FA saved exit row seat for someone
Dec 23, 2018, 3:55 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 500
FA saved exit row seat for someone
I recently boarded a transcon flight and saw a FA hovering in front of an exit row aisle seat (perfectly normal during boarding). I went to take the seat and she told me the seat was taken. It was early in boarding but I figured that the pax was in the bathroom. I found another seat a few rows back. However, a few minutes later I realized the mystery pax had still not come back. Person after person seemed to be asking to take the seat but were clearly rebuked and kept moving back. By this point, I was getting intrigued because boarding was almost over and the seat was still empty but the FA had not moved an inch. Right as they announced boarding was complete, I saw a man board and begin walking down the aisle and before he even got to the exit row, the FA moved herself into the aisle as if she was completely expecting his arrival. They seemed to exchange a couple words but he certainly didn't have to ask for the seat; it was clearly being saved for him all along.
Since this man was one of the last (if not the last) people to board, my guess is he was a relative on standby or a non rev friend. FA blatantly liked to me by saying the seat was taken when it wasn't, so I emailed WN about the incident. I got a very pleasant phone call from a customer service rep who was apologetic but said she looked in their policies and couldn't find any policy to prohibit a FA from saving a seat for a pax. She also said there were no notes or "special" pax on the manifest who might have required specific seating so she seemed to agree with my hypothesis that the man was a friend or relative.
If this is the case, this is a sorely missing policy. The whole seating principle on WN is "first come, first serve" open seating. I can have some tolerance for a revenue pax wanting to save a seat for someone, say a coworker friend in a different boarding group, but a FA saving what is arguably the best seat on the plane and shrugging off paying pax who would have liked that seat is really a bad practice.
Since this man was one of the last (if not the last) people to board, my guess is he was a relative on standby or a non rev friend. FA blatantly liked to me by saying the seat was taken when it wasn't, so I emailed WN about the incident. I got a very pleasant phone call from a customer service rep who was apologetic but said she looked in their policies and couldn't find any policy to prohibit a FA from saving a seat for a pax. She also said there were no notes or "special" pax on the manifest who might have required specific seating so she seemed to agree with my hypothesis that the man was a friend or relative.
If this is the case, this is a sorely missing policy. The whole seating principle on WN is "first come, first serve" open seating. I can have some tolerance for a revenue pax wanting to save a seat for someone, say a coworker friend in a different boarding group, but a FA saving what is arguably the best seat on the plane and shrugging off paying pax who would have liked that seat is really a bad practice.
Last edited by CurbedEnthusiasm; Dec 23, 2018 at 8:31 pm
Dec 23, 2018, 5:57 pm
#4
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: BNA (Nashville)
Programs: HH Diamond
Posts: 6,227
I watched an FA do this, but she was helping the lady seated in the middle to save the seat for her husband who boarded in the C group.
She told someone that that it was saved when they asked if they could sit there.
I was surprised by what I saw, but didn’t really care that much. There were other aisle seats available.
She told someone that that it was saved when they asked if they could sit there.
I was surprised by what I saw, but didn’t really care that much. There were other aisle seats available.
Dec 23, 2018, 6:19 pm
#5
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Blue Ridge, GA
Posts: 5,512
Dec 23, 2018, 6:51 pm
#6
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Send a note to WN providing a description of the FA. If they want to do something about it, they will. Chances are that you will get some boilerplate.
Clearly WN does not want to get in the middle of seating issues. If it did, it would end the entire juvenile seat-saving mess through a clear policy statement known to passengers and staff. But, it has not.
Clearly WN does not want to get in the middle of seating issues. If it did, it would end the entire juvenile seat-saving mess through a clear policy statement known to passengers and staff. But, it has not.
Dec 23, 2018, 8:36 pm
#8
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: USA
Programs: AA Exp
Posts: 519
I saw it done for the entire exit row, for what I believe was a sports figure. Big big big guy. Flashy jewelry, a watch big enough, you could pistol whip somebody with. I took the seats behind that row.
Once he got in the window seat, she blocked the rest of the row off until boarding was complete.
Dec 23, 2018, 8:38 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 500
I watched an FA do this, but she was helping the lady seated in the middle to save the seat for her husband who boarded in the C group.
She told someone that that it was saved when they asked if they could sit there.
I was surprised by what I saw, but didn’t really care that much. There were other aisle seats available.
She told someone that that it was saved when they asked if they could sit there.
I was surprised by what I saw, but didn’t really care that much. There were other aisle seats available.
Dec 23, 2018, 8:39 pm
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 500
Send a note to WN providing a description of the FA. If they want to do something about it, they will. Chances are that you will get some boilerplate.
Clearly WN does not want to get in the middle of seating issues. If it did, it would end the entire juvenile seat-saving mess through a clear policy statement known to passengers and staff. But, it has not.
Clearly WN does not want to get in the middle of seating issues. If it did, it would end the entire juvenile seat-saving mess through a clear policy statement known to passengers and staff. But, it has not.
Dec 24, 2018, 5:08 am
#11
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: BNA (Nashville)
Programs: HH Diamond
Posts: 6,227
Dec 24, 2018, 6:37 am
#13
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Midwest USA
Programs: BA SIL, WN A, UA SIL, Marriott TIT (LT), Hilton DIA
Posts: 1,969
Dec 24, 2018, 7:15 am
#14
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Peoria
Programs: Southwest, Best Western Gold, La Quinta, Dollar
Posts: 819
Sure, maybe he'd left the plane during the stopover? I can only imagine the conversation: "Miss, could you save my seat for me while I run in and pick up a magazine? Better yet, can you save the Unlimited Legroom seat for me?" Maybe he'd spotted her a twenty beforehand.
Dec 24, 2018, 8:11 am
#15
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Nashville -Past DL Plat, FO, WN-CP, various hotel programs
Programs: DL-MM, AA, SW w/companion,HiltonDiamond, Hyatt PLat, IHF Plat, Miles and Points Seeker
Posts: 11,072
How does the OP actually KNOW what happened?
Answer: They do not.
Some assumptions and guesses, but nobody here KNOWS what took place, including the OP.
There are a handful of situations that could be taking place.
Though I would be a bit upset that I could not sit there, I would surely not be sending a letter to Southwest complaining and making assumptions. Get over it. Southwest customer service has more important things to deal with.
Sometimes I am ashamed to be part of the human race.
Answer: They do not.
Some assumptions and guesses, but nobody here KNOWS what took place, including the OP.
There are a handful of situations that could be taking place.
Though I would be a bit upset that I could not sit there, I would surely not be sending a letter to Southwest complaining and making assumptions. Get over it. Southwest customer service has more important things to deal with.
Sometimes I am ashamed to be part of the human race.