During my recent trip to our office in the Bay Area in California, I encountered a really interesting situation: reserving seats while boarding a flight.
I booked a flight with Southwest since they are typically cheaper than any other airlines. People who have experience with Southwest understand that you have to check-in and get your boarding pass exactly 24 hours before your flight, otherwise, you’ll end up getting the higher position numbers in B Group (unless you’re flying with someone who has Frequent Flyer status and you booked together, meaning you get to board with the A Group). Is there a C group? I am unsure as I always tried to check-in as soon as the mobile app allowed me to.
During boarding, the typical steps commenced: Group A gets called to stand in line with Positions 1-30 on one side and Positions 31-60 on the other. As soon as flyers from A1-30 were let into the plane, people in Group B, Positions 1-30, situated themselves on their respective side. Same thing with Positions 31-60 - Group A gets called in and then Group B finds their respective positions.
As I was waiting in line for my group to be called (I was Group B, Position 23), I saw a young lady, not too much younger than I am, position herself a few feet in front of me. This meant she was part of the B1-30 group. A couple approached her, I’m assuming there were her friends, spoke for a few seconds, and then walked towards the back. I didn’t pay attention to where they went. It was none of my business anyway.
When I got into the plane, I went straight towards the rear area to look for vacant window seats near the left side wing. Considering it was only about an hour flight, selecting a window seat would be fine because I didn’t think I would need to use the restroom mid-flight anyway and bother the people who would sit next to me in case I needed to step out. I saw the same young lady already seated next to the window and her iced coffee was placed on the aisle seat of the same row. I guess she preferred the window seats too, I thought to myself, but what was the coffee on the seat for? I took the seat right behind her.
A few minutes have gone by and most window seats in front of me have been taken. People started to fill the aisle seats after placing their bags in the overhead compartments. An older lady came, probably in her mid-forties or something, and politely asked the young lady if the seats next to her were already taken. I’m pretty sure she noticed the coffee cup, too, and that’s why she asked about the seat’s availability. I didn’t want to eavesdrop but since I can clearly hear their conversation due to my proximity, I had no choice but to indirectly listen.
“These seats are taken,” the young lady said, pointing at the 2 vacant seats next to her. The older lady, visibly confused by the interaction, asked again if she could take the vacant seat. “I’m saving these for my friends. It’s open seating.” I saw the older lady briefly look at me, confusion all over her face, and turned towards the young lady again after a quick moment. “It’s open seating, you can choose whatever seat you want,” the young lady respectfully reiterated. The older lady, trying to avoid arguments, obliged and walked away to find a different seat. I thought about helping her place her luggage in the overhead bins but she went too far in the back and the aisle was getting busy with more people looking for seats. The young lady’s friends, the same couple from the lobby area, eventually came and found her, and took the seats that were reserved for them.
I couldn’t help but feel bad for the older lady who was just trying to find an open seat and get on with her travel. Even though she found a different spot for her to take, I don’t think it was fair for her to be told that she couldn’t take the seat of her choosing even though it’s “open seating.”
Open seating. Doesn’t that mean that the young lady was contradicting herself? She was telling the older lady that the seats were taken even though her friends weren't there yet. If the older lady insisted on taking that seat, she could have done so as any open, available seats are free to take. Plus, what’s up with the iced coffee cup as a way to reserve spots? Reminds me of these videos I saw of people standing in front of parking stalls so they can block other cards from taking it while waiting for their own car to come around and take the spot. What is going on?
Another thing is that open seating would mean that her friends would still find seats somewhere else in the plane, albeit not next to her. What does it matter, though? It’s only an hour flight! It’s supposed to be first come, first served and the older lady had every right to take that open spot she first wanted!
I really thought about saying something but I saved myself from having an argument. I did not want to cause a commotion. I didn't think it was worth it. It was early morning on a Monday. I didn’t want to waste my energy on something I am not involved with. I covered my eyes with the beanie that I was wearing and then tried to take a nap. In my head, I was still thinking about how rude that incident was, regardless of the courteous tone the young lady had. I understand it’s not illegal to save your friends some seats but at the same time, it’s also not fair to others who got there before the friends did, in case they wanted those same seats as well.
