Southwest Rapid Rewards - preboarding - unusual situation?

Hi WN Flyertalkers - I have been preboarding since my shoulder surgery to avoid accidentally getting knocked into on the side of the surgery and to get help with getting settled in. I recently stopped wearing my sling while flying and haven't had problems getting a preboarding pass on most flights. However, on my most recent flight, the gate agent took my boarding pass and appeared to be looking up something on the computer. She eventually did give me my boarding pass back and a preboarding sleeve, but any idea what she was fiddling with on the computer? I'm not trying to game the system or anything, I'm just trying to protect my shoulder and I recognize it's not obvious that I'm in the midst of intense post-op rehab without the sling.

Hi WN Flyertalkers - I have been preboarding since my shoulder surgery to avoid accidentally getting knocked into on the side of the surgery and to get help with getting settled in. I recently stopped wearing my sling while flying and haven't had problems getting a preboarding pass on most flights. However, on my most recent flight, the gate agent took my boarding pass and appeared to be looking up something on the computer. She eventually did give me my boarding pass back and a preboarding sleeve, but any idea what she was fiddling with on the computer? I'm not trying to game the system or anything, I'm just trying to protect my shoulder and I recognize it's not obvious that I'm in the midst of intense post-op rehab without the sling.

I don't know why they would have done that unless you did/didn't note disabled/handicapped assistance on your ticket purchase info. We do that when flying with elderly (disabled) parents and they clack clack the keyboard a couple times and then happily hand over the sleeve).

Maybe they wanted to see if you had noted it on yours.

ymmv.

I had a similar issue when I was able to go back to flying after having spine surgery. I was not allowed to lift anything and was pre-boarding on my flights, as I had ice bags to put around my neck when I traveled. On most flights (I fly 2-3 times per week for work) it was never an issue when I asked, but on 2 separate occasions I ran into difficulty. Once a lady looked through the computer and asked me several personal questions (when did you have your surgery? what exactly was done? Did I have a doctors note explaining that I needed to pre-board? etc (I found all of them offensive and quite personal, but just let it go). After answering the questions and showing my implant card with the surgery date on it, she gave me the pre-board sleeve. On the other occasion, she asked me if I noted that I would need pre-boarding on my reservation? I told her that my corporate travel department may have, but I was unsure. After spending 2-3 minutes typing on her computer, she gave me a pre-board sleeve. These were the only 2 times (in about 20 flights) that I had any questions asked.

Given that many people 'game' the pre-board situation, I don't understand why you object to agents insuring that you are not also trying to do so.

I think that they may have previous pre-boards saved in the computer.

A few years ago, we flew with my father-in-law who is disabled. As a component to his disabled licensed plate, he has a DMV-issued card that he carries in his wallet to show that he's the one that the license plate is for (I guess to prevent a family member from parking in a disabled spot when he isn't in the car).

Anyway, to make matters easy, I brought his disabled card up to the counter when I went to get his blue sleeve. On the return flight, I went over to do the same thing, and as soon as I mentioned my father-in-law's name, but before I had pulled out his card, the counter agent typed on the computer and said something to the effect of "I got it" or "I got him" and handed me the blue sleeve.

It looked to me like she was looking at something on her screen that told her he was previously approved for a pre-board.

Given that many people 'game' the pre-board situation, I don't understand why you object to agents insuring that you are not also trying to do so.

Exactly. ^

Given that many people 'game' the pre-board situation, I don't understand why you object to agents insuring that you are not also trying to do so.

I never said I was objecting - please don't put words in my mouth. :-) I was just curious what they were looking up!