News and notes from around the interweb:
- Even when you pay the most Southwest Airlines asks in seat fees, you still can’t spread out into open seats, ‘what did I do wrong?’
I’m on a flight right now and one man was the only person in an emergency row. He scooted over to the window seat from the aisle and they made him scoot back.
I also paid for an emergency row seat. There are two people next to me. All the other rows around me (same class or lower) only have one person on them. We still can’t scoot over even though we paid for seats. Guess I should have been checking the seating map continuously to try to be spread out.
The man mentioned above has never flown southwest before and was so confused about the flight attendant being upset that he scooted over. He is European and has never flown southwest before and asked me what he did wrong.
- The JFK AirTrain gets more expensive, but it does not get better.
JFK AirTrain price increase March 2026
by
u/ericsnewyork in
OMNY - “If you have the AA credit card, you should be exempt from the ad before the wifi” good point!
- 20,000 American AAdvantage miles for switching service to AT&T Your account has to maintain service for 60 days.
Since the miles are earned with submission of a form, seems like you should also be able to earn shopping portal points as well, incidentally that offer is for AAdvantage miles but Rove seems to offer twice as many points as airlines do. (HT: Doctor of Credit)
- Hyatt’s Eliza Jane leaving for Marriott? That would actually be on-brand because although I rather liked the hotel the few times I’ve stayed there, they kept charging a credit card transaction fee even for paying with a Hyatt Visa (1) when they only take electronic payment, and (2) after telling Hyatt they’d stopped the practice. Bad actors windup up with Marriott almost seems too on-the-nose.
- Lender takes over Thompson San Antonio Riverwalk at foreclosure auction No other bidders showed up.
“No Matter How Much You Pay Southwest Airlines, You Can’t Move to an Empty Seat”
This is totally wrong. You can move after takeoff and seatbelt sign off (10k ft.).
What’s the end game in this whole Southwest kerfuffle? Are the FA’s deliberately sticking to policy to make a point? These “don’t change seats” stories are right up there with Las Vegas “nickel-and-diming” stories on social media. Las Vegas visitation has been on a downward trend for a few months now. There are multiple reasons for that, but the outrageous fees and charges are certainly one of them. If the ultimate goal is to punish Southwest by driving business to other airlines, some of these same FA’s might find themselves on the unemployment line. What part of this “business strategy” am I missing?
You wanted assigned seating. You got assigned seating. Good and hard.
On the JFK AirTrain: Between terminals has always been free; however, from JFK to Howard Beach or Jamaica stations has a fare (which was discounted 50% during the pandemic, but that is no more).
If you want to connect from JFK airport to the NYC subway system for just $3 (for the MTA), take the Q10 bus to/from Lefferts Blvd A Train station (not to be confused with Far Rockaway, which is Howard Beach, which has the fare).
IYKYK.
(@L737, this is the Q70 equivalent for LGA, but for JFK. There’s also a bus from EWR to Newark’s Penn Station, where you can then take the PATH to Manhattan for a similar cheaper fare.)
The Eliza Jane has been a hot mess whenever I’ve stayed. Leaky air conditioning units, inoperative plumbing, utter confusion over the amount of the Globalist breakfast credit, and unresponsive management. Given the many tiny, dark rooms, it’s a hotel that needs to excel in other ways… and it doesn’t.
@L3… Maybe on your flights but so far I have been on 3 SWA flights that had room to spread out and not only did they make an announcement about no seat switching, they actively enforced it when people tried to move.
I get them not wanting people to get a free upgrade, but if you’re moving to a coparable seat to spread out, who cares? If I go from one aisle seat to another aisle seat within the same class, so what?
@1990 — Veri nais, noted – thank you! *Salute*
A-List Preferred members on Southwest used to get free Internet without an ad. Now we get an ad, like everyone else. Southwest didn’t care about us when it negotiated its deal with T-mobile. This fits the pattern of moving most of the value of A-List status to a $250 credit card.
The seat moving thing seems to be malicious compliance, by either the trainers or the FA’s.
We flew Southwest from Phoenix to Chicago O’Hare in early February and the flight attendants had no problem with us moving from two exit row seats (that we paid for) to two different open exit row seats. They simply told us that we had to make the move after takeoff.
I should have said this in my previous comment. . . The flight attendant informed us that people who don’t pay for or select seats ahead of time are assigned locations (mostly at the back of the plane) for purposes of equalizing weight and balance. That is the reason that they want seat movers to move only after takeoff.
I was on a WN flight a few days ago; the row ahead of me had passengers in ABC but none in DEF. Before departing the gate, the FA asked if they were all traveling together, when told no he strongly encouraged them to spread out into the DEF seats. Maybe this was because they were in extra-leg-room seats?
Presumably Southwest wants to encourage people to pay for seats. If passengers routinely change seats that discourages them to pay for seats.
How do they enforce this? They can’t throw you off the plane after takeoff. It isn’t an FAA requirement.
On my SW flights (latest March 3), the FA’s didn’t care if you change seats as long as it’s after takeoff and not into a higher class seat than what you paid for. Maybe the uncertainty and inconsistency is deliberate, to terrorize customers into staying put. Continuing Elliott Management’s agenda of brand destruction.
Into a higher class? What would that be? Wonder how true these stories are. Are the FAs walking around with the manifest and constantly checking for people to be in “their seats”. Do you have to raise your hand to use the bathroom?
I was on a Southwest flight recently where I had paid for an extra legroom seat. I was on the aisle with a couple next to me and the row across from us was completely empty. After the door closed, I asked the flight attendant if I could move over to the empty section. She paused and looked at where I was sitting and looked at where I wanted to move and said, “”Yes it’s the same type of seat so you can move”. And I did.
Virtually every competitor to Southwest NOW has identical policies on seats and charging insane fees for luggage stored in the luggage hold. I was not a fan of the “line up in your number” and rush in to grab the seat you wanted, but definitely the free baggage check was superb.
It appears we will be running stories of this in perpetuity. I fly at least two flights a week on SWA to commute to Dallas for work. This has never happened on any flight I have been on, nor is it SWA’s policy. In all cases that I have witnessed or heard about, it falls into two categories. Attempting to change seats before airborne or moving to an extra legroom seat from a standard seat. I work for SWA, and although I’m not a flight attendant, I can pull up and read what they are being told on how to handle this situation. I have asked a few FAs as well while commuting to work. These are likely the social media rants of individuals who have flown SWA exclusively and are unfamiliar with how things like this typically work in the assigned seating environment. However, I don’t really see the need to wait until airborne. Once the boarding door is closed, it should be available to move then. Perhaps it’s to not cause confusion during the safety announcements. I have seen FAs get a bit upset when passengers move to an emergency exit row when they previously were seated in a non-emergency row. I have been told that it’s due to the requirement of FAs to ensure the passengers seated at those locations are briefed on their responsibilities and willing and able to assist in the event of an emergency.
This story is as ridiculous as the rest of the almost constant nonsense about Southwest. It’s apparent that the author both hasn’t flown Southwest regularly and that he has a significant anti-Southwest bias. I’ve taken a half dozen RT flights since the cutover and I’ve personally witnessed people changing seats without incident. I’ve changed seats. The FAs always ask passengers to wait until the aircraft is in flight and the seatbelt sign is off. I’ve actually been asked, on three occasions, by an FA whether I’d like to move to an open row. For years, Mr. Leff, wrote every other week about the “Jetway Jesus” nonsense, and for that entire time I was flying Southwest > 20 RT flights/year, and I NEVER saw the enormous problem that he claimed existed. For those of you that spent years complaining about the prior Southwest boarding process (including Mr. Leff), welcome to the problem that you helped create. I suspect that most of you fly about once a year. Mr. Leff… Please… If you have no actual experience with the thing that you’re writing about, perhaps you should write about something else. Trust that I’m working on a way to keep your pointless blog from popping up in my news feed. The constant and miserable whining, while fashionable these days, conveys no useful information. I’ll continue to fly Southwest as regularly as I can. Their fares are still cheaper than the larger carriers, and their flight crews are fantastic. The aircraft are always clean… Most importantly, they almost always get me where I need to go on time (my number one priority). I couldn’t care less about “ameneties”. If you want better snacks, bring an apple.
@JW — Gary flew SW in the last month when American let him down… see his January 28, 2026 post “I Flew Southwest On Day One Of Assigned Seating — The Boarding Was A Mess And Bin Space Was Chaos”…