Southwest has been a lot of people’s #1 airline for years now.
This is for a variety of different reasons, but one of the main ones has been because of their open seating policy. This meant that no one was able to choose their seat on the plane before boarding, so it was first come first serve. This was dependent on when you checked in for your flight — the earlier you checked in, the earlier you’d board the plane and therefore have a better chance of getting the seat you’d prefer. However, the airline has recently announced that they’re now doing AWAY with their open seating, which has some fliers frustrated — ESPECIALLY if they’re from one of these two groups.
Last Minute Travelers
Sometimes you don’t know you’re going on a trip until 24 hours before, or you’ve had an emergency and you need to get to another state ASAP. In this case, with the open seating policy, last minute travelers had a higher chance of getting an aisle or window seat if they were able to book more than 24 hours before the flight and could still check in as early as possible in that window.
However, with the open seating policy going away, last minute travelers will be faced with the same predicament they are with most other airlines — when they go to pre-select their seat, they’ll find that most (likely all) of the aisle and window seats have been booked already.
For some last minute travelers, they don’t care where they sit — they just want to be on the plane. But for others, they would choose to fly Southwest for their last minute travels specifically for this reason. Now that this perk is going away, many of these travelers may choose to book with other airlines that are cheaper but also have assigned seating, like Frontier or Spirit.
Elite Status is Now Pointless
Being an elite member for Southwest Airlines was called A-List. While there are multiple perks to A-List, such as same-day change/standby opportunities if needed and a 25% earning bonus, one of the biggest perks is priority boarding. However, with assigned seating, this perk now becomes pointless.
If everyone, including A-List members, will now choose their seat when boarding, then there’s little to no point in A-List members boarding early, because they don’t need to use that time to find a seat/get ahead of others to choose their seat first.
So will this perk just go away? Or will we see it replaced with something else? What could be helpful is reserving some seats at the front of the plane for A-List members, that then could be open to standby fliers or upgrades if there are not A-List members to fill those seats on the day of. We won’t know until we see this change go into effect, which we’re hearing rumors likely won’t happen until early 2025.
We’ll be sure to keep you updated on all we hear about this new change, so stay tuned to AllEars!
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What do you think of this open seating policy change? Tell us in the comments!
What will happen to handicap when asked for pre boarding pass?
Well, I guess there will be no more miracle after flight healing for the fake wheelchair users. No more gaming the system
I don’t think this is a great idea bad decision
I was thrilled about the change.
First, my teen daughter has invisible disabilities and needs to be seated next to me so I can assist her if she has an episode. We usually use pre-boarding when we fly Southwest. It takes care of the problem pretty well, but there are some issues. Other passengers and occasionally staff members have made clear that they think people only claim they need pre-boarding in order to get the best seats. Even when we use her wheelchair, we hear comments about “Jetbridge Jesus” magically healing people who arrive in a wheelchair and leave without one. It’s not unlike Disney complaints about some folks allegedly faking disability to get DAS. We will not need pre-boarding anymore, because I will be able to book seats together in advance and assist her when we board. Knowing what is happening in advance also helps with her autism.
Second, it allows our whole family to be seated near each other. We usually travel for leisure, and it’s more enjoyable to be able to socialize and share snacks, headphones, etc. during a flight.
Finally, my husband is pretty big & tall, and now he will be able to reliably book an aisle seat. Southwest flights are nearly always full. Unless you are a frequent flier or pay for early boarding, you are 100% going to be in a middle seat under the current boarding policies. We may still have to pay extra for him to get an aisle seat, but at least we will know that for certain when we book.
As an A-List customer for over a decade I’ll be VERY disappointed if my status is not somehow recognized in the opportunity to make an early seat selection.