Southwest switching to assigned seating...

It was just announced on our local news here that Southwest is going to start assigned seating. They said Southwest will be holding a news conference tomorrow with the details.

I hope they implement it before our flight next January! :)

i have a feeling that this will be a disaster at first..............look at how long it takes people to find unassigned seats now, and put their stuff away.....even on the other carriers with assigned seats, it is still nuts!

oh well....at least i won't have to sit in line A on the floor for 2 hours if that's what happens...

http://blogs.usatoday.com/sky/2007/09/southwest-decla.html#uslPageReturn

a little linkie to USAtoday's airline blog about SW

WN did a test with assigned seating and found that it wasn't advantageous from an operational standpoint. If they do this, and I'm not convinced they are going to announce this systemwide, I fear that it will affect their noted ability for quick turns. Part of the WN "formula" is high aircraft utilization with minimal ground time. It would be surprising for them to give up something that saves them money -- apparently some kind of research says they will get more revenue in new ticket sales than what the extra time will cost them.

Lamar Muse is spinning right now.

well we could start a new guesing game!! :D

maybe aisles will be for group A, windows for group B and middles for "C ya in the middle seat!" lol

Here is another news article; also references a Wednesday news conference but does not say will be assigned seats.

They do mention a few changes:

--Family 'Pre-boards' will now board between group A and B, unless they have an A boarding pass. Starts Oct. 2. Those needing assistance will still board ahead of everyone else.

--Possible changes include using the numeric order with the ABC groups; which are already printed on the boarding passes. Several different boarding methods were apparently tested this summer in San Antonio, in addition to the famously unpopular assigned seats in San Diego last year.

http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0918biz-southwestfamilies18-ON.html

Should be interesting to see the actual announcement and see how close these predictions are!

Here is another news article; also references a Wednesday news conference but does not say will be assigned seats.

 

They do mention a few changes:

--Family 'Pre-boards' will now board between group A and B, unless they have an A boarding pass. Starts Oct. 2. Those needing assistance will still board ahead of everyone else.

--Possible changes include using the numeric order with the ABC groups; which are already printed on the boarding passes. Several different boarding methods were apparently tested this summer in San Antonio, in addition to the famously unpopular assigned seats in San Diego last year.

http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0918biz-southwestfamilies18-ON.html

 

Should be interesting to see the actual announcement and see how close these predictions are!

Now THAT makes sense.....one WN flight I was on, there were, honestly 30 people preboarding and i don't think they were UMs or under 5 or whatever the age is....I mean I can ACT like i am 5-can I board early???

both those make sense--we have what, 2 hours til the official word?? kinda fun to try and predict...gives us something to do. :p

No assigned seating, just numbers within groups....A and B groups wil have more pax in each...but at least you can go get a drink or visit the little travelers room!

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2007-09-19-southwest-seating_N.htm

[sorry, redundant post. megr1125 beat me to it.]

great minds think alike!!!!

Sorry I mistakenly reported SW was going to start assigned seating. That's how they announced it on the local news here, so I blame them!! :D

I'll let ya know how the new way works out when we take our flight in January! :)

no biggie...that's the news' job..to report and occasionally interpret the news.....i just figured i'd make it easy for everyone to see what they actually decided to do.......

and your tipoff gave us something to prognosticate about anyway-kept us out of trouble for a while! :D

[sorry, redundant post. megr1125 beat me to it.]

hey, if we did away with all the redundancy here......:p

Looks like a better system. We fly SWA about ten times a year and really don't mind the "cattle call".

Here is the new boarding process:

http://www.southwest.com/help/boardingschool/

Enjoy!

Kel

Oh jeese is all i can say.

If you have people who can't figure out which group that they're in, how will they figure out which SUBGROUP that they are in. I can also just see the jockeying at the gate now, even with this subgrouping process.

Hey....if you guys want a break from CC and really want to be entertained...go over to USAtoday.com and read the story..then read the comments.....(one of the stories has like 50)...there are some real nuts over there.....it's entertaining!

Hey....if you guys want a break from CC and really want to be entertained...go over to USAtoday.com and read the story..then read the comments.....(one of the stories has like 50)...there are some real nuts over there.....it's entertaining!

Yeah if you thought there were some hot topics on this board...:eek: :eek: :eek:

I'm glad that 'families' will board between A and B. I always get A, so I'm good, but last year we flew in and out of Orlando for Mariner, and honestly, there were at least 30-40 preboaring with families and special needs. Now at least there is only a couple special needs if any, and we can go ahead infront of 'families'. I fly Oct. 14 on them, so that is good that is starts Oct. 2.

If you go here on southwest's website you can read exactly what is going to happen. They're keeping the ABC groups, but you will be assigned a number in that group and that is how you'll board the plane. Once again, it's 24 hours prior that you can get your assigned group and number. This just makes it that you don't have to wait in line, doesn't really change much more than that.

Read the FAQ section at the end and it will explain the procedure completely.

http://www.southwest.com/help/boardingschool/

No assigned seating as others have said. You board in groups of 5 based upon your boarding pass # within A,B or C. So A1-5 board together, which means #5 could actually board before #1 if he was first in line. I don't see how this new system will do anything more than confuse the average traveler even more by subdividing A, B and C into smaller groups of five. Also seems like it will slow up the boarding process. If they aren't going to switch to assigned seating then I think they should leave the current system in place. Happy Sailing!

No assigned seating as others have said. You board in groups of 5 based upon your boarding pass # within A,B or C. So A1-5 board together, which means #5 could actually board before #1 if he was first in line. I don't see how this new system will do anything more than confuse the average traveler even more by subdividing A, B and C into smaller groups of five. Also seems like it will slow up the boarding process. If they aren't going to switch to assigned seating then I think they should leave the current system in place. Happy Sailing!

You would think that with only five people in that group, people would allow A1 to go first, A2 second...., This actually seems very fair and there would be no reason to line up early to jump ahead of four people?:rolleyes: :)

I like it!!

Kel

Based on a news item this morning, my understanding is that families who are not part of group A will be able to board after 60 other passengers. Isn't that like half the plane? Even for families in the A group, it would be nice if Southwest assessed just how many people make up any given extended family.

Maybe pre-boarding families got to be too much ... kiddies, mom and dad, gramma and grandpa, aunts and uncles, and anyone else the families befriended in the concourse or gate areas.

Southwest's change may not be wholly novel ... noticed last year that American no longer pre-boards families. Makes a good case for booking early and picking seats way at the back of the plane for earliest boarding.

Maybe pre-boarding families got to be too much ... kiddies, mom and dad, gramma and grandpa, aunts and uncles, and anyone else the families befriended in the concourse or gate areas.

On a flight out of Houston a few years ago, we were in A group and were literally first in line to board. It took 20 minutes to do all the preboarding of families and people in wheelchairs. By the time preboarding ended, over 40 people had boarded the plane, effectively bumping all the people waiting to board back a group.

On a flight out of Houston a few years ago, we were in A group and were literally first in line to board. It took 20 minutes to do all the preboarding of families and people in wheelchairs. By the time preboarding ended, over 40 people had boarded the plane, effectively bumping all the people waiting to board back a group.

Indeed, makes one want to adopt a tot just to board early!

If any airline, Southwest or whatever, were to continue preboarding families, it would save everyone else a lot of grief and seat displacement if the airlines restricted the family designation to groups with children under a certain age (I don't know, something like 4 years old).

Maybe families, if they are permitted to board with group A, should be restricted to the back of the plane so they can settle in without slowing up everyone else.

The wheelchairs are a different story and, I believe, always should take precedence over any other passenger or group of same.

Perhaps preboarding of non-physically-challenged passengers and groups could be had for families with tots willing to pay $50 extra per person for the luxury/convenience.

Just my rambling and humble opinion.

The wheelchairs are a different story and, I believe, always should take precedence over any other passenger or group of same.

Oh, I definitely agree with this. I did not mean to make it sound like I begruged those in wheelchairs the right to board first.