^With an assigned seat, I just opt out of the cattle call game, @greenwitch. I agree it is chaotic. My biggest pet peeve are those people who crowd the boarding area and hover when their group isn’t even called. I don’t get the rush to get on the plane and just sit.
As bad as it is in the USA, it can be even worse in some other countries/cultures where they don’t seem to understand the concept of a line.
@walkinghome I don’t care if I sit in the back of the plane. Often, if the plane isn’t full, its less crowded and you can often find empty seats to spread out. As an added benefit, it’s statistically safer. But as a frequent nonrev-er, I’m used to it.
As long as I have a good book to read, I have no problem relaxing while everyone plays the boarding game. But we all have our preferences…
@doschicos , Have you flown in the last year? I can’t even think of the last plane where there was even one empty seat. I dislike the back seats mostly because of their proximity to the bathroom and they seem to be louder. I console myself with that “statistically safer” if that’s where I have to be.
Here’s my pet peeve about people that choose the window seat but then close the shade or don’t even look out. I really, really like the window seat and can happily peer out of it for miles, until we rise above the clouds. On our last flight my husband and I both moved (and were compensated) so a “family” could sit together. The family turned out to be a teen age boy and his 6 year old little brother. I gave up my window seat for the teen-age boy while his Mom and sister sat across the aisle. I have no problem sitting separately from my husband, I too bring a book, but I was bummed that the teenager wasn’t using my window seat to it’s full advantage. He glanced out once and closed the shade so he could play on some hand held device and did that for at least four hours of the five hour flight.
On a recent (non full, as one woman was hoping ot offer to give up her seat for $$ but no luck - there were still seats available on their website up to close to boarding time) SW flight, I had an “A” boarding # and sat in an aisle seat. The woman who sat in the window seat was “chatty”, which was fine with me. I like to chat. We got to talking across the empty middle seat, and the next thing we knew, the plane was fully boarded and the seat between us was empty! It was not on purpose, but works for me!
I prefer a window seat, but I don’t use it to look out. I use it to be able to fall asleep against it.
I don’t mind the SW process but if it’s an airline where I have status, I want to be on the plane as early as I can. But no earlier than I’m entitled to be
@walkinghome Yes, I have. It definitely is crowded these days but if there are empty seats, that is where you will find them.
A lot of people like the window seat so they have something to rest their head against for napping plus not having to vacate anytime a seat mate wants to get up. My kids prefer window seats for those reasons. Husband and I would rather be on the aisle.
Best airplane improvement in recent history: the seat-back personal entertainment system. Give me one of those and I’m a happy camper because I have problems sleeping on a plane. I’m sure it must make flight attendants lives a little easier as it keeps folks occupied and happy. I spent my last trans-atlantic flight binging on all of Olive Kittredge. I was able to squeeze in the very end while taxiing to the arrival gate.
Southwest’s boarding method is fastest. I find it to be much more orderly than any other airline. I know exactly where I am supposed to be, and am happy to explain to anyone looking puzzled about where they need to be.
I’m so used to lining up 30 minutes early for SW that H and I had to race to the gate when flying UA, not realizing that they wanted you there 60 minutes early.
I had to finish my wine quickly and ended up way behind him. No biggie, we were going to be stuck together for hours. So we board, and I start taking my stuff out at the seat not realizing that I’m in the wrong row, because I stopped next to a guy who looked like H and had the same color shirt on! Oops, this wouldn’t have happened with SW. But it probably wouldn’t have happened without the wine either!
@jym626 - They gave each of us 2500 miles - Alaska airlines. My husband took a middle and I took an aisle. He often sleeps on planes and got some zzzz’s on that one. The young boy that was next to me was a cutie and no trouble, but I missed seeing the mountains as we left. I had missed seeing them on the way to Seattle because I was in a middle seat.
Here’s what I like. I ticketed a SW trip to Denver a few weeks ago for August for my husband and me. I got an email today saying there was a sale. I easily got on the site, logged in, pulled up my flights, clicked “change” and reticketed them. I saved $138 each way and now I have that as a credit.
I’ve never flown SW. I rarely want to check a bag when when it’s free, I very much like having an assigned seat and I prefer to board late - much rather be out in the airport - even just hanging out at the gate - than in the seat for those 20 minutes. I often board well past my “group”. If the carryon doesn’t fit in the overhead they gate check it and that’s fine - the wait is short and the chance of loss is small.
I did book my son on a SW flight once, last minute it was cheapest. They canceled the first leg which would cause him to miss the second and have to stay overnight in the airport (because there’s like one SW flight a day to that city) and didn’t let him know it had been canceled. I found out myself and had to take the initiative to rebook him myself, then he missed a day of our vacation. He didn’t have to sleep in the airport, at least. Not a great first impression.
Contrast that to a United flight I took recently with 2 stops (a very small airport out west was my final destination and I don’t live in a hub). Because of an air traffic thing in San Francisco, United realized I’d miss my flights and automatically, while I was in the air on the first leg, rebooked me through a different airport, getting me home at the same time.
If SW went anywhere I wanted to go from my city for a great price I’d probably try it despite all that but so far it doesn’t.
Lucked out checking in S2 for his SW flights. He’s in the A group, though near the end, for both legs, so I guess opting not to get early bird checkin worked for him. It also helped that Mom was available to check him in exactly 24 hours before his flight.
So, what happens with Southwest Air if you do not check in at 24 hours? Do they let you know you have no seat ahead of time? or do you find out at the airport?
Well, when you get to the airport and try to go through security (assuming you’re not checking a bag and haven’t been to the counters), you’re not going to go through without a boarding pass, which you either got at home, or at the airport when you arrived and realized you didn’t have a boarding pass. It’s not like you can show up at the gate without having checked in.
Whenever I fly Southwest, as part of putting the flight in my calendar, I also schedule out my check-in 24 hours before on my calendar with an alarm and my confirmation code so it’s easy to access from my phone.
Walking home, I share your love of the window seats. Flying is still cool when you can see the lay of the land below you! Nice to get some miles however.
SW is rarely worth my while, to drive to a distant airport, or bus for a fee, park, etc, though some of the flights if I drive to Milwaukee or Chicago are direct. However my friends in the West get amazing deals on a regular basis, and love the change option. I just live in the wrong market.
“So, what happens with Southwest Air if you do not check in at 24 hours? Do they let you know you have no seat ahead of time? or do you find out at the airport?”
I don’t understand your question. You can’t get through security at any airport without checking in and presenting a boarding pass. If you didn’t check in beforehand, you’ll check in at a Southwest kiosk before going through security and you’ll get your assignment there.
Oh - I see your question differently now. You don’t have to check in precisely at the 24 hours before mark - that’s just when it opens up. You can check in 8 hours before, or 5 hours before, or whatever. It’s just that the better boarding cards will be long gone, that’s all.
I guess I am asking when I check in online to get a boarding pass, does that mean I have a SW boarding pass and seat somewhere on the plane? When in this process do you find out they overbooked and you are not getting on the plane? SW is 4 hours away from here and I have a ticket I now need to cancel, so this for the future rebook I am asking.
