Pre-boarders should be forced to sit in the back of the plane
Oct 8, 2016, 7:25 am
#76
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Or in my case I mentioned upthread where I wasn't going to give up a good boarding pass for a voucher to take a later flight when mine was oversold and the GA gave me a blue sleeve so I could have a decent seat.
Oct 8, 2016, 7:59 am
#77
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 5,813
Whether it's allowed or not it happens all the time. Airline employees (sometimes not even Southwest employees) are allowed to board before any passengers.
Oct 8, 2016, 9:31 am
#78
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Blue Ridge, GA
Posts: 5,513
They still need to sit next to their assistant when they pre-board. "A little less selfish" is a universal objective.
Oct 8, 2016, 9:46 am
#79
Join Date: May 2016
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 62
As for your thought that I'm getting something valuable, well, all I can say is that is simply ignorant. How is a disability something valuable? I know you are talking about getting on early but to suggest that someone disabled should accept a mild restriction is just asinine. They already have to accept a severe lifetime and lifestyle restriction but that's not enough for you. You want them or the person that is only there because they need help to accept an additional restriction? Here's an idea. Why don't you suggest that the frail, the infirm, the crippled, the mentally ill, etc, just be rounded up and be kept out of sight. I mean, come on, one of them might sit in an aisle seat and only leave 55 other aisle seats on the plane. Oh the horror!! 
And I should pay a price to move up in the boarding line? Here's a newsflash for you I AM ALREADY PAYING A PRICE. Your statement doesn't sound heartless, it just sounds ignorant. You are so focused on someone getting something you feel they don't deserve you're missing the point that they've potentially lost far more than you think they are getting. Needing to board early is not a right, nor is it a privilege. It's simply something that some people have to do to be able to travel in a reasonably pain free way and a way to minimize the hassles that already occur when traveling.
I hope you never have to experience a true need to preboard because I don't wish that on anyone. I can only hope that maybe, just maybe you'll be a little less selfish and a little more understanding when someone really needs to preboard. Yes, you might have to sit one row further back. It won't materially affect your life. Trust me.
And I should pay a price to move up in the boarding line? Here's a newsflash for you I AM ALREADY PAYING A PRICE. Your statement doesn't sound heartless, it just sounds ignorant. You are so focused on someone getting something you feel they don't deserve you're missing the point that they've potentially lost far more than you think they are getting. Needing to board early is not a right, nor is it a privilege. It's simply something that some people have to do to be able to travel in a reasonably pain free way and a way to minimize the hassles that already occur when traveling.
I hope you never have to experience a true need to preboard because I don't wish that on anyone. I can only hope that maybe, just maybe you'll be a little less selfish and a little more understanding when someone really needs to preboard. Yes, you might have to sit one row further back. It won't materially affect your life. Trust me.
Oct 8, 2016, 10:01 am
#80
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Blue Ridge, GA
Posts: 5,513
"If a Customer with a disability simply needs a little extra time to board, we will permit the Customer to board before Family Boarding, between the “A” and “B” groups."
Oct 8, 2016, 10:56 am
#81
Join Date: Oct 2001
Programs: LTP, PP
Posts: 8,700
You should have complained if your first plane landed late. BS is still giving you some added benefits like a free drink and bonus points but I'm sure they would have given you a small credit if you ended up in a lousy seat because your first flight was delayed. If someone is going to pay for BS on Southwest though I don't know why they just don't pay for C+ on a legacy if they don't have status. They get a guaranteed seat location even if they are the last to board, more leg room and unlimited drinks and dedicated bin space (assuming the FA enforces it). I a BS fare is fully refundable but on a legacy you can make same day changes for free.
Oct 8, 2016, 11:04 am
#82
Join Date: Oct 2001
Programs: LTP, PP
Posts: 8,700
I could point you to a YouTube video of us all jamming together in the front row of the 3rd show!
Oct 8, 2016, 1:46 pm
#83
Join Date: May 2005
Location: PHX
Programs: AA Gold, WN A+ & CP, HH Diamond, Hyatt Platinum, National Executive Elite
Posts: 3,246
I do sit next to the person I'm assisting. I sit across the aisle so I can quickly and easily get up if they need something or need help standing and getting into the aisle.
We don't take the bulkhead row as we are considerate of those that cannot preboard and might think of the bulkhead as premium seats. We cannot take the exit row, nor would we. We simply sit in the first two aisle seats that are across from each other. Usually row 2 or 3. I'm not sure how less selfish I can be and still help the person I'm assisting.
I get that people abuse the system. I don't have an answer for that but to group all preboarders together and denigrate them further by requiring that they should be afforded less accommodations than an able-bodied person is unbelievably small-minded.
"One of you must sit in a middle seat."
"You have to go to the back of the plane."
"You have to wait till everyone else gets off."
The common phrase that's missing from each of those statements is "because you are disabled". That some people think that's ok is selfish and ignorant.
The policy is whatever a WN spokesperson says it is.
Oct 8, 2016, 1:48 pm
#84
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Dallas
Posts: 130
Oct 8, 2016, 2:42 pm
#85
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Blue Ridge, GA
Posts: 5,513
Occupying the middle seat leaves only a single passenger inconvenienced.
Even the "unbelievably small minded" have a call button if they need something.
Oct 8, 2016, 2:47 pm
#86
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 2,042
Clearly you don't. Again, I'm not being disrespectful, just pointing out that by your own admission you don't know. If you think that traveling with an 83 y.o. who was denied early boarding qualifies you in any way, that just proves you don't understand the issue.
Age has nothing to do with it. My 93 y.o. aunt would put many of us to shame as far as physical and mental ability. She would not ask for, nor would she need early boarding. Just because I might travel with her and she would actually be denied early boarding doesn't make me any sort of expert.
What does is traveling with someone who truly has a disability. Doesn't matter whether they are 93, 39, or even 9.
By your logic, if someone wealthy doesn't pay taxes because of some shady accounting, the rest of us who want to save on our taxes should suffer and pay more to discourage other people from cheating on their taxes.
I would love to be in a position where sitting in a middle seat was an option. The person I travel with cannot easily get into or out of their seat on their own. While you, an expert in your own mind, cannot fathom this, the person I sometimes travel with cannot sit in the middle seat without experiencing some pain because of they way they would have to turn/walk/shuffle/slide into the seat. If I sit in the middle I can't be standing in the aisle to help them get into and out of their seat. And helping them doesn't mean holding their hand. It means physically supporting their body weight to minimize pain and to prevent a fall.
As for your thought that I'm getting something valuable, well, all I can say is that is simply ignorant. How is a disability something valuable? I know you are talking about getting on early but to suggest that someone disabled should accept a mild restriction is just asinine. They already have to accept a severe lifetime and lifestyle restriction but that's not enough for you. You want them or the person that is only there because they need help to accept an additional restriction? Here's an idea. Why don't you suggest that the frail, the infirm, the crippled, the mentally ill, etc, just be rounded up and be kept out of sight. I mean, come on, one of them might sit in an aisle seat and only leave 55 other aisle seats on the plane. Oh the horror!!
And I should pay a price to move up in the boarding line? Here's a newsflash for you I AM ALREADY PAYING A PRICE. Your statement doesn't sound heartless, it just sounds ignorant. You are so focused on someone getting something you feel they don't deserve you're missing the point that they've potentially lost far more than you think they are getting. Needing to board early is not a right, nor is it a privilege. It's simply something that some people have to do to be able to travel in a reasonably pain free way and a way to minimize the hassles that already occur when traveling.
I hope you never have to experience a true need to preboard because I don't wish that on anyone. I can only hope that maybe, just maybe you'll be a little less selfish and a little more understanding when someone really needs to preboard. Yes, you might have to sit one row further back. It won't materially affect your life. Trust me.
Age has nothing to do with it. My 93 y.o. aunt would put many of us to shame as far as physical and mental ability. She would not ask for, nor would she need early boarding. Just because I might travel with her and she would actually be denied early boarding doesn't make me any sort of expert.
What does is traveling with someone who truly has a disability. Doesn't matter whether they are 93, 39, or even 9.
By your logic, if someone wealthy doesn't pay taxes because of some shady accounting, the rest of us who want to save on our taxes should suffer and pay more to discourage other people from cheating on their taxes.
I would love to be in a position where sitting in a middle seat was an option. The person I travel with cannot easily get into or out of their seat on their own. While you, an expert in your own mind, cannot fathom this, the person I sometimes travel with cannot sit in the middle seat without experiencing some pain because of they way they would have to turn/walk/shuffle/slide into the seat. If I sit in the middle I can't be standing in the aisle to help them get into and out of their seat. And helping them doesn't mean holding their hand. It means physically supporting their body weight to minimize pain and to prevent a fall.
As for your thought that I'm getting something valuable, well, all I can say is that is simply ignorant. How is a disability something valuable? I know you are talking about getting on early but to suggest that someone disabled should accept a mild restriction is just asinine. They already have to accept a severe lifetime and lifestyle restriction but that's not enough for you. You want them or the person that is only there because they need help to accept an additional restriction? Here's an idea. Why don't you suggest that the frail, the infirm, the crippled, the mentally ill, etc, just be rounded up and be kept out of sight. I mean, come on, one of them might sit in an aisle seat and only leave 55 other aisle seats on the plane. Oh the horror!!
And I should pay a price to move up in the boarding line? Here's a newsflash for you I AM ALREADY PAYING A PRICE. Your statement doesn't sound heartless, it just sounds ignorant. You are so focused on someone getting something you feel they don't deserve you're missing the point that they've potentially lost far more than you think they are getting. Needing to board early is not a right, nor is it a privilege. It's simply something that some people have to do to be able to travel in a reasonably pain free way and a way to minimize the hassles that already occur when traveling.
I hope you never have to experience a true need to preboard because I don't wish that on anyone. I can only hope that maybe, just maybe you'll be a little less selfish and a little more understanding when someone really needs to preboard. Yes, you might have to sit one row further back. It won't materially affect your life. Trust me.
Seems like a bulkhead row could work for many who genuinely need special boarding or special seating, so maybe it ought to be reservable by those who have a doctor' note or a handicap parking tag or some kind of verification. Others can climb across a preboarder in the aisle seat of a bulkhead row so maybe the middle seat would work for the assistant in that row, likewise anyone else could get out without discomoding the preboarder.
Do you have any good ideas yourself?
Oct 8, 2016, 3:57 pm
#87
Moderator: Southwest Airlines, Capital One
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: California
Programs: WN Companion Pass, A-list preferred, Hyatt Globalist; United Club Lietime (sic) Member
Posts: 21,625
This is a nearly universal principle on the Internet. Everyone should share my opinion on every issue. Anyone who claims to disagree is ignorant or deluded and needs to be shouted down. Needless to say, that sort of "discussion" persuades no one.
Oct 8, 2016, 4:51 pm
#88
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: St. Louis, MO
Programs: Southwest Companion Pass
Posts: 790
Hey, here's an idea, no one and I mean no one gets to preboard. If you're that dammed handicapped maybe you shouldn't be traveling to begin with. Just move into the old folks home now.
Oct 8, 2016, 8:22 pm
#89
Join Date: May 2005
Location: PHX
Programs: AA Gold, WN A+ & CP, HH Diamond, Hyatt Platinum, National Executive Elite
Posts: 3,246
I'm trying to inconvenience as few as possible. At most I'm inconveniencing two people. The two that might sit in the middle and window in the row that has my companion. Not sure how your math works that I've inconvenienced four people.
You obviously have good reasons for preboarding and wanting the aisles across seats that you do. What people resent is the abuse of preboarding by people who just want a better seat without paying, and we offered what we think are some ways how to discourage that.
Seems like a bulkhead row could work for many who genuinely need special boarding or special seating, so maybe it ought to be reservable by those who have a doctor' note or a handicap parking tag or some kind of verification. Others can climb across a preboarder in the aisle seat of a bulkhead row so maybe the middle seat would work for the assistant in that row, likewise anyone else could get out without discomoding the preboarder.
Do you have any good ideas yourself?
Seems like a bulkhead row could work for many who genuinely need special boarding or special seating, so maybe it ought to be reservable by those who have a doctor' note or a handicap parking tag or some kind of verification. Others can climb across a preboarder in the aisle seat of a bulkhead row so maybe the middle seat would work for the assistant in that row, likewise anyone else could get out without discomoding the preboarder.
Do you have any good ideas yourself?
I don't take the bulkhead row because some people consider that a premium seat. I'm not interested in taking that away from someone that couldn't preboard. I'm trying to be as fair as I can but still take care of the person I'm traveling with. I realize not everyone thinks that way and I can't change that but I can be as considerate and unobtrusive as possible when I travel.
Like I said, I don't have an answer that complies with current laws and regulations.
I hope you're kidding but if not, then you're a moron. Not everyone that is disabled is old. We can't all be perfect like you.
Oct 8, 2016, 9:30 pm
#90
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Blue Ridge, GA
Posts: 5,513
I'm not interested in taking that away from someone that couldn't preboard. I'm trying to be as fair as I can but still take care of the person I'm traveling with. I realize not everyone thinks that way and I can't change that but I can be as considerate and unobtrusive as possible when I travel.
.
.
Mobility-limited people are happy to avail themselves of the privilege of free early boarding while at the same time immediately move to disembark the instant the seat belt sign is turned off.
The closest you'll ever get to the airline doing anything is when when those waiting for wheelchairs clog the jetway.