My SWA experience last week...

[kmermaid]

This post is not a complaint in anyway, I'm just posting my experience. Had A23 and 25 leaving PHL at 9:20 on 11/8. Didn't seem like a full flight, until near boarding when a group of handicapped people going to disney got in the blue sleeve line. This is no lie there were over 70 of them. I was laughing inside when the other people in line eyes were bulging that all these people were going in first and they had C's. DH and I did get seats together in the back. Now returning I had to change our flights to a day earlier so we left MCO on 11/12 first flight out at 8:15 I think it was. We got B1 & 2 which I thought was strange seeing that I didn't get the boarding passes until well pass the 24 hr mark. I almost busted at laughing when near boarding (A's were just lining up) when along comes almost the same size group (maybe 20 less) come up and got in line. The A's jaws were dropped and lots of mumbling. I was glad that I didn't pay for EBIC on this trip. DH and I spilt up and i sat in the 3rd row and he got an aisle in the 5th.
Moral: Having an A doesn't mean squat. I also enjoyed seeing how happy these people were with their mickey and princess ears still on. They truly understood the magic of Disney.

 

[Letsbgoofy]

I'm not sure I would have been too happy if I had paid for early boarding. I don't see why the blue sleeve line doesn't board between A & B like families do if they are going to charge $10 for a special boarding pass. I wouldn't pay for early boarding anyway, but I could see how that would annoy people who had. Not saying it's right to feel that way, but people are people.

 

[clanmcculloch]

I'm not sure I would have been too happy if I had paid for early boarding. I don't see why the blue sleeve line doesn't board between A & B like families do if they are going to charge $10 for a special boarding pass. I wouldn't pay for early boarding anyway, but I could see how that would annoy people who had. Not saying it's right to feel that way, but people are people.

SWA does not charge $10 for a special boarding pass. SWA charges $10 to check you in automatically at 36 hours before your flight which is 12 hours before those who don't pay can check in. That's all you're paying for with EBCI.

The point of the blue sleeve is that there's a special need to board before everybody else. If a person needs to be wheeled in a wheelchair onto the plane, it becomes much more difficult to navigate that chair with people on board already. If somebody has an oxygen canister then it could be dangerous trying to situate equipement and tubes with people moving around. If a person has life threatening nut allergies then it's difficult to move around sufficiently to get the seat, table, etc cleaned. If a person has mobility problems then they likely need to sit near a bathroom as well as not have to travel down the length of the plane.

I do think it is important that when there are a lot of people using the pre-boarding the the airline is very strict about the only one person accompanying the person with the special need rule. I wonder if in OP's case people were boarding with their entire families and the GA wasn't doing anythign about that?

 

[crashbb]

I do think it is important that when there are a lot of people using the pre-boarding the the airline is very strict about the only one person accompanying the person with the special need rule. I wonder if in OP's case people were boarding with their entire families and the GA wasn't doing anythign about that?

It sounded to me like they were a group of people with disabilities all traveling together. Perhaps a group home or community group of some sort. Or just a group that got together. Like a school group traveling - just one who happens to be composed of people needing special accommodations to board.

 

[kmermaid]

It sounded to me like they were a group of people with disabilities all traveling together. Perhaps a group home or community group of some sort. Or just a group that got together. Like a school group traveling - just one who happens to be composed of people needing special accommodations to board.

Yes is was a special needs group. Each person had a chaparone with them. Also when we landed the FA asked that the group wait until everyone else had exited the plane. Not everyone had wheelchairs, most were not.

 

[prncess674]

I don't see why the blue sleeve line doesn't board between A & B like families do

Well I travel with my father who is a double amputee. We wheel him to the entrance where he then needs to transfer to an aisle chair. We then need to transfer him to the aisle chair which can fit down the aircraft aisle and facilitates a sideways transfer. We generally use the first row since it is easier for him to navigate and since it is the bulkhead others can get up from the window. If we were to board a regular row the window and middle passenger would be trapped since he can't get up. If we had to board between A&B the first row would already be scooped up and it IS a process to board him. After I get him situated I then have to deplane and breakdown the wheelchair for transport and bring all the extra hanging wheelchair parts in the overhead bin. Family boarding is much different than wheelchair boarding and should NOT be lumped together.

 

[backyardponder]

How wonderful that this group was able to go see the Mouse. I hope they had a good time.

 

[AlexDurrani]

The thing with blue sleeve pax is that swa wants to make sure they are close to the front as possible so that they can turn the planes around quicker. One other thing is many of the pax that are required by swa to buy extra seats because of their size must board early to ensure they get a seat beside them open.

 

[disfan07]

I don't see why the blue sleeve line doesn't board between A & B like families do if they are

Because the blue sleeve means pre-board. If it was for boarding in between group A and B, it would be absolutely pointless. The whole reason I pre-board is so that I can wipe down the seat, tray table, etc before I sit down because I have a severe peanut allergy. You probably wouldnt be too happy if I held up the boarding process by blocking the aisle to do that during regular boarding. It gives me an extra few minutes to get situated wihtout holding up regular boarding.

An dyou dont pay for early boarding. You pay so that you dont have to be at the computer 24 hours ahead of time to check in yourself. There is no guarantee that you will even get an A boarding pass with EBCI. It's called early bird check-in. Not early boarding.