There are likely over one million passengers whose flights were cancelled by Southwest Airlines over the holidays. Airline phone systems, and customer service lines at the airport, weren’t made for this.
Lines have been interminable. And that’s true even for passengers whose flights are on time, or at least haven’t been cancelled. I managed to fly Southwest successfully on Tuesday with just a one hour delay waiting for a single flight attendant coming in off of another flight, but lines at the ticket counter were obscene.
Most people are paying for service from their airline with their time. One ingenious mom in Atlanta decided to pay to cut the check-in line with money instead. She slipped someone close to the front of the line a $100 bill so they’d let her cut in front of them, potentially saving her hours of waiting. Was this ok to do?
PAYING TO SKIP LINE: Would you pay $100.00 to skip this Southwest Airlines line? That’s exactly what one woman just did at @ATLairport to make her flight on time with her two children ✈️ I walked up as she was passing the 💵 to another traveler. #travel #southwest @GoodDayAtlanta pic.twitter.com/6N2LwzfDxm
— Billy Heath III (@BillyHeathFOX5) December 27, 2022
She probably overpaid. Just ask person after person, someone will take $5. But if not, try $10 or $20. If someone is holding out for $100, find someone else to cut in line.
She’s cutting everyone in line, not just one person. The person you cut in front of generally can say yes or no, but now everyone is back farther one spot in line. She didn’t pay everyone that’s been inconvenienced, just one person.
Of course passengers ‘cut in line’ all the time. Whether it is Delta offering a premium line to get into its Sky Clubs, airlines offering premium check-in and boarding, or passengers skipping the long security lines with PreCheck and CLEAR, there’s priority all around us. People also pay for airport escorts to meet them at the gate and even walk them through priority immigration, all around the world.
Indeed if you plan in advance and pay a higher fare to Southwest (Business Select) you can use their priority queues. Those can be long during weeks like this too, so you might have to pay Southwest – and the passengers in front of you! And Southwest also sells ‘Early Bird’ check-in which puts you closer to the front of the line for boarding.
Perhaps the issue here is simply who gates paid and when. Bundling priority services that are prepaid either through past travel purchases, or advance purchases (paying the airline), seems different than being seen to slip someone a $100 on the spot and where other passengers actually see you cutting in front of them? In other words, it’s how blatantly obvious is it that drives the moral response?
Nice she made her own 5 star vip priority lane
Did he pay Each person in line to skip them
Awhile back, I made a vow that if I could pay money to avoid standing in line, I would do it. (TSAPre, Global Entry, Clear, Airline status, etc.) But this isn’t the way to do it. She paid one person – everyone else behind her got screwed. If she had paid that person for their place in line, sure. But she just made the line in back of her longer for everyone else. I might have called foul, though I wouldn’t ever be in that line if I could avoid it.
Southwest lines are one reason I refuse to fly them anymore. They aren’t the cheapest. And AA PlatPro status has saved me time in more airports (especially Europe) than I can count. TSAPre/Global Entry as well. Status and planning has its privileges.
“TSA Pre-Gate”.
If they knocked the other person out of line entirely…fine…otherwise ask everyone in line. If anyone objects then in back of the farthest one to object. If that is the last person in line, so be it.
TSA Pre-Check, CLEAR, Global Entry do not help with the check-in process. They help get you through security afterwards, and Global Entry also helps when returning to the USA to reduce wait times in Immigration/Customs lines.
Taskrabbit should be promoting its services:
https://www.taskrabbit.com/services/shopping-delivery/waiting-in-line
I think Disney World been doing this for years. Pay a additional fee and you get a shorter line for rides and attractions.
Should have just done a Larry David “Chat and Cut”
If she paid the 100 and the other person went back of the line ok otherwise all she did was screw the back people
Good ole American Entrepreneurship:) but I do agree that her actions delayed service for her everyone else in line that was behind her . I would have spoken up if I was further back in the line .
Pro tip: Gotta split the payment 50-50. $50 to cut, then $50 after check in is complete. That way if some hall monitor in the back of the line chirps and causes a scene, you have some insurance that the person you paid will vouch for you if you are questioned.
Its survival of the fittest out there from now on in America. Gonna toughen up society REAL quick.
Women are born entitled.
@C_M:
“She paid one person – everyone else behind her got screwed.”
Welcome to capitalism. You new to that?
The difference between this and @gary’s comment about other cut in line options is that every single person in line knows that someone with status gets their own line, someone who bought precheck gets to cut. This isn’t a valid option but was ingenious for her to get what she needed. But then I’ve never seen anyone turn away someone pushing to the front of a line with the frenzied statement of my plane leaves in an hour… So this mom overpaid by $100. Look harried dragging two kids and summertime will be nice and let you in. Or just go cut in the A List line, it’s not likely anyone would question you if you act like you belong there
This is a good question. If I am at the back of the line of 1,000 people, or just 20 people, one more person will not make a difference as I will probably be late anyway. If I am #3-12 in line, yes, I will grumble, but it is the norm for people to add people to their party while in line, eg: adding family members. If I were the second person, I would also understand the addition to their party since they were paid $100.
I’m with @Leigh. The person accepting the money should have then walked to the end of the line.
i want european flight protection!!!
wow GaRy missed a chance to hate on unions
I would have walked up and pulled her back out of the line. No way on hell would I let anyone cut like that
How was it ruled out that:
1) the person who took the money was not part of the same travel party as the woman with the children; and
2) the person who took the money was not being paid to wait in line?
At DMVs in major metropolitan areas, it wasn’t all that rare for some people to be paid to wait in line for others who would rather pay with money (instead of their own time) to minimize standing around a slow DMV while having to get a license issued or renewed.
I can’t believe others are APPLAUDING this action. Entitlement… She is not the only mother there with children. Has she not heard about the numerous people being stranded and how backed up the airports are due to the Meltdown… Really, I need to get to my vacation… Then, you should have accounted for this like the numerous others and should have arrived MUCH earlier or made plans to carry on your luggage. I have children too and one is very young… my children are not more nor less important than her’s. It really disgusts me to see that people are APPLAUDING this behavior especially all of us knowing the distress people are experiencing right now on SW. I would have spoken loudly and stated NO, you don’t get to cut in front of any of us. I would have asked for security to take action. Some in the same line SHE is in are stranded passengers that have been moved to that flight that are trying to get home. Oh, that’s right she did not think of that because that’s called being considerate of others and the situation.
Nope, you cut the line, you have to pay everybody behind you and they all have to agree. Otherwise, back of the line and wait your turn. I would have sounded off.
This was not ok. Something that is lost here is just because you can ‘ger away’ with something doesn’t mean you should do it.
Imagine if she had originally just paid to fly a decent airline.
Not OK. Someone should have explained to her how her how this affects others, because maybe she really didn’t realize? But this is not how it’s done. Go through the airline fast-track or plan ahead, but don’t screw other haggled travelers who are also waiting.
The Amazon ebook BAGGAGE HANDLER EXPOSE tells stories on passengers who tip airport wheelchair pushers $20 to get to front of lines – it’s 100% legit bcz Federal law ADA doesn’t require a person to explain why they want the chair assist, they not only get front of line but they board the flights before 1st class.
Baggage Handler Expose also reveals how some pppl pay bag unloaders to bring their checked baggage instantly so they won’t need to stand around baggage claim carousel waiting like others. They get their even before passengers who pay airline priority bag fees.
The Author even says there are pppl who secretly offer to pay gate agents to NOT announce when if the flight requires a volunteer to give up their seat in exchange for free ticket or $ and rebooked on nxt flight -instead, let the airlines $ offer builds up to $XXX amount then call him/her back to the podium. And the flier and agent will split the cash offer 50%.
Baggage Handler Expose is poorly written with poor grammar editing and bad punctuation, but the guy makes awesome points and very revealing tales. Author is a baggage Handler but not educated.
(1) The only way this is acceptable is if the one who took the money took the place in line of the one who offered the money. (2) If this behavior was seen/recorded, both people should be moved to the back of the line.
I think that the person who got the 100 dollars, should have to give her the spot and go to the back of the line.
All this reminds me of a really bad experience at the Cancun airport. I was late because I’m not rich and I had to take the bus to the airport and it got stuck in very heavytraffic. All the wealthy people who arrived in their limos and private transfers laughed at me and thumbed their nose up at me when I asked nicely if I could cut in front of them. There was some karma though, a few minutes later the line was so out of control that they let about 30 people behind us cut in front of us.. didn’t help my situation any but it made the snobs look like fools
Bravo for her! I’ve pulled things like this to avoid missing a flight … life ain’t fair and most everybody would do the same if they had the guts. She was obviously discreet about it, or there would have been a riot.