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Re: PreBoarders

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

T


@traveling_man wrote:

I also have become extremely frustrated with the increasing number of preboards on my SWA flights. This week the gate agent allowed 5 people to pre-board with the one person sitting in a wheel chair. There were an additional 7 wheel chairs lined up to board on the flight from LAX to PHX. There were 2 couples that appeared to be in great shape that strolled on after preboarding. This was just one flight and I am seeing it over and over. A few weeks ago I was changing planes in Chicago on my way from GRR to PHX. 6 young men in their 20's preboarded and plopped down in the exit rows. The flight attendants did nothing to enforce the rule regarding where preboards can sit. I have been flying SWA at least one round trip a week for the last 21 years and I have never seen this level of disgust by the regular business travelers that support your airline year round. There are many regular travelers that are looking at other options. I put up with it because I love having my companion pass for my wife to travel with me but many of us are no longer feeling the LUV. 


Those guys may not have been pre-boarders, they were more likely to be connecting passengers that got off the flight and then re-boarded. Did you see them scan their tickets? My experience has been that pre-boarders are enforced not to take exit rows, I don't think I've seen it a single time in hundreds of flighs.

 

Connecting through passengers however snatch those seats up!

 

 

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.

Re: PreBoarders

rtbarron
Frequent Flyer A

@DancingDavidE wrote:

 


Those guys may not havllbeen pre-boarders, they were more likely to be connecting passengers that got off the flight and then re-boarded. Did you see them scan their tickets? My experience has been that pre-boarders are enforced not to take exit rows, I don't think I've seen it a single time in hundreds of flighs.

 

Connecting through passengers however snatch those seats up!

 

 


That was my thought exactly. Flight Attendants are very diligent about who sits in the exit row. I can't imagine them letting six pre-boarders take the entire row.

Re: PreBoarders

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

@rtbarron wrote:

@DancingDavidE wrote:

 


Those guys may not havllbeen pre-boarders, they were more likely to be connecting passengers that got off the flight and then re-boarded. Did you see them scan their tickets? My experience has been that pre-boarders are enforced not to take exit rows, I don't think I've seen it a single time in hundreds of flighs.

 

Connecting through passengers however snatch those seats up!

 

 


That was my thought exactly. Flight Attendants are very diligent about who sits in the exit row. I can't imagine them letting six pre-boarders take the entire row.


Yes - to clarify I've seen people try it and get bounced, I haven't seen them successfully grab the exit rows.

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.

Re: PreBoarders

100flightsayear
Explorer C

That's too bad because that certainly is abuse of the system.

 

I know that now, in practice and in policy, anyone who pre-boards is not allowed to sit in an exit row. The flight attendants have been very dillegent about that. Perhaps in years past they may not have been as "on it" about that rule but recently they most certainly have. Hopefully that alleviates the issue for you and you can get your leg room.

 

At 5'2" all seats have plenty of leg room for me 🙂 Happy Travels! 

Re: PreBoarders

tpegan1
Explorer A

The number of preboarders is growing so rapidly that Southwest will probably have to prioritize them. The legitimate ones will be assigned an A group amongst the preboarders.  The healthy ones will be C group preboarders.

Re: PreBoarders

doferty
Explorer C

I go both ways on this. While I frequently use SWA for travel (fly every week), I find myself increasingly frustrated with the pre-boarding situation. People are clearly abusing the privilege, and I think they are going to ruin things for individuals who actually need to board first. I'm fortunate to always be assigned a low A boarding group. With disgust, I often find myself waiting, and sacrificing the good seats, for young people, visually athletic, and obviously in excellent shape. Unfortunately, these self-centered hacks also appear quite unemployed and entitled. They have figured out how to use the "new first class", boarding in front of us die-hard SWA loyalists, who have worked very hard, earning or paying for status for many years.

 

(This is where I completely flip on this issue)

 

At the same time, my wife suffers from anxiety (claustrophobia). She wouldn't be able to fly unless she was granted pre-board status. It's critical when we travel together, as she can hardly get through the airport, and onto the plane, without completely losing her mind. We love traveling, but the hours leading up to boarding are miserable for her. She is quite capable, physically, of boarding, appearing quite normal, like the rest of us, but inside she's trying her best to endure. Watching her, closely, you can see her trembling and very much not at-ease. 

 

I am grateful for the pre-boarding policy, and strongly feel that old people, sick, injured, or mentally ill, should rightly be given consideration. In most cases, the SWA staff go the extra mile to make sure they're comfortable and ok (this is one of many reasons why we all love SW).

 

What baffles me is the simplicity and access to the pre-boarding status. I don't want to promote how easy it is (as if it isn't already known), but I do think it should be something you apply for, in advance, requiring some reasonable form of verification. There needs to be a way to sort the idiots from the people who actually need the service.

 

Certainly, would make my air travel easier.

 

Re: PreBoarders

spacecoastbill
Frequent Flyer B

@doferty wrote:

 

What baffles me is the simplicity and access to the pre-boarding status. I don't want to promote how easy it is (as if it isn't already known), but I do think it should be something you apply for, in advance, requiring some reasonable form of verification. There needs to be a way to sort the idiots from the people who actually need the service.

 


Without a change in Federal law, the advance notice and verification requirement is not going to happen.

 

Until then, anyone who wants to preboard simply needs to tell the GA that they need to preboard.  (or just get in the long preboard line)

Re: PreBoarders

dw0427
Explorer C

That's a crap response from Southwest.  They can absolutely ask different questions to minimize the many that are now taking advantage of pre-board.  Southwest is using the Federal regulations as a guise for they do not have the stones to change the policy for fear of bad publicity.

 

As an A-List preferred Member and knowing that my status means nothing because of the ever increasing healthy folks taking advantage of the lax pre-board policy.  Why bother frequently flying SW anymore?

 

Seems to me other airlines are more stringent in pre-board than SW...... As a suggestion to SW, why do they allow the whole families of pre-board passengers to board at the same time?  I don't mind those that are wheelchair bound but the countless folks that walk on the planes vs. disabled is evergrowing.  

Re: PreBoarders

spacecoastbill
Frequent Flyer B

@dw0427 wrote:

That's a crap response from Southwest.  They can absolutely ask different questions to minimize the many that are now taking advantage of pre-board.  Southwest is using the Federal regulations as a guise for they do not have the stones to change the policy for fear of bad publicity.

 

As an A-List preferred Member and knowing that my status means nothing because of the ever increasing healthy folks taking advantage of the lax pre-board policy.  Why bother frequently flying SW anymore?

 

Seems to me other airlines are more stringent in pre-board than SW...... As a suggestion to SW, why do they allow the whole families of pre-board passengers to board at the same time?  I don't mind those that are wheelchair bound but the countless folks that walk on the planes vs. disabled is evergrowing.  


airline personnel may not ask what specific disability the person has, but they can ask questions about a person’s ability to perform specific air travel-related functions, such as boarding, deplaning, or walking through the airport.