danielonn

If you want to get a better seat on WN without paying the extra cost of Early Bird Checkin or if you are not an A List member request a wheelchair or special service when booking your ticket. Southwest cannot ask you about your disability. For all they know you have a slight visual impairment or hurt your back. Heck you could wear sunglasses and they think you have a visual impairment.

Voilla your bulkhead seat or seat towards the front is yours each and every time. This tip is for FlyerTalkers only especially those who are fed up with unassigned seats, gate agents not following the protocol etc.
My friend suggested this. You won't feel bad as you are already paying a lot to fly WN. Save the $10 per segment. You see WN will start assigning seats when they see us FTers save the $10 and get pre-boarded.

I have a visual impairment where I need the special service and I request it when I book. I then inform the checkin attendant that I have requested a wheelchair for my visual impairment and then I get the Blue Pre-board thing at the gate and am free to go to anywhere in the airport etc. When its time to go I can pick any seat towards the front minus the Emergency Exit.

This trick works great if you have a tight connection. BTW you can print your boarding pass from home.

Works every time.

Alpha

I think this is a bizzare and unethical suggestion.

lil Gophee

Boooo. Bad advice. It may work but I have issues with this. Not what flyertalk is about.

Campath

Right, because all other pax are traveling for free. You are the only one who has paid to fly.

danielonn

I told my friend you need to be ethical. He wanted to save the money. I guess he needs some FT training. If he will join he will learn lol. As I truly have a documented condition after a corneal transplant where my vision changes I am not guilty when I request the service its so helpful when traveling. As for my friend he needs to enter the Peanut Jailhouse for 10 days of Southwest Ethics Training taught by Colleen Barett and Mike Carr from Airline lol.

sctn8gp

i sure hope this is some kind of joke i ain't gettin.....

DoctorK

GottaLuvCruising

It's a shame WN can't require proof of disability as there are a lot of folks who take advantage of this (narcissism at its best).

dlaue

You have comitted the crime of fraud to avoid the fee.

Say Hi to Lindsay Lohan for us.

Oh, and you will suffer bad karma too.

Mr. Vker

This is a great idea....I decided to use it locally. I drew a picture of a wheelchair to hang from my rearview window and park in handicap spots everywhere I go.

My mother-in-law DOES need to pre-board due to a REAL disability.

to the OP. A true slimeball move.

ursine1

Seriously, people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)

Amicus

Errr, the OP here is the same person who asked for FT members (on Coupon Connection) to GIVE him free miles (for nothing in return) so that he can fly BUSINESS CLASS for free overseas.

pinworm

This is no secret. I see people pulling this all the time. Funny though, they need a wheelchair on, but not off.

I say, if you board early, you get off last. If you get on with a wheel chair, you have to wait to deplane with one. Not just to get the scammers, but because those who actually DO need help take more time.

PTravel

This is terrible advice. I pay extra specifically to get a better choice of seat. I'd be furious if I could identify someone who was trying to game the system in this way by cheating me. I find this attitude increasingly typical of a specific generation, and it's not a pretty a thing -- it has gone a long way towards making the world a lot more unpleasant.

braddqq

You are probably thinking that this isn't unethical if you always let the "real" handicapped people in front of you - where it becomes a problem is if every able-bodied person starts to do this, so handicapped people ARE burdened by many people going in front of them. It's a trend that you wouldn't want to start - especially if you ever become disabled and really do need to board first... not to mention the people who paid $10 out of pocket or worked hard for A-list.

p.s. wife was in a wheelchair for a few months, so I truly understand what disabled people need to go through.