Taylor Swift is in the midst of her Eras Tour, which began on March 17, 2023 and ends on August 17, 2024. The Grammy-award winning singer will perform 131 concerts across five continents, making the Eras Tour Taylor Swift’s most expansive. And while she may travel in style these days (she has an estimated worth of $740 million), that wasn’t always the case. She reminisced about her old Southwest Airlines days recently. RELATED: How to Vacation Like Taylor Swift This Summer
Taylor Swift received an honorary degree from NYU in May, 2022 and she delivered the commencement address to the Class of 2022 at Yankees Stadium. My nephew was one of the graduates, so I read the transcript of her speech, which you can watch below:
One thing that stood out to me was when she spoke about people thinking she had such a glamorous life (in her earlier years) when in reality, it wasn’t as she ended up homeschooling and spending a lot of time on the road.
In her words: “I never got to have a normal college experience per se. I went to public high school until 10th grade and then finished my education doing homeschool work on the floors of airport terminals. Then I went out on the road for a radio tour, which sounds incredibly glamorous, but in reality, it consisted of a rental car, motels and my mom and I pretending to have loud mother/daughter fights with each other during boarding so no one would want the empty seat between us on Southwest.”
Ha! Now that’s funny and effective … and if you want to see an even funnier way, check out this hilarious video of another way to keep that seat next to you empty on Southwest or on a bus or train! But there’s another way that works even better. First of all, Southwest Airlines (SWA) is one of the few airlines that doesn’t assign seats, which is why this tip works. The reason Southwest doesn’t assign seats is because it speeds up the boarding process as it eliminates passengers trying to figure out where their seat is located. As easy as it sounds, it’s difficult for many first-time flyers and sometimes even seasoned fliers. Believe it or not, I’ve sat in the wrong seat (row) multiple times so I understand SWA’s rationale.
Tips for flying Southwest Airlines:
1. Check-In ASAP
Check-in as soon as you’re allowed, which is 24 hours before your flight. I mean, set your alarm for 24 hours and five minutes before and then check-in when the clock strikes 24 hours prior. Boarding assignments are first come, first serve. You can also pay extra for a Business Select fare to guarantee Group A1-A15 (meaning they will be one of the first 15 people to board and they usually choose the first few rows or the exit row).
2. Be on Time
Show up to the gate on time so you don’t miss your spot in line.
3. Split Up
If there are two of you in your party or four adults and you know the flight isn’t sold out (ask the gate agent), then pick a row at the back of the plane and have one person sit in the window and the other in the aisle, leaving the middle seat open. Southwest only flies 737 aircraft, which all have six seats across (three on each side of the aisle). Here are Seatguru’s pick for the best seats.
4. Taylor’s Tip or Tissues or ?
If the plane isn’t full, then you can try Taylor’s tip of fighting with your partner so no one wants to sit in between you. But you can also put a box of Kleenex on the middle seat with some crumpled up tissues next to the box. That might be more effective but with COVID still fresh on people’s minds, it also might get you kicked off the plane!
What’s your best tip for keeping the middle seat open on a Southwest flight?
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I did not realize getting a seat had to require a lot of mental gymnastics! passengers are too sensitive!
I’m a big guy that like aisle seats. I look for the biggest person sitting alone in a window seat, and plop in the aisle seat next to them. I then lift the arm rest, and take up half the middle seat. More then once I’ve had the only empty seat in the plane next to me.
I worked at Dallas Love Field when Southwest first started. They had three 737-100’s, were allowed to fly daylight hours only between Love Field, Houston Hobby and San Antonio. They used the end of our ticket counter, gave a cash register tape for a ticket and boarding pass, parked their planes at any empty gate and people flocked to their $19.00 fare in droves. It seemed they had nothing of their own and look at them now. You cannot deny their success, nor will I. You just have to “LUV” them. OOH-RAH! (It’s a Marine thing)
I travel a lot and absolutely love SWA!!! I had to fly United on a recent flight (where SWA did not fly) and it was not at all a good flight, I won’t give details, but it made me appreciate SWA all the more. I’ll take a middle seat on Southwest any day over the competition domestically :)
Only ONE handicap assistant is allowed to board ahead of A1 with you on SWA says nobody ever.
Before COVID I always wore a N95 mask. NOBODY ever sat next to me for years. It was the best. if you could get over all the weird stares and people judging you it was worth it everytime not to have someone sit in the middle seat. The only time it didnt work was on full flights and even then a couple of times that person didnt end up sitting next to me. they choose not to comeo no the flight instead. Perfect. People are so judgey. But now that diesnt work anymore since COVID has everyone freaked out and wearing masks now. Guess Ill have to come up with something else innovating to work out the open middle seat option. Frequent flyer million miler.
I doubt those passengers who are large enough where they should be required to purchase two seats have much of an issue with this.