I'll bet there's someone out there who can explain this to me.
I'm here in Columbus, Ohio for this weekend's Mid-Ohio Con, one of the better gatherings of its kind even if they do fly in guests like Len Wein and me. This morn, Len and I flew in on Southwest Airlines, which ain't a bad carrier except when you're flying to and from Las Vegas and on either flight or both, it seems to be required that they lose your luggage. But they were fine (though crowded) two weeks ago when the staff of Groo went to Kansas City and they were fine (though crowded) on the two flights that Len and I took this A.M. to get to where we are now. Here comes the "however"…
However, they have this policy of Open Seating. There are no assigned seats on Southwest Airlines. When you check in for your flight, you get a number on your Boarding Pass and you board in that order and pick where you want to sit. This sounds very small-D democratic, and I guess it is…but if a bunch of people are flying together, it makes it very difficult to sit together if you aren't in the first boarding group.
Single travellers start grabbing aisle and window seats. Couples travelling together take up two out of the three seats in a row. Even if you're near the start of the second boarding group — there are three total — by the time you get on the plane, it seems like nothing's open but middle seats. If you're flying with someone, you have to split up and go wedge in between strangers.
So the answer would seem to be to check in early and get a low number Boarding Pass, right? Once upon a time, when you made it to the take-off gate, a smiling Southwest employee would hand you a plastic number in sequence, and they'd collect them at the door as you boarded the plane. Nowadays, it's all computerized and you get your Boarding Pass from any number of sources, including but not limited to a Skycap or a ticket window attendant who print it out for you once you arrive at the airport. If you're travelling sans Samsonite, you can check in at a little kiosk and it will print out your Boarding Pass, in theory assigning you the lowest number that is not yet already assigned.
Better still, Southwest allows you to check in online 24 hours before your flight is scheduled to depart, and to print out your Boarding Pass at home. The first of our two flights (we had to change planes) was leaving this morning at 11:20 AM. So yesterday at 11:20 AM, I logged into the Southwest website, checked in for the two of us at the first possible opportunity…
…and got Boarding Pass #A35 on our first flight and #A40 on our second. (Len was, of course, #A36 and #A41.) Numerically, these were okay — Len and I got to sit together — but I was puzzled why we didn't get #A1 and #A2. Was this like sniping a bid at the last second on eBay? Had 34-39 people logged in a second before me once the clock hit 11:20?
I phoned Southwest and asked a nice lady who assured me it was all first-come, first-served. She said that on some flights, they hold back the first ten Boarding Passes for folks flying on special fares…but after that, it's in order of check-in. I found it hard to believe that 24 people had checked in in the eight seconds before I did. At LAX this morning, I asked the lady who had Boarding Pass #A34 how she'd gotten it and she said, "Oh, we just booked online a few days ago and when we checked in here at the airport, this is what they handed us." Either she somehow checked in more than 24 hours before the flight when they ordered their tickets or she checked in after me but got a lower number.
I'm not irate about this or complaining. I'm just curious. Is there some Southwest Airlines employee out there who can explain whatever it is I'm missing here? I will protect your identity if you'll come forward and lemme know. Or maybe some Southwest traveller knows the secret of the elusive Low Number Boarding Pass and will share it with us. Come on, people. Give.