Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> due to it's Minnesota mentality. << <chuckle> I love it. Watch out or I'll get our former Governor Jesse "The Body" Ventura after you.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey We fly SWA to Orlando all the time and haven't had a bad experience yet. I just wish they would assign seats instead of letting it be on a first come, first served basis. Last year when we were returning from WDW my 6 year old nephew and I were one of the last people to board, and there weren't two seats available together. He was too scared to sit by himself and I asked to flight attendant if she could make an announcement and ask if anyone could give us two seats together - he was terrified of being alone (and I wouldn't let him sit next to some stranger anyway-you can't trust anyone these days) and it was a good two or three minutes before someone moved so I could sit with him.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost That's just one of the things I love about Jet Blue. You pick out your seating when you buy the online ticket. Wonderful perk!
Originally Posted By 999HAUNTS Ok- here's my take on this. I looked at the still photos: Looked like the dad's / kid's story was full of it. Then I viewed the video: Looked like maybe Tigger was doing a karate-kid move as comedy. Inappropriate? Maybe. If the kid has no sense of humor. Sue-worthy? Definately not. Then I read the incident report: Tigger states the kid put his arm around him to pose for the picture and the kid's arm pulled down on the costume enough to knock Tigger's head piece around and Tigger couldn't breathe. Tigger couldn't see his spotter so he had to frail about for air. I have been choked before, and yes, if Tigger is telling the truth, your body does wail around to try to catch your breath. I viewed the video again and although I didn't notice the headpiece moving around, it did look similar to someone grasping for air.
Originally Posted By danyoung >That's just one of the things I love about Jet Blue. You pick out your seating when you buy the online ticket. Wonderful perk!< Delta and American both will let you pick your seat when you buy online. I agree - it's really nice to get your favorite seat early! And Nikki, I'm also not wild about SW's open seating. It really bothers me to have to show up early at the gate and stand in line to get my boarding pass, and then have to line up again in A, B or C. I'd rather just get to the gate, hang out, and take my time going to my assigned seat. Other than that SWA is pretty fun. I like their casual attitude, the sometimes fun safety announcements from the flight attendants and captains, etc.
Originally Posted By threeundertwo Has there been any follow up to this story? (the one about Tigger, which is what this topic was about originally)
Originally Posted By beamerdog Does anyone know if SW has early seating for people with service dogs? I do know that a few years ago they denied access to a friend of mine saying that the ADA didn't apply to them since they were in *the air* above USA soil. Lets see, does that mean that it doesn't apply if both my dog and I jump in the air? The last time I flew SW was with a high school chorus. Talk about pandemonium :-( I really don't think that this will go anywhere as a lawsuit. My guess is that it will be dismissed by the judge. And I sure hope that Disney doesn't settle.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I flew Southwest on Sunday, and they had something called "pre-board" which seemed to be something for people who needed extra time. Presumably they would also allow people with service animals in during that time as well, but I'm really not too sure. And a helpful hint for getting a decent seat of your choice: if you have access to the internet and a computer, check in 24 hours prior to your departure, and you will be in the A group. Since the boarding passes are given in order, this will pretty much gurantee you get in the A group. Then get to the gate a little early (like you would for any flight), and when they start making announcements, head over and get in your line. I've done this several times, and I've always gotten tons of choices in where I sit, with plenty of open seats in the same rows too. I think you can even just check in early, and then print the boarding pass at the airport once you get there, and it works the same way. I'm not sure what this has to do with Tigger "punching" that kid, but it's always nice to share travel tips, especially on a vacation-based board.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>That's just one of the things I love about Jet Blue. You pick out your seating when you buy the online ticket. Wonderful perk!<< Memo to Goofyernmost: ALL airlines except SWA offer you the chance to select your seats at the time of purchase. That is not a perk but a basic service in the industry now a days.. >>And a helpful hint for getting a decent seat of your choice: if you have access to the internet and a computer, check in 24 hours prior to your departure, and you will be in the A group...<< yes, all of that is correct. Howeve, be reminded that SWA will preboard anyone with a sense of entitlement AHEAD of Group A.. and that means: elderly passenger, wheelchair customers, families with small children (to/from Orlando, that means 34.7% of the entire passenger load), people who use animals as "service/comfort" pets, airline peers known to gate agents, any other airlines' employees riding on SWA who are being given a nice break by the nice gate agents working that flight..etc etc etc. Today, a preboard group could be 4 people. Tomorrow, there could be 40 preboards before group A. How woould you like being at the airport 3 hrs before your flight to be the first one in group A, just to see a bunch of other folks be passed in front of you? Not to mention.. passengers on any THRU-FLIGHT can change to a better seat *before* the new load of passengers is boarded. That may be SWA's way to save money on operational costs but seems rather unfair to their total customer base, IMHO.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN ..and to bring this back to topic.. that's how airline passengers get into fist fights before the plane leaves the gate, just like Tigger and that punk did.
Originally Posted By Mr X This kind of unfairness can also happen with the "regular" carriers too. We were travelling with an infact from Newark to Boston on Continental and they announced pre-boarding for "first class", AND "priority gold" customers. Well, that route being a typical business commute, practically EVERYONE stood up to board at that time (all "goldmembers", I guess). While they NEVER announced anything at all for "people with small children". So we were forced to board practically LAST, and it was quite difficult with the baby and all that entails. I thought that was pretty crappy. Here's a question, WHY doesn't southwest just assign seats? Is it really such a cost saver for them to herd everyone onto the plane?
Originally Posted By TDLFAN SWA still has to print Group A, B, or C boarding passes, so why not offer online seating assignments? But SWA recognizes this and they actually tested issuing seats in a test done in San Diego. However, results were NOT favorable because they neglected to tell their passengers about the seat assignment test BEFORE they got to the airport, so people who already had obtained group A boarding passes, so those thrown out at the airport when they checked in for the flight, so of course.. tempers flaired. I believe they did that on purpose to sabotage the reception from their customers, hence continuing to be cheap.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Howeve, be reminded that SWA will preboard anyone with a sense of entitlement AHEAD of Group A.. >>> One thing SWA has done recently is to point out and enforce that anyone that claims a need to pre-board cannot sit in an exit row. This makes total sense - if you have any reason to need to pre-board, then that reason is going to hamper your ability to assist other passengers in the event of an emergency evacuation. Airlines have a problem that's not dissimilar to what's been discussed about WDW in other threads: some people falsely claim disability in order to gain personal advantage. Since one of the only things to be gained on SWA is exit row seating, this enforcement has dramatically cut down on the false claims of pre-boarding needs. Anyone in the A boarding group can get full overhead stowage room, as well as their choice of a window or aisle seat. And, any one that does even a minimal amount of planning can get into the A boarding group by checking in online and showing up at the gate 20 minutes before departure - it's no longer necessary to stand in line for an hour to get a good seat.
Originally Posted By Labuda From <a href="http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/disability.html" target="_blank">http://www.southwest.com/trave l_center/disability.html</a>: Southwest Airlines welcomes trained assistance animals on all of our flights. In accordance with federal safety regulations, the animal must be positioned so as not to obstruct Customers’ expeditious evacuation in the unlikely event of an emergency. Except when too large to be safely accommodated, a trained assistance animal traveling with and providing assistance to a Customer with a disability will be accommodated in the aircraft cabin on the floor in front of or next to the Customer with a disability. Should the assistance animal be too large to travel safely in the aircraft cabin, the Customer should provide a suitable carrier and we will transport the assistance animal in the cargo compartment of the same aircraft as the Customer with a disability. The Captain will pressurize and heat the cargo bin so that the assistance animal is comfortable.
Originally Posted By Mr X >>>The Captain will pressurize and heat the cargo bin so that the assistance animal is comfortable.<<< I hope that is SOP at ANY time that live pets are "stowed"?? Anyone know more? (I didn't realize that was something the captain was in charge of...I figured it was just cold and nasty down there!)
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost >>>Memo to Goofyernmost: ALL airlines except SWA offer you the chance to select your seats at the time of purchase. That is not a perk but a basic service in the industry now a days.<<< I don't doubt that a bit but since I only fly on Jet Blue that was my point of reference as compared to SWA. At this point, for me, if JB doesn't go there, I don't need to go. Talk about your product loyalty.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Rightfully so! JetBlue is the best airline around among both full and low frills. However, their party mood is ending as they have just announced cutbacks in their staffing due to financial losses. Reducing staffing on their A320s to only 3 FAs (much like all of the other carriers that fly the same plane and also SWA). Still, I would rather fly JetBlue over SWA any time, any day. >>I hope that is SOP at ANY time that live pets are "stowed"?? Anyone know more? (I didn't realize that was something the captain was in charge of...I figured it was just cold and nasty down there!)<< Mr. X the captain is always in charge of preassurizing both the passenger cabins and cargo bins. Animal compartments in the cargo bin must me mannually preassurized when animals are transported down below. When no animals are down there, preassurization is not required because it saves fuel. Preassurizing the cabin does add weight to the plane believe it or not. The lesser the weight, the longer your plane can fly.
