I agree that would be aggravating. I had something worse happen. I got a text from Southwest that my flight would be delayed an 1 1/2 hours. So I showed up later. It turns out that they found a way to take off on time. I almost missed my flight and ended up boarding last even though I was an A-list passenger. Hopefully Southwest no longer sends out these texts because they serve no productive purpose unless the flight is actually going to take off at this new time. Otherwise the information they are texting is worse than useless, it's destructive. I complained about this and the response was how can I complain about a flight taking off on time.
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11-30-2018
10:06 PM
11-30-2018
10:06 PM
Unless you pay for it TSA Pre seems pretty random to me. I can get it a few times in a row and then go a while without getting it. I doubt it has anything to do with early bird. If you really want a good position pay the extra $40 at the gate and board with the business select.
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11-30-2018
09:52 PM
When you're checking in a matter of a couple minutes can make the difference between a mid B and a C. There are a lot of Southwest flyers watching the clock and pressing the enter button on their computer at exactly 24 hours prior. Another Southwest policy that doesn't make a lot of sense. In the old day you were giving priority based upon showing up at the airport earlier. Incentivizing people to arrive early actually provides some benefit to Southwest. I don't understand what is gained by this current policy.
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It seems to me that Southwest is trying to give preferential treatment to a lot of groups, disabled, military, families, e.g. The problem is that it is a net sum game. You cannot give preferential treatment to one group without it being at the expense of another group. The business traveller is the least compelling even though I believe it is Southwest's bread and butter. I'm a frequent business traveller who wouldn't be flying Southwest if it wasn't dictated by my company.
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11-30-2018
09:11 PM
11-30-2018
09:11 PM
This is on the flight attendants that don't enforce the Southwest policies. I fly a lot on Southwest and see people saving seats all the time. I've never seen a flight attendant call the passenger on this even though it must be obvious to them. I get it that no one wants to be the bad guy but by not doing their job they are being the bad guy. I actually saw a guy save a whole row, both sides of the aisle, for his family. I was sitting in the row behind him and told him that I'd be amazed if he can pull this off. He was successful. The lesson learned here is that you only need one person in your travelling party to have a good boarding position.
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11-30-2018
09:05 PM
The problem is that the gate agents don't enforce Southwest's policy. So there might as well not be a policy.
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Do other airlines have open seating like Southwest? Probably not. Boarding early is a far bigger deal on Southwest than on an airline that has assigned seating.
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11-30-2018
08:58 PM
Boarding first on other airlines isn't all that meaningful since they have assigned seating. It is a show of respect but doesn't really impact anyone else's seating. If Southwest had assigned seating I wouldn't care all that much if I boarded last. In fact I'd prefer to.
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11-30-2018
08:55 PM
2 Loves
With the increasing number of preboarders the early bird option is becoming less valuable. Actually all the earned or paid for boarding privileges are losing value.
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11-30-2018
08:53 PM
2 Loves
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.
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11-30-2018
08:48 PM
1 Love
How many other airlines have open seating? These other airlines you're talking about probably have assigned seating so preboarding does not offer you the seating advantage that it does on Southwest.
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11-30-2018
08:41 PM
The gate agents giving out this preboarding privilige are playing Santa Claus on someone else's dime. I fully support the philosophy of preboarding but when these agents allow for abuse they are not inconveniencing themselves but those that have actually earned or paid for priority boarding. I've flown Southwest for over 30 years and this is a rapidly growing problem that Southwest management has turned a blind eye to. If they don't believe it's a problem I'd suggest they show up at BWI and watch the group of preboarders on a few flights. The people that actually deserve this preferential treatment should be the first to complain about the abuse. Instead they seem to get defensive.
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11-30-2018
08:32 PM
I couldn't agree more. I've complained about the obvious abuse of preboarders a couple times to Southwest and the response was the same both times. They told me that they have a well defined policy. I should have rephrased my complaint. The policy is not being adhered to by Southwest employees so the fact that a policy exists is irellevant. Today a couple came up to the the gate and told the agent that they had a 2 month infant and would like to preboard. The agent no problem accommadating this request. I'm pretty sure this does not fit within their policy guidelines.
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