Bad Seat Assignments at 24hrs
Mar 12, 2022, 11:28 am
#46
Join Date: May 2005
Location: PHX
Programs: AA Gold, WN A+ & CP, HH Diamond, Hyatt Platinum, National Executive Elite
Posts: 3,246
Did not get to seat together as fight was already full of couples. Checking in at exactly 24 hours meant nothing. SWA's cattle call seating is slow and messy as everyone has to stop and think about what seat may be the better option. Avoiding the seats next to fat people.
While the cattle call seating 100% makes it more inefficient boarding, they save time overall only from the free checked bags. Everyone on SWA checks bags which drastically decreases boarding times.
The best way would be to allow the free bads and have assigned seating. That way fat people can pre plan a flight that they will for sure not have a middle seat. Couples can ensure they sit next to each other. Stress is lower as no one has to quickly think about what seat to take while holding up the line. You should be able to pick your seat because you bought your tickets first. Anyways southwest is strange to not improve in a way that science and studies will prove is the better way with assign seats.
If you do an experiment where the 1st 8 rows are assigned while everything else is cattle call, then you will see a huge difference in satisfaction scores and run a study of those 8 rows loading vs all the cattle call loading.
They will also find that customers will fight to get those 8 rows of fixed seats. Customers will start demanding they make all seating assign now that they see how much better it is.
While the cattle call seating 100% makes it more inefficient boarding, they save time overall only from the free checked bags. Everyone on SWA checks bags which drastically decreases boarding times.
The best way would be to allow the free bads and have assigned seating. That way fat people can pre plan a flight that they will for sure not have a middle seat. Couples can ensure they sit next to each other. Stress is lower as no one has to quickly think about what seat to take while holding up the line. You should be able to pick your seat because you bought your tickets first. Anyways southwest is strange to not improve in a way that science and studies will prove is the better way with assign seats.
If you do an experiment where the 1st 8 rows are assigned while everything else is cattle call, then you will see a huge difference in satisfaction scores and run a study of those 8 rows loading vs all the cattle call loading.
They will also find that customers will fight to get those 8 rows of fixed seats. Customers will start demanding they make all seating assign now that they see how much better it is.
Also, I found a picture of you online. I googled "armchair quarterback" and lo and behold, there you were. First 3 hits. Congrats!!
Mar 12, 2022, 1:23 pm
#47
Moderator: Southwest Airlines, Capital One
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: California
Programs: WN Companion Pass, A-list preferred, Hyatt Globalist; United Club Lietime (sic) Member
Posts: 21,621
Did not get to seat together as fight was already full of couples. Checking in at exactly 24 hours meant nothing. SWA's cattle call seating is slow and messy as everyone has to stop and think about what seat may be the better option. Avoiding the seats next to fat people.
While the cattle call seating 100% makes it more inefficient boarding, they save time overall only from the free checked bags. Everyone on SWA checks bags which drastically decreases boarding times.
The best way would be to allow the free bads and have assigned seating. That way fat people can pre plan a flight that they will for sure not have a middle seat. Couples can ensure they sit next to each other. Stress is lower as no one has to quickly think about what seat to take while holding up the line. You should be able to pick your seat because you bought your tickets first. Anyways southwest is strange to not improve in a way that science and studies will prove is the better way with assign seats.
If you do an experiment where the 1st 8 rows are assigned while everything else is cattle call, then you will see a huge difference in satisfaction scores and run a study of those 8 rows loading vs all the cattle call loading.
They will also find that customers will fight to get those 8 rows of fixed seats. Customers will start demanding they make all seating assign now that they see how much better it is.
While the cattle call seating 100% makes it more inefficient boarding, they save time overall only from the free checked bags. Everyone on SWA checks bags which drastically decreases boarding times.
The best way would be to allow the free bads and have assigned seating. That way fat people can pre plan a flight that they will for sure not have a middle seat. Couples can ensure they sit next to each other. Stress is lower as no one has to quickly think about what seat to take while holding up the line. You should be able to pick your seat because you bought your tickets first. Anyways southwest is strange to not improve in a way that science and studies will prove is the better way with assign seats.
If you do an experiment where the 1st 8 rows are assigned while everything else is cattle call, then you will see a huge difference in satisfaction scores and run a study of those 8 rows loading vs all the cattle call loading.
They will also find that customers will fight to get those 8 rows of fixed seats. Customers will start demanding they make all seating assign now that they see how much better it is.
Mar 12, 2022, 3:39 pm
#48
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Sarasota, FL (SRQ)
Programs: WN A-List, AA EXP, Hyatt Top Tier (definitely NOT a Globalist), National Exec Elite
Posts: 491
Literally every other airline uses the assigned seating system that OP prefers, yet OP chooses to buy tix on Southwest anyway.
No sympathy. Next
No sympathy. Next
Mar 14, 2022, 9:08 am
#49
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Peoria
Programs: Southwest, Best Western Gold, La Quinta, Dollar
Posts: 819
What does that even mean, anyway? It's not 1992 anymore and it's no longer necessary to make four stops and two changes of plane to go great distances on Southwest. If you're still unable to fly someplace non-stop, chances are the other airlines aren't going be any better.
Mar 14, 2022, 11:33 am
#51
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 152
Was it a 175-seat plane or 143? (You can tell a 175 by the reasonable legroom.) If a 175, I'm surprised there was no remaining window or aisle at B50. I also suspect that you were more than a few seconds late for T-24. Because I've never gotten that high a number for a family member checking in exactly on time. You can lose 20 or 30 places by being 10 or 15 seconds late. If you wait for the app to notify you to check in, you are already 90 seconds late. Southwest should improve that.
Mar 14, 2022, 12:18 pm
#52
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: MCO
Posts: 383
I recently got B56 checking in at exactly T-24, I pulled up the precise clock and refresh the page 1 sec before T-24 and checked right in. Was pretty shocked
Mar 14, 2022, 1:10 pm
#53
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Peoria
Programs: Southwest, Best Western Gold, La Quinta, Dollar
Posts: 819
I probably wouldn't have the same success at, say, 10:00.
The best thing about those super-early flights is there are no thru passengers already aboard. So a high-B or even a C boarding pass isn't quite the letdown that it would be on a later flight.
Apr 23, 2023, 12:48 pm
#55
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 845
I don't get why you have to sit together for a few hours. Are you always together with your family? Everyone works at the same place, go everywhere together and never apart? For a long international flight sure, but a few hours on short domestic flight you can't stand not sitting right next to each other?
Apr 24, 2023, 7:39 pm
#56
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: KUSA
Programs: Whatever AMEX Plat comes with... I buy on price.. Spirit Big Front Seat, want First/buy First
Posts: 1,475
I hit B-09 checking in at 24 hours out for a flight yesterday morning. Yielded a window in row 6 with nobody in the middle.
24-hours out for return flight got B-40 something. I used one of my WN credit card boarding upgrades and became A-09. However, I didn't end up taking the flight because my connecting flight on Cape Air (from Owensboro, KY to STL) got canceled and they put us in a 4 hour Uber van ride. No WN options to get home that night after my original flight, so bought a walk-up on Delta. I guess this is where I do like the un-assigned seats on WN because that high fare last minute ticket bought 2 hours to departure on Delta yielded me "Check at Gate" for seat on both legs and I ended up with last row middle on a 717 on leg 1 and 2nd to last row aisle on leg two.
24-hours out for return flight got B-40 something. I used one of my WN credit card boarding upgrades and became A-09. However, I didn't end up taking the flight because my connecting flight on Cape Air (from Owensboro, KY to STL) got canceled and they put us in a 4 hour Uber van ride. No WN options to get home that night after my original flight, so bought a walk-up on Delta. I guess this is where I do like the un-assigned seats on WN because that high fare last minute ticket bought 2 hours to departure on Delta yielded me "Check at Gate" for seat on both legs and I ended up with last row middle on a 717 on leg 1 and 2nd to last row aisle on leg two.