heads up cautionary airline tale

[pickles]

I never knew this could happen so i thought I would warn others.

we flew MCO back to MCI just this week we used southwest and got B1-B6 seats

DME got us to the airport on time and while security was grueling we got thru that had time for a quick bite to eat and got to our gate #128

we had checked the flight board about 30 minutes before our flight. it showed our flight delayed by about 5 minutes and gate 128

so, we sat and waited..and waited

I got up to check the board again at our scheduled departure time as I couldnt see any real movement around our gate. I had to re read the board twice..they had changed our gate!!! My mom checked the board to make sure I wasnt reading it wrong..so we went racing down to #102 to find them loading..we made it in just before they boarded C. with 6 of us we wound up scattered around the plane. my daughter(13) had sneezing fits possibly allergy related and not cold related..we arent sure it stopped as soon as we got home..anyways she wound up between 2 people who 20 minutes into the flight threw her out of the seat..literally. The hostess brought her down to me and made people sitting next to me move and put her with me

anyways, the point of my caution is check your flight board frequently. They didnt make any announcements that we heard. I was not talking with anyone nor was my mom..6 of us in our group and not one of us heard any flight/gate changes

we almost missed our flight

This is the first time I have been let down by SWA. The flight attendants werent as good as I have had at other times. I think the one girl was pretty new, but even without that. I just cant imagine what things would have been for us if we had missed that flight as it was the last nonstop direct flight for the day to our airport

 

[a1tinkfans]

Wow, so glad you did not miss your flight. What a nightmare that would have been. I am surprised at that scenario and I too would be very disappointed with SW. We fly them exclusively and we have been delayed, but heard them make announcements over a PA system at MCO. That was weather related, I wonder if thats why
Wow, perhaps consider dropping them a line and explain what happened...curious to see what they say!
And I hope your daughter is okay, poor kid and to not be near her own family UGH....I keep say I am going to do that Extra $10 thingy but have not, may be I will this time!
Glad you got home safe and hope your vacation was good!
And most of all, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to YOU!

 

[DebbieB]

Did you check the board at the gate? I fly alot and that's the first thing I do when I get to the gate is make sure it shows my city. Gate changes happen alot, perhaps the plane at 128 was delayed getting out, so they moved your plane to another open gate. If you had not shown up at your gate by the time everyboarded, they probably would have made an announcement with your names that could be heard all along the concourse.

 

[pickles]

we heard them call different people and make different announcements, but heard nothing related to our flight.
I know without a doubt that 128 was our original gate. i assume the lateness of the plane is what caused the gate change
when i saw the changed gate I went up to the swa desk that is right there to confirm the change..first guy had no clue what i was talking about and just then a announcement came across. The other girl checked and confirmed the gate change.
Obviously, other people figured out where to go as they were ahead of us..so maybe we just didnt hear the announcement, but I dont know why not. we were sitting in the section for gate 129 which in this case was right next to 128 (gate 129 is at the end of the hall and 128 kind of in the corner) So, maybe the annoucment could only be heard in the 128 section? either way..check your flight boards regular!!

that is a good idea about emailing them..maybe it will help others

 

[seashoreCM]

When you saw the time getting close to departure and nobody at the gate you are sitting near, that should arouse suspicion. Or was there an illuminated sign at the gate showing the flight number for some other destination city?

I 2 people who 20 minutes into the flight threw her out of the seat..literally. The hostess brought her down to me and made people sitting next to me move and put her with met

Hey, amazing way to get to sit together and not pay the early boarding fee.
Now how do you think the person sitting next to you originally, felt?

 

[Allison]

This happened the last time I flew after we were already at the gate. No announcement, nothing. The information on the gate board wasn't changed either because another flight must not have been coming into that gate for awhile.

I began to sense something didn't seem quite right and caught the change after looking at the departure board.

 

[goofy4tink]

That has happened to me before. Now, I am obsessive about watching the boards/displays, just in case. I know that when my dd and I last checked the gate assignement, when we arrived at the airport, it was one particular gate. We got to the gate, after getting lunch, and took seats. After about 30 mins, it occured to me that there just weren't that many other people sitting down...with about 50 mins to boarding. I checked the gate assignements again, and lo and behold, our gate had changed.
It really does pay to keep checking.

 

[pickles]

When you saw the time getting close to departure and nobody at the gate you are sitting near, that should arouse suspicion. Or was there an illuminated sign at the gate showing the flight number for some other destination city?

Hey, amazing way to get to sit together and not pay the early boarding fee.
Now how do you think the person sitting next to you originally, felt?

there were people sitting in the section for 128 which is why we sat in the 129 section. We just didjnt see ther usual activity..like a pilot etc.. so we started getting suspicious. SWA seems to load folks pretty quick and since the flight was running a little late, I didnt get overly concerned at first. I guess it never crossed my mind they would change the gate..never had that happen and never had someone tell me it could happen

I suspect the guy sitting next to me was happy to move. I know I was happy to have him move as he really should have had 2 seats to himself..I will take my sneezing daughter who takes half a seat to the guy who took up his seat and mine

 

[DebbieB]

I suspect the guy sitting next to me was happy to move. I know I was happy to have him move as he really should have had 2 seats to himself..I will take my sneezing daughter who takes half a seat to the guy who took up his seat and mine

I bet the people who wanted your daughter moved weren't happy to get the big guy between them. Unless there were other open seats that he got moved to.

 

[pickles]

I bet the people who wanted your daughter moved weren't happy to get the big guy between them. Unless there were other open seats that he got moved to.

Oh that would have been bad! He would have been stuck in a middle seat. No, my son was sitting behind us and he moved to the front somewhere(not the same seat dd came from) and the big guy sat behind us. The stewardess really did a hash job to start with as she was going to stick my daughter behind me next to another stranger. I kept arguing with her that was foolish and that the big guy should move at least the sneezing kid would have been kept away from strangers that way.

I feel for everyone as it wasnt a nice situation. We had gotten a decent enough boarding number we could have all sat together and avoided headaches all around, by not realizing gates can be changed less than 30 minutes from flight time it bumped our party of 6 into sitting in between different folks and 2 unlucky people got my dd

It all worked out in the end, but it was rough there for a bit.

 

[toywaltz]

Was this Thursday around 3-4pm? I was at gate 129 and because of storms there were a lot of delays for connecting flights. They were moving gates around fairly regularly. I heard several announcements of a Kansas City flight moved to gate 102. We were sitting right by the loading boards at 129. There was a New Orleans flight they switched gates about 4 times. I always wonder how the folks sitting there with their IPODS ever hear anything. Sometimes it's hard to hear the announcements without earphones blaring away.

 

[pickles]

Was this Thursday around 3-4pm? I was at gate 129 and because of storms there were a lot of delays for connecting flights. They were moving gates around fairly regularly. I heard several announcements of a Kansas City flight moved to gate 102. We were sitting right by the loading boards at 129. There was a New Orleans flight they switched gates about 4 times. I always wonder how the folks sitting there with their IPODS ever hear anything. Sometimes it's hard to hear the announcements without earphones blaring away.

yes it was! I was the red head mullet style hair, 4 annoying kids(all older) I didnt have any ear plugs and wasnt talking to anyone, but was reading email. Mom was just sitting there. we were in the seats right next to section 128
I do have to assume others heard the announcements as they were at the gate, no clue why we didnt

 

[Deesknee]

This happened to us once with SW also. Almost exact same situation. Our family of 6 were sitting waiting for our flight, that we had verified at check in. Then verified again at the gate. We had plenty of people come around us. Dh verified again on way to the restrooms. I checked again, while wondering around. None of us heard any announcements. (although 2 of the teens had headsets in.) Again, people kept coming to our gate, then we began to notice, some of the people we had noticed we no longer sitting there any more. DH checked the boards again & the gate board. The gate board was unchanged. The main board had our flight at another gate!! The plane was boarded, and the flight attendant gave us a dirty look when we apologized and told her we were at the original gate, which board was still saying that flight was departing there, and heard no announcement. She was very abrupt about gate checking DD's stroller. Other than that the flight and attendants were pleasant. But, DH is very hesitant to fly SW again. I would, but I would be very careful, as I am now with all flights. Who wants to be stuck at an airport when they are supposed to be in WDW?!!

 

[seashoreCM]

I suspect the guy sitting next to me was happy to move. I know I was happy to have him move as he really should have had 2 seats to himself..I will take my sneezing daughter who takes half a seat to the guy who took up his seat and mine

OT: You should have started a new independent fire (i.e. this is not adding flames to the gate change issue) Raised an issue, bringing the captain and then the ground complaint resolution officer into the picture if needed, prior to departure, about this big guy taking part of your seat and that you need a different seat. (This was before the sneezing fit as described began.)

the flight attendant gave us a dirty look when we apologized and told her we were at the original gate, which board was still saying that flight was departing there, and heard no announcement. She was very abrupt about gate checking DD's stroller.?!!

The airline should be doing the apologizing, perhaps in response to a snail mail letter after the fact.

 

[emmabelle]

we made it in just before they boarded C. with 6 of us we wound up scattered around the plane.

nobody got to sit together at first? Ughhh...I wasn't going to buy the EBCI because it would add an additional $80 onto our trip, and I thought if I could just get B's, I'd be set. We are the early morning flight down and late flight home, so I was thinking those flights would be less crowded.

 

[pickles]

nobody got to sit together at first? Ughhh...I wasn't going to buy the EBCI because it would add an additional $80 onto our trip, and I thought if I could just get B's, I'd be set. We are the early morning flight down and late flight home, so I was thinking those flights would be less crowded.

we were the start of c and we got 2 seats together, 2 seats together and then single, single

really in the scheme of things we were surprised to see how many odd number people there were ahead of us..they take the window seat and the end seat and leave the middle open considering how many rows were like this I am surprised..all those people were on their own or in families with odd numbers? seems a bit hard to believe. I assume they had hoped they would keep the middle seat open and space for themselves. Our flight was pretty full so their hopes were in vain

 

[LilyWDW]

But, DH is very hesitant to fly SW again

It's not just SW that this can happen with. While it isn't something that seems to happen all that often, it can happen. Happened to me a few years ago with a Delta (I think, I know it was NOT SW) flight. Luckily I caught it early, but I do know that there were some passengers who hadn't realized it.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

If they had paid the $10 for early boarding, they would have missed it because of the gate change. They also missed their B boarding call.

Glad you made the flight!

 

[dburg30]

If they had paid the $10 for early boarding, they would have missed it because of the gate change. They also missed their B boarding call.

Glad you made the flight!

Exactly, EBCI wouldnt have made any difference if you didnt know your gate had changed! If they would have known it changed they were at the start of B boarding and would have had no problems sitting together. Just glad you realized something wasnt right and got on the plane.

 

[2DisPrincesses]

Happened to us years ago (United maybe?). Luckily, it was before we had kids because DH and I had to literally run to our new gate with a bunch of other people.