NEW Seating Rule Announced for Southwest Airlines

Flying is always stressful, but with all the ongoing airline changes, it can feel a little more tense right now. One airline in particular has been hit with change after change: Southwest Airlines.

Over the past several months, the airline has faced several controversies regarding changing its long-time non-assigned seating policy, and even faced some backlash over not cleaning properly. Now there is yet another seating policy change that has everyone talking.

Several months ago, Southwest implemented a policy requiring guests who need extra room to purchase two seats. However, this was met with a lot of controversy and backlash from passengers. Therefore, Southwest decided to update this policy and make some changes.

The new policy now encourages gate agents to offer any additional open seats to guests who require more room. However, this accommodation can only be offered if those extra seats are available.

This means that if the flight is full, there will be no way for those passengers to receive an extra seat. Southwest has noted that in this situation, they will attempt to accommodate those passengers on a later flight.

This is, of course, very inconvenient and does not work well with most folks’ travel plans. Which is why Southwest still encourages anyone who requires an extra seat to book it ahead of time.

However, they did note that if you were to book an extra seat and then the gate attendants were able to give you a complimentary additional seat that was available, you would be able to get refunded for that extra seat within 90 days of purchasing it.

In a statement, Southwest outlined that this new policy was meant “to create a more consistent and seamless travel experience for customers who require an additional seat.” While this system is still not perfect, we are glad to see Southwest attempting to provide appropriate accommodations for all customers.

However, it still seems as though your best bet if you have tight travel plans is to book an extra seat ahead of time if needed, and then get a refund if additional seating is available on your flight.

We always make sure to keep you informed of all airline and travel news, so stay tuned to All Ears so you never miss anything!

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What do you think of this Southwest seating policy update? Let us know in the comments.

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