HurricaneMikey
09-23-2004, 05:59 PM
Hey Gang--
I saw this topic kicked around about a month ago, and I have some great info that may be helpful and also save a headache or two.
Those of you that have met me know that I am not a small person. In fact, my shirt size has more X's than a Jenna Jameson video. And I've happily flown Southwest for years without being swept up in the newly-enforced 'Person of Size' policy that has started to worry people. I've worn the same size clothes for years also--I haven't gotten any bigger, so I figured the policy would not apply to me.
Well, that changed over the 4th of July weekend, when I was all set to fly from Nashville to Phoenix and hang out with my buds for a few days. When I got to the airport and checked my bags, the gal at the ticket desk said something about it, and I replied that I'd taken six flights in the past year and never had to get an extra seat. She warned me that the gate agent *might* require it this flight, however.
I went to the gate, and was standing in the 'A' line, when just a few minutes before boarding they announced my name over the speaker to report to the desk. I did, and the gate agent told me they'll have to check to make sure I fit in only one seat.
No worries, I knew I would.
Well, after the plane emptied out, they took me down first and I sat down with the armrest down, but the chick was saying stuff like "Well, if a person is in the seat next to you, they'll be uncomfortable, because your shoulders are too broad, so we'll have to go ahead and charge you for an extra seat."
I was pissed. They had already told me at the ticket desk that the plane was only half full. but she wouldn't budge. She insisted that I pay $300 for the extra seat in advance, or they wouldn't let me on the flight.
For a moment I was considering getting all up in her grill, but figured I didn't want to be removed from the plane in shackles, featured on the evening news, and getting my name put on the Homeland Security Shit List. So I quietly told her she was full of shit and that she will be issuing me a full refund, while wishing very bad things to happen to her and her loved ones.
I got off the plane, got a voucher receipt for my refund, and went down to the luggage office and took some smug satisfaction that the flight was delayed while they found my luggage (I gave them a completely wrong description of it so that it took them several extra minutes to find it. Hell yeah--Stick it to The Man!!) graemlins/hehehmn.gif
I caught a cab, went home, and called all my buddies and told 'em I wouldn't be joining them for cigars and lapdances that weekend... I also vowed that I'd never fly Southwest again due to their (perceived) arbitrary enforcement of the rules.
Everybody I shared the story with that weekend all offered the same advice-- You gotta sue the hell out of 'em!!! But I didn't really want to go through that hassle--I figured it would be easier to just take my business elsewhere as did the rest of my family and close friends.
At that point, I figured my days of being a Southwest Airlines passenger had come to an end.
But I had a small problem. I had a cruise to go on in September that left out of Galveston Texas. Houston Hobby was the closest major airport. I couldn't get there nonstop from Nashville on Delta, American, United, or US Air. I could fly Continental, but they only flew into Intercontinental, which was 45 minutes further away, and I was under a strict time schedule because I was travelling with a large group, and most of them had tickets on Southwest already.
After I exhausted all of my other options, I bit the bullet and just purchased two tickets for myself off of the SWA website--on the same flight everyone else was on. The tickets were $215 each, round trip, so I had to fork out $430, and make my name slightly different on each reservation, as it wouldn't allow me to make reservations for two passengers with the exact same name (so I added a middle initial to one of them).
After I did that, I called Southwest, told them I was a big guy and bought two tickets and needed to make sure everything was ok and I wouldn't have any problems at the airport (If they would've made me miss the cruise, then yeah, there definitely would have been a scene at the airport that morning!)
They told me it would be no problem.
I basically forgot about it for a couple of months until the night before we left. I got up at midnight to print my 'A' passes, and it wouldn't let me do it--you can only do the online checkin if there is a single name under the reservation code--my names were different. I was worried that if I didn't get an A-pass, I'd have a hard time finding two empty seats next to each other if I ended up with a C-pass. Then I remembered the past discussions on this board about calling the reservation desk and having them "split" the reservation, so I called them up.
They had me on hold for about 20 minutes trying to get it split up to give me an 'A' pass, but they couldn't do it. Finally the supervisor came on the line and told me that they'll just let me preboard, and it didn't matter what boarding group I got--I'd be the first one on the plane.
The next morning, I got to the airport within five minutes of the rest of our gang (ten of us travelling together), and when I checked my luggage at the checkin desk, they gave me a 'B' pass, but told me to talk to the gate agent and that she'd hook me up.
Aside from a snide remark from the old bitty checking ID at the security checkpoint, everything was smooth.
I got to the gate, told them my dilemma, and the agent gave me a blue boarding card and told me to go to the preboard area when they call. Not only that, but they gave me a "Reserved" sign to put in the seat next to me so that nobody could sit there. (Even if the flight is completely sold out--nobody gets to sit in the seat next to you) Also, they let a travelling companion board with you, so my younger sister was excited to get in on that and avoided the standing in line with the A-Pass people who'd been sitting there the entire morning.
After that, the gate agent told me that since the flight wasn't overbooked, I'd get a refund on my second ticket, too!! Score!
Everyone else in my group had their A passes, so we chilled for an hour until it was time to board.
There was another guy there, bigger than me by about a hundy and about a foot taller, carrying the same blue preboard pass. I told him that we better sit on opposite sides of the aisle, or that plane was just gonna fly in circles.
Anyhow, the best part of the deal was that they let us on before all the people with screaming brats and strollers, too, so we got primo seats right up front.
The flight was fairly full, but our entire group managed to get four rows together. We got to Houston on time and without a problem.
On the trip home, I got the same treatment--My sister and I were the first ones on the plane (and that other big fella and his wife were right behind me--they were on the same cruise we were!)
So basically, it boils down to this:
If you are a big person and are worried about getting called out and embarrassed by Southwest's enforcement of this policy, just go ahead and buy two tickets for yourself as cheap as you can find them--trust me, it's no fun finding out the hard way. Not only do you not even have to worry about an A pass, you get on the plane ahead of EVERYONE, and if the flight is not full, YOU GET YOUR MONEY BACK!
Two internet-rate tickets on SWA are much cheaper than ANY first-class seat on any other carrier, and there's a chance you'll get half of your money refunded. Also, even though the past several years I was flying on SWA just purchasing a single seat, I was always a little nervous, hoping that the flight wasn't full and that there wouldn't be somebody sitting next to me--even though I *could* fit in the seat with the armrest down, we all know it's much more comfortable with it up--and I wanted to be considerate of people next to me--I know NOBODY wants to have to sit in a middle seat next to the biggest guy on the plane. So the peace of mind is well worth it, knowing that you'll have plenty of space makes the travelling that much less of a hassle.
Not only that, but since I took it upon myself to just go ahead and get the two seats, everyone at Southwest was extremely nice and accomodating--Nobody wants to be the hardass and do the enforcing of an unpopular rule, so they seemed to be thankful that I was one step ahead of them.
Anyhow, now that I've had the experience from both sides, I can say that I'll gladly use them again, now that I know what to expect.
If anyone has any questions and don't wish to ask them 'outloud' in the forum, feel free to send me a private message, I'll be happy to give further details.
Mikey graemlins/peace.gif
Edited to add--The downer of this, as it relates to this forum--Good luck getting a Vegas flight that's not completely booked...
[ September 23, 2004, 08:12 PM: Message edited by: HurricaneMikey ]
I saw this topic kicked around about a month ago, and I have some great info that may be helpful and also save a headache or two.
Those of you that have met me know that I am not a small person. In fact, my shirt size has more X's than a Jenna Jameson video. And I've happily flown Southwest for years without being swept up in the newly-enforced 'Person of Size' policy that has started to worry people. I've worn the same size clothes for years also--I haven't gotten any bigger, so I figured the policy would not apply to me.
Well, that changed over the 4th of July weekend, when I was all set to fly from Nashville to Phoenix and hang out with my buds for a few days. When I got to the airport and checked my bags, the gal at the ticket desk said something about it, and I replied that I'd taken six flights in the past year and never had to get an extra seat. She warned me that the gate agent *might* require it this flight, however.
I went to the gate, and was standing in the 'A' line, when just a few minutes before boarding they announced my name over the speaker to report to the desk. I did, and the gate agent told me they'll have to check to make sure I fit in only one seat.
No worries, I knew I would.
Well, after the plane emptied out, they took me down first and I sat down with the armrest down, but the chick was saying stuff like "Well, if a person is in the seat next to you, they'll be uncomfortable, because your shoulders are too broad, so we'll have to go ahead and charge you for an extra seat."
I was pissed. They had already told me at the ticket desk that the plane was only half full. but she wouldn't budge. She insisted that I pay $300 for the extra seat in advance, or they wouldn't let me on the flight.
For a moment I was considering getting all up in her grill, but figured I didn't want to be removed from the plane in shackles, featured on the evening news, and getting my name put on the Homeland Security Shit List. So I quietly told her she was full of shit and that she will be issuing me a full refund, while wishing very bad things to happen to her and her loved ones.
I got off the plane, got a voucher receipt for my refund, and went down to the luggage office and took some smug satisfaction that the flight was delayed while they found my luggage (I gave them a completely wrong description of it so that it took them several extra minutes to find it. Hell yeah--Stick it to The Man!!) graemlins/hehehmn.gif
I caught a cab, went home, and called all my buddies and told 'em I wouldn't be joining them for cigars and lapdances that weekend... I also vowed that I'd never fly Southwest again due to their (perceived) arbitrary enforcement of the rules.
Everybody I shared the story with that weekend all offered the same advice-- You gotta sue the hell out of 'em!!! But I didn't really want to go through that hassle--I figured it would be easier to just take my business elsewhere as did the rest of my family and close friends.
At that point, I figured my days of being a Southwest Airlines passenger had come to an end.
But I had a small problem. I had a cruise to go on in September that left out of Galveston Texas. Houston Hobby was the closest major airport. I couldn't get there nonstop from Nashville on Delta, American, United, or US Air. I could fly Continental, but they only flew into Intercontinental, which was 45 minutes further away, and I was under a strict time schedule because I was travelling with a large group, and most of them had tickets on Southwest already.
After I exhausted all of my other options, I bit the bullet and just purchased two tickets for myself off of the SWA website--on the same flight everyone else was on. The tickets were $215 each, round trip, so I had to fork out $430, and make my name slightly different on each reservation, as it wouldn't allow me to make reservations for two passengers with the exact same name (so I added a middle initial to one of them).
After I did that, I called Southwest, told them I was a big guy and bought two tickets and needed to make sure everything was ok and I wouldn't have any problems at the airport (If they would've made me miss the cruise, then yeah, there definitely would have been a scene at the airport that morning!)
They told me it would be no problem.
I basically forgot about it for a couple of months until the night before we left. I got up at midnight to print my 'A' passes, and it wouldn't let me do it--you can only do the online checkin if there is a single name under the reservation code--my names were different. I was worried that if I didn't get an A-pass, I'd have a hard time finding two empty seats next to each other if I ended up with a C-pass. Then I remembered the past discussions on this board about calling the reservation desk and having them "split" the reservation, so I called them up.
They had me on hold for about 20 minutes trying to get it split up to give me an 'A' pass, but they couldn't do it. Finally the supervisor came on the line and told me that they'll just let me preboard, and it didn't matter what boarding group I got--I'd be the first one on the plane.
The next morning, I got to the airport within five minutes of the rest of our gang (ten of us travelling together), and when I checked my luggage at the checkin desk, they gave me a 'B' pass, but told me to talk to the gate agent and that she'd hook me up.
Aside from a snide remark from the old bitty checking ID at the security checkpoint, everything was smooth.
I got to the gate, told them my dilemma, and the agent gave me a blue boarding card and told me to go to the preboard area when they call. Not only that, but they gave me a "Reserved" sign to put in the seat next to me so that nobody could sit there. (Even if the flight is completely sold out--nobody gets to sit in the seat next to you) Also, they let a travelling companion board with you, so my younger sister was excited to get in on that and avoided the standing in line with the A-Pass people who'd been sitting there the entire morning.
After that, the gate agent told me that since the flight wasn't overbooked, I'd get a refund on my second ticket, too!! Score!
Everyone else in my group had their A passes, so we chilled for an hour until it was time to board.
There was another guy there, bigger than me by about a hundy and about a foot taller, carrying the same blue preboard pass. I told him that we better sit on opposite sides of the aisle, or that plane was just gonna fly in circles.
Anyhow, the best part of the deal was that they let us on before all the people with screaming brats and strollers, too, so we got primo seats right up front.
The flight was fairly full, but our entire group managed to get four rows together. We got to Houston on time and without a problem.
On the trip home, I got the same treatment--My sister and I were the first ones on the plane (and that other big fella and his wife were right behind me--they were on the same cruise we were!)
So basically, it boils down to this:
If you are a big person and are worried about getting called out and embarrassed by Southwest's enforcement of this policy, just go ahead and buy two tickets for yourself as cheap as you can find them--trust me, it's no fun finding out the hard way. Not only do you not even have to worry about an A pass, you get on the plane ahead of EVERYONE, and if the flight is not full, YOU GET YOUR MONEY BACK!
Two internet-rate tickets on SWA are much cheaper than ANY first-class seat on any other carrier, and there's a chance you'll get half of your money refunded. Also, even though the past several years I was flying on SWA just purchasing a single seat, I was always a little nervous, hoping that the flight wasn't full and that there wouldn't be somebody sitting next to me--even though I *could* fit in the seat with the armrest down, we all know it's much more comfortable with it up--and I wanted to be considerate of people next to me--I know NOBODY wants to have to sit in a middle seat next to the biggest guy on the plane. So the peace of mind is well worth it, knowing that you'll have plenty of space makes the travelling that much less of a hassle.
Not only that, but since I took it upon myself to just go ahead and get the two seats, everyone at Southwest was extremely nice and accomodating--Nobody wants to be the hardass and do the enforcing of an unpopular rule, so they seemed to be thankful that I was one step ahead of them.
Anyhow, now that I've had the experience from both sides, I can say that I'll gladly use them again, now that I know what to expect.
If anyone has any questions and don't wish to ask them 'outloud' in the forum, feel free to send me a private message, I'll be happy to give further details.
Mikey graemlins/peace.gif
Edited to add--The downer of this, as it relates to this forum--Good luck getting a Vegas flight that's not completely booked...
[ September 23, 2004, 08:12 PM: Message edited by: HurricaneMikey ]