These Southwest Passengers Have a Hilarious Way to Avoid a Seatmate — See the Video

29.05.2024 - 15:39 / travelandleisure.com

Passengers flying with low-cost airline Southwest are familiar with the slow walk down the plane aisle, carefully eyeing empty seats and gauging whether they’d like to sit there or not. Recently, some passengers have gotten creative with new techniques to discourage people from sitting there 

Instagram creators and travel companions Kalah and David Allen published a joint Instagram reel in which the duo pretended to be in a heated argument, as a way to dissuade anyone from joining their row. The video has gone viral on social media, and launched a online discussion about seat-saving etiquette. 

In the video, Kalah and David were seated in the window and aisle seat, leaving the middle seat empty, and made clear any potential seat-mate would be caught in the crossfire of the fake confrontation. 

In the hilarious video, which has been viewed at least three million times, the couple breaks character several times laughing at the absurdity of the situation. Fortunately for them, the middle seat stayed open on the flight, as passengers seemed to quickly walk past the argument in order to find a different seat. 

On Instagram, hundreds of people shared their take on the seat-saving strategy, with some calling it a «great idea,» however some travelers say they would have picked the seat for some additional in-flight entertainment. 

«I’m so nosy I would of sat right in the middle of them just so I can see what they was arguing about,” one person commented. 

Another person had a unique idea to help keep the seats next to them empty during a solo flight, sharing, “Maybe if I argue with myself I can get the entire row.”

Southwest doesn’t list any policy about saving seats on the website for boarding policy. 

“Southwest-operated flights have open seating. Once onboard, simply choose any available seat and stow your carryon items in the overhead bin or under the seat in front of you,” the airline explains about their boarding process.