Passenger Calls Out Women Who 'Piled Bags' in Empty Seat So No One Would Take It — then Giggled When it Worked

• A Southwest passenger claims two travelers 'piled bags' on an empty middle seat to pretend it was occupied

• The passenger’s retelling of the incident on Reddit sparked a debate about the epidemic of seat saving on the airline

• Southwest announced that they’re doing away with their open seating rule in 2025 in a controversial switch to assigned seating

A plane passenger is calling out two women on her recent flight after witnessing them lie about the middle seat being occupied so other travelers wouldn’t sit between them.

The traveler, who was flying Southwest Airlines, revealed that watching the other passengers’ behavior made them now support the airline’s controversial shift to assigned seating, per their retelling of the incident on Reddit. While the airline is currently still operating under its open seating policy, it is going to start phasing in assigned seating for passengers later in 2025.

“I have been against bringing assigned seating to SWA but yesterday made me change my mind,” begins the Redditor, who goes by the username @ecksray67.

They note that they were flying out of Dallas and the flight was “almost full” when they noticed the questionable behavior being carried out by the passengers sitting in row 18.

Related: Southwest Reveals New Details About Its Assigned Seating Launch — Here’s When Travelers Can Expect to See It on Flights

“One young woman sat in seat D and the other in F. They piled bags in seat E and told a few passing people the seat was occupied. When the cabin door closed they looked at each other and giggled before moving some bags to the floor under seat E.”

Related: Southwest Airlines Is Ending Open Seating Policy and Will Assign Seats Starting in 2025

Many Reddit users flocked to the comments to weigh in on the seat saving debate.

Referring to Southwest, one person suggested, “Seems like they could just enforce rules against seat saving, rather than getting rid of the reason most of their loyal customers have chosen them for years.”

Others pointed out that even with airlines that do enforce assigned seating, passengers often face the issue of not being able to sit next to their travel companion.

“Read other airline forums. People don’t get seats next to each for whatever reason and then just sit in someone else’s seat and ask the person to kindly trade with them. The issues won’t go away,” wrote one user.

A third commenter added, “The last couple times I've flown, the seat saving has been so bad. People are only getting ruder about it. I'm looking forward to assigned seats.”

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Under Southwest’s current open seating policy — which operates on a first come, first served basis — there are no specific rules against saving seats.

“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 advises, per their official website.

However, in July 2024, Southwest announced that it would officially be doing away with its open seating rule that loyal customers have experienced for years.

PEOPLE previously reported that the airline will begin selling assigned seats in the second half of 2025, however travelers won’t see the reserved seating in action on their flights until the beginning of 2026.

The big announcement comes after the airline conducted “extensive research” on customers’ needs while flying, which concluded that 80% of Southwest customers, and 86% of potential customers, prefer an assigned seat.

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