gate pass requirements
 

what criteria are needed to obtain a gate pass?

wifey is traveling next week alone (she is NOT a FF in any sense) and I was wondering what i would need to do to get beyond security with her?

I have tried asking nicely in the past and was rebuffed by the customer service desk behind the ticketing area

The easiest thing to do is to is purchase a refundable ticket for about the same time as hers (round trip to lessen the change you get the special security treatment). Print your boarding pass and go to the airport with her & go through security just like you're going to fly. Once she takes off (or anytime you're inside of security) you can decide that you don't want to fly & call and refund your ticket.

We have done both:

A. Buy a refundable ticket, print a boarding pass, and then cancel the flight; and

B. Simply ask for a gate pass.

IMHO, asking for the gate pass is easier and less trouble, but it probably only works if you have status and are well known at the airport.

It depends on the airport. Here at Omaha I know I have will have no problems with getting a gate pass from the ticket counter, but I have had trouble at EWR before where I'm guessing the OP is discussing. The foolproof way of doing it is to buy the refundable ticket, print the BP, and cancel the flight.

Just another example of a stupid "airport rule" that does not make me any safer and is completely unenforceable.

This is EWR, where nothing is easy.

Receiving a gate pass here is totally dependent on the mood and whim of the agent, and in the past, I have been refused when picking up my son as a UM. Terminal A is harder than Terminal C, IMO.

President's Club Members Can Request Gate Passes
 

I have yet to try this at EWR or CLE but as a PClub member I've had little difficulty requesting a gate pass from Terminal E. The agents I've dealt with (again Terminal E at IAH) seem to be about 70% up to speed on the policy.

Yep

This is true for me at EWR as well. About 20-30% of the time I have to ask them to check when they say no. A quick phone call clears it up if you are a PC member and they promptly print the gate pass.

Like J.Edward, I've had no real trouble with getting gate passes w/ PC membership. I've gotten thru in LAX, EWR, and MSP (for the WC- this one was the toughest). Sometimes you just need to find another agent if the first is unwilling, but for the most part, they seem to be OK with it.

dan

My husband uses his PC card to get a gate pass in order to assist me through since wheelchair attendants are few and far between at IAH. If he tells them it's to help me, they ask "So you are having a meeting in the Pclub?" so now he just always says he has a meeting. Then we have a short meeting regarding the insanity of all that so that we have duly complied with the procedures in place ;)

A. Buy a refundable ticket, print a boarding pass, and then cancel the flight...;

I recently bought a refundable ticket on line at continental.com as part of some research I was doing. After getting the info I was looking for. I cancelled five minutes later. Ten minutes after that I got an e-mail from CO acknowledging my cancellation and saying that the money would be applied to a future ticket [not refunded].

As a followup, the ticket cost has not shown up on my Amex acct. after three weeks. Leaves me wondering what's going on.

Jack

Are you sure it was a refundable fare? If so, there are issues with cancelling the ticket online. You need to call cust service and they can sort it out in a few seconds. The same thing happened to me several weeks ago.

Refund rather than cancel
 

You don't "cancel" you request "refund" .... I've made the same mistake until service desk explained.

BTW, the screen which lists the gatepass rules is "GG Checkpoint".

I always have trouble getting a gatepass, even though I'm a PC member. They should be able to look up that code in their computer.