Southwest Airlines review by Alison 2017-06-02

Route was LAX - BWI - LAX over the Memorial Day weekend. I was new to Southwest, so learned about the boarding process as I went. LAX - BWI was fine because I had B05 (ticket was a gift), and there was no pushing or shoving. Coming back I did not check in until five minutes after the 24-hour start time (trouble finding site), so got B56. I arrived at BWI three hours before departure so I could purchase a lower number, and bought A05 for $40. It turned out to be a connecting flight, though, and there were multiple preboarders. I found a window seat in 4th row, with a woman sitting in the aisle. At first she wouldn't let me take the seat until she confirmed I was alone b/c she "didn't want to sit next to someone." I sat in my seat, and she left her massive purse on the middle seat through two crew announcements to stop blocking seats. Finally she was forced to let someone sit there b/c theflight was full. If not for that she would have gotten away with claiming two seats for the price of one. My reminder that we're not allowed to do that was met with hostility. Southwest needs to be a lot more alert to seat hogging. Boarding ended up being stressful, and I won't be flying SW again.