@chgoflyer wrote: @hockeydiva wrote: This would absolutely solve the problem! If only it were possible. But it's not. Because -- as has been mentioned many, many times now -- Southwest cannot -- in an "open seating" system -- specify which seats pre-boarders can or can't use. To do so would be a violation of the Air Carrier Access Act. The only "solution," sadly, is assigned seating. This is incorrect. The ACAA states that disabled people cannot be forced "to sit in a particular seat on the basis of disability." The ACAA does NOT mention preboarding. The solution is to allow disabled passengers who wish to avail themselves of the opportunity to pre-board to select from seats toward the back of the plane. Disabled passengers who do not wish to use pre-boarding may select any available seat when they board at their assigned boarding position. {Exit row can be restricted to those who can perform the required functions.] Such a policy would comply with the ACAA and eliminate the incentive to pre-board by those who do not truly need it. As far as those people who have commented that they (or their children) need a seat near the front to be near the lavatory, they would actually be better served by being near the back of the plane where there are two lavatories, and passengers can line up to wait when those are both full. If the front lavatory is in use, a passenger cannot stand in the aisle to wait for it.
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08-15-2017
01:11 AM
08-15-2017
01:11 AM
I wondered why I had gotten a C and a B60 boarding position on my flights last Saturday. Wasn't until I looked at the boarding pass that I saw my A-list was not printed. Got in line with 3 other people with the same issue. There were TONS of families on this flight, and the gate agent was about to call everyone at the same time between A and B--families, A-List, etc. I was luckily near the gate, but one guy with three kids (may or may not have been young enough for family boarding) pushed his way in front of everyone. Then once I had boarded, it was already VERY full, and the seats we wanted were being saved by a guy who was trying to save 3 seats--a window and middle in consecutive rows (he had one of the 4 seats for himself.) I wasn't sure we'd find what we wanted much closer, so my son and I sat in the two aisle seats--and the "kids" he was saving seats for appeared to be 18+ (older than my kid.) I'm reaching my limit with the seating chaos. It was so nice two weeks ago to cash in my Business Select ticket two hours before flight time for a MUCH cheaper, first class seat on a direct flight to my destination. This is my third year as A-List and second as CP. Trying to decide whether to fly enough to qualify for one more year to see if anything improves.
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08-14-2017
03:31 AM
5 Loves
@chgoflyer wrote: As has been repeated many, many times -- Southwest cannot dictate which seats preboarders must use, as that would be a violation of the Air Carrier Access Act. The only solution to the "problem" is assigned seating. This is incorrect. The ACAA states that disabled people cannot be forced "to sit in a particular seat on the basis of disability." The ACAA does NOT mention preboarding. The solution is to allow disabled passengers who wish to avail themselves of the opportunity to pre-board to select from seats toward the back of the plane. Disabled passengers who do not wish to use pre-boarding may select any available seat when they board at their assigned boarding position. {Exit row can be restricted to those who can perform the required functions.] Such a policy would comply with the ACAA and eliminate the incentive to pre-board by those who do not truly need it. As far as those people who have commented that they (or their children) need a seat near the front to be near the lavatory, they would actually be better served by being near the back of the plane where there are two lavatories, and passengers can line up to wait when those are both full. If the front lavatory is in use, a passenger cannot stand in the aisle to wait for it.
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And if you need to pre-board, then you need to wait until the other passengers have de-planed to exit. Pre-board, post-exit.
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08-13-2017
03:55 PM
08-13-2017
03:55 PM
After another frustrating boarding process on SW yesterday, it occured to me that their process of pre-boarding passengers who need extra time first, and having those passengers claim a large number of the seats near the front could potentially be a safety issue. If the plane needed to be evacuated quickly, the front exit door on any aircraft would hopefully be an evacuation option. On other airlines, where passengers with mobility needs are dispersed throughout the plane, there are more people around them who could help them and they would use all evacuation options roughly equally. However, by congregating more of the mobility impared passengers near the front of one exit, it would seem to me that it would be harder both for mobility impared passengers to get help to exit and for other passengers to evacuate from that same exit. Am I missing something here? Maybe the fact that flight attendants are usually near the front exit would mitigate the issue?
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I've already started voting with my wallet on this issue. Two weeks ago, I cancelled a BS reservation when I was able to get a walk up, first class ticket on a direct flight for 20% than the SW ticket. I would have switched even if the other ticket was slightly higher just because I wanted to avoid the hassle of SW's seating policies (or lack of policies.) I could have used the points towards re-qualifying for A-List, but after an already long day of travel, I wasn't interested in dealing with SW's boarding and seating procedures.
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Had the same issue a few months ago--but the seat the guy was saving for his coworker was an aisle seat a row or two ahead--so not even adjacent to his. I was travelling with my 6 year old daughter. When I replied that SW had open seating, he said something like "I fly this flight every week so F___ off" (defintely used the f--- word.) He was very combative. I decided not to battle with him directly, but I was concerned enough about his behavior that I alerted the FA. He sort of shrugged his shoulders and said if the behavior continued I should let him know. Issues with seating have already led me to switch business to other airlines.
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TSA PreCheck is governed by TSA. It's very easy to sign up for it.
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05-04-2017
10:13 PM
7 Loves
Absolutely! If you are spending $200,000 on SW every year, what's an extra $60 when your family flies with you? Or get them business select tickets, and they will soon be A-List too!
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05-04-2017
06:38 PM
05-04-2017
06:38 PM
I share this first world problem, but my companion is a kid. If it were my spouse, I think we'd be fine boarding separately. The child is young enough that gate agents generally let us board together, but we always make a plan in case the child has to wait to board.
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05-04-2017
06:34 PM
7 Loves
I am already in your shoes. Sometimes I'm flying alone (why I am A-List) and sometimes with spouse and 3 kids. If we all want to sit together, we board together and I forfit my early boarding position. We generally split up and one kids boards with me in the A group (one is young enough that they generally allow this, and the kid takes a middle seat), and the other two board with my spouse. Those two are old enough not to care if they are right next to a parent. In this case, I will also take the biggest carry-ons to ensure that we get those on board. Put yourself in my shoes. I'm A-2. You walk in first alone and grab 5 seats, and maybe now I don't get the seat that I wanted despite my spending thousands with SW. Or, maybe I'm A1 on this flight, and I decide I need to save the first three rows (all 18 seats.) Maybe I'm travelling in a big family group. Is that what you want? According to your logic, that would be OK.
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I LOVE this solution! I'd also recommend limiting seat saving to ONE seat--and it must be the one adjoning your seat. So, if you are in the aisle or window, you are saving a middle seat. Stops people from saving multiple rows or trying to save preferred seats for later boarding passengers.
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05-04-2017
03:16 PM
12 Loves
SW has locked the last thread on seat saving, so I will start a new one. As someone who often pays for a higher boarding position, SW needs to adopt some common sense rules about what "open seating" means. I would not be complaining at all if I'd only experienced people saving the ONE seat next to them for a later boarding companion--that would be a middle seat if they are in an aisle or window seat. But that is not what happens. On one recent flight--one that we were told was fully booked--someone on the aisle was saving the window seat for a work companion who was boarding later. I told him I wanted the window (it was the only window seat for many rows.) If they wanted to sit together, the window seat was not going to help him on this flight. The 2nd recent occurance was even worse. I was boarding in the early As with my 7 year old. One row seemed unoccupied except for a jacket on the aisle seat. I was going to move it as it did not seem to belong to anyone, when a guy one row back on the other side said he was saving it for a a friend boarding "right" behind me [it was more like 30 people after me.] When I said "you can't save seats", he yelled "I fly this f-ing flight every week, so f. you." So much for fellow passengers being polite. Again, he was not trying to sit next to this later-boarding friend. He was saving his friend some money--his friend got to take advantage of an earlier boarding number without paying for the privilege. If SW won't implement some common sense restrictions [like, each passenger can save one seat next to them], then I guess I should undercut their system by saving 10+ seats near the front and selling them for $5/each. I'll sell them to "C" boarders before I get on. Or just enforce that "open seating" means you can take any unoccupied seat. If that passenger is not on the plane, the seat is open. Flying is stressful enought without getting cursed at by fellow passengers.
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