Originally Posted by
miraclebear2003
Flying out of MCO, it's pretty commonplace. I seem to recall the GA always making the statement you quoted, but that doesn't stop people. Also, there might be an infant and a party of six or more accompanying him. That's the way it goes. Sometimes there are a lot more wheelchairs getting on than getting off. As long as they don't take the overheads in FC or C+, I'll just SMH.
We
Originally Posted by
coloneltigh
That's correct, they are not supposed to. As someone who qualified for this recently, I wish they could. Because I'm sure people thought that about me because as a 40 year old able bodied person to preboard probably looked like fraud. I resolved that if anyone challenged me I'd lift my shirt and should them my peritoneal dialysis catheter and point to my bag with my machine and say that I just need to make sure that machine gets overhead space because I need that machine to live. Might promote some knowledge sharing/enlightenment. And discourage fraud.
A very reasonable response; genuine disability and need for extra time in boarding should never be questioned. I also have no problem with early boarding for Active Duty Military - they have earned the perk.
My issue is solely being 72, paying 125% more for FC and waiting 15 minutes at the gate while someone obviously gets to abuse the system because they know they will not be questioned because Delta can’t risk a complaint. A simple, “Do you have a special need, Sir/Mam?” and a simple “Yes” in the less obvious cases should suffice without embarrassment.
Because the abuse is growing more common, there should be some adjustment. I would even accept the ancient policy of boarding FC last, so we could just relax for an extra 15-20 minutes before queuing up (provided the FA’s policed the FC overhead space!).
Delta: hang out & watch the expressions on your Premium passengers’ faces sometime. This is not a unique complaint...