Southwest is ditching the open seating model and will offer premium seats

Jul 25, 2024
6:24:06am

Skeptical Optimist Political Junky

They say that open seating is the most cited reason for customers picking a competitor, and that 80% of their own customers view open seating unfavorably.

They are also going to start red eye flights.

CNBC

Southwest to get rid of open seating, offer extra legroom in biggest shift in its history

Southwest is under pressure to drum up revenue from an oversupplied U.S. market and an activist investor.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/25/southwest-airlines-seat-assignments.html

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Skeptical Optimist

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Messages

Author

Time

Southwest is ditching the open seating model and will offer premium seats

Skeptical Optimist Political Junky

Jul 25, 6:24am

People want assigned seats? Who could have guessed?

HarlemCoug

Jul 25, 6:27am

I didn't actually hate open seating like I think most do. It was advantageous

SWKTNative

Jul 25, 6:29am

Who are these people getting confused by open seating? I've never ever seen it. I fly SWA almost exclusively. I always

supertux

Jul 25, 6:30am

Those that don't check in on-time, because they don't realize it affects their

SWKTNative

Jul 25, 6:31am

Weird. I've hardly ever see it. I get that there are people who don't like it and don't want to have to check-in at a

supertux

Jul 25, 6:35am

Yep. I agree, but have definitely seen confusion from people. I've only been

SWKTNative

Jul 25, 6:38am

I don't keep their card. I just get it for the signup bonus and cancel it before the first year is up to avoid the fee.

supertux

Jul 25, 7:27am

My wife isn’t happy about the change

El Careeb

Jul 25, 6:49am

What I hated was that it seemed you could never get a good seat

Gustav

Jul 25, 6:36am

Last month I checked in right at 24 hours and got a C 24-28 group boarding. The

blackandblue

Jul 25, 6:38am

Which means so many people pay extra that it doesn't guarantee anything now

Gustav

Jul 25, 6:39am

And paying extra for only the chance of a better seat is dumb.

Skeptical Optimist

Jul 25, 6:41am

All depends on connecting flights and the airport. If your airport and flight

SWKTNative

Jul 25, 6:42am

Or when you get B1 which seems fine and then 400 families board between A and B

TCuz

Jul 25, 6:45am

That was us.

Conan

Jul 25, 6:53am

Enjoy the slow walk to the back of the plane now.

TCuz

Jul 25, 6:54am

They're keeping preboarding for families. Sorry!

Conan

Jul 25, 7:19am

To their assigned seats, instead of jumping the line. Have fun.

TCuz

Jul 25, 7:22am

I'm happy to preboard to any seat, assigned or open. Hope there's room left in the overhead bin for you. Good luck!

Conan

Jul 25, 7:34am

Good - I detest having to check in 24 hours to the minute to TRY to get a decent

BYUfan92

Jul 25, 6:53am

What will they do with all the excess wheelchairs at the gate?

Tare

Jul 25, 7:08am

Now people will just complain about the cost of choosing a seat.

Mayor of Cougartown

Jul 25, 7:11am

Probably, but paying to choose a seat is way better than paying to get the chance

Skeptical Optimist

Jul 25, 7:13am

next thing I bet goes away is the 2 checked bags for free. Careful what you wis

Mayor of Cougartown

Jul 25, 7:16am

Sad

JuicyJam

Jul 25, 7:27am

I loved open seating, sorry to see it go. Of course I haven’t been lower than

TeeKaa

Jul 25, 7:32am

That is a big shift, a major part of their strategy for such a long time.

gww687

Jul 25, 8:36am

Same, except if Frontier is the lowest price. I tend to pay more to avoid them.

Boring

Jul 25, 8:52am

Fair point, I will not look at Frontier

gww687

Jul 25, 3:38pm

For me it’s the free bags. I hate having to pack light or shove into as few of suitcases as possible

Southwest to get rid of open seating, offer extra legroom in biggest shift in its history

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