Why not Board BS, A+, and A before preboards?
Aug 22, 2019, 9:33 am
#16
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simple answer to op's question is that this is required by us law. Period.
The entire debate about whether there are passengers who abuse us law and the way it is administered at wn because wn does not assign seats has been covered in at least 50 threads and really has been beaten to death.
The entire debate about whether there are passengers who abuse us law and the way it is administered at wn because wn does not assign seats has been covered in at least 50 threads and really has been beaten to death.
Aug 22, 2019, 10:23 am
#17
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,570
I was a regular in seat 7D (bulkhead in Y) on the AA Mad Dogs for several years. A couple times a year, the GA would call me up and quietly swap my 7D for a comp upgrade even when I had not requested one and she hadn't started working the upgrades yet. It was inevitably to reassign a disabled person to 7D.
It was a kinder, gentler travel world then and I was Platinum. If it happened today, I imagine my new seat assignment would be moving backwards, not forward. It's a slim risk of booking bulkhead, not enough to prevent me from selecting that seat if I can, but I know getting bumped out of it is possible.
Aug 22, 2019, 2:46 pm
#18
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: PHL/EWR
Programs: AA, US, WN, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Plat
Posts: 1,528
My wife uses wheelchair assistance because walking is not nearly as much of an issue for her as standing for an extended period of time in security.
It was funny, a couple of years ago after a follow up visit at Johns Hopkins following one of her two spinal surgeries she walked back to the parking garage with me using a walker (I had dropper her off). When the elevator opened in the parking garage and she recognized our SUV she pushed her walker aside and dashed over to the car. I stood there staring at her walker next to the elevator door yelling "Its a miracle - I don't need my walker anymore!". It was so instinctive to her she didn't even realize what she did.
So when you see her pre-board and then walk off the plane it is a miracle - of modern medicine.
Aug 22, 2019, 3:53 pm
#19
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 107
I can't walk and need an aisle chair to get to my seat on every airline except Southwest. My travel manual chair fits through the door of the plane and is able to turn the corner so that my spouse can lift and transfer me from my chair to the aisle bulkhead seat on the left hand side when facing the back of the airplane.
It is much safer for me to not have to transfer twice (from my wheelchair to an aisle chair and then from the aisle chair to the airplane seat). As to boarding first...that works well for the flight crew, as it takes much less time for me to get in my seat than having to use an aisle chair. Plus aisle chairs are narrow and if the plane is full of people, I am going to end up bumping into those people as I am pushed down the aisle of the airplane. Unfortunately, aisle chairs don't push perfectly straight.
I am also always the last one off the flight, as I need to wait until the plane has emptied and my spouse has put my wheelchair back together so we can reverse the order of the way that I board. I hate bulkhead seats, as I love having my stuff underneath the seat in front of me. Unfortunately, the bulkhead seat is the fastest, safest seat for me on Southwest, so that is where I end up.
On other airlines, I am usually assigned the bulkhead (unless it is also an exit row). That's because I can't get up to let the person in the window seat out and the bulkhead gives them more space to maneuver. And the most people I've ever seen preboard has been six (two couples and two people traveling alone). Since I'm first on the plane, it's pretty easy for me to count the number of preboards.
It is much safer for me to not have to transfer twice (from my wheelchair to an aisle chair and then from the aisle chair to the airplane seat). As to boarding first...that works well for the flight crew, as it takes much less time for me to get in my seat than having to use an aisle chair. Plus aisle chairs are narrow and if the plane is full of people, I am going to end up bumping into those people as I am pushed down the aisle of the airplane. Unfortunately, aisle chairs don't push perfectly straight.
I am also always the last one off the flight, as I need to wait until the plane has emptied and my spouse has put my wheelchair back together so we can reverse the order of the way that I board. I hate bulkhead seats, as I love having my stuff underneath the seat in front of me. Unfortunately, the bulkhead seat is the fastest, safest seat for me on Southwest, so that is where I end up.
On other airlines, I am usually assigned the bulkhead (unless it is also an exit row). That's because I can't get up to let the person in the window seat out and the bulkhead gives them more space to maneuver. And the most people I've ever seen preboard has been six (two couples and two people traveling alone). Since I'm first on the plane, it's pretty easy for me to count the number of preboards.
Aug 22, 2019, 4:07 pm
#20
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My wife has epilepsy. She knows from experience that she needs to sit up front and near a window or the motion as we pull back from the gate and taxi will set off episodes for her. She looks fine as she boards. It kills her to know that people are thinking the worst. Sometimes people glare at her.
Truth be told, she’d be happy boarding with me (A-List) but it’s really early or nothing for her.
She only travels a few times a year because of this. The point of all this is to say: I get it and hear you, but try to assume the best. It won’t make you any happier to go on assuming the worst. 🤷.
Truth be told, she’d be happy boarding with me (A-List) but it’s really early or nothing for her.
She only travels a few times a year because of this. The point of all this is to say: I get it and hear you, but try to assume the best. It won’t make you any happier to go on assuming the worst. 🤷.
Since you are A-list, you could board somewhat early, and take a window seat towards the front. Then (God help me for saying this) - you can save a middle seat for her. Nobody wants those anyways. Then when she arrives, she can have the window and you take the middle. Would that work?
Aug 22, 2019, 4:34 pm
#21
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Blue Ridge, GA
Posts: 5,509
Since you are A-list, you could board somewhat early, and take a window seat towards the front. Then (God help me for saying this) - you can save a middle seat for her. Nobody wants those anyways. Then when she arrives, she can have the window and you take the middle. Would that work?
Why a need for any intrigue and strategizing?
Aug 22, 2019, 5:48 pm
#23
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Location: Nashville -Past DL Plat, FO, WN-CP, various hotel programs
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Aug 26, 2019, 5:18 am
#24
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 2
I'd like to weigh in as someone who occasionally pre-boards. I have cancer and late stage Lyme disease. Both are invisible, and regardless of how I feel, I usually look
hale and hearty; and perfectly healthy. I only use pre-boards on bad days, but on those days, they are necessary. I'm one of those healthy looking people pre-boarding.
hale and hearty; and perfectly healthy. I only use pre-boards on bad days, but on those days, they are necessary. I'm one of those healthy looking people pre-boarding.
Aug 26, 2019, 7:26 am
#25
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Blue Ridge, GA
Posts: 5,509
I'd like to weigh in as someone who occasionally pre-boards. I have cancer and late stage Lyme disease. Both are invisible, and regardless of how I feel, I usually look
hale and hearty; and perfectly healthy. I only use pre-boards on bad days, but on those days, they are necessary. I'm one of those healthy looking people pre-boarding.
hale and hearty; and perfectly healthy. I only use pre-boards on bad days, but on those days, they are necessary. I'm one of those healthy looking people pre-boarding.
When a Customer requests to preboard, our Employees will ask 1) do you need assistance boarding the aircraft? and/or 2) do you have a specific seating need to accommodate your disability? If the answer to either question is yes, we must allow the Customer to preboard and we are only able to use these parameters to ascertain the legitimacy of a Customer's preboarding request.
Aug 26, 2019, 9:17 am
#27
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: STL
Programs: Southwest A+/CP, Hilton Diamond, National Executive Elite
Posts: 170
As others have noted, having an assigned bulkhead seat means exactly nothing. It has always been and is still subject to re-seating due to the needs of disabled passengers. I know quite a few people that are elites on DL, AA, etc that don't reserve the bulkhead for this exact reason.
Aug 26, 2019, 1:30 pm
#28
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,286
Aug 26, 2019, 8:28 pm
#30
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,286
I would think this obvious.
I would also think that people would have learned by now the folly in diagnosing others' disability by sight. But I'd apparently be wrong.
