[richright]

I'm 6'8" with a 39" inseam. Since Southwest has only 4 seats on an aircraft that can accomodate me I used to check in early and get to the gate real early to get a prime position in the A-line. That was my only hope to get one of the emergency exit row seats. Now with business select, and the preferential treatment that frequent fliers get I can only get a boarding pass in the twenties even if I check in within the first few seconds when check-in becomes available. Even with a few or no business select customers there are usually several of the "elite" frequent fliers that automatically get numbers ahead of me. Some of these choose the emergency exit row seats even if they are barely over five feet tall and they can't touch the seat in front of them with their legs fully extended. So much for "first come, first serve". Southwest expects me to buy a business select fare at typically twice the price of a discount fare just to increase my chances of getting one of their coveted seats. I say just charge twenty bucks more for these seats no matter what fare structure a person is on and ASSIGN these seats. This will keep the short people out as there is no particular advantage to these seats if you are short. The width of the seat is the same as any other. People want these seats if they are free, but only needy and deserving people like me will be willing to pay a premium for them. Southwests policies are based on greed and profit. Unfortunately they are forcing people like myself to fly less, not more. Their business select policy is a bust. I had ONE person board in business select during my last two flights. I wish they would cater to tall people as much as they cater to kids, handicapped, etc. I've been round and round with Southwest on this to no avail. If only an executive was aware of the problem it could possibly be addressed. Most problems however go into a black hole and you hear nothing back.