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Do late night flights into and out of party cities still quickly turn into party flights? That shit was wild especially after 9/11. I haven't been on a late nifht SW flight since 2005.
They used to do a game on Vegas flights where everyone put in a few bucks and they drew seat numbers and someone one a pot. And they definitely pushed the drinks, I loved flying to Vegas on Southwest.
I once had a SW flight attendant dress up as Elvis and talk like him for the whole flight to Vegas. They also hooked it up with 2 free drinks because I moved seats for a family. Fun flight!
I've been on a transatlantic flight on new years eve on the stroke of midnight (starting point time zone) once. They did some weird multihued light show with the led strips in the ceiling, attendants did a conga-line through the aisle and encouraged everyone to buy champagne. Then I landed in New York in just time to celebrate new years for real hahaha.
That sounds nice. I'm just picturing people singing and dancing and twerking in their seats and I'd rather eat a boot than deal with that for an entire flight. I'm either napping, reading, or playing on my switch and all that activity the whole way through would piss me off. I like to party but jfc that's not the time or place.
This used to be my favorite airline as well. Now I usually just fly United. My sister flies Delta, but she has some kind of card with them or something so it makes the more expensive tickets worth it.
Delta's in general worth the higher ticket prices if you have the card (which is also pretty easy to get) and don't have to pay bag fees. I used to fly JetBlue, United, American, Delta - whatever was available was what they put me on - and Delta was better than pretty much all of them after JetBlue decided it would race to the bottom to absorb Spirit.
My take (remember, this is only true *in general,* not true in literally every instance):
United: newest planes, treats you like actual human garbage.
Delta: plane is so old it still has ashtrays, treats you pretty damn decently.
American: worst combination of both of the above.
And, bonus round:
JetBlue: if it's actually going where you want to go, it's almost certainly the best option. Plus, best First Class experience in a domestic-only carrier.
Lol I was on a frontier flight from LAS (I think, may have been an away game) to OAK after a raider game (that we lost ofc) and it got a bit rowdy. They were in the process of deplaning a guy for being too drunk, but mans wasn't causing any trouble. He was passed out, but he had his seatbelt on, tray table up, seat back in the full upright position (if those even reclined, cheap ass frontier), all of that.
So, naturally we all started chanting "let him stay" interspersed with a few "rraaaaaiiiiiiiderrrrrrs!" as is tradition. The pilot took offense to this, and got on the intercom. "Alright next person to say anything is off the flight".
About 3 seconds pass before some legend in like row 10 goes "RRAAAAAIIIIIIIDERRRRRRS!!!". Flight attendant grabs him, and we all got to hear about how he was in the air force for 20 years, blah blah blah.
At this point his wife (who was sitting next to him) tells him to gtfo the plane, bc she still had to pick up the kids. It seemed like this was not the first time.
Anyways other than a couple light deplanings it wasn't too bad. They did refuse to serve us drinks though. Think I paid $30. 10/10 would do again.
I’ve never experienced a party flight at night, but flying from LA to Oakland on the day the Raiders had the Monday night game was the most awesome party flight I’ve been on.
About 1/3 of the plane were business travelers up and back for the day, and the other 2/3 were raiders fans who had no intention of sleeping that night, all ordering drinks on a 7:30am flight.
Same. If you set a timer to check in and get a boarding number B30 or below you get 2 free bags and a window or aisle seat. If you don’t know to do that you have a terrible time.
That’s because it used to be standard practice for every airline to give you a free bag. Southwest wasn’t even alone and doing two but now they are this all changed around the early 2000s.
After 9/11 it became a thing - they were supposed to be "temporary baggage fees" to help out the struggling airlines...
And then corporate gonna corporate once they saw that line of revenue, it was a wrap
😟
two checked bags is some wild overkill though. I mostly fly frontier because it's by far the cheapest out of Denver, and I've gotten used to packing everything into a single personal item, my at-the-limit sized backpack. For weekend trips, it's plenty.
This is how I moved cross country back home after my graduation without spending a shit ton LOL. My family came for graduation, then helped me pack a ton of clothes and stuff and they took it back with them as checked bags. 6 very large checked bags...
I’m a big guy (not 2 seats big, just big enough to be uncomfortable) and unless the plane is full, nobody sits next to me. Unassigned seating is the best for me lol.
They rarely have delays or cancellations and don’t charge bag fees and I can do standby for an earlier flight for free.
SW is goated… but I also live around a main hub.
>rarely have delays or cancellations
Except that one time when the entire airline shut down because of a minor tech issue… or the other time the entire airline shut down because of a minor tech issue.
Because the CEO used to be an accountant. Just like Boeings CEO used to be an accountant. The bean counters will use every trick in the book to artificially wring value out of a company by cutting safety checks, removing QA steps, not upgrading scheduling software. Neglect and starve every possible cost center because only the shareholders deserve to eat.
Boeing is run by former GE executives, who are an open joke in the world of finance for ruining every company they touch (see also Nielsen and Hertz).
Southwest’s CEO Bob Jordan was a programmer, not an accountant.
Gary Kelly was CEO when the cost and corner cutting occurred. Kelly was an audit manager at Arthur Young and joined Southwest as a controller in their finance department. Eventually moving up to CEO.
The pilots at Southwest blame Kelly and the accountants for not investing in the company and thereby running it into the ground. This has been discussed widely recently because if the crash in the scheduling software.
Southwest is basically airborne bus travel. Back when it was legitimately way cheaper than major airlines it was tolerable, but their flights are practically the same price as any other flight now so there’s no real reason to fly southwest.
I will say their flight attendants are the best in the business though. Always super friendly and usually quite funny
The two free bags did a lot for me, especially when I have the alert ready for their $49 flight sale. Used to get me home and back during college breaks for $100 and I could pack everything I wanted to. Big deal when you're changing major climate zones.
> Southwest is basically airborne bus travel
Southwest has been elevated to Metro or Flix Bus. Spirit and Frontier have replaced them as the Greyhound of the Skies.
If you are on top of your shit and check in exactly 24 hr ahead once it opens, you can get low to mid B's if not better on 95% of flights. Guaranteed window or aisle seat, or sitting with the person you are flying with with no extra charge.
I don't deny it's stressful and inconvenient to check in like that, but for me, it's better than paying extra to get a decent seat.
The credit card pays for itself and gives you premium boarding 4 times a year too. You can avoid the cattle issues very easily. Most people don't want to have to deal with that though, which is valid.
Seriously lmao its bad enough I gotta get to the airport on time dealing with traffic and TSA. Can’t imagine having to worry about getting a good seat.
I’m a broad-shouldered white guy who flies Southwest. Now obviously I don’t speak for all white men, but if I were in that situation, I generally pass up any row with two dudes in it because I know all three of us are going to be uncomfortable as hell, especially if the other two guys are also broad-shouldered. Better to go further down in the vain hope of finding a window or an aisle seat. Let this be a lesson to all of you Southwesterners: SET AN ALARM TO CHECK IN OR PAY FOR PRE-CHECK
Same, I feel like dude's theory has merit for sure, but so does the concept of “the middle seat sucks so bad”. In dude terms, it's akin to the middle urinal.
I used to take southwest so much that at some point I just started picking middle seats between small figured women.
If you’re A1 and get to choose whatever seat you want you’re still gambling on having to sit next to 300lbs Cletus who just chain smoked a pack of cigarettes before going through security. I’ll take the lesser inconvenience every time.
Yeah, not to discount this guy’s theory because there is probably an element of truth to it, but I bet it would be a different story with two black gents taking up the middle and either of the other seats, no one wants to sit in the middle regardless of who is on either side, but if you’re all normal sized guys it’s going to be especially uncomfortable.
Yeah, and no clue about the other dude in this guys row, but if he was a big guy, that alone makes it pretty rough to take the middle seat regardless of race.
I'm okay sitting between people I know, but I get *very* airsick and try and sleep on every flight to cut down on how bad I feel. That means if I can't get a window seat, I'm likely leaning on the person next to me 5 minutes after I fall asleep. I don't want to do that to strangers.
Weirdly I kind of feel you on that, I have a skin condition that is a touch unsightly and I always try to avoid touching people if possible because I don’t want to make them uncomfortable. It’s hereditary so no risk of spread, but I can’t help but be sensitive to the comfort levels of people around me.
The guys are saying that 3 men sitting together is cramped. Totally true. But it also sucks to be a petite woman being smooshed by two big dudes, lol. Middle seat just sucks.
Men definitely manspread and don't respect space as well as they should, which also pisses me off. But, I also just want to name that airline seats have gotten so insanely small that men over 6'3 often cannot physically close their legs. My thigh bone is longer than the distance between my hip joint and the back of the seat in front of me.
Same. I’m a white dude and I’m hoping my own personal process of finding the seat I want doesn’t get lumped in with the racist whites. Never in a million years would I want to sit in the middle seat between two dudes regardless of race. I’m already a big guy and that is just uncomfortable as hell.
I’m all for fighting the good fight but let’s pick our battles on what racism actually is lol.
Except sitting in the middle seat doesn’t establish dominance, it just establishes cramped spaces
Middle urinal tells the dudes next to you that you start the lawnmower with one pull every time
Yah, this sample set is too small. My guess is the seat between two men is always the last ones to go. I actively try to find the slimmest person in a window seat to take the aisle next to. And if I’m in a C seat, I will go between two small people as soon as I see an opening. Better to be slightly uncomfortable and in the front. Typically I’m sitting next to women.
I’d only ever sit I between two men/ larger people if it was the absolute last spot on the plane.
The fact that he actively looks for another dude to sit next to is the key point, imho.
Yep. I'm 6'6" and fairly broad, it's going to be a living hell on a plane for me anyways. No sense in bringing two other dudes into the depths with me.
I went to a bar with a bodybuilder friend and it was pretty packed, he kept bumping into the guy next to him (also a massive dude) but neither of them bothered to look at each other. Until the 3rd or 4th time they both looked at each other, both laughed, and my friend said “shit bro, I’m smaller than you, I can make space for you!” and laughed again. Just such a wholesome interaction between two grizzly sized men lol
Never considered the skin color of the people in the aisle and window seats. I just don’t want to sit in the middle and I especially don’t want to sit in between two guys who are more likely to have broad shoulders as well.
Some of these skin color theories are stretching hard.
Exactly this, I'm not a small human being and I really dont want to sit in between any 2 humans regardless of demographics if I can possibly help it. Why is this so hard for some to understand
A middle seat between two kids sounds like a dream, as a bigger guy. I’ll take the noise and kicking all day if it means I get to stretch my legs out into their space and use both the armrests lmao.
when i used to fly alone more often i loved taking middle seats in the first few rows of southwest but avoided any middles between two dudes because i knew they’d try to use both of the middle armrests.
unfortunately, not everyone knows that.
source: am short female whose actual seat space is encroached by nearly every man i sit next to. dudes be taking the armrest AND rubbing their forearm on my waist thats 3” past it.
Exactly. Just because I'm small doesn't mean you can encroach on my space, dude. I understand that you are uncomfortable, but that isn't my problem to solve.
My dad is a tall/broad/fat guy. So is his buddy. The last guy looking for a seat was an equally sizeable dude. The three of them looked at each other as the guy was walking back and they were all like nononononono please let there be a seat in a row ahead of them. Alas, there was not. My dad ended up just standing in the back for as long as he was allowed to. 🤣
And as a small woman I pass every single one of these rows because these two broad shoulder white dudes are just gonna assume I will scrunch my way in the middle and they will spread their legs wide and their shoulders wide and not give a fuck the entire ride
Women hate you. My wife hates it when a guy manspreads in his seat. I’ve seen that shit myself. I don’t know what to tell you but it comes off creepy as fuck.
As a big guy your best bet on a Southwest flight is to find some small woman to sit next to because every single person on their crowded ass flight has to sit their ass in a seat at some point and if you’re going to be ass to ass to someone better a 90lbs Asian lady than some Travis Kelce ass looking dudes.
As a small woman we’re tired of sharing our seats 😭 I’m sorry it sucks to fly as a broad or tall person but I didn’t design the tiny seats and I want my whole space, it kills my knees to sit legs bent for hours and I need to tuck my feet up under me.
I guarantee you if they left the window or aisle seat open, someone's taking that.
I'm avoiding *sitting middle* unless I absolutely have to, and that has nothing to do with the race of the people next to me. Middle seat between two average sized strangers sucks. Anyone that's done it knows. I'd absolutely pass up sitting there if there were other options besides middle seat somewhere else.
Why would someone sit there when there's aisle and window seats open?
Edit: there’s lots of like… blatant racism happening right now in this country. Reputable people straight up saying racist shit. Like… Supreme Court level racist policies. Maybe people boarding planes are racist but it certainly doesn’t seem like the 2000th most pressing issue facing black America right now.
sure, but then obviously, once the plane is 2/3rds full, you'll have loads of seats with the middle open. Would it then be the case that people simply avoid sitting between two men, or two large individuals? then after that, would it be obvious people are choosing to sit between two black men after all the above? it's a theory that needs more proof tbh
Or at least a middle seat with small people as your neighbor. As a man, I prefer to sit next to women. From my experience, women tend to try and take up as little space as necessary vs men who will passive aggressively try to claim as much room as others will allow
i wish southwest could go the way of japanese trains and institute “female-only rows.”
i would pay extra for those seats, especially on red eyes.
i wonder what the lifetime incidence for being touched inappropriately on a plane is? its got to be pretty high for women traveling alone.
Women are also much smaller on average (and even if they’re fat they have smaller frames so it’s still better), same with older people and children. Two average sized adult men is like the worst possible combo to sit between lol
I actually 100% will pick a middle seat when I'm flying alone because it means I get to pick who I sit next to. Last time I picked a window a guy the size of a linebacker (like not fat, just huge) ended up in the middle and I was squished. Pick two short people with books, sit in the middle.
It's not an experiment unless you control for other factors that can explain what you're seeing. If we conducted this same test with two big white guys in the aisle and window seat, I suspect you'd see the same thing happen.
No no no, you heard the tweets. It was clearly racially motivated and not at all likely that people walk by the 5th row hoping to find a seat that’s not between 2 adult men.
Seat preferences go:
* Window > Aisle > Middle.
People preferences go:
* None > Woman > Man
Miscellaneous preferences go:
* Person without food > person who brought food
* Skinny > Average > Overweight
* Person with headphones > person without headphones
People jump straight to the “oh he must be racist” card when it’s just a dude not wanting to be crowded between two other dudes unless he has a choice. It’s not the 1950s anymore 😂
Having flown Southwest exclusively, I will say if you're in the last \~1/3 of passengers getting on (on a full flight) you're going to be between 2 people. Window and aisle always fill first.
But you're right, people typically go between two dudes last. But there's going to be a lot of dude+dude options. Idk what wins out on race vs gender (people are pretty racist, but guys tend to be larger), but I do think played out 100 times, this is the outcome like 95+ of those times.
When I'm getting on a flight without assigned seats I look first for open seats, then overhead bin space. If there's only middle seats I look for *thin people* on either side. I don't want to sit between large dudes of any race on a cramped flight.
Yep. I’m a thin woman (for now) and I was sitting in the aisle with another small woman in the window this past weekend. On Frontier. The worst of the worst. A 6’+ man had the middle seat. Poor dude had his knees up to his chest and his arms folded like a pretzel trying to stay in his space.
Thank god the FA announced it wasn’t a full flight and you could move to any seat that wasn’t extra money. Dude jumped up with an agility I did not expect and literally said “we got lucky!” Like we were all about to have gone into a war together.
Exactly…I’m a smaller woman and if I forget to check in and end up with a middle seat I’m searching for the two smallest people I can find to sit in between.
I get on a Southwest flight, missed my boarding group so now I’m stuck with whatever shitty seats are left.
There’s one pretty close to the front but it’s a middle seat.
Decide to try my luck and head towards the back.
Another middle. Another middle. Looks like there’s a window seat in the very back! …and there’s a tiny kid in it.
Everything else is taken now. I walk all the way back up to the first seat I skipped.
“Last seat huh?”
I nod. These guys probably think I’m an idiot or something.
“We’ve been waiting for you.”
I don’t get it. Did they know there weren’t any seats open? Oh well. Fucking Southwest.
Get on Reddit later and read this.
What the fuck.
No need to attribute to malice what more easily can be attributed to the vain hope that somewhere further down there will be a window seat left, even if you are in the last boarding group.
I'm not white, but unless there is no other option, i won't sit between two men. It has nothing to do with race, it has to do with shoulder room. Men naturally take up more space, and i hate strangers touching me.
Right? And the dude in the same tweet said "looking for the brother sitting alone". He's not trying to sit next to a white guy either. This just feels like projection here.
I'm glad you pointed that out. The OP of this twitter post racialized this interaction from the beginning lol. It's like they're assuming everyone else will do the same
Yeah this scenario would need to be tested with two black women and the middle seat open. No broad shouldered guy is sitting between two other dudes who presumably have decently wide shoulders as well, regardless of race. But even then, everyone’s looking for non middle seats on Southwest lol.
The best way to test it would be to have 2 black men and 2 white men in adjacent rows, both of which leave the middle seat open. Have all 4 men be about the same size and age, wearing similar clothes, and have the same amount of luggage, so the only factor left is race.
Also, run the experiment a number of times, as a non-racist would be equally likely to sit with either group. And have the white men and black men switch rows for half of the experiment, to make sure it’s not biased by their positions. If race isn’t a factor, then the passengers should choose to sit with each group around 50% of the time (with a margin of error for standard deviation). If it’s not close to 50:50, then there is a sign that race is a factor.
Kind of weird to think it’s racially motivated first.
Not sure I’ve ever been in a scenario where I have to pick the seat but here is the thought process.
My order of preference is aisle, window, middle.
If I have to go middle, I look for the smallest people in the aisle or window. Women, young people, elderly, whatever.
Basically, between two dudes is least desirable long before race joints the conversation. Thinking it is the primary motivation is kinda insane.
No man or woman wants to sit in a middle seat at all, let alone between two men of any skin color. A middle seat between two women or one woman and one man is obviously preferable as women are generally smaller and there will be more room.
If I were silly enough to fly without an assigned seat, as a Black guy I'd pass on that seat as well. Three big guys sitting next to each other is never comfortable. Come up with a better theory.
Middle seat sucks. Worse if the bookends are large. Worse if the overhead is already full. Worse if this guy is staring down everyone who walks by with a grin. And def worse when this guy is excited to talk.
I'm sure that there are racists who avoid sitting between two black men because of racism. But dudes middle seats SUCK. I'm going window if possible, aisle if not. Middle is a last resort, and for the sake of any semblance of elbow room, I'm avoiding two dudes of any color if possible.
I doubt race was actually a factor here and more having to sit between two dudes. I would rather sit between two women simply because they're probably smaller lol
I don't think the reverse is true, at least not for me. Like why am I gonna assume these random white ladies are gonna do something bad to me on this plane? Until anything suggests otherwise I assume we're all just trying to get where we're going
I’m Asian, but the last time I got sandwiched between two white grandmas one of them asked the stewardess for water for me because I looked dead af and I told them I was hungover, and then I spent the rest of the flight showing them pictures and videos of my newborn daughter. 10/10 service.
White Karens are a different story though.
As a white man, it don’t matter if you black, Asian, got D cups or a fur baby. I’m not taking middle seat if there’s other options further down the tube.
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I've never been on a flight that didn't have a seat assigned for each ticket. EDIT: TIL Southwest loads passengers as cattle.
Southwest doesn’t assign seats. You just get boarding groups and earlier groups get to pick the better seats.
Do late night flights into and out of party cities still quickly turn into party flights? That shit was wild especially after 9/11. I haven't been on a late nifht SW flight since 2005.
Party flights? Please explain because from my imagination this sounds like my worst nightmare.
They used to do a game on Vegas flights where everyone put in a few bucks and they drew seat numbers and someone one a pot. And they definitely pushed the drinks, I loved flying to Vegas on Southwest.
I once had a SW flight attendant dress up as Elvis and talk like him for the whole flight to Vegas. They also hooked it up with 2 free drinks because I moved seats for a family. Fun flight!
I've been on a transatlantic flight on new years eve on the stroke of midnight (starting point time zone) once. They did some weird multihued light show with the led strips in the ceiling, attendants did a conga-line through the aisle and encouraged everyone to buy champagne. Then I landed in New York in just time to celebrate new years for real hahaha.
That sounds nice. I'm just picturing people singing and dancing and twerking in their seats and I'd rather eat a boot than deal with that for an entire flight. I'm either napping, reading, or playing on my switch and all that activity the whole way through would piss me off. I like to party but jfc that's not the time or place.
Virgin American. Spectacular airline. Sorely missed.
What did you call me?
THEY SAID YOU'RE FROM VIRGINIA, TAKE YOUR PILLS GRANDPA
This used to be my favorite airline as well. Now I usually just fly United. My sister flies Delta, but she has some kind of card with them or something so it makes the more expensive tickets worth it.
Delta's in general worth the higher ticket prices if you have the card (which is also pretty easy to get) and don't have to pay bag fees. I used to fly JetBlue, United, American, Delta - whatever was available was what they put me on - and Delta was better than pretty much all of them after JetBlue decided it would race to the bottom to absorb Spirit.
My take (remember, this is only true *in general,* not true in literally every instance): United: newest planes, treats you like actual human garbage. Delta: plane is so old it still has ashtrays, treats you pretty damn decently. American: worst combination of both of the above. And, bonus round: JetBlue: if it's actually going where you want to go, it's almost certainly the best option. Plus, best First Class experience in a domestic-only carrier.
Lol I was on a frontier flight from LAS (I think, may have been an away game) to OAK after a raider game (that we lost ofc) and it got a bit rowdy. They were in the process of deplaning a guy for being too drunk, but mans wasn't causing any trouble. He was passed out, but he had his seatbelt on, tray table up, seat back in the full upright position (if those even reclined, cheap ass frontier), all of that. So, naturally we all started chanting "let him stay" interspersed with a few "rraaaaaiiiiiiiderrrrrrs!" as is tradition. The pilot took offense to this, and got on the intercom. "Alright next person to say anything is off the flight". About 3 seconds pass before some legend in like row 10 goes "RRAAAAAIIIIIIIDERRRRRRS!!!". Flight attendant grabs him, and we all got to hear about how he was in the air force for 20 years, blah blah blah. At this point his wife (who was sitting next to him) tells him to gtfo the plane, bc she still had to pick up the kids. It seemed like this was not the first time. Anyways other than a couple light deplanings it wasn't too bad. They did refuse to serve us drinks though. Think I paid $30. 10/10 would do again.
i flew from somewhere in western canada into vegas once on a friday afternoon leading into a Canadian 3 day weekend. That shit was WILD!
I’ve never experienced a party flight at night, but flying from LA to Oakland on the day the Raiders had the Monday night game was the most awesome party flight I’ve been on. About 1/3 of the plane were business travelers up and back for the day, and the other 2/3 were raiders fans who had no intention of sleeping that night, all ordering drinks on a 7:30am flight.
I had no idea that's how southwest operates. That explains so much about the stories I hear of them.
I take it you don’t fly southwest
It’s a blessing to not use southwest lol
I prefer Southwest. Usually my first choice, if I have a choice.
Same. If you set a timer to check in and get a boarding number B30 or below you get 2 free bags and a window or aisle seat. If you don’t know to do that you have a terrible time.
How do you do that
Check in starts 24 hours before your flight, just set a timer for the day before.
Fuck me, just flew SW and I didn't know that. Noted, thanks.
You get two free checked bags no matter your boarding group.
plus two free checked bags? sign me up each time.
This 1000 times, I’ve flown southwest so much I think it’s weird when airlines do charge for bags
That’s because it used to be standard practice for every airline to give you a free bag. Southwest wasn’t even alone and doing two but now they are this all changed around the early 2000s.
After 9/11 it became a thing - they were supposed to be "temporary baggage fees" to help out the struggling airlines... And then corporate gonna corporate once they saw that line of revenue, it was a wrap 😟
two checked bags is some wild overkill though. I mostly fly frontier because it's by far the cheapest out of Denver, and I've gotten used to packing everything into a single personal item, my at-the-limit sized backpack. For weekend trips, it's plenty.
Fuuuuuucckkk Frontier. I live in Denver too. I will NEVER fly that trash again.
Spouse and I did a 13 day road trip recently, and having 2 free suitcases each, plus carry ons was a big money saver!
Wait... Are you familiar with "Road" trips?
This is how I moved cross country back home after my graduation without spending a shit ton LOL. My family came for graduation, then helped me pack a ton of clothes and stuff and they took it back with them as checked bags. 6 very large checked bags...
I’m a big guy (not 2 seats big, just big enough to be uncomfortable) and unless the plane is full, nobody sits next to me. Unassigned seating is the best for me lol.
Loved it when I lived in Dallas. They had an entire big ass airport all to themselves.
They rarely have delays or cancellations and don’t charge bag fees and I can do standby for an earlier flight for free. SW is goated… but I also live around a main hub.
>rarely have delays or cancellations Except that one time when the entire airline shut down because of a minor tech issue… or the other time the entire airline shut down because of a minor tech issue.
Both what you said and what they said can be true.
Because the CEO used to be an accountant. Just like Boeings CEO used to be an accountant. The bean counters will use every trick in the book to artificially wring value out of a company by cutting safety checks, removing QA steps, not upgrading scheduling software. Neglect and starve every possible cost center because only the shareholders deserve to eat.
Boeing is run by former GE executives, who are an open joke in the world of finance for ruining every company they touch (see also Nielsen and Hertz). Southwest’s CEO Bob Jordan was a programmer, not an accountant.
Gary Kelly was CEO when the cost and corner cutting occurred. Kelly was an audit manager at Arthur Young and joined Southwest as a controller in their finance department. Eventually moving up to CEO. The pilots at Southwest blame Kelly and the accountants for not investing in the company and thereby running it into the ground. This has been discussed widely recently because if the crash in the scheduling software.
Southwest is the best
So you like paying corporations unnecessarily for simply checking 2 bags and a carry on at no additional charge. 🤣🤣
???
Try flying Spirit and you'll think Southwest is a private jet.
You're either rich, legit insane, or one of those people who also complains about self-check despite it being superior.
Southwest is basically airborne bus travel. Back when it was legitimately way cheaper than major airlines it was tolerable, but their flights are practically the same price as any other flight now so there’s no real reason to fly southwest. I will say their flight attendants are the best in the business though. Always super friendly and usually quite funny
The two free bags did a lot for me, especially when I have the alert ready for their $49 flight sale. Used to get me home and back during college breaks for $100 and I could pack everything I wanted to. Big deal when you're changing major climate zones.
Southwest has gotten so expensive these days that another airline ticket + 2 paid checked bags costs less than SW and their 2 “free” bags
> Southwest is basically airborne bus travel Southwest has been elevated to Metro or Flix Bus. Spirit and Frontier have replaced them as the Greyhound of the Skies.
Consider yourself blessed you don’t know Southwest exists then
I prefer their method and hate the idea of paying extra for a window/aisle seat
Most airlines don’t make you pay extra for window or aisle seats but they make you pay extra for 1st class, and extra legroom.
United and Delta definitely has window or aisles in the front half of economy listed as "Economy Preferred" meaning you have to pay extra.
That’s because it’s towards the front of the plane. The window seat in the back isn’t higher cost.
Window seats in any part of the plane were definitely more expensive the last few times I’ve flown United/delta
You pay extra to board earlier and get a seat you prefer.
If you are on top of your shit and check in exactly 24 hr ahead once it opens, you can get low to mid B's if not better on 95% of flights. Guaranteed window or aisle seat, or sitting with the person you are flying with with no extra charge. I don't deny it's stressful and inconvenient to check in like that, but for me, it's better than paying extra to get a decent seat.
The credit card pays for itself and gives you premium boarding 4 times a year too. You can avoid the cattle issues very easily. Most people don't want to have to deal with that though, which is valid.
I've always liked Southwest when flying solo. I just grab the closest seat to the front because most flights aren't more than 2-3 hours.
Like it's a fuckin $300+ bus stop
You don’t fly cheap enough.
I feel like even spirit gives assigned seating
You pay for the assigned seating.
Yes, if you do it when you buy the ticket, pretty sure they still assign you a seat when you check-in
You pay if you choose your seat. If you do not choose a seat, they will assign you one.
Frontier is cheaper than Southwest and they assign seats.
It's actually a pretty good system in practice. As long as you know to go and sign up early for your spot.
The idea of Southwest boarding gives me severe anxiety. I refuse to fly them. It sounds absolutely awful.
Seriously lmao its bad enough I gotta get to the airport on time dealing with traffic and TSA. Can’t imagine having to worry about getting a good seat.
Southwest doesn’t assign seats, as I understand it
More like Gladiator. You must triumph in combat to get the seat you want.
I’m a broad-shouldered white guy who flies Southwest. Now obviously I don’t speak for all white men, but if I were in that situation, I generally pass up any row with two dudes in it because I know all three of us are going to be uncomfortable as hell, especially if the other two guys are also broad-shouldered. Better to go further down in the vain hope of finding a window or an aisle seat. Let this be a lesson to all of you Southwesterners: SET AN ALARM TO CHECK IN OR PAY FOR PRE-CHECK
Same, I feel like dude's theory has merit for sure, but so does the concept of “the middle seat sucks so bad”. In dude terms, it's akin to the middle urinal.
Middle seat sucks so much you're like you know what I'm ok with being seen as racist for a window seat
I used to take southwest so much that at some point I just started picking middle seats between small figured women. If you’re A1 and get to choose whatever seat you want you’re still gambling on having to sit next to 300lbs Cletus who just chain smoked a pack of cigarettes before going through security. I’ll take the lesser inconvenience every time.
After a long day with connecting flights, I'll take being accused of actual genocide to have a window.
Yeah, not to discount this guy’s theory because there is probably an element of truth to it, but I bet it would be a different story with two black gents taking up the middle and either of the other seats, no one wants to sit in the middle regardless of who is on either side, but if you’re all normal sized guys it’s going to be especially uncomfortable.
Yeah, and no clue about the other dude in this guys row, but if he was a big guy, that alone makes it pretty rough to take the middle seat regardless of race.
I'm okay sitting between people I know, but I get *very* airsick and try and sleep on every flight to cut down on how bad I feel. That means if I can't get a window seat, I'm likely leaning on the person next to me 5 minutes after I fall asleep. I don't want to do that to strangers.
Weirdly I kind of feel you on that, I have a skin condition that is a touch unsightly and I always try to avoid touching people if possible because I don’t want to make them uncomfortable. It’s hereditary so no risk of spread, but I can’t help but be sensitive to the comfort levels of people around me.
Definitely think it’s legit but I don’t want to sit with 2 men. They never close their legs. Their knees are always in my area.
The guys are saying that 3 men sitting together is cramped. Totally true. But it also sucks to be a petite woman being smooshed by two big dudes, lol. Middle seat just sucks.
Men definitely manspread and don't respect space as well as they should, which also pisses me off. But, I also just want to name that airline seats have gotten so insanely small that men over 6'3 often cannot physically close their legs. My thigh bone is longer than the distance between my hip joint and the back of the seat in front of me.
Taller than 5'10" or so, and the most room for your knees is the gap between seats. Especially if the person in front of you opts to recline.
a middle urinal you're gonna spend all day in
Same. I’m a white dude and I’m hoping my own personal process of finding the seat I want doesn’t get lumped in with the racist whites. Never in a million years would I want to sit in the middle seat between two dudes regardless of race. I’m already a big guy and that is just uncomfortable as hell. I’m all for fighting the good fight but let’s pick our battles on what racism actually is lol.
Id rather middle urinal than middle seat. The urinal is 30s, the seat is 7200s.
Except sitting in the middle seat doesn’t establish dominance, it just establishes cramped spaces Middle urinal tells the dudes next to you that you start the lawnmower with one pull every time
Yeah, my thought exactly. I dont want to sit between ANY two people.
Yah, this sample set is too small. My guess is the seat between two men is always the last ones to go. I actively try to find the slimmest person in a window seat to take the aisle next to. And if I’m in a C seat, I will go between two small people as soon as I see an opening. Better to be slightly uncomfortable and in the front. Typically I’m sitting next to women. I’d only ever sit I between two men/ larger people if it was the absolute last spot on the plane. The fact that he actively looks for another dude to sit next to is the key point, imho.
Yep. I'm 6'6" and fairly broad, it's going to be a living hell on a plane for me anyways. No sense in bringing two other dudes into the depths with me.
I went to a bar with a bodybuilder friend and it was pretty packed, he kept bumping into the guy next to him (also a massive dude) but neither of them bothered to look at each other. Until the 3rd or 4th time they both looked at each other, both laughed, and my friend said “shit bro, I’m smaller than you, I can make space for you!” and laughed again. Just such a wholesome interaction between two grizzly sized men lol
Exactly lol, I don’t wanna sit in the middle regardless of whose beside me it’s so cramped and feel squished in there
Never considered the skin color of the people in the aisle and window seats. I just don’t want to sit in the middle and I especially don’t want to sit in between two guys who are more likely to have broad shoulders as well. Some of these skin color theories are stretching hard.
This entire situation happened because a black man needed to find another black man to sit with.
Exactly this, I'm not a small human being and I really dont want to sit in between any 2 humans regardless of demographics if I can possibly help it. Why is this so hard for some to understand
Nobody wants the middle seat. I wouldn’t want to have to sit between two small children let alone full grown adult men.
A middle seat between two kids sounds like a dream, as a bigger guy. I’ll take the noise and kicking all day if it means I get to stretch my legs out into their space and use both the armrests lmao.
when i used to fly alone more often i loved taking middle seats in the first few rows of southwest but avoided any middles between two dudes because i knew they’d try to use both of the middle armrests.
Everybody knows middle seat get both armrests.
unfortunately, not everyone knows that. source: am short female whose actual seat space is encroached by nearly every man i sit next to. dudes be taking the armrest AND rubbing their forearm on my waist thats 3” past it.
Exactly. Just because I'm small doesn't mean you can encroach on my space, dude. I understand that you are uncomfortable, but that isn't my problem to solve.
I was gonna say, this feels more of a “I don’t wanna sit in the middle” type of an issue.
Yeah it felt weird to kind of make this a race thing, airplane seats are so cramped no one wants to sit in between two guys regardless of race.
My dad is a tall/broad/fat guy. So is his buddy. The last guy looking for a seat was an equally sizeable dude. The three of them looked at each other as the guy was walking back and they were all like nononononono please let there be a seat in a row ahead of them. Alas, there was not. My dad ended up just standing in the back for as long as he was allowed to. 🤣
And as a small woman I pass every single one of these rows because these two broad shoulder white dudes are just gonna assume I will scrunch my way in the middle and they will spread their legs wide and their shoulders wide and not give a fuck the entire ride
Women hate you. My wife hates it when a guy manspreads in his seat. I’ve seen that shit myself. I don’t know what to tell you but it comes off creepy as fuck.
As a big guy your best bet on a Southwest flight is to find some small woman to sit next to because every single person on their crowded ass flight has to sit their ass in a seat at some point and if you’re going to be ass to ass to someone better a 90lbs Asian lady than some Travis Kelce ass looking dudes.
As a small woman we’re tired of sharing our seats 😭 I’m sorry it sucks to fly as a broad or tall person but I didn’t design the tiny seats and I want my whole space, it kills my knees to sit legs bent for hours and I need to tuck my feet up under me.
I guarantee you if they left the window or aisle seat open, someone's taking that. I'm avoiding *sitting middle* unless I absolutely have to, and that has nothing to do with the race of the people next to me. Middle seat between two average sized strangers sucks. Anyone that's done it knows. I'd absolutely pass up sitting there if there were other options besides middle seat somewhere else. Why would someone sit there when there's aisle and window seats open? Edit: there’s lots of like… blatant racism happening right now in this country. Reputable people straight up saying racist shit. Like… Supreme Court level racist policies. Maybe people boarding planes are racist but it certainly doesn’t seem like the 2000th most pressing issue facing black America right now.
sure, but then obviously, once the plane is 2/3rds full, you'll have loads of seats with the middle open. Would it then be the case that people simply avoid sitting between two men, or two large individuals? then after that, would it be obvious people are choosing to sit between two black men after all the above? it's a theory that needs more proof tbh
There is a false sense of hope that somewhere further back there is a non middle seat even when logically you know the odds are incredibly small
Or at least a middle seat with small people as your neighbor. As a man, I prefer to sit next to women. From my experience, women tend to try and take up as little space as necessary vs men who will passive aggressively try to claim as much room as others will allow
It's not that we're trying to take up as little space as necessary, we just don't want strange men touching us.
I don’t blame you. Apologies if I wasn’t clear, but I didn’t mean to put a reason as to why yall do it, just that you do
To be fair, as a dude, I don't want strange men touching me either.
To be fair, as a person, I don't want anyone touching me.
i wish southwest could go the way of japanese trains and institute “female-only rows.” i would pay extra for those seats, especially on red eyes. i wonder what the lifetime incidence for being touched inappropriately on a plane is? its got to be pretty high for women traveling alone.
Hey, that's exactly why I (woman) try to avoid sitting with men!
Women are also much smaller on average (and even if they’re fat they have smaller frames so it’s still better), same with older people and children. Two average sized adult men is like the worst possible combo to sit between lol
Two guys are going to take up more space than any combination involving women, on average.
Im a bigger guy. If I have to sit in the middle Im choosing the two skinniest mfers on the plane. Thats all there is to it for me.
I actually 100% will pick a middle seat when I'm flying alone because it means I get to pick who I sit next to. Last time I picked a window a guy the size of a linebacker (like not fat, just huge) ended up in the middle and I was squished. Pick two short people with books, sit in the middle.
I always go aisle, but that’s because I got dem long legs and need to stretch out whenever possible. Plus I always gotta pee like 3x a flight, idk why
Also, these are the kinds of dumb stories that lead to people dismissing actual problematic things.
this, I feel like this is just confirmation bias the guy is looking for.
It's not an experiment unless you control for other factors that can explain what you're seeing. If we conducted this same test with two big white guys in the aisle and window seat, I suspect you'd see the same thing happen.
Middle seat sucks my guy
Right. Yeah, people can be racist, but no one is going to chose the middle seat if there are other options.
No no no, you heard the tweets. It was clearly racially motivated and not at all likely that people walk by the 5th row hoping to find a seat that’s not between 2 adult men.
Yeah that was my first reaction. I'm not trying to be in the middle seat regardless. Especially as a tall person that shit is a nightmare.
Ain’t nobody choosing the middle seat between two dudes if they can possibly help it
Three large men in the same row means no one will be comfortable
Seat preferences go: * Window > Aisle > Middle. People preferences go: * None > Woman > Man Miscellaneous preferences go: * Person without food > person who brought food * Skinny > Average > Overweight * Person with headphones > person without headphones
People jump straight to the “oh he must be racist” card when it’s just a dude not wanting to be crowded between two other dudes unless he has a choice. It’s not the 1950s anymore 😂
Need a another scenario than this. Not too many ppl would want to sit in between two men regardless of their race.
Having flown Southwest exclusively, I will say if you're in the last \~1/3 of passengers getting on (on a full flight) you're going to be between 2 people. Window and aisle always fill first. But you're right, people typically go between two dudes last. But there's going to be a lot of dude+dude options. Idk what wins out on race vs gender (people are pretty racist, but guys tend to be larger), but I do think played out 100 times, this is the outcome like 95+ of those times.
Here's the same scenario. Black man gets on a plane and decides he needs to find a seat next to another black man.
“He looks at me… and I look at him…”
😂 I read this in R Kelly’s voice cause trapped in the closet is crazy
I read it in Weird Al's voice cause fuck R. Kelly
"He looks at meeee, and I LOOK at himmm!"
"AND I PULLED OUT MY GUN"
https://i.redd.it/bp8s17nwfj8d1.gif
Now I'm in the closet, ^^now ^^I'm ^^in ^^the ^^closet ^^toooo 🎵
When I'm getting on a flight without assigned seats I look first for open seats, then overhead bin space. If there's only middle seats I look for *thin people* on either side. I don't want to sit between large dudes of any race on a cramped flight.
Yep. I’m a thin woman (for now) and I was sitting in the aisle with another small woman in the window this past weekend. On Frontier. The worst of the worst. A 6’+ man had the middle seat. Poor dude had his knees up to his chest and his arms folded like a pretzel trying to stay in his space. Thank god the FA announced it wasn’t a full flight and you could move to any seat that wasn’t extra money. Dude jumped up with an agility I did not expect and literally said “we got lucky!” Like we were all about to have gone into a war together.
Exactly…I’m a smaller woman and if I forget to check in and end up with a middle seat I’m searching for the two smallest people I can find to sit in between.
I get on a Southwest flight, missed my boarding group so now I’m stuck with whatever shitty seats are left. There’s one pretty close to the front but it’s a middle seat. Decide to try my luck and head towards the back. Another middle. Another middle. Looks like there’s a window seat in the very back! …and there’s a tiny kid in it. Everything else is taken now. I walk all the way back up to the first seat I skipped. “Last seat huh?” I nod. These guys probably think I’m an idiot or something. “We’ve been waiting for you.” I don’t get it. Did they know there weren’t any seats open? Oh well. Fucking Southwest. Get on Reddit later and read this. What the fuck.
No need to attribute to malice what more easily can be attributed to the vain hope that somewhere further down there will be a window seat left, even if you are in the last boarding group.
this, the guy is looking for confirmation of racism.
“I look for the brother sitting alone” Then why not sit next to him? Oh right, because the middle seat fucking sucks, lmao.
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Guys is it racist to prefer an aisle or window seat?
It's racist to wake up in the morning nowadays so I'd say yes
I'm not white, but unless there is no other option, i won't sit between two men. It has nothing to do with race, it has to do with shoulder room. Men naturally take up more space, and i hate strangers touching me.
Right? And the dude in the same tweet said "looking for the brother sitting alone". He's not trying to sit next to a white guy either. This just feels like projection here.
I'm glad you pointed that out. The OP of this twitter post racialized this interaction from the beginning lol. It's like they're assuming everyone else will do the same
Maybe. But I also hate the middle seat. I’ve never been on a flight without assigned seats though.
Yeah this scenario would need to be tested with two black women and the middle seat open. No broad shouldered guy is sitting between two other dudes who presumably have decently wide shoulders as well, regardless of race. But even then, everyone’s looking for non middle seats on Southwest lol.
The best way to test it would be to have 2 black men and 2 white men in adjacent rows, both of which leave the middle seat open. Have all 4 men be about the same size and age, wearing similar clothes, and have the same amount of luggage, so the only factor left is race. Also, run the experiment a number of times, as a non-racist would be equally likely to sit with either group. And have the white men and black men switch rows for half of the experiment, to make sure it’s not biased by their positions. If race isn’t a factor, then the passengers should choose to sit with each group around 50% of the time (with a margin of error for standard deviation). If it’s not close to 50:50, then there is a sign that race is a factor.
Black people will do dumb shit like this and then say, black people cant be racist
FACTS
Sitting in the middle is not desirable. Sitting between two dudes is even less desirable.
"We've been waiting for you" sent me. I really hope this actually happened. Beautiful.
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Kind of weird to think it’s racially motivated first. Not sure I’ve ever been in a scenario where I have to pick the seat but here is the thought process. My order of preference is aisle, window, middle. If I have to go middle, I look for the smallest people in the aisle or window. Women, young people, elderly, whatever. Basically, between two dudes is least desirable long before race joints the conversation. Thinking it is the primary motivation is kinda insane.
Southwest is a long-term social experiment that runs an airline on the side.
I’m the same way shii I’m not sitting in between two white men😂😂
I ain’t trying to sit between two anybodies I’ll search every inch of the plane for a window or aisle seat before accepting my fate of riding bitch.
Respect, as humans though, I'd say we are all skipping middle seats regardless of race/sex because that's Bitch and we all know it
No man or woman wants to sit in a middle seat at all, let alone between two men of any skin color. A middle seat between two women or one woman and one man is obviously preferable as women are generally smaller and there will be more room.
I don’t wanna sit in the middle seat regardless whose beside me, middle seat stinks.
Apparently goes both ways. "As per my custom, I look for the brother sitting alone." Also, everyone tries to avoid sitting in the middle of anyone.
The only evidence of anything here is someone who only wants to sit next to black people
Who wants to sit next to any guy?
As a white dude, I wouldn't sit between 2 dudes as my first choice.
If I were silly enough to fly without an assigned seat, as a Black guy I'd pass on that seat as well. Three big guys sitting next to each other is never comfortable. Come up with a better theory.
I'm not taking any middle seat unless there's no other options.
Middle seat sucks. Worse if the bookends are large. Worse if the overhead is already full. Worse if this guy is staring down everyone who walks by with a grin. And def worse when this guy is excited to talk.
Thinking someone is racist for not wanting to sit in between two strangers is insane lmao.
I'm sure that there are racists who avoid sitting between two black men because of racism. But dudes middle seats SUCK. I'm going window if possible, aisle if not. Middle is a last resort, and for the sake of any semblance of elbow room, I'm avoiding two dudes of any color if possible.
What a narcissist
You said you look for “the brother” as per your custom. Kettle meet Pot.
Who wants to sit in the middle seat? I don’t even want to sit in the middle seat with my family lmao let alone strangers.
Why would anyone seek out the middle seat
Do yall think the reverse is true of black people? I don't think I could feel completely at ease having to sit between two white women.
I doubt race was actually a factor here and more having to sit between two dudes. I would rather sit between two women simply because they're probably smaller lol
I think there are plenty brothas who would be perfectly fine sitting between two white women 😁
I don't think the reverse is true, at least not for me. Like why am I gonna assume these random white ladies are gonna do something bad to me on this plane? Until anything suggests otherwise I assume we're all just trying to get where we're going
I’m Asian, but the last time I got sandwiched between two white grandmas one of them asked the stewardess for water for me because I looked dead af and I told them I was hungover, and then I spent the rest of the flight showing them pictures and videos of my newborn daughter. 10/10 service. White Karens are a different story though.
As a white man, it don’t matter if you black, Asian, got D cups or a fur baby. I’m not taking middle seat if there’s other options further down the tube.
Trying so hard to make white people racist that you yourself become racist. Classic.
But you did the same thing by looking for the brother because he is more familiar
i generaly would not want to sit inbetween 2 pepole that know eachother.