Pre - Board
May 6, 2019, 2:45 pm
#76
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: RNO
Programs: AA/DL/UA
Posts: 10,766
People who use a wheelchair so they can pre-board should be required to sit there and be the last to get off.... in a wheelchair. If they complain, "it's for your safety". If you needed a wheelchair to get on, we can't just let you walk out on your own; you might fall and injure yourself, so just sit here and wait a few minutes.
Watch the pre-boarding abuse drop like a rock!
Watch the pre-boarding abuse drop like a rock!
May 6, 2019, 10:22 pm
#78
Join Date: May 2005
Location: PHX
Programs: AA Gold, WN A+ & CP, HH Diamond, Hyatt Platinum, National Executive Elite
Posts: 3,240
People who use a wheelchair so they can pre-board should be required to sit there and be the last to get off.... in a wheelchair. If they complain, "it's for your safety". If you needed a wheelchair to get on, we can't just let you walk out on your own; you might fall and injure yourself, so just sit here and wait a few minutes.
Watch the pre-boarding abuse drop like a rock!
Watch the pre-boarding abuse drop like a rock!
May 6, 2019, 10:27 pm
#79
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: SNA
Programs: Bonvoy LTTE/AMB, AmEx Plat, National EE, WN A-List, CLEAR+, Covid-19
Posts: 4,963
May 6, 2019, 11:36 pm
#80
Join Date: May 2005
Location: PHX
Programs: AA Gold, WN A+ & CP, HH Diamond, Hyatt Platinum, National Executive Elite
Posts: 3,240
to your .Being in a hurry has nothing to do with it unless, oh I don't know, they have a connection. And even if they don't, why should they be treated differently? There are plenty of able bodied people who take longer to get out of their row and get their bag down and hold up the rest of the passengers from getting off. Don't see you advocating for them to remain on the plane till the end.
I suppose ignorance really is bliss.
May 7, 2019, 1:20 am
#81
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: RNO
Programs: AA/DL/UA
Posts: 10,766
MLK happened to say something that fit perfectly here and credit where credit is due. So to your .
Being in a hurry has nothing to do with it unless, oh I don't know, they have a connection. And even if they don't, why should they be treated differently? There are plenty of able bodied people who take longer to get out of their row and get their bag down and hold up the rest of the passengers from getting off. Don't see you advocating for them to remain on the plane till the end.
I suppose ignorance really is bliss.
to your .Being in a hurry has nothing to do with it unless, oh I don't know, they have a connection. And even if they don't, why should they be treated differently? There are plenty of able bodied people who take longer to get out of their row and get their bag down and hold up the rest of the passengers from getting off. Don't see you advocating for them to remain on the plane till the end.
I suppose ignorance really is bliss.
Let's face facts... people abuse the pre-boarding system to get a better seat. They need to be corrected.
May 7, 2019, 4:43 am
#82
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: PHL/EWR
Programs: AA, US, WN, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Plat
Posts: 1,528
- Families using family boarding don't preboard.
- How do you know someone is a "fake wheelchair person?"
- As soon as ignorance becomes a legal disability, you'll be able to preboard, so you've got that going for you at least.
There's no doubt that some people abuse preboarding. That doesn't mean, however, that someone using a wheelchair to board and not using one to get off, isn't legally disabled and more importantly, needs to preboard. The jet bridge is what, 100 feet long give or take? The curb or parking to the plane is what, 2 - 3 times that if you are at MCI, and easily 2 or 3 thousand feet at many airports and even longer at others. I wonder why someone wouldn't need a wheelchair to go 100 feet from the plane to the gate where they can sit, ride a golf cart, wait for the wheelchair that was supposed to be at the door of the plane, etc, but they would need a wheelchair to go the half mile or so from the car to the plane?
I suppose that while using a wheelchair can make a person's hidden disability visible, words can do the same thing for the ignorant. At least there's that to be thankful for.
May 7, 2019, 7:45 am
#83
Join Date: May 2005
Location: PHX
Programs: AA Gold, WN A+ & CP, HH Diamond, Hyatt Platinum, National Executive Elite
Posts: 3,240
Exactly. There are myriad reasons why someone legitimately needs to preboard and use a wheelchair but may not need one just to get off the plane. The entire boarding experience is not the same as the experience getting off the plane, which some people fail to see.
May 10, 2019, 2:25 pm
#84
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: STL, MO-US and A , SWA A-List, Marriott LTTE, Hilton Gold, Hertz PC
Posts: 1,883
I pre-board when I fly with my two autistic boys (once a year) Unless you happen to notice the mild stimming, they could appear normal at first glance but things go south quickly when standing in a que (I have a doctors note that I carry with me) I get a lot of stares usually but I just stare back with my best serial killer look. On our last flight, some nasty hag mumbled something while shaking her head as we passed, it took every once of restraint I had to not punch her in her ugly F’ing face. Unless you have raised a severely autistic child, you can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like just to make it thru the day.
May 10, 2019, 10:51 pm
#85
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 132
I pre-board when I fly with my two autistic boys (once a year) Unless you happen to notice the mild stimming, they could appear normal at first glance but things go south quickly when standing in a que (I have a doctors note that I carry with me) I get a lot of stares usually but I just stare back with my best serial killer look. On our last flight, some nasty hag mumbled something while shaking her head as we passed, it took every once of restraint I had to not punch her in her ugly F’ing face. Unless you have raised a severely autistic child, you can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like just to make it thru the day.
May 11, 2019, 8:16 am
#86
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: STL, MO-US and A , SWA A-List, Marriott LTTE, Hilton Gold, Hertz PC
Posts: 1,883
I haven't flown WN since we outgrew the "families with young children" pre-boarding, but we have several flights coming up this year. I have a son with autism and a daughter with a medical condition that needs monitoring so I want to make sure my husband and I are seated next to a kid, and ideally all 4 of us together (because, let's face it, my husband isn't as experienced to handle either one of them by himself). I called and they simply told me to tell the counter when we arrive, there was nothing they could note on our tickets ahead (though I think there was something I checked about my son's special needs when booking). Anyway, do I need to bring medical paperwork of their dx or dr letters of need?
May 12, 2019, 10:04 am
#87
Join Date: Dec 2018
Programs: UA 1K, DL PM, AA Nobody, Marriott Ambassador Elite
Posts: 563
I almost never fly on WN, but I did this week. I'm a UA or DL guy.
I paid for the EBCI so I could make sure I got an aisle seat and I did both times with an A boarding pass.
At the end of the day, the pre-boarding scammers are liars and thieves who are stealing seats from people with legitimate disabilities or those that pay for an earlier boarding slot.
This is like the frauds with the fake emotional support animals or the lazy losers who steal handicapped spots. Not much we can do about any of it except vent!!!!
I paid for the EBCI so I could make sure I got an aisle seat and I did both times with an A boarding pass.
At the end of the day, the pre-boarding scammers are liars and thieves who are stealing seats from people with legitimate disabilities or those that pay for an earlier boarding slot.
This is like the frauds with the fake emotional support animals or the lazy losers who steal handicapped spots. Not much we can do about any of it except vent!!!!
May 14, 2019, 4:36 pm
#88
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: STL
Programs: Southwest A+/CP, Hilton Diamond, National Executive Elite
Posts: 170
I almost never fly on WN, but I did this week. I'm a UA or DL guy.
I paid for the EBCI so I could make sure I got an aisle seat and I did both times with an A boarding pass.
At the end of the day, the pre-boarding scammers are liars and thieves who are stealing seats from people with legitimate disabilities or those that pay for an earlier boarding slot.
This is like the frauds with the fake emotional support animals or the lazy losers who steal handicapped spots. Not much we can do about any of it except vent!!!!
I paid for the EBCI so I could make sure I got an aisle seat and I did both times with an A boarding pass.
At the end of the day, the pre-boarding scammers are liars and thieves who are stealing seats from people with legitimate disabilities or those that pay for an earlier boarding slot.
This is like the frauds with the fake emotional support animals or the lazy losers who steal handicapped spots. Not much we can do about any of it except vent!!!!
May 14, 2019, 6:50 pm
#89
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Blue Ridge, GA
Posts: 5,502
So not any different than people preboarding on Delta, when Delta also sells priority boarding as an added benefit for a fee? How about the people that sit in your assigned seat before you get there and then try and negotiate with you about why they want/need it more? That's always fun, especially when you have to get the FA involved.
