SW boarding group micro rant

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Im a SW veteran, but 15, 20, 22, 30 aint no biggie to me if someone slips in front of me. Splitting hairs to me. Things are stressful enough.

My husband tries to fly SWA (and it's our preferred airline for leisure) for business (for many reasons) but now that his work is on airline fueling systems sometimes he has to take other airlines, especially if you're doing site work for a particular airline as opposed to an airport. So he went to Seattle last year and flew Alaskan Airlines and while he said the flight was fine he hated the chaotic nature of the boarding. Everyone was all over the place and it made SWA's process look like the most put together thing out there lol. And I know there are those who avoid SWA they despise the lining up in boarding positions so it's def. personal viewpoints.

As a whole when the process goes well it reduces stress for everyone, the gate agent doesn't have to send that B person back out of the line to wait when they are boarding A's, everyone files on through to get their boarding pass scanned, etc. I'm not saying everyone out there is paying super duper attention but majority do tend to keep an awareness of their positions and like I said they do it in a casual way.

From your example the downer is while it may be splitting hairs for you you'd be making a decision for other passengers too. It wouldn't be about someone having A17 and you having A16 and you're like "whatev they can be in front of me".

IME people do try to keep the process in place as best they can and when it isn't that's when the stress is higher. We heard on our flight from my home to Orlando on 1/27 someone with A35 who just lined up at the end of A30 and I think that was an honest mistake they weren't paying attention to the numbers on the pylons but someone was like "oh you gotta go to the other side up in the front." No one was being mean just trying to inform the person. I think in the OP's case the passengers probably knew enough of the process but didn't feel it applied to them, that will rankle people around them.

 

[_19disnA]

The times I have flown on SW, everyone lined up using the correct pre-boarding number and people seemed considerate of others when determining where to stand in line. Occasionally you will find someone who acts like they have never flown before and tries to see what they can get away with. With the way SW flights are 'open seating', it is inconsiderate of those having a lower number if you try to cut in front of them.

 

[hsmamato2]

This is just part of travel on SWA.... there's always a couple in every crowd that play like this.... I've noticed some gate agents send people who 'cut' the line back to where they belong,others just let them thru. Obviously I enjoy it more when they get sent back lol but otherwise I just don't stress about it too much....

 

[canyoncam]

I usually fly solo. Though I stress over getting B30 or lower boarding on my ticket if the flight is longer than 2 hours, I don’t stress once in line. I don’t ask others around me what theirs are unless I come up later and have to find my spot. However my last flight I had B1. Very obvious where to stand and yet the lady who had been standing there when I approached grumbled when I stood in front of her. Really no arguing with number 1 so she did step back. Honestly not sure what people think they can pull at times. Or why if you’re traveling solo, like she was too, why one more seat mattered at less than halfway through boarding?
ETA that it would not have have bothered me seatwise if she hasn’t moved but just principle wise.

 

[dez1978]

It drives me batty. But I'm mostly a rule follower. DH on the other hand, is more laid back and says we are all going to get theere at the same time.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

This is just part of travel on SWA.... there's always a couple in every crowd that play like this.... I've noticed some gate agents send people who 'cut' the line back to where they belong,others just let them thru. Obviously I enjoy it more when they get sent back lol but otherwise I just don't stress about it too much....

I agree. It just makes me wonder, how many people are getting through ahead of their assigned spot? Not that I’d lose sleep over it but just curious.

SW has been lacking in non stop flights for us lately so we’ve been flying on American. They call by boarding group number and I’d guess around half the passengers hover just before the entrance to get in line. It’s so crowded and I’m short so it’s hard to even judge who is hovering and who is last in line to get behind. It’s so annoying and makes SW seem so much more civilized.

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

We fly SW almost exclusively, and we're on their planes a lot, often a couple of round-trips a month. Very occasionally I encounter someone who's confused and asks me to explain what they should be doing, but offhand I can't remember a time when someone just refused to move to the right boarding position.

I know if I was sure someone was trying deliberately push ahead, it would irritate me. If I knew that was happening as I was lining up, I'd just quietly move ahead the couple, and put myself directly behind the person who legitimately had the boarding number just before mine. But my experience is that it wouldn't come to that. I do see agents send people back to where they belong, so I just assume that this is the kind of thing that generally gets taken care of.

Maybe it's just that we're so used to their boarding procedures, but I like SW's method. My experience is that passengers all just politely ask each other for their boarding numbers and sort themselves out with no fuss.

 

[Mischievous Daisy]

My experience is the opposite. People almost always ask what number we are and sort in order. I'm often solo but still have been brought up a rule follower!

Yeah, we also have asked and had others ask us. Traveling is already so stressful, when someone acts like an entitled AH it just makes it worse.

 

[bumbershoot]

I don't know why we can't all just get perfectly in order. It's so easy.

They both kind of shrugged and said "Oh well, it's not a big deal. We're all going to the same place."

Ugh. It's always the people who are ahead of where they should be that say that, in my experience.

This is the type of thing you forget about 20 seconds after it happens. Not still dwelling on a week later.

That's the type of thing YOU forget about that fast. Other people have different brains.

lately have been spending more flying American to avoid the bs.

FWIW the "legacy" airlines involve MORE BS than this. Blocking people from getting through to board in their group because they think you can't possibly be first class (happened to my ex SO many times), lining up up to an hour early, etc etc etc. SW is rarely the best price for me, but the way they board is so much less stressful to me.

Your Seat Number is on your Boarding Card & That is your assigned seat .

If someone is in it ..... Tough Move out Please & go to Your proper seat

While your followup sounds like you didn't know about the boarding positions, it actually works. They don't have assigned seating on the plane, but the boarding groups are assigned standing positions when boarding the plane.

 

[PatMcDuck]

A week ago I checked my husband into a SW flight 24 hours out, and got C 25 (I was at exactly 24 hours too!). It was not an Orlando flight. So I decided to pay $29 for a lower number for him, and was shocked to get him A1. He loved it. He waited until everyone was lined up, and told me he then "strutted" up to his spot (his words). LOL.

He loves the exit row on the aisle like lots of guys, I said it was an early birthday gift. (He said A2 took the other aisle exit row seat across from him).

 

[SkyGuy]

A week ago I checked my husband into a SW flight 24 hours out, and got C 25 (I was at exactly 24 hours too!). It was not an Orlando flight. So I decided to pay $29 for a lower number for him, and was shocked to get him A1. He loved it. He waited until everyone was lined up, and told me he then "strutted" up to his spot (his words). LOL.

He loves the exit row on the aisle like lots of guys, I said it was an early birthday gift. (He said A2 took the other aisle exit row seat across from him).

When we get A1 and A2, we always wait a few moments to line up. I have to admit it disappoints me a little when no one lines up in the A1-A5 spots, so we can’t casually step up there and claim the first two spots.

 

[sam_gordon]

Blocking people from getting through to board in their group because they think you can't possibly be first class (happened to my ex SO many times), lining up up to an hour early, etc etc etc.

I've never had a problem with getting "through" the people standing around. If they want to stand for an hour, go for it. I stay seated until the group before me is called, then start walking up (the group before me is generally a small one, so by the time I get to the "line" area, my group is called).

If you can walk around people in a crowded Disney park, you should be able to walk around people in a gate area.

 

[NJlauren]

A Disney ice queen sings a famous line about what to do here.

Around here we say you should ‘Elsa that stuff’, but I use another not DISbaord approved word.

 

[cruisin5]

I'm sort of surprised they didn't hop in the "requires pre-boarding" group.