You can have an A1 boarding position on your boarding pass from Southwest, but
If you are the last passengers to arrive, you don’t get to boot others who arrived on time out of their seats. You have to take what is left. Usually middle seats.
But SW will put parents with kids…and this was the issue on the plane where the parents arrived last. They needed to be seated together because they had three kids.
Those back row people might not have wanted to swap for a middle seat! Who knows. Somehow it got resolved…but not with me moving.
Probably had only middle seats left, so needed 5 people to move.
I recently was on SW flight, Nashville to Denver. There was a connecting flight coming in from Myrtle Beach and I think this was the last flight of the night, or the others were full. That flight had something like 30-40 people transferring to my flight. They blocked off the last 3 rows for families coming off that flight, and there were people complaining that they were there first and should have been allowed to sit in those seats. They really were only for families with little kids because a teen sat in the middle seat next to me and her friend was across the aisle in another middle seat (she gave me the scoop).
Sometimes there is nothing SW can do to make people happy.
That suggests that either there will be fewer seats, or the non premium seats will lose an inch of legroom to allow for more legroom in the premium seats (existing arrangement tends to have an inch more legroom than in most other airlines’ economy classes).
Thought this was interesting and belonged here. CEO of frontier airlines just admitted in a hearing that employees are paid bonuses for flagging bags that should be carryons and paid for.
An airline whose business model depends on overhead bin fees can be expected to be aggressive about bag size limits and tagging bags for (extra charge) overhead bin use versus (no extra charge) under seat use.
I flew Flair (Canadian airline that is like Spirit and Frontier in this respect) a few times, and they would not give the boarding pass until they see your bag in the sizer. I had only a no extra charge personal item that fit easily (the flight with no add-ons was $59, much less than on other airlines). But the line at the sizer was slow because there were people trying fit their overstuffed personal items and carry ons into the sizer and then getting dinged for extra fees when they did not fit.
With more airlines showing “basic economy” fares without including overhead bin use, expect this kind of thing to become more common.
I am honestly tired of seeing people carrying on 2 pieces that clearly do not fit under seat. It makes boarding and deplaning so much slower and it’s the reason the “gate lice” want to get on the plane ahead of their assigned groups.
I think anyone who takes more than one bin space should be charged for the second one. Or let everyone check a free bag and charge for each overhead bin space.
I have never seen anyone try and fit two pieces under the seat on Frontier as its “one” personal item or you pay for a carryon. That carryon fee at the gate is $100. What ticks me off is the people who don’t pay for a carry on and then put their personal bags in the over head so that there is no room for the bags that people paid for.
The slow deplaning is maddening. I almost always pay the premium to sit as close to the front as I can.
When I traveled on the discount planes in Europe, as a chronic bag-checker and airline rule follower, I was pleasantly surprised to see how vigilant they were about making everyone put their carry-ons into the sizer. Most would not allow passengers to squish it in order for it to fit. Either it fit on it’s own or you paid for it, right then and there. Lots of travelers with the “pregnant” backpacks found themselves having to pay.
Regarding slow deplaning. I can be claustrophobic. Not to an extreme degree but you would NEVER find me taking a cave tour, entering a dark small small, etc. Plan deplaning is a time I have to practice distracting myself, some controlled breathing, etc. When everyone stands up waiting to exit their seat it makes it even worse - all those bodies suddenly closer and there is NO personal space!
For the infrequent times I fly I’m too cheap to pay for better seating closer up front but I try to buy tickets early as I can to get a row that is first half of plane for sure.
Keep people like me in mind when you are physically chomping at the bit to get out of your aisle row!!!
We flew 2 domestic flights within Japan and even though it looked like every seat was being used, I would say most people did not bring large carry-ons (rolling bags) onto the plane. It made the process of getting on and off the plane less stressful and less time consuming. It was wonderful!
H and I just look down and keep reading, we’ll get off when the aisle clears. Unless you have to catch a connecting flight with little time, why rush it. Same with getting on - really, you want to sit in that cramped space for a longer period of time? No thank you - let me be the one that gets the door hitting but as I find my seat, buckle up, and take off.
Yes, we were surprised that a lot of times overseas, they actually enforce weight limits for carry-ons, and the allowance is pretty strict (17 pounds). So you have to plan ahead carefully.
My other pet peeve… when someone all the way in the back thinks they are gonna deboard before all those infront of them. I purposely stand up so they can’t walk past me. I get being claustrophobic as I want to get off the plane as soon as possible too! Along with that are the people who take forever to gather their things and deboard while you have a huge line of people waiting to get off.
The above seems like the same situation from two different points of view, the person in the forward row annoyed that someone behind is impatient, and the person in the behind row annoyed that someone ahead is blocking the aisle unnecessarily.
Yes so true! lol. Although the person all the way in the back rushing to the front before the seatbelt sign is even off may annoy me more- especially when the flight is on time so its not like they are missing a connecting flight.
No, the person behind needs to wait their turn. I also step into the aisle, waiting my turn, when I see someone trying to force their way off the plane. I’m talking about cases where the plane is on time, or even early, not when people are trying to make a connection. Interestingly, almost all the people I see trying this are guys in their 20s.
Flying later today. I’m dreading the entire experience. I prefer flying out of our regional airport but this time due to flight times and destination I’m starting my journey at LAX.
