What's the deal with Southwest's boarding policy? I just can't find a reason for it. I'd heard about their alphanumeric system of boarding passengers by groups A, B and C in that order with a # attached to indicate your location within the group, but experiencing it was similar to what cattle must feel like when being prodded to pasture. And I was in group A!
I got the seat I wanted, but that would have been the case with any other airline, as long as I booked early. Southwest fills the niche of booking anytime and checking in early (which is why they constantly overbook and have to make concessions). If I hadn't checked in exactly 24 hours prior to my departure time, I wouldn't have gotten the seating group I did. If Southwest doesn't believe in first or business class, then simply get rid of it and let people pick their seat when they book and see if they can grab a better one based on availability at the airport (like JetBlue does). In fact, the system is so dysfunctional that websites started popping up to automate early check-in for a fee. Gaps in efficiency get closed and Southwest has fought well and hard to block these websites from closing them. But why bother when you can just spend the money on creating an efficient process in the first place?