That gets reflected in the (too) many threads about this subject.
For most people, if you don't like the way this particular airline operates, you just don't fly them. I don't like BA. I won't give my money to BA, even if they're the most conveniently scheduled. There's always another, to me more acceptable, choice.
And if you have to fly Southwest, it won't be more than 5 hours of your life, so just play along. When you buy the ticket understand in the eyes of WN you're no better than anyone else that purchased a ticket on their bus. That's right. Business suit, Briggs and Riley rollaboard, Tom Ford loafers buys you exactly the same as Ma Kettle. A seat on the plane, a little bag of pretzels, and a drink. Also 2 free checked bags, but that doesn't count because you ain't checking that B&R.
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SJWarrior

SJWarrior

deleted ... duplicate post

Troopers

Except that mainstream media, SWA Community forum, blogs, social media, etc all state otherwise. Seat saving is clearly an issue (but it's easy to discount one's opinion if you disagree).

Proudelitist

This reeks like the egalitarian kool aid WN promotes.

But the FACT is that WN offers differential pricing and an elite program complete with incentives for frequent fliers or for people who pay more. It also offers a better boarding position to people without status, who are willing to buy EBCI.

A BS ticket costs two or three times what a WGA costs on the same flight. Someone who has A -list is incentivized to fly WN more frequently under the promise of a better place in boarding order, and therefore a better shot at a better seat than a WGA kettle

The stratification exists in plain sight...at the gate. Yes, in the cabin it is all the same, but the class and status dynamic is directed at the boarding line. People who crack the barrier under A16 ARE the elite status fliers and have every right to expect, based on $ and miles, to enjoy that status and the crumbs offered by it...one of which is a wider choice of seats and an earlier shot at the best seats.

It's in WN's interest to treat elites as elites because the revenue from those programs and add ons is where they actually see some margin.

The problem with seat saving is that it undermines those elites and the perks offered by WN. Allowing thru pax and even other elites to save seats is akin to a legacy airline allowing non-status pax to get available upgrades and leaving elites back in coach. The program needs protection, and WN doesn't seem to expend the resources to do so.

LegalTender

Southwest is not about to train, much less task, its flight crew in watching for the “reserving” of seats with articles of clothing and be an *advocate* for passengers to seat based on boarding order.

Seat-saving behind the exit row only has been suggested - with an obvious exemption for handicapped and a companion. A-Listers would freak.

Proudelitist

It may not require so much brute enforcement or policing on board, but it would certainly help to have it published somewhere in the ticket process, and announced both at the gate and onboard, the same way they nag people to just take the first seat they see because the flight is full (even when it isn't). Certainly, in the event of an issue, they could at least tell the saver that seat saving is not allowed. As it stands, they stay out of the issue and let the altercation deepen.

rickg523

You quoted it but seem to have misinterpreted my post. I didn't say WN didn't have a status formula. I said they don't use seat on the plane as one of their gold stars. I said that compared to other domestic carriers, the status program at WN is so minimal as to seem nonexistent to those more attracted to the Dickensian versions of cabin assignment prevalent elsewhere. I compared flying WN to riding the bus. If you don't like it, don't take it. As to what's in WN's financial interest, it's apparent they feel that accommodating Ma Kettle is as important, if not more important, than some minor potentates who fly an airline described by them as awash in "egalitarian Kool Aid" while somehow becoming irritated that they haven't been offered a sedan chair and a bevy of damsels spreading rose petals as they approach.
But back to seat saving. How in the heck is a particular seat on a flying bus that important to anyone? Other than as an ego stroke. If you're flying A List, and you're trying to tell me that row 8 is an imposition because you couldn't get row 3 what with all the preboards and seat savers, I gotta say that's feeling pretty entitled, and oblivious to the facts.
Here's Southwest's newest ad tag line:
"We have a different definition of 'basic' "
Doesn't that suggest anything at all about what to expect from your WN ticket?

Peoriaman1

Pay attention man! A guy saved the entire exit row! Worst of all he was probably a WGA kettle...

My God what would we have to complain about if it were not for this most pressing of human tragedies.

justhere

Relative to the number of enplanements each and every day where people are quite happy with the seat they got, it's not an issue.

Kevin AA

If Southwest won't do anything about it, maybe a public shaming will. Everyone needs to stop being cowards and do not let the greedy seat savers shoo you away. Just take an open seat and don't say a word. Pretend like you're mute if you must (e.g. the lame excuse of "my two friends are in the lav", don't point out that it's impossible, just sit down and say nothing).

This is a group effort. If everyone ignores seat savers, they will get the drift and stop wasting their time playing silly childish games.

SJWarrior

Proudelitist

How many people have to be unhappy for it to be an issue? 1? 100? People with B's and low C's can lose out on the last windows and aisle because of it. Elites lose out on exit rows with it, becoming de-incentivized. People with tight connections can be forced further back and cut their connection times. And people may be more unhappy if they knew how many slots their actual BP number dropped because of someone gaming the system by buying EBCI and holding the seats for their companions.

People may be blissfully ignorant, or unaware of an event, or may not care if they sit forwards or in the rear..but that doesn't make it right, and doesn't excuse WN from washing their hands of it.