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I had not lived in New York City very long before I figured out how to go down the back stairs at Pennsylvania Station to best position myself for a seat on a train.  It worked practically every time. Southwest Airlines does not assign seats.  Passengers vie for a boarding group, with "A" boarding first, then B, then C.  The trick is to go online 24 hours in advance of your departure time and get an "A" boarding pass.  This means that you will be amongst the first to board, although you will not be in the first group.  The first group is reserved for Business Select passengers.  Moreover, starting today, Southwest will charge $10 for passengers who want to be in a second preferred boarding group.  I am not sure whether it will be the "A" group or some other group.  Southwest's boarding procedure is cumbersome.  Most people line up ½ hour before boarding is scheduled to begin, partially out of habit, to ensure that they get as close to the front of the group as possible.  Most veteran travelers will do anything within reason to avoid the middle seat.  I fly Southwest if the fare is significantly better than the other carriers, but I always select another carrier if the price is competitive, and I can get an assigned seat.  Moreover, I never have a problem with the overhead bins because I always check my luggage.  Yep, it cost me $15 to check a bag, but when all is said and done, flying is cheaper than driving and in most instances taking the train, especially if traveling by sleeper. I am not advocating assigned seats for commuter trains or extremely short haul trains.  But I am advocating them for most intercity trains.  With computers and on-line reservations, it could be done for minimal cost.  It would take away the hassle of jostling for the best seats.  However, I don't look for Amtrak to adopt assigned seating.  Its management simply lacks the imagination for this sort of customer friendly option.  Too bad!  They should take a lesson from the airline playbook. "In the automobile, you have your own cabin and personal or family space, but you still have to share the road space with others."  This is the major reason why most people prefer to commute or travel over short to intermediate distances by car.  It is true that you must share the road with other motorists, but that is dramatically different from sharing a seat with someone who is a stranger to showers or who insists are shouting into a cell phone.  Maybe I have missed something along the way to my 70th birthday, but it strikes me that a lot of people today don't care how their behavior impacts their fellow travelers.
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