open seats on airline
83% Your Mileage May Vary
15% Eye of the Flyer
2% Other
Airlines handle seat availability in different ways, and recent changes at Southwest illustrate how passengers can manage open or extra seats.
Southwest’s Extra Seat Policy for Larger Passengers
- Southwest encourages passengers who need more space to purchase an additional seat in advance, similar to its previous open‑seating approach.
- If the flight departs with at least one unfilled seat and both seats are booked in the same fare class, the airline will refund the extra‑seat cost.🔗
“Window” Seats Without a Window
- Southwest now charges for certain seat assignments, including Preferred seats near the front and Extra Legroom seats, which has led to complaints when a paid “window” seat is actually next to a wall.
- Under the old open‑seating system, passengers could simply choose any available seat, but the shift to assigned seating has raised expectations for the seat they pay for.🔗
Extra Legroom and Paid Seat Options
- Southwest’s Extra Legroom seats are part of its paid‑seat offerings, and travelers can request a refund for the extra seat only if an open seat remains on the flight.
- The airline’s policy ties the refund eligibility to the presence of at least one open seat and requires both seats to be in the same fare class.🔗
Your Mileage May Vary 40%
Southwest Just Quietly Changed Its Policy for Plus-Sized Passengers. Again.
Airline policies change all the time. Most adjustments are minor and barely noticed outside of aviation circles. This one was different. When Southwest altered its longtime passenger of size policy earlier this year, travelers immediately noticed—and many weren’t happy about it. There was a time when Southwest’s policy for passengers of size was arguably the fairest of all U.S. airlines. Essentially, a plus-sized passenger had a choice: They could buy two seats, the airline would hold the second seat for them (since they bought two), and then, upon request, give a refund of the second seat
Your Mileage May Vary 43%
Southwest Is Finally Warning Passengers About “Window” Seats With No Window
When Southwest moved to assigned seating, one problem was almost guaranteed to show up sooner or later: what happens when a passenger pays extra for a “window” seat…and there isn’t actually a window? Under Southwest’s old open seating system, this was annoying, but it was also part of the game. If you boarded early, you picked whatever mattered most to you. Maybe that meant an aisle seat. Maybe it meant sitting together as a family. Maybe it meant grabbing a window seat, sitting close to the front, or heading toward the back because that’s what you prefer. And
One Mile at a Time 1%
Which Airlines Offer A “Business Class Plus” Product? A Growing Trend…
We’ve seen a trend whereby an increasing number of airlines are offering what I like to call a “business class plus” product, which is a special seating option within the business class cabin. While business class has come a long way in general, these seats can take your experience to the next level. I’d like to take a closer look at that in this post. Which airlines are offering this, why, and how much extra do these seats cost? In this post: Airlines do everything in their power to utilize space on aircraft efficiently. This can be
Eye of the Flyer 15%
Are Southwest’s Extra Legroom Seats Worth It? My First Flights
Many people — myself included — were not happy when Southwest Airlines did away with the two features that made Southwest the airline we affectionately referred to as “the bus.” The Airline of Love scrapped open seating (which was based on boarding zone). Those of us in the know were hip to which seats to target (bulkheads, exit rows, etc. Or the back rows when flying to destinations that deplane from the front and back). When you lucked out and scored the seat you wanted, it was a mini victory. Southwest also ditched its first-two-bags-fly-free policy. They
View from the Wing 1%
American Airlines Wants $30 For The Worst Seat On The Plane — Skip It And You Might Get Bumped
An American Airlines passenger was shocked to find that all possible seat assignments on the plane came with an extra charge. The good seats were already gone, and he shares a screenshot where middle seats in the back are being offered for sale. A middle seat in the very last row of coach by the bathrooms was an extra $30. This is almost certainly a Basic Economy ticket, where seats are assigned free at check-in but if you want a seat in advance that comes with a fee. For ‘regular’ tickets there are usually at least some free seats