"Saving" lounge chairs at a beach or pool

[CaliKid]

There again this isn't quite correct, if you want to sit in the empty seats you can. The seat savers are assuming that insisting to sit there will make you so uncomfortable during the flight that you will just move on and let them bully you. You really seem to be coming down on the side of aggressive behavior yourself. Its correct that SW flight attendants normally won't intervene against seat holding hogs, but that doesn't make it right. They allow it because they count on those of us who were raised properly to move on and not make a fuss.

If your motto is we should all get along, then you might address the behavior of the beach chair hogging and seat hogging entitled ones, who actually are the root cause of these problems.

I don't save seats on Southwest or at the beach so it's not me. When I am on vacation I actually like to relax and merely laugh at the people creating problems. I get to the airport early so I am not worried about missing flight (even though I have Pre), I get a drink, I read the paper. I am on vacation from moment one. I merely find Southwest's policy, of no policy, very interesting.

 

[audreyh1]

Well good. Maybe they are changing their policy - unless the intervention was to say seat saving was allowed.

 

[Big_Hitter]

Well good. Maybe they are changing their policy - unless the intervention was to say seat saving was allowed.

it was several years ago; I haven't had an issue in years since I use earlybird every time I fly now but I've seen people trying to save an exit row seat and a tall person just sit down in it

 

[ivinsfan]

I don't save seats on Southwest or at the beach so it's not me. When I am on vacation I actually like to relax and merely laugh at the people creating problems. I get to the airport early so I am not worried about missing flight (even though I have Pre), I get a drink, I read the paper. I am on vacation from moment one. I merely find Southwest's policy, of no policy, very interesting.

I don't create problems either, but some of your posts seem to make fun of the people who object to the beach chair hogs and seat savers. Turning the other cheek is admirable, but sometimes gets old,particularly when badly behaving people are rewarded for behaving badly.

Southwest's policy is based on money...an early bird check-in costs 15 bucks per ticket.I just read the T and C's if you buy Early bird at ticket purchase time you must buy for every one flying with you. If you buy it at a later date you can buy one early for one person. It does not say you get seats for your whole party with a later purchase.But it's obvious that seat saving could be greatly reduced and fiction over seats as well, if they said you had to buy for your entire traveling group. Yep for an extra 15 bucks in the pocket SW will let you duke out with other travelers for seat selection. It clearly says even with early bird it's first come, first serve on the seats.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Ugh. I just don't like how SWA does things and that's why I hate that they acquired AirTran. They were, by far, my favorite airline. In 200+ flights I took with AT, the number of times I arrived at my destination more than 30 minutes late I could count on one hand. Ah...assigned seats, cheap upgrades, and best of all, the great seating configuration of the DC-9 (sorry, the '717') not the oh-so-hateful 737.

 

[Sunset]

.....

I agree with others who says, it is just a lawn chair, and to let it go. Life is too short.

I think this bad seat claiming all started on the Titanic, when folks reserved their lifeboat seats and then left to go listen to the band play OMY song. Ever since at sea-side resorts people have paid homage to that event.

 

[kcowan]

at least the people lie down on their own beach towels and I have never heard an argument in all the years I have gone there

What you have never experienced towel encroachment? It is a big deal on Waikiki Beach...

 

[JustCurious]

I've seen them intervene

What would you do if they did not intervene?

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

What would you do if they did not intervene?

Perhaps they would get mouthy and then this would happen...

 

[utrecht]

People keep talking about this not being a problem for them because they dont like to sit in the sun anyway. At the resort I was at recently, it was the chairs that were in the shade that were being reserved for hours on end with nobody in sight. I cant sit in the sun for very long either but every chair anywhere near an umbrella or a palapa was reserved literally at daybreak. There would be nobody at the pool for hours because they we eating breakfast or showering or napping after breakfast or whatever these inconsiderate idiots do in the morning....but every chair was already "taken".

 

[Big_Hitter]

What would you do if they did not intervene?

depends

 

[CaliKid]

I don't create problems either, but some of your posts seem to make fun of the people who object to the beach chair hogs and seat savers. Turning the other cheek is admirable, but sometimes gets old,particularly when badly behaving people are rewarded for behaving badly.

I make fun of people who think they have the right answer when, at least to me, it's not very clear what proper protocol is (i.e. talk to hotel or take matters into your own hands as if you are the chair police). I also make fun of people who could somehow get so worked up about something so seemingly, at least to me, trivial. Lastly I make fun of, but not too their face, people who threaten fights in these vacation settings.

 

[6miths]

Man this thread has legs! Classic clip from Anger Management.

 

[6miths]

People keep talking about this not being a problem for them because they dont like to sit in the sun anyway. At the resort I was at recently, it was the chairs that were in the shade that were being reserved for hours on end with nobody in sight. I cant sit in the sun for very long either but every chair anywhere near an umbrella or a palapa was reserved literally at daybreak. There would be nobody at the pool for hours because they we eating breakfast or showering or napping after breakfast or whatever these inconsiderate idiots do in the morning....but every chair was already "taken".

And yes this has been the more common thing I have seen. It is the chairs under umbrellas (thank you for the word 'palapa' - I didn't know what the fixed thatched structures were called) or 2 seat lounges with sunshades that get snatched up most vigorously.

 

[ivinsfan]

I make fun of people who think they have the right answer when, at least to me, it's not very clear what proper protocol is (i.e. talk to hotel or take matters into your own hands as if you are the chair police). I also make fun of people who could somehow get so worked up about something so seemingly, at least to me, trivial. Lastly I make fun of, but not too their face, people who threaten fights in these vacation settings.

I see now, this is where we differ,proper protocol to me is good manners by everyone.If doesn't matter if it's beach chairs hogging or airplane seats. The trivial comments just applies to you as an individual,everyone has something they get very irritated about. People have different levels of aggressiveness too, which is where common politeness can greatly diffuse many issues.

 

[aaronc879]

If someone tries to "save" a seat on southwest that I want to sit in I just sit in it.

That's specifically not allowed.

First row: "who's sitting there" "my husband" "has he boarded" "no" "that's too bad; do you want the window or aisle seat?"

I haven't flown in over 20 years so I don't know the rules but I thought your ticket was for a specific seat. It should be. That would eliminate the problem.

 

[Big_Hitter]

southwest has always had open seating - no assigned seats

 

[CaliKid]

I see now, this is where we differ,proper protocol to me is good manners by everyone.If doesn't matter if it's beach chairs hogging or airplane seats. The trivial comments just applies to you as an individual,everyone has something they get very irritated about. People have different levels of aggressiveness too, which is where common politeness can greatly diffuse many issues.

I don't disagree with that.

 

[CaliKid]

southwest has always had open seating - no assigned seats

Flyertalk has frequent threads on the topic. It's quite amusing at times.

 

[6miths]

I haven't flown in over 20 years so I don't know the rules but I thought your ticket was for a specific seat. It should be. That would eliminate the problem.

Ah you are soooooo lucky! No just kidding, I seem to be one of the few who still enjoys flying commercial but even I admit that the experience has changed negatively over the past many years.

Southwest Airlines pioneered what I like to refer to as 'Chaos Seating'. You are in a 'Group' depending on your ticket price and you line up in little herds (sorry Groups). Then each Group goes sequentially onto the plane and takes whatever seat is available.

My understanding is that on smallish planes like SW uses, this is actually one of the more efficient ways to board. Even on big planes, most carriers don't board by specific rows anymore. They give you a group designation, which generally corresponds to your row area on the plane. It's all in the psychology.

(And clearly I have to learn to post more succinctly!)

 

[audreyh1]

I like assigned seating. I haven't flown southwest in a long time because the airports aren't convenient.

I would rather pay for a nice private lanai with a great view all day than join the hoards on their beach or lounge chairs. Elitist? Maybe. But I truly don't like crowds or noise.

I never sit around a pool. That might be different if I had kids.

 

[Ian S]

Brings up a semi-related subject. I have heard that Southwest Airlines does NOT have an official policy on savings seats when boarding and thus they DO allow people to do that. So if you are in the "A" boarding group you can save seats for people in the "C" boarding group and everybody in between just has to pass those nice seats by. A few people on this thread would probably be throwing blows on the plane... on their way to a vacation fighting about beach chairs. Lol.

I've had a couple of encounters like that on SW where someone was saving a seat in the exit row which is the best seating on any SW plane. While I did not press the issue I made a snide comment about it and moved on. I might have made a scene if I had paid business fare though!

 

[utrecht]

Ah you are soooooo lucky! No just kidding, I seem to be one of the few who still enjoys flying commercial but even I admit that the experience has changed negatively over the past many years.

Southwest Airlines pioneered what I like to refer to as 'Chaos Seating'. You are in a 'Group' depending on your ticket price and you line up in little herds (sorry Groups). Then each Group goes sequentially onto the plane and takes whatever seat is available.

My understanding is that on smallish planes like SW uses, this is actually one of the more efficient ways to board. Even on big planes, most carriers don't board by specific rows anymore. They give you a group designation, which generally corresponds to your row area on the plane. It's all in the psychology.

(And clearly I have to learn to post more succinctly!)

The groups arent based on ticket price. You can pay extra to get upgraded to group A, but mostly the groups and order within the groups is based on when you check in. If you check in at the airport you can bet you will be one of the last in the grouping order. If you check in online up to 24 hours before your flight you will be at the beginning of the order.

 

[COcheesehead]

Weird. I don't think we've ever stayed somewhere with that type of a situation.

If we did, and our planning failed to alert us to the fact that we were essentially required to stay in chairs around a bunch of other people, it would depend. If we were in the surf right in front of the chairs, no problem with keeping my kindle etc. on the chair. If we were departing for lunch, no. Can't imagine going out early and then leaving an empty beach only to come back when it was crowded, so that wouldn't happen either.

So, I'm one of the "Other" votes.

I am with you. If we have to scheme to get a chair, I am not staying there.

 

[Free bird]

Are you actually entitled to a chair or lounger at a resort or on a cruise ship? You don't own the common area amenities. The corporation owns all the resources & property. You own whatever you brought with you. When you fly your entitled to one seat per person. If someone camps out in the bathroom or stands in the aisle it's up to the crew empowered by the corporation to manage & allocate resources at their discretion . At a resort your entitled to your room. That's it. The reason this issue is generating interest is because there is no right or wrong solution. The appearance of luxury vacations for the masses is no different than mass produced cars or any other trinket the capitalist system creates. Crowed cruise ships & resorts incredibly unappealing. Fighting over a chair that belongs to a corporation is mind boggling.