Southwest Airlines doesn’t have pre-assigned seats. It’s first come, first served. That means how early you board the plane matters – being one of the first on the plane gets you a wider selection of seats to pick from.
Frequently, once a passenger picks their seats, the games will begin.
- If the plane isn’t going to be full, passengers will try to keep people from sitting down next to them, hoping for an empty middle seat beside them when the door closes. Crumple up tissues and put them on the seat, spread out into the middle seat to make it look like an uncomfortable choice, or place your bag or jacket there to make the seat look already occupied.
- Some men, especially, will be open to certain passengers over others and try to game who their empty seat looks welcoming to. An attractive female boards and suddenly they clear out that middle seat! But it’s obvious they’re doing it and creepy.
- There’s no rule about saving seats. Southwest doesn’t say it’s ok, but they do not say it isn’t ok. One person with an “A” group boarding pass and Noah’s Ark full of two of each type of passenger with a C boarding pass may wind up with aisle seats or seats together at the front of the aircraft.
The thing about saving seats for people with a lower boarding order is that it removes good seats from the available pool for those who paid for an earlier boarding number (such as a Business Select fare) or who earned it through loyalty to the airline over a year’s worth of ticket purchases (A-List and A-List Preferred).
We regret any disappointment during the boarding process today. All Southwest flights are open seating, and we don't have a specific policy for or against saving seats. Still, we apologize for any frustration and hope for smoother sailing in the future. -Jhericca
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) September 21, 2023
So holding 5 seats on a full southwest flight is allowed now? Flight 20 heading to Houston.
Last time I got yelled at for holding one seat. @SouthwestAir pic.twitter.com/aHRImFsF8P
— Taylor (@TayTaySwift1103) September 24, 2023
Open seating on Southwest Airlines means Lord Of The Flies… or sometimes Thunderdome. That doesn’t work for everyone, but I actually like it.
- I tend to buy tickets late – close to travel – and on many airlines that means the best seats are already gone. But with Southwest they’re still available.
- In fact, when changing flights on the day of travel or getting rebooked due to a delay or cancellation, all of the seats on the plane are still available.
- And you can play games to increase the odds of having an empty middle seat next to you, which is the difference-maker in having a great flight in coach.
Flying Southwest is different than flying other airlines, but is it funny that I actually like it? Not least of which because their seats have a couple more inches of legroom than standard coach on most other airlines, too, which means I can open my laptop on board without difficulty.
I find in my many years of travel that the only way to fly on Southwest and I mean the only way is getting a wheel chair to the gate!!! Guaranteed “perfered” boarding and you don’t have to pay extra for the early bird option.
As a semi regular SWA flyer due to the CP, I have never really had an issue with seat saving. The one exception is NO SEAT SAVING EXIT ROW SEATS. That is a complete no no and will be the one thing I will challenge.
Unless there are 20 people saving 40 seats, I have no problem moving back a row or 2 to get the seat I want.
I did give a guy a bit of a scare once when he was saving a seat and I told him I was going to sit in anyway. He thought it was going to be “one of those” flights. I told him I was kidding and he took it in the kidding nature it was intended.
I fly Southwest quite a bit because it’s the only direct three times a day from BNA to RDU. If it weren’t for that, I would never fly Southwest. Maybe it’s just the route, but I seldom see more than 10 open seats on any flight so gaming for a middle seat really won’t work a bigger problem I see is the massive number of pre-boards. The current record I’ve counted is 37. Maybe I’m not looking but I seldom see people saving seats. The last time I saw that was a rare flight I took to Orlando. There were a lot of families on it and there was the typical, overweight, soccer, mom standing in the middle of the road telling people to keep moving
One reason I don’t fly Southwest. They were fine when I was a college student flying back and forth between Northern and Southern California and used to be a reliable airline that I knew what to expect but they’ve tailed off a lot in the last decade
Seat saving is why Early Bird Check In is one of the biggest cons in the airline industry. Add in the hordes of preboarders and it’s an absolute JOKE.
Southwest makes this problem worse in some situations. While I get A group, my Companion is always assigned a later group. I guard that seat in these situations, because it is not my fault that Southwest chose to break us up, even though we are on the same reservation. So all I am doing is correcting Southwest’s error here. They should code Companion tickets the same as the primary holder for boarding, because there is no point to traveling with your ‘companion’ if the airline is going to split everyone up and increase the chaos on board.
My beef is one person buys early boarding and holds 2 seats for b or c boarders. Make the entire group pay for early boarding and it’s not an issue to anyone and SWA gets more revenue. Even worse when a mid or late A holds seats for B&C and they didn’t pay a dime then I board in late B or early C.
No saving seats period is implied with open seating.
Won’t give them a dime because of this. If they swapped to assigned seating, I’d take Southwest in a heartbeat
@ Gary — THIS is why I refuse to fly Southwest. They really need to get rid of this archaic system and have assigned seats. It would cure alot if disabilities, too.
Isn’t the best policy here to simply demand a middle seat when you see passengers sitting in a window and/or aisle and attempting to save a seat? Usually – what happens is that those passengers just get up and move, or ask you to move to their aisle or window seat.
Flying SW from my home airport (Sacramento) would arguably make my life better in terms of routes and cities served directly but I just cannot stand the seating and the clientele. Can’t do it. You all have fun and I’ll just connect in Denver or SFO.
Seems like the fault lies with people who accept others blocking seats. Since blocking is not explicitly allowed or not allowed, the person blocking a seat has no standing to prevent you from sitting in that seat. So just sit there.
I hate the seat saving and I think that it is pathetic Southwest won’t take a position on it. I’ve had A15 or so boarding number and find someone ahead sat in the exit row and “reserved” the whole rest of the row. The flight attendant standing there just shrugs and says she won’t get involved. I said so can I just sit there? She shrugs again. I go to move the guys stuff off the aisle and nasty words start from him. Flight attendant shrugs again.
If someone stands up to go pee, can you steal their seat?
When you get a group of people together and order a pizza, you quickly find out your friends fall into two categories. One believes each person is entitled to their pro-rata share of the pizza. 8 slices amongst 4 people is two slices each. The other group believes that as long as there’s another piece sitting in front of them it’s fair game.
The latter is a misanthropic self-centered antisocial thinking. Society on board an aircraft used to have some meaning until the post-pandemic Entitled Masses but even before then the Seat Hoarders feel they have a right to whatever they want because they got to it first.
Not so. I ignore “reserved” seat and sit in any available seat (as directed by the FA). Available to me doesn’t include purses, sweaters, laptops, hats, man or woman spreaders. If there isn’t a live body there, it’s free. The only exception there is if a live human next to the seat says the person is in the lav… and there’s a bag under the seat in front of the live human AND one in front of the lav person. I’ll believe that and respect lav person’s seat.
For this reason among others, Southwest is my LAST preferred method to go anywhere. I’d rather drive than fly SWA. Usually 60min advance + 30min TSA + 20min board + 1.5r flight + 20min disembark (non of that “deplane” crap) works out to 3hrs for something I can drive in 5-6hrs for a lower cost, listen to my choice of music, no aisle-nazis, and no screaming babies or crazy masses.
The only thing SWA is really good for is last minute Business Select tix so I can meet inbound pax at the gate, and then walk out with them knowing my failure to board will result in an immed…. (oh there’s the text message saying my refund has been processed now)…iate refund in full. Why SWA? Hourly departures to “anywhere” means I can hang out in the sterile area at will.
People I care about are surprised and love being met at the gate, helped with carryon, etc.
I don’t have a problem with it, because I’m not going for the exit row unless the flight is 100% full. I’m going for the empty middle, in a row that others won’t prefer.
One gets treated better (i.e. get better seats) by being a jerk. I don’t like policies that reward being a jerk, so I seldom even check Southwest. If nothing reasonable is available on other carriers I’ll take a look at Southwest, but it’s been a while since they were a budget airline. Usually their fares are as higher or higher, and since I don’t check bags, there’s really no appeal to me.
When one pays for early boarding seating, they pay for one seat only! Saving a seat for one who has not paid means they should pay for two early boarding. The idea of saving seats is unfair to those who paid for early bird as they can’t get desirable seat due to someone saving for group C passenger. SWA must enforce and secure their early board process or lose the fees many pay without any return.
Additionally, the vast amount of early boarders who take up the front is ridiculous and fraudulent as most have no issue rushing off as we arrive.
Put logic in place or assign seats as early bird is fast becoming a rip off and should be class actioned to revise practice.
I can’t fly southwest because I don’t have an assigned seat. how do I know where to sit and I can’t sit next to someone who is poor or god forbid a POC. I need to sit in an assigned first class to reaffirm how important I am
There are many things I love about Southwest and I am able to play their game to my advantage. My wife and I both have Southwest Premier Business ccards giving us each 2 earlybird check ins and we each have Southwest Priority cards giving us each 4 upgraded boardings. We each have Amex platinum cards with Southwest as our designated airline giving us each $200 per year for non ticket purchases. i have a companion pass so my wife flys free whether paying cash for the ticket or using points.
I book earlybird checkin for each trip and because of my companion pass my wife gets earlybird check in for free positioning her in the next boarding order. Most always we are assigned an A boarding group. Depending on where we are in the boarding position I buy upgraded boarding from A 1 to A 15 if available. If I dont have a free credit available on one of our credit cards I will use an American Express card so no cost to me.
When I buy the upgraded boarding and go on the plane with the first A 1 to 15 group I look for someone occupying a window seat and i inquire if the middle seat is being held. I position myself in the ailse seat. I have never had anyone ask for the middle seat. When my wife boards I just move over to the middle. Most of the time we end up in the first six rows of the aircraft.
I love getting 2 free bags for each of us. I also love how easy it is the rebook a flight especially when the price drops. I also think overall the Southwest flight attendants are happier and more friendly than on other airlines, especially American. If you do have any issues with Southwest you can actually talk to a real person who can actually make decisions and even offer compensation in the form of a flight credit.
I hope they keep the system exactly like it is. For me it works out great.
I fly SWA regularly and have used EB all the time to secure A boarding (I am upset, btw, that EB will now be less available). I have not really had any big problems…that being said, I am 100% supportive of the commenters who complain of the pax who save seats for B and C boards. The growing number of “pre-boards” is also getting out of hand. I might have a good seating position in the A group, but when 25-30 pax are ahead of even A-1, it’s more than annoying. Yes, I also believe that SWA needs to adjust their processes because so many people are plainly gaming the system.
If someone is a pre-board because they need s wheelchair, then they need to be held back at arrival until their wheelchair arrives to assist them. Those who really need assistance don’t complain or jump.up to be first off.
Big problem herd of people in wheel chairs for first boarding. They sit up front and at flight end they jump up and are some of the first out the door and up the bridge to the terminal. Must be a lot of quick miracles and healings on board. Wheel chair passengers should be last off the plane.
Say what you will about Southwest but it seems to work and work with far less conflicts and FU’s then Gary reports here daily. For instance a nearly full WN280 on 9/15 was delayed for hours then had to return to the airport with smoke in the plane. Everyone was stranded that night, might have taken other flights / airlines / cancelled their trip BUT everyone’s luggage was held and shipped to destination first thing in the AM without them. No news reports, no whining on Twatter, no clowns assuming racism, etc. A better class of employee, procedures and passenger me thinks…
You can laways buy an extra seat on WN. We do it all the time, especially on Hawaii or longer distance flights. The FAs and the gate people are totaly hip to it. We find an empty row and place the extra seat boarding pass on the middle seat. No one can sit there, and it is not “saving” a seat. It’s been bought and paid for. Works on United as well.
I fly a lot on SWA. I have given up trying to be nice. If someone (usually a preboarder) is guarding a forward area aisle or window seat, I just take the one I want. I answer their “this is reserved” with “Yes, for me, thanks.” The flight attendants won’t help the person holding a “reserved seat” seat and I can take the stares and bad vibes. The no rule rule is pretty stupid. And I agree with others – too many pre boards. At least the number of “service animals” is down.
Why don’t they just announce at the gate that you may not save a seat?
And if caught doing so, the items will be removed? And enforce it?
I used to pay for earlier boarding on Southwest. After watching 20+ people arrive in wheel chairs and allowed to board first, along with their companions, I was #1 to board but the front of the plane was filled by the time I was allowed to board. Only 4-5 of these “disabled” people needed wheel chairs to disembark. So no more paying extra. I now pay for the cheapest fare and plan to sit where ever. I refuse to fake my way on to earlier boarding by requesting a wheel chair. Flying is uncomfortable, but I’m not paying more to then be scammed by people who lack a moral compass.
Precisely why I will never fly this airline. Already got pushy jerks when it’s time to get off the plane. And the same jerks are on the crowded elevator.. yep just got back from a trip and experienced all of this.
@Rhus Quercus +1000
While I don’t agree with holding seats in this manner I ask why is it “creepy “ if a guy wants to sit next to an attractive female. Please keep this woke thinking out of your blogs.
@CMorgan its totally creepy for someone to keep saying the seat is taken until someone they consider ‘attractive’ comes along. Its DB behavior.
Fat women always are the most entitled people.
As a person who has flown well over 3 million miles in my career, I have canceled trips if Southwest is the only option available. As the comments iondicvate above, the airline does nothing to prevent fraud by people claiming disabilities (who most are cured during the flight) and poor behavior of other borading passengers. Twenty years ago, Southwest was a wonderful airline, but they allowed people to game the system and now it is not worth even considering.
The wheelchair fakers are scum. It’s a disgusting thing to do. Then there’s legit wheelchair users who have EIGHT people board early with them. I know 1-2 helpers are needed, but 5 and more is common. I’ve been a caregiver, and a chair user, and I cannot see the need for more than 2.
But I have no problem at all sitting right down in a “saved” seat. The people who let others get away with that don’t have much room to complain. People may try to get away with it, but that doesn’t mean they can or should be able to do so.
I’m totally okay with someone saving ONE seat for a friend or family member with a B or C seat!
BUT……my main objective with WN is all the pre-boarders who are young, able bodied, and lying about needing to preboard! Sunday morning PHX-LAS …about 25 youngins’ in Steelers & Raiders gear all preboarded ….and literally ran off the plane when we landed in Vegas!!! Not cool guys! (PS. I’m 74 and standing in the regular line btw!)
Nah. If you aren’t actually on board, it’s not your seat yet. I don’t know how to enforce it but that’s the right answer, ’nuff sed.
Southwest’s antiquated boarding process should be scrapped. Switch to assigned seats.
So tired of every fake, limp dick, compression sock wearing pre-boarder gaming the system. It’s a joke at SW…I’d rather ride on the wing of an American Airlines flight.
I wrote in about this same issue coming from HAWAII. Another passenger was allowed to save two rows of seat right in the presence of flight crew in which I was told its not their job to prevent this behavior. Do why even bother to get up early to secure a decent seat when one only has to save seats for whole family that boarded last. What a slap in the face for anyone especially senior citizens on such a long flight. Can’t get it out of my mind
Someone reported there were 20 people on wheel chairs boarding an airplane but only 3 of those needed wheel chairs on arrival. It’s a huge scam. I won’t fly SWA until they fix this and saving seats bs.
SWA is prime for a class action lawsuit. “I paid extra for a level of service that SWA didn’t deliver.” The seat I wanted was being saved for someone not paying the same premium. When informed of the issue, SWA took zero action, except took my cash. The answer is SEATING ZONES. Your boarding pass allows you to seat in that zone. People with legitimate disabilities are pre-approved for the first zone.
I find these outraged comments hilarious. Why does it matter so much that someone wants to sit with their friends or family, so you have to sit a few rows behind? It’s so UNFAIIRRRR!!!! Well, life is unfair. For those of you choosing to drive instead, how does it feel to know that you pay taxes to build and maintain those roads, yet every day there are any number of tax cheats who get to drive on them for free? It’s so UNFAIIRRRR!!! I guess you shouldn’t drive, either.
Personally, I just don’t care about people saving seats. When I check in right at 24 hours, I can pretty much always get an aisle seat even if a bunch of people have saved seats (and it’s usually not that many). Compare that to any other airline, where aisle seat availability depends on when you book and how much extra you’re willing to pay for it. I find their system to be advantageous to the consumer while still being as fair as possible. If a few people try to game the system, so be it – that’s life. Given how full Southwest flights usually are, apparently I’m not the only one who thinks they’re often the superior choice.
@Jim
You must not have flown SW in quite a while. I also have had a companion pass for at least the last 10 years. But no matter when I now check-in, or when my companion checks-in, we automatically get consecutively numbered boarding passes even though we have separate confirmation numbers. It has been this way for well over a year, perhaps longer. But be aware that there are a limited number of certain exceptions to this SW methodology. They are explicitly listed on the SW website.
Before this change, however, it did cause the first of us boarding to resorting to seat saving. And I never felt in-the-wrong in doing so.
@ Ehud Gavron. Exactly. And I take my Golden Retriever with me . . . haven’t tried taking her to the gate to meet arriving pax . . . yet.
I don’t often. Run into any problems choosing a seat but when I’m paying extra to board early and select a preferable seat, I have in cases taken a seat that was being saves by another A list passenger for a B or C list passenger. It’s quite simple, you want to sit together without paying extra, sit in the back, or pay for A list status for each passenger.
@Ajay “You must not have flown SW in quite a while.”
You are right. We haven’t flown in about 3 weeks.
Only about a third of the time do we get passes close together. On the other hand, I make a point of sitting in the middle seat when I board first, and let people choose if they want aisle or window (preferred) but make it clear after that that my Companion has the third seat. And I just ride middle all the way out.
Andys, your comment is totally inappropriate and rude.
First flights in 25 years this past weekend. Bought SW from Hou to Mco paid extra for Anytime, got A34. 100% Full flight, window seat right in front of wing.
Flight home- after having an AA flight cancelled- had to purchase SW last flight of the night out just to get home. Bought one of last 3 in any tier avaliable- wanna get away- checked in 2 hours before, another 100% full flight MCO to HOU. Position C4. Got same front of wing window seat just opposite side of plane.
Idk how but I took the blessing! SW got me home when AA wanted to reroute me first to Philly, then Chigago and finally to IAH not HOU. Like the two are interchangeable airports right next door to each other and not completely opposite across a major city.
Only flown SWA once so can’t comment, but reading the comments the ones who are really selfish are those who are faking needing wheelchair assistance. Disgusting and selfish behaviour and may deprived those who need it the care and attention they deserve. I’m sure if anyone who boarded by wheelchair was required to deboard last there would suddenly be a lot less fakers