3 weeks ago
Before I begin with my complaint. I want SWA to know I ALWAYS appreciate the flight crew and all they do to accommodate us travelers, keeping us safe and making air travel a bit more bearable! They have a tough job and I appreciate all that they do!
With that said, I'm fed up with this Pre-Board Abuse! In the last 2 years, I've become a frequent business traveler. I'm trying to stay loyal to one carrier for the extra benefits frequent air travel provides. It's become VERY difficult to maintain my loyalty to SWA. I'm an A-lister trying to make it to A-List Preferred but what's the use/benefit of trying to achieve this status when you see the blatant abuse of pre-boarders?
Yesterday 6/6/2024 amongst all the delays and connections the straw that broke the camel's back is this blatant abuse. I've had enough! As it has been mentioned in other post, I can no longer stay silent (this is something I NEVER do, post complaints). Of the 2 flights to get home, traveling from Memphis TN to Columbus OH it was crazy to witness. This is not to mention I had to change flights due to the delay out of Memphis otherwise I would have missed my connection. Because I changed flights (and no fault of my own), I lost my A18 and A19 boarding positions. So, I had to board after all the A's.
On the first flight, 14 ppl in line for pre-boarding. 2 in wheeled chairs (which I'm absolutely fine with). But the other 12 ppl walked straight on the plane. Of course, all 14 ppl sat at the front of the plane! When we landed only 2 wheeled chairs were needed the rest walked off the plane.
The 2nd connection was the same as the first. 18 ppl in pre-boarding (it appeared 16 of them were traveling together) and 2 of the 18 needing wheeled chairs. Oh, one of the 16 had their dog with them! Of course, all of them sat at the front of the plane. When we landed the same 2 were wheeled off the plane but the other 14 walked off!!!
I just read a news article about SWA raising their prices for the early bird check-in as well as for business class A1-A15. I'm wondering if SWA will now charge a fee (say $50-$75 per connection) as a premium for Pre-Boarding. I think that would quickly reduce the abuse. Case in point, I don't always see ppl taking advantage of the business class A1-A15 option because of the extra fee. However, it seems SWA has no problem doing it for those who are legitimately trying to get a better boarding position!
I'm not a veteran (I do have children serving in our military) but I would not be writing this post if the pre-boarders were strictly our women and men who are currently serving or who have served in the military and have sacrificed soooo much for this county. If fact, I would be in favor of having them board 1st before anyone else!!!!
Finally, it is my opinion SWA values pre-boarders more than they do frequent business travelers. If things don't change, I will seek a different carrier who values me as a frequent flyer and values the money my company spends on air travel! Oh, and by the way SWA, other carriers do have pre-boarders but for some reason they don't appear to have the same abuse problem as you do!
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