Why is it I always tend to write my posts while flying around the country? It probably has something to do with trying to find a quiet moment in the office…things seem to be so crazy all the time…that might make for an interesting post sometime but not right now...
I've actually found a quiet moment and all I can do is think about my seat…not my butt but my seat on my most recent Southwest flight …did I just write butt but...man how I digress when I write these things…anyway, back to my seat. I'm 6'2" and weigh 185ish and the design of our new leather seats is very comfortable for me. In fact, I fly other carriers from time to time and there is no question in my mind our seat is more comfortable and gives me more personal space than any other coach seating I have experienced. Because of the contour of the seat, I feel I get more personal space to work on a laptop and read important business documents…okay, I'll admit it…read the newspaper or a good book, watch a DVD on the laptop, have a few cocktails, and catch a few Zs…remember, if my boss asks, it's working on the laptop and scouring important documents.
Am I biased? I don't know…I should be…that's why I'm putting this post out in the blogoshpere. We'd love to know what your seat thinks of our seat.
Comments
Ditto, Richard! I, too, am biased, but my seat thinks that our seats are the best in the business (along with our Flight Attendants, Pilots, Ground Ops folks, Res Agents, Provisioning Agents....well, you get the picture). =)
What's important to me in a seat is the size of the seat back pocket. It must have decent depth to take a slimline laptop, an A4 hard bound work folder of notes, a bottle of water, a PSP, and my Sony Minidisc. Without hear of it falling out the top or slipping through some cheap velco edge at the bottom.
It's no surprise that the first thing I do on most flights is lift out all the magazines and paperwork from the seat, take out the safety card and return that, then dump *everything* else into the overhead
WN seats are much more comfortable than those of most other airlines; I'm 6' 1" and find the seats to be roomy and the leather very nice. The 32-33" of seat pitch is wonderful compared to the 31" of room on a CO 737-700 or AA 757-200. Why doesn't Southwest attempt to capitalize on the comfort of the new 737 interiors? I work in corporate travel and know of many of clients who are unaware of the leather seats and extra 1 or 2 inches of seat pitch vs. the competition, yet most people are aware of Jet Blue's leather seats. Thanks for the nice seats!
I have to agree with Shelley's "seat"...as a SWA pilot that flies on probably half a dozen "other" airlines each year I find our seats quite comfortable and the legroom to be ample compared to carriers. Thanks for posting your post Richard, it is quite humerous...
On my way back from SeaWorld a couple weeks ago, my beat-seat loved our new leather seats. Made me feel oh-so complete. An additional treat was it was still warm from the previous seat. That leather held the warmth well. Mmmmm, and I love that leather smell.
Regardless of the seat, I have had to fly Southwest on the saddest of times when my parents passed away. The kindness, patience, and caring I received was beyond wonderful. SW staff did not know why I was travelling either so the effort was really amazing. Sudden shock and grief makes the most competent traveler vulnerable. With Southwest, I felt like I had a whole team of supportive people who got me from Ne to Florida quickly and for a price far less expensive than any other airline, even with bereavement rates. My seat was roomy and comfortable as well but the kindness of the ground crew and the flight crews really made it special. Thank you Southwest.
I used to be nuts about SWA too - that is until they grew up and adopted the same "big airline" policies - such as
Rapid Rewards Awards are subject to seat availability restrictions. Rapid Reward Awards with Blackout dates are subject to holiday blackout periods during which they may not be used. Blackout dates for 2006 on this type of Award are January 1 and 2, March 12 and 19, May 26 and 29, November 21, 22, 26 and 27, and December 22, 26, 29, and 30. Blackout dates for 2007 on this type of Award are: January 2, 2007.
Reservations are required prior to arrival at the airport for use of Awards and must be made through southwest.com or the reservations phone number that appears on the Award notification. When making your reservation, please advise the Reservations Sales Agent that a Rapid Rewards Award will be used for travel. At the time of reservation, the government-imposed September 11th Security Fee of up to $10 per roundtrip must be paid by credit card.
Rapid Rewards Awards with Blackout Dates are not subject to seat restrictions. In other words, the number of seats available for Award use on any flight on nonblackout dates will be limited only by the capacity of the aircraft.
Rapid Rewards Awards will be subject to capacity controls, meaning seats for travel on those Awards will be limited and not available on all flights. It may be particularly difficult to secure a seat during holiday travel periods such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Memorial Day, and Labor Day and other peak travel times. Please note: Any Rapid Awards with Blackout Dates that are reissued for any reason will be reissued as Rapid Rewards Awards and be subject to capacity control restrictions.
anyone understand this gobblygok?
I think that SW herds you on the plane like cattle. I arrive at the airport 2 hrs prior to departing only to get on the plane behind healthy adults taking advantage of the pre-boarding OR families with screaming children obviously over 5 years old. An example - flight from LV to Balt (9/20/06) I sat in the 3 seater behind the 2 seats by the emergency exit - only to be behind 2 older woman in their late 60's. The airline attendent looked at them, then proceeded to advise my husband and the 2 gentlemen on the other side of the isle what to do in case they had to open to doors. Thank goodness that all the passengers didn't have to depend on the 2 old ladies, sitting by the emergency exit who pre-boarded due to a handicap.
SW needs to change their boarding rules and allow us to reserve our seats when we make our reservations.
In response to Brandon (above) who gives a hoot about seat pitch! The fact remains that traveling on an airplane is not what it used to be.
Michele- while the Southwest "cattle call" may not be the most ideal, an assigned seat does not mean you'll be in the land of milk and honey (and Wild Turkey). As a travel consultant, I always run into problems trying to secure seat assignments on one the "major" airlines for our clients or the airline has nothing but middle seats available; think about a middle seat from LAX to EWR after buying a $600 ticket! Quite often, there are no seats available for pre-assignment (UA is one of the worst offenders); how is this better than an open seating system? At the very least, a business traveller who buys a last minute ticket on Southwest has a chance for a good seat by checking in early (offered via internet or mobile device) while flying with a "major" carrier provides no such guarantees. Fortunately, we live in a free country, and if an assigned seat is of the utmost importance, there are many other airlines available.
To your second point, a lot of people care about seat pitch as more seat pitch equals more leg room. While you may not "give a hoot", frequent travellers or anyone that wants a little extra room cares.
Have a great day!
Stan:
What you posted is pretty straightforward.
If you have an "old" award ticket (these types of awards have not been issued since February if I remember correctly), it is subject to blackout dates but can otherwise be used for a seat on any flight that is not sold out.
If you have a "new" award, it is no longer subject to blackout dates, but it is subject to capacity controls meaning there are only X seats available for award tickets on any given flight. So you may run into a situation where the flight you want is not sold out, but there are no award seats available. In my experience this is most likely to happen during holiday travel times.
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