Flying the Wild Southwest
Venturing into new territory with new rules
I haven’t exactly been quiet about how displeased I was when Southwest Air rolled out a bunch of changes at the end of January, which included drastic changes to their generous Customer of Size policy. Were it not for having some travel funds being held hostage by them, I probably wouldn’t have booked my Woodstock/Boston trip with Southwest. Not that this stopped me from freaking out before my flight.
So, how was it?
Not too shabby!
Granted, since I’m an ambulatory wheelchair user in airports, I know my experience will be a bit different because I still get to pre-board. That perk of the old Customer of Size policy is now gone unless you request assistance boarding, which you can do when you book your ticket or at the gate. I was very concerned about this before I learned that we haven’t been ditched, since moving quickly makes me more prone to migraine episodes.
The assigned seating policy that Southwest also implemented in January is okay. I have a fundamental problem with them jacking up the price on the seats before the wing, but that’s capitalism. I resisted the urge to splurge on an upgrade, sticking to the many seats available in the ticket price. Being able to change seats up until the last minute was a godsend. On three out of my four flights I was able to assign myself a seat with an empty seat beside me through the app.
Because I’ve intentionally lost weight since I last flew, I knew there was a chance that I might not need the Customer of Size policy. I’m just about as on the line as a person can be. The standard plane seats are 17” across, the exact measurement of the part of my ass that would be on the seat. I can also comfortably put both armrests down, which is supposed to be the guide for deciding if a passenger fits into the seat.
I was on one sold out flight, though. Because of the wheelchair I was one of the first passengers on board. While I was getting settled in my aisle seat, a flight attendant approached me, filling me with the old dread that I was about to get in trouble.
Tameka was kind, professional, and reasonable. She should be giving lessons to other flight attendants for how to handle this situation: seeing a passenger who’s on the Customer of Size line and assisting in a respectful manner. She said that she had a row of empty seats in the back and if I would be more comfortable there, I was welcome to move.
Nothing accusatory or condescending. Worded as being about my comfort, not appeasing others. Said with a genuine smile. Hell yeah I moved! And I asked why there were six empty seats in the next-to-last row on a sold out flight. This is standard, mostly for unaccompanied minors but also for oversells or situations like mine. I don’t know if mentioning this row will help you get a more comfortable seat, but what could it hurt?
That said, the current Customer of Size policy reads that, if you buy a second seat you can get a refund if there’s even one empty seat on the plane. I wonder how this works with the secret empty row. Are they using those empty seats to deny refunds? I don’t know. If I bought a second seat and was being denied a refund, I’d ask about that row in the back, just to see what happens.
Southwest also started charging for checked bags when they changed to assigned seating. On most flights, even if they’re not sold out, they run low on overhead space for roller bags. Even though you still have to get the bag through TSA, there’s a good chance reps will be looking for people to gate check their bags. Since I had a very tight layover on my first travel day, I took them up on it. Boom! Free checked bag, which made the rush to catch my second plane much easier. It does mean a trip to the luggage carousel, though.
My last two flights were very undersold, so there were zero issues. Right before the flight I checked the app to make sure I had chosen my seats in otherwise empty rows. I had, and traveled in cheap comfort with no hassle.
While this was only one trip, it was four flights on four different planes with four different crews. That’s a decent sample size, and overall I felt like I was treated with respect and not a burden. No one tried to upsale me on anything. I hope this is becoming the norm for Southwest. While I haven’t talked to anyone directly who’s used the new Customer of Size policy with two seats and tried to get a refund, I’ve read some horror stories on social media. This is why I told Tameka she should be teaching classes in this. She was surprised that people were still having negative experiences because the training has been extensive.
Well, it’s hard to train away deeply engrained fatphobia.
But for now, my emaciated travel budget is relieved to have had four positive Southwest experiences last week. Positive enough that I booked Southwest for my upcoming Los Angeles trip. And I picked seats near the empty back row, just in case.
Fat girls love coffee!