Southwest is supposedly getting stricter about priority boarding for younger children. One parent for one child. That may not stop seat saving, which they've publicly punted on. They say there's no specific policy, although I suppose anyone claiming to save seats for nonexistent group members to have a bunch of seats won't go well. It of course won't work if a flight is nearly full.
If that happened to me, I would be livid, and probably have to swallow my anger, to avoid being ejected from the train....once I calmed down, and accepted my misfortune, I would write a very detailed and polite letter to the Company, and see what response I got. If they did not satisfy my expectations, I would probably think long and hard about trying their service again.
I have a friend who has severe rheumatoid arthritis, for more than 15 years now. Thanks to modern medicine, she gets regular treatments for it which enable her to lead a largely independent and functional life. Still, on her best days she can walk without assistance but it gets tiring after awhile. On her so-so days, she needs a cane; on her bad days, she really needs a wheelchair for anything other than the trip from the car to the door of a building; and on her worst days, she's flat on her back.
Yeah - I get that a rude response to a request for aid is unacceptable. However, I can't imagine that certain resources can be requested by anyone without question. If my six year old asks to use a fold-out wheelchair ramp just for the heck of it, do they assume there's a disability involved just because a request was made? A red cap's duties aren't simply to provide baggage service for the elderly or disabled, so asking for assistance isn't solely about the elderly or disabled. I personally don't get why someone otherwise capable of handling a small carry-on size piece through a station would want need baggage handling, but I now get that seeking a red cap can mean priority boarding.
Southwest Airlines does it that way. The passenger is assigned a boarding number at check in. There's a strong incentive to check in at the first opportunity to get the best number. People Express used to have that. In fact I understood that it was possible to pay on the plane after reserving by phone.
Several ways. Their highest fares are Business Select, which guarantees an A1-A15 boarding number. Then there's early bird check in, which really mean automatic check in. Even then, there can be a lot of people paying that such that one can still be in the second or even third boarding group. It used to be a real free for all back when you had to pick up a plastic boarding pass at the gate. And even then 1-30 was the first group and passengers didn't have to line up in order, just in the group.
Southwest Airlines doesn't make the extensive intermediate stops which Amtrak does; There are further much greater differences in passenger accommodation needs and requirements between train and plane (a train isn't just a plane with no wings). It is largely an apples to oranges comparison.
I understand that, and several of my posts in this thread acknowledge that difference. In my experience on long-distance Amtrak trains I've always had a seat assignment before I boarded. In Seattle on the CS it was being assigned a car at the station, then a seat (seat number written on a seat check) from an attendant with a clipboard before boarding. I had to cancel, but I was going to take the CZ from Emeryville, where I understand passengers are given a car assignment, but then can choose seats. It's only later when the attendants start assigning seats or even adjusting the seating depending on needs.
The fastest way to board is to charge for carry-on sized luggage, but charge less for checked-in luggage. Even with assigned seating, I found that boarding a plane on Spirit was the fastest because there was hardly any use of the overhead bins. They absolutely enforce that anything that's not paid for (i.e. a "personal item") goes under the seat.
Less luggage certainly helps. While I am very far from an expert in the area of airport operations, I would also question whether the Southwest model is actually the fastest way of loading a plane and even if it were, whether it really makes that much of a difference overall (too many other sources for delay or which just take time on the ground). If turning the plane quickly is so dependent on passenger boarding, seems like you'd have at least long-term plans for terminals to load from more than one door.
The thread has not derailed; Rather, it has momentarily "lost contact with the rails".
Some airports where passengers walk on the the tarmac bring out two sets of stairs/ramps and use one of the rear doors. This is more like how many trains do it by opening every door on one side. I wonder if they could also open the middle. I'm not sure if they actually board on both ends, but I'd think that exiting would be done using both ends.
Long Beach. They might start flying to Kona in a few years.
Oops. Correct spelling, wrong word. Hate when that happens. That's why I majored in engineering, not English.It's so bazaar it's bizarre.
