NoStressHere

You still do not KNOW what happened.

As I said before, the wording may or may not have been a lie.

* This seat is taken
* I am saving this seat for ??
* The person that was sitting here is now ???

(they all mean about the same thing and one or the other COULD be considered a lie - by you)

YOU have made the assumption that it was a lie, without KNOWING what exactly was the situation. YOU have made the accusations.

NOBODY here knows what has happened.

CurbedEnthusiasm

I'm going to go out on a limb here...were you the guy who got the saved seat on my flight?

What you are demanding, absolute certainty, wouldn't even be the burden of proof in a murder trial. I'm satisfied with the conclusion I reached based on what I saw and the resolution that WN provided which was an apology over the phone and telling me that this matter would be referred upward for training purposes.

But I still think the policy should be changed. FAs should not be able to save the best seats on the plane for their buddies. I know, go ahead and say it, I don't know who that person was who got that seat...but I'm not stupid either.

NoStressHere

No... I am A-list and usually get one of my preferred seats.

And, I totally agree that FA's should not save seats for their buddies. Make sense.

And, guessing you are not stupid at all.

But - I still do not understand how you can jump to the conclusion that the FA saved it for a "friend". I do agree it could happen, and should not, but, either that is not what happened, or the FA decided to do a favor. Maybe, maybe not.

And, I really have to point out the response from SW when they get complaints like this. No matter what happened - they are going to tell you they will investigate, they will apologize, they will escalate, maybe even communicate with that crew or FA, they will reinforce with their staff, etc etc etc. It is just what companies do. I would guess that little or nothing happened after they dealt with you. They went on to the next complaint. Just the way it is.

I have been in an exit row seat on about 20 of my 30 flights this year if my memory services me right. Never seen anything like that - but am guessing it might happen. With 4,000 flights per day, I am guessing they might have 4-6,000 flight attendants. There will always be some issues no matter how many rules or policies they have. And, there will some unusual situations where it could look like this, but really be something else.

NoStressHere

Sorry If I seem to be strong headed about this. But I watched a friend go out of business as a result of an assumption without proof. Eventually the facts came out, but it was too late. Damage was done. And, a related reason I sold my business. Someone accused me of doing something that never happened, but it did not matter. That instance luckily did not go anywhere, but made me decide to quit before some other person made an assumption/claim and made me guilty even if nothing ever happened.

Tolerance for blind assumptions has gotten under my skin.

kennycrudup

Throw in the Mindless Electronic Lynch Mob effect of social media and it can really be troublesome out there

Zorak

The following story is at best tangentially related (or really, a complete non sequitur), but this reminds me that I witnessed a bizarre one a few days ago on FLL-BWI.

I boarded at position A20 and opted for seat 9F. There was a pilot in uniform sitting in 7D, I assumed deadheading/nonrevving/what-have-you. He remained there throughout all of boarding as the FAs announced multiple times that every single seat was taken, share the overhead space etc. Towards the end of boarding they announced only middle seats available, put your bag in the first available space you see, yada yada yada. Then they announced everyone was on board and we were ready for pushback, everyone please take your seats.

As they made this last announcement, a slightly confused-looking minor (I'd guesstimate mid-teens) walked slowly to the front, then turned around and walked back a few rows, then back to the front, seemingly searching out the last available seat. I overhead one FA say to another something that sounded like "we'll need to use the jump seats too." As soon as she said that, the pilot jumped up out of the seat he'd been occupying throughout and walked to the front of the cabin. I expected him then to take one of the jump seats but he continued right into the cockpit and took the left seat!

It was early and I was mildly sleep-deprived so I could have missed something, but I swear this is how it happened. There did not appear to be any familial relationship between the minor and any of the crew (I wasn't paying attention when he boarded originally, but his body language and where he was looking around suggested to me that the rest of his family might be randomly distributed in the back of the plane). I can't imagine the pilot was saving 7D for him but that still leaves me at a total loss for an explanation

fiuchris

There are two flight deck jumpseats on most of the fleet (some only have one). The jumpseats are in to the left and against the door.

Zorak

Hmm, that could certainly explain it (it sure looked like he sat down in the actual pilot's seat though, lol)

BTW this was N8573Z, if that helps pinpoint the seating layout.

Orwaid

Hi -

I stopped flying WN years ago over these issues. I had several long-running battles (yes, it was just that) with people on this forum. Some backed my position, some didn't.

I will be flying WN again in 2019. Since I am allowed to take any open seat, I will. Period. If people balk, I tell them they have every opportunity to buy up to A1-A15 (or even EBCI) and take any open seat. They opted not to (as I will) and therefore will get what they get. As I will.

When the pain of inaction becomes greater than the pain of action, WN will finally put an end to this silliness. One way or another. As they did with A/B/C boarding. Frankly, I hope they embrace and enforce open seating. Less hassles at boarding, more revenue for WN with increased buy-ups.

rsteinmetz70112

Yesterday I flew from FLL to MSY via HOU. The connection at HOU was tight and I had to get from gate 4 to gate 48. When I got to the gate the B group had started boarding. I got on and began looking for 2 seats together. I asked about a few seats that were apparently being saved. I moved on. I found two together (an aisle and a middle). I put my jacket on the middle and waited for my wife who showed up a few minutes later. While boarding continued I watched as several people asked about the availability of a number of seats. Every passenger simply moved on. Everyone was polite and no one seemed to mind.

Orwaid

HI -

You saved a middle seat toward the rear. That is substantially different from saving an exit row aisle seat.

NoStressHere

Not going to argue at all with you, but apparently you are not flying the same way as the poster right after you. Some people see it as a difficulty or silliness, and some think it is just fine. Just the way it is. I do feel sorry for those people that seem to live life with so many challenges. May 2019 bring you a bit of comfort and less stress.

Here is the view from another person.

NoStressHere

It appears the issue over saving seats is a bigger issue here than on the plane. LOL!

Meanwhile, like or not, Southwest flew more domestic passengers than any airline last year with some 150 million passengers boarded.

On a related note, it is apparently an American given right to not agree with around 50% of other Americans. Just look at most elections in this country.

smmrfld

rsteinmetz70112

It was the row just behind the exit row. I passed a few opportunities further forward in hopes of scoring one of the LUV seats my wife likes when we travel together.

I not longer try to get an exit row seat myself because I find the middle seats almost always fill up, even when not necessary.