How do you check in online for Southwest while on board?

luv2plan

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 11, 2007
I'll be flying by myself w/ my 2 boys ages 5 & 9 and really don't want to wait to get to the airport to check in and get the last boarding group. :scared1:
Is there a way to check in online while on board the Wonder?

Thanks & Happy planning! :banana: :banana:
 
You would have go to the Promenade Lounge Internet Cafe. You can use the computers there and pay about $.75 per minute to check in. You can then print your boarding passes at the airport.

Personally, I would have a trusted friend or family member back home check in for you.
 
I'll be flying by myself w/ my 2 boys ages 5 & 9 and really don't want to wait to get to the airport to check in and get the last boarding group. :scared1:
Is there a way to check in online while on board the Wonder?

Thanks & Happy planning! :banana: :banana:

I fly SWA all the time and you may or may not be aware of their family boarding policy:

Families with children that do not qualify for pre-boarding (ages 4 and under) or who do NOT have "A" boarding passes, can now board after the "A" group has boarded. In other words, between the "A" and "B" group. No special pass is needed, just line up in the "Pre board" area after the pre-boarders have gone - the gate agent will then allow you to board after the "A"'s.

I think that's really nice as SWA understands that sometime families with older kids (but not THAT old) do not want to get split up.

So enjoy your last day on board and do not stress if you cannot get your online check in done at exactly 24 hours prior.
 
I thought SW changed their family boarding policy so that there is no pre-boarding for children at all...those with kids 4 and under can board after the "A" group but those with older kids cannot. Did they change it again to allow a little bit older kids to board after "A" as well?
 


Are you saying that I can board after the "A" group even though my kids are 6 years old? If so, I love SW even more!

Yes, that's what I'm saying. At least, since I fly SWA 1-2 times per month, that's what I observe.

Just make sure that you hang near the Pre-Board area once they have been called and have made their way down the jetway. The gate agent should observe your family, and then will allow you to board after they have boarded all the "A"s.

I love them too, for a variety of reasons. They may be "no frills", but they get what customer service means most of the time.

And living in St. Louis (as I see you do also), I have been able to take many, many non-stop flights (to LAX last year for the Mexican Riviera - who would have thought that on SW? and to MCO most years) and most flights from here have only 1 stop or change of planes. I don't miss flying American at all (I gave them up when the screwed over all the TWA employees after the takeover). ;)
 
I work for Southwest. Families with childen under 5 board between A- and B- group boarding. Families with children 5 or older board with whatever group they get. You can have family or friends check you in anywhere and have your boarding pass reprinted at the airport.
 
Bummer...I have two 6 year olds and am flying tomorrow. For the first time ever I'm in the "B" group (#36-39) and am worried that we won't be able to sit together. I wonder if I have them make sad-puppy-dog eyes for the gate agents if they'll let us board after the "A" group. :worship: If not we'll survive...I do LUV Southwest!
 


I gave my not so internet savy mom detailed intructions.... what day, time, website etc. I didnt want to have to worry about it and my mom had no problems. I was happy with my A boarding passes but not too worried since we have a 3 year old and can board after the A's but before the B's.
I luv SW too!!
 
I work for Southwest. Families with childen under 5 board between A- and B- group boarding. Families with children 5 or older board with whatever group they get. You can have family or friends check you in anywhere and have your boarding pass reprinted at the airport.
So since my kids will be 1, 6 and 10 we can all board after A?
 
Yes, if you have one child 4 or under, you can all board together.

My 5 yr old is small, so I guess I could just line up & board. or ask the attendants if I can board. :confused3

In the end I'll probably just pay the fee to go online so I'll have peace of mind. :upsidedow
 
I always have someone do it at home for me...... then I just have them reprinted at the airport(quick and easy, have a separate machine where you just plug in your details and you get another copy)
 
Bummer...I have two 6 year olds and am flying tomorrow. For the first time ever I'm in the "B" group (#36-39) and am worried that we won't be able to sit together. I wonder if I have them make sad-puppy-dog eyes for the gate agents if they'll let us board after the "A" group. :worship: If not we'll survive...I do LUV Southwest!

You shouldn't have any problems. You might not get your first choice of row (ie in the very front) but you should have no problem getting a row together or across the aisle from each other. You are very high in the B group and often, the A group isn't full. A lot of times there are only 1-2 people in the first 15 numbers becasue they are reserved for the people who pay extra and the A-List Members. (Southwest employee that posted- please correct me if I"m wrong.)

My dh flies Southwest quite often, usually 1-2 times a week commuting to his job in another city. We also fly them exclusively for family travel, usually 3-4 times a year. We LOVE Southwest. Last fall we flew to Hawaii (unfortunately, no way to get there on SW!) and noticed such a huge difference in the way we were treated by the employees of the other airline. No smiles, no pleasantries, just made to feel like we were an annoyance.

We connected to SW for the final leg of our travel, and it was a relief to return to them. Their employees are (nearly) always positive, pleasant and polite and many are downright Disney-ish in the way they treat their customers.

So kudos to Southwest. We're fans.

And to answer the OP's question -- I do recommend leaving explicit instructions and confirmation #'s with a trusted friend back at home and have them check you in for your flight. That's what we're planning to do when we cruise. That way we don't forget about it because we've had too many Konk Koolers at Castaway Cay!
 
I fly SWA all the time and you may or may not be aware of their family boarding policy:

Families with children that do not qualify for pre-boarding (ages 4 and under) or who do NOT have "A" boarding passes, can now board after the "A" group has boarded. In other words, between the "A" and "B" group. No special pass is needed, just line up in the "Pre board" area after the pre-boarders have gone - the gate agent will then allow you to board after the "A"'s.

I think that's really nice as SWA understands that sometime families with older kids (but not THAT old) do not want to get split up.

So enjoy your last day on board and do not stress if you cannot get your online check in done at exactly 24 hours prior.

This is incorrect information.

SWA did away with true "preboarding" for all but passengers with disabilities and unaccompanied minors. An adult travelling with a child four or under can board between the 'A' and 'B' groups if they have boarding passes in the 'B' or 'C' groups. (If they have boarding passes in the 'A' group they obviously can board earlier in their normal spot.) At the gate agent's discretion, the rest of the family may or may not be able to board with that one adult and one child in the slot between the 'A' and 'B' groups. If you do have two children four and under, both can go with an adult each (and I can't imagine a scenario where they would not allow other young children traveling with you to board at the same time unless there were more adults to wait with them).

Here's the official policy clipped from the SWA site (the October 2 reference is to a date a couple of years ago):

Effective October 2 in all Southwest cities, an adult traveling with a child four years old or younger will board between the “A” and “B” boarding groups. If you have an “A” boarding pass, please feel free to board with that boarding group. With an all-jet fleet outfitted with comfortable, leather seats, our families with small children are easily accommodated together.

Here's a link to the actual page on their site if you want to confirm what I posted above.

As to the original question, I would go with the trusted friend or relative approach if you have someone who is 100 percent reliable (and realize that they may have problems beyond their control that may prevent them from completing their duties). If there is a problem, however, you might not know until it's too late.

You can do it through the Internet Cafe or via laptop through the ship's WiFi connections. You should, however, set your account in advance in either case to avoid delays getting online when you are trying to check in. It's also important to note that the ship's Internet service is satellite based and can be unreliable or just unavailable at random times. I left CC on our last cruise to check in from the ship only to find out that the satellites were "out of position" and that Internet access for the entire ship (cell phone service too) would be unavailable for the next three hours. I did check in once it was available and got high 'B' passes, which wasn't a huge issue.
 
I work for Southwest. Families with childen under 5 board between A- and B- group boarding. Families with children 5 or older board with whatever group they get. You can have family or friends check you in anywhere and have your boarding pass reprinted at the airport.

I must be looking at some really nice gate agents then. Not kidding - I observe this flying between St. Louis and San Antonio via Dallas and Houston a couple of time a month.

I also gave up my seat on a flight from Orlando to St. Louis last fall and sat at the same gate for about 4 hours. I watched 3 other flights board and they let the "non pre boarding" families with younger kids board after the "A" group.

I don't pretend to know airline policy - I only am reporting what I see when I fly. :confused3

OK guys - obviously you need to find a way to fly out of St. Louis, San Antonio, Dallas or Houston, LOL! :lmao:
 
Bummer...I have two 6 year olds and am flying tomorrow. For the first time ever I'm in the "B" group (#36-39) and am worried that we won't be able to sit together. I wonder if I have them make sad-puppy-dog eyes for the gate agents if they'll let us board after the "A" group. :worship: If not we'll survive...I do LUV Southwest!

You know I would hope that most people flying would be sympathetic to your situation and scoot over a seat or two if it helps you. Some people, I'm sure would not budge, but hopefully most would.

You'll probably be fine, but you may have to go pretty far to the back to find an open row for the 3 of you. Doesn't matter really, everyone takes off at the same time, right? :)
 
I must be looking at some really nice gate agents then. Not kidding - I observe this flying between St. Louis and San Antonio via Dallas and Houston a couple of time a month.

That may very well be the case and they generally are more flexible and accommodating for flights without a large number of families with young children. Most flights to Orlando, however, have many families with young children and if they are very flexible with the boarding process, everyone would be boarding between the 'A' and 'B' groups, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of having a system in place to begin with. As a result, they tend to be much more strict on flights to or from Orlando.
 

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