Southwest to finally offer assigned seating.

[White Cat]

What's rude about it? That seat is available for anybody to take. Technically I could keep my aisle seat and I wouldn't stop anybody from taking that middle seat. I just defer and they get the aisle. It's actually not always a late boarder either - sometimes somebody just wants it, and it's no problem. I'm the type who will take that middle seat near the front in a second when I am travelling alone. That actually annoys others sometimes, but I still do it.

You know what game you are playing. I don’t need to describe it to you.

 

[sam_gordon]

You know what game you are playing. I don’t need to describe it to you.

I don't know what game he is playing, can you describe it to me?

 

[BrianL]

You know what game you are playing. I don’t need to describe it to you.

Yeah, it's that game where I sit in a seat and my friend sits in a seat and anyone can come and claim that third seat.

For the record, I don't actually do the mean look, fake coughing thing - that was just a joke. One time a SWA flight attendant was even making jokes about that as he announced that the plane was full. He was like, "All y'all trying not to make eye contact, faking like you're sick - don't bother, because someone is gonna be sitting in that seat!"

 

[NotUrsula]

Nah, man, don't you know how to do it? You sit there, put your bag on one of the other seats, act all disorganized, and cough a lot. Then when a person you want to sit by is coming, clean it all up and sit perfectly still.

I just rely on my best-in-class RBF.

That was a joke. However, it is true that strangers almost never wish to sit next to me. I'm short, somewhat overweight, but not nearly enough to spill over the armrest, I don't smell bad (or use strong perfumes, either.), and I'm not chatty; I spend the entire flight reading on a tablet with headphones in. However, I am NOT a smiler. People just think I'm grumpy-looking, I guess.

When I fly with my family there are 3 of us, so it's never an issue. When I fly alone, I either take the aisle of an occupied row, or sit at the window in an empty one. (And thanks to my apparently infallible RBF, unless every single seat on that plane is occupied, the middle seat next to me usually miraculously stays empty.) Gonna miss that extra space, LOL.

 

[georgina]

Yeah, it's that game where I sit in a seat and my friend sits in a seat and anyone can come and claim that third seat.

For the record, I don't actually do the mean look, fake coughing thing - that was just a joke. One time a SWA flight attendant was even making jokes about that as he announced that the plane was full. He was like, "All y'all trying not to make eye contact, faking like you're sick - don't bother, because someone is gonna be sitting in that seat!"

I do love the flight attendant announcements. Some of them are pretty funny!

 

[longboard55]

I like assigned seats and checked luggage. We have credit cards for Hawaiian, Alaska and American so often we do not pay for luggage. I will always pay extra for an assigned seat or the preferred flight with no stops . I learned long ago, air travel is not something to cheap on. We take Southwest on occasion based on where we are going but do not find them cheaper overall, its hit or miss. Yes I have seen all the tricks, the wheel chair, the open middle, the buy one upgrade, life is too short.