Tighten or Enforce the Pre-Board Criteria

[Domian123]

Why be A List if consistently 20%-30% of the plane gets to board early. Not sure what the pre-board criteria are to do so, but either the rules are lax or not being enforced.  I’ve seen this trend grow more and more over the last couple of years.  

[05bardic · Accepted solution]

The criteria is set by the federal government, and it is essentially ZERO. The only thing the passenger has to do is tell the agent that they need to preboard. They don't even need to give a reason why. We would all love to see a much better system in place, but unfortunately I don't see the feds making changes anytime soon, and the airlines are required to comply with the federal regulations. The reason the trend has grown is because people who cheat the system started plastering it all over social media, and sadly too many people care more about themselves than doing the right thing.  

[dfwskier]

I marked your answer as a solution. Some might not like that, but given the current state the legislation, it is the solution.

If `people don't like the law,   then they should contact their  federal elected reps and tell them they want the law changed -- good luck with that one.

[parpitt1]

Actually They can be asked per the Final Guidance Memo dated June 29, 2013

https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/preboarding-notice-final

From the Memo:

"For a passenger to be entitled to
preboarding, that passenger must self-identify at the gate as being a person with a disability that
needs to preboard for one of the above-listed reasons."

They may be asked to provide, one of the above listed reasons. If gate agents were properly trained to ask the question correctly, the shills and scammers would most likely fade back into their assigned boarding positions.

Will this happen?

Unlikely too much time would be expanded.

[cgirl10]

Customers of size who have a second seat also get to pre-board. People on the outside never really know what is going on with each individual. I am also not sure that the amount of wheel chairs are going to go down as much as people think they are.

[JosephMeyer]

---

@Domian123 wrote:

Why be A List if consistently 20%-30% of the plane gets to board early. Not sure what the pre-board criteria are to do so, but either the rules are lax or not being enforced.  I’ve seen this trend grow more and more over the last couple of years.  

---

I never trust dirty shoes in a wheelchair.