vaikinas2

Quite often, I arrive at least an hour before a Southwest flight with an A boarding pass, only to see a number of bags but no passengers "holding" a spot at the front of the A boarding line. When the aircraft pulls up to the gate, these mysterious people suddenly reunite with their bags, ahead of others who already lined up behind the bags.

Any policies regarding this abuse?

scruffy

If it's any help, here are a couple of older discussions on this issue http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=583590
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=393928

uncertaintraveler

I didn't read the older threads posted above, but in my experience whatever "policies" exist are usually sporadically enforced, depending upon the airport. In BNA, the gate agents are pretty rabid about not letting people drop a bag off and then wander around. In other locations, however, they don't seem to care at all.

I guess if you really wanted to push the issue, you could always alert security to the unattended bag, but doing so would probably be a bit extreme and (most likely) detrimental to you as well.

carraher

I guess if you really wanted to push the issue, you could always alert security to the unattended bag, but doing so would probably be a bit extreme and (most likely) detrimental to you as well.[/QUOTE]


My wife got fed up a couple of times by this ploy with differing results. The first time, after listening to the "report any unattended items message" she convinced security to do something about it. They waited a few minutes and then picked up the bags. The owners, seeing this, immediately came over to claim ownership but were told that the carryons would have to go through security again. As soon as they left with the security officials, people began to lineup normally. The second time it happened with less than satisfactory results. The security official said that since there was a SWA agent at the gate, it was OK. The bags were unattended at least 20 minutes and the owners assumed their places at the head of the line, ignoring the glares of all behind them.

Boraxo

It's not "abuse" - they undisputably got to the front of the line before you. If you want to be first, you will have to arrive sooner.

Personally I think it is idiotic to make everyone "stand" in line when people can just as easily mark their place in the queue in an organized fashion and be comfortable at the same time. Not to mention the intelligence of those who line up early for the A line is questionable at best, given that every single person is guaranteed their first choice of window, aisle or middle. But people are like sheep.

curbcrusher

At the risk of rehashing the older threads, I don't see the harm in stepping in front of the placeholder bags. The line is for passengers, not baggage.

nsx

Reasonable people can differ on this, but I agree that placing a bag in line is conceptually similar to taking a number for service. You establish your arrival time and sit down to wait. If it weren't for the security issue, I believe this method would be acceptable to almost everyone. But the mostly fantasy security issue (has a carry-on ever blown up on the airside?) clouds people's judgment.

The larger problem with placing bags in line is that some passengers possess a suitable bag and some don't.

I don't have a problem with it either way, as long as I have my A.

lewisc

I share that opinion. Luggage is considered "unattended" if it's not within reach.

Just my opinion but getting to the gate early isn't enough, the passenger has to be willing to forgo sitting in a chair. That is to say the passenger has to be willing to stand or sit on the floor.

NSX--I have no problem with SW putting a number machine by the gate area, if they want to use that system. I think early arrivals should chose, sit in a chair or wait in line. Late arrivals wind up without a place to sit and are in the end of line.

To finish your analagy, the deli counter in some supermarkets have a number dispensors and some don't. I've never seen customers try to use a shopping cart to hold a place in line in those stores that don't use numbers. The customer has to physically wait in line.

Hartmann

It is abuse.. It's like me going to the grocery store, getting in the check-out line, leaving my cart there and going next door for a sandwich.

Everyone wants on the plane first, which makes no sense to me... The only coveted spots on the entire plane are the first row and the exit row, that's twelve people. Every other seat is exactly the same. I was in boarding group C out of DAL and got an exit row, aisle seat, completely taking me off-guard. The line doesn't matter, people have just been conditioned to get up and stand there for 30 minutes.

xanthuos

I've done this before when I can sit within proximity of my bag.

Whether or not they are physically sitting or standing in line, as Boraxo said, they got there before you to secure that place in line. I don't see how it is different from two or more people traveling together and one person being left to watch 5+ bags in line, while the others go for something to eat or use the facilities, etc.

ymn

I agree with the previous poster. I see no harm in placing your bag in line when there are empty chairs nearby. But, it would not be right to leave the bag and then go shopping.

nd_eric_77

I respectfully disagree. True, the 12 +/- bulkhead and exit row aisle / window seats are the best (which instills a degree of value in being one of the very first A pax, especially on a turnaround flight - the pre-boards may well snap up the bulkhead, but they are specifically forbidden from taking exit-row seats.) Even after the premium seats are snapped up, the additional seats of the jet each have a near-unique relative value level. All aisle seats have equal width and near-equal pitch, BUT Row 2 will deplane slight sooner than Row 3, Row 3 sooner than Row 4, and so-on. Most pax consider aisle and window seats to be inherently more valuable than center seats. Therefore all seats have a slightly different value than other the other seats (except that the value is the same for the equivalent seat on the opposite side - ie: 2A effectively has the same value as 2F). So seats generally have unique paired values; the question is whether the difference in values is negligible - which is a function of both flight length and personal preference. If a pax considers the value difference between seats to be significant enough, he/she may queue up early. If not, he/she will not queue up early.

But back to the original topic. I do a hybrid approach. I place my baggage in the queue, but then I sit in a chair as close as possible to my baggage. When people start to show interest in queuing up, I stand with my baggage.

Hartmann

And therein lies another problem... Yeah, row 2 will deplane more quickly than row 12 but we're all getting off of the plane and if you're waiting for luggage it really doesn't matter what order you get off.

Everyone (on just about every airline) stands up and grabs their bag as quickly as possible like it's a race to see who can get off the plane first and the guy in 31B always thinks he has a shot.

vaikinas2

[/QUOTE]My wife got fed up a couple of times by this ploy with differing results. The first time, after listening to the "report any unattended items message" she convinced security to do something about it. They waited a few minutes and then picked up the bags. The owners, seeing this, immediately came over to claim ownership but were told that the carryons would have to go through security again. As soon as they left with the security officials, people began to lineup normally. The second time it happened with less than satisfactory results. The security official said that since there was a SWA agent at the gate, it was OK. The bags were unattended at least 20 minutes and the owners assumed their places at the head of the line, ignoring the glares of all behind them.[/QUOTE]

Now that's a good idea. Unattended bags could be a security risk. Southwest could have a policy and/or make an announcement not to leave bags unattended in the boarding aisles, otherwise they may have to go through security again.

vaikinas2

I agree, the line is for passengers, not baggage. But these jerks are smart, they place their bags right at the partition rope, and the next ones place theirs right behind. You'd have to move their bags to step in front of them.