But my point is... just because someone may look healthy to *you* doesn't mean they don't have legitimate medical issues and are scamming the system. And not everyone's medical needs are met identically....so telling someone with particular medical needs to stay seated potentially another 15+ minutes can be a problem.
Did you read goofy4tink's post fully? I feel like you took some sentences to too much heart and maybe ignored others? Because below is what I thought was really relevant.
...If they need extra time getting onto the plane, then they need extra time getting off.....
It only stands to reason, right?
And with you, if you need to move, if you need to get up, etc, why is preboarding important for you? Does'nt that keep you in a small, confined, space, longer than would be comfy? Just like with kids, it would seem to meet your needs more, from what you have said, to wait. I'm sure there's more to your story, since you choose (it seems) to preboard. But going from what you said, the two don't make sense to me?
And I'm not sure goofy was trying to be offensive; I think she's thinking "preboarding is for those who need more time, so shouldn't they need more time at the end as well?"
And then she gave something she witnessed. You didn't mention that part of what she said.
There was the one time I was on a SW flight....had an A16 slot...lucky me. There were about 8 medical preboards. I followed immediately after them. Well.....the FA was telling one of those med preboards that they couldn't sit in the exit row...that they needed to be able to help in an emergency. That older gentleman informed the FA that he, and his wife, were more than capable of helping out in any emergency situation. She sweetly told them that in that case, they shouldn't have had to board with medical preboards, and that they had to move, immediately. The gentleman started to argue, the FA followed with a 'if you don't move sir, I will be forced to call security and have you removed from the plane'. They moved.
That particular situation seems a bit odd, yes?
But does witnessing one questionable moment mean she questions it all? She also metnioned her stepmom, who pushes the limits. But that doesn't mean she questions strangers.
Heck, until recently I would say that my MIL totally pushes the HA placard, since she always wants us to park there when we drive her places. Until recently it was better to drop her off at the entrance while I go park somewhere different. Becaues that was lesss walking for her. Recently she started falling more often, and I don't want my son to be in charge of her safety while I park or get the car. Also she renewed the placards and got two, this time. (she wanted me to park in spots without her placard in my car, because if I took her car's placard then she would have to move her car at her building)
Just because I felt she was pushing it doesn't mean I'm not a huge advocate for others. I constantly defend the use of non-stereotypical service dogs, because I know FULL well that what we think of as a service dog (a lab or GS with a seeing eye dog vest on, who is perfect in every way) isn't always what a service dog looks like to others. Even though I was negatively impacted by a total cheater with so-called service dogs, figuring out what I could do (nothing more than I was...the apartment management wasn't doing anything after 2 years of documented issues, the likes of which would have gotten a human booted long before, and therefore should have gotten the "service" dogS booted as well) led me to know quite a bit about the subject, and now I'm a vehement and staunch supporter and defender of even untraditional service dogs.
Just because we know of abuse doesn't mean we only see abuse.
With groups of ten you cannot buy the preboarding thing.
There are some nice pluses to booking with SW group travel.
"Groups receive access to special discounts off published fares through our dedicated Group Travel Reservations Centers. In addition, there are no Saturday night stay or minimum stay requirements and no blackout dates."
It looks like no EBCI with group travel discounts is still the policy.
"At this time, EarlyBird Check-In is not available to Group passengers. We recommend that all Group passengers check in online 24 hours prior to departure to provide the best chance of improving their boarding position and seat selection onboard the aircraft."
Are we sure that the person that mentioned groups of ten booked with "group travel"? Is that something a family, no matter how large the family is, would book with? I hope they got a deal!
Or is it possible they only *think* they can't get EB? Hopefully this isn't a situation of only thinking they can't get it; would hate to think they could, but they didn't try!
