Boardfirst.com on Southwest Airlines

[outahere]

I can't see how it would be a problem for you and your friend to sit together unless you or your friend are like he last ones to board on a full flight.

Hmmmmm..... we (2 adults, one child) have only flown Southwest on one trip, roundtrip from Manchester, NH to Orlando - both flights we had 'B' boarding passes. No problem sitting together on the way down, but on the way back we were at the front of the 'B' group and got the last 3 seats together (very last row). Even though their prices are good, we won't fly them because of their 'cattle call' boarding process. Jetblue's prices are almost as good (sometimes better) and we get reserved seats.

 

[carole88]

I'm still curious as to why Southwest banned board-a.com, but have not (yet) banned boardfirst.com. Are you sure that it's still legal?

Why don't you call Southwest and ask them. They would give you a definitive answer.

 

[kdsluvdisney]

This was my very first cruise ever, I had never been on a cruise before. I didn't want to waste time printing passes, but I also knew that I wanted to sit with my children on the flight home too. We flew Southwest. It took me 3 minutes ( I know because they charge by the minute) to get online and print the boarding passes on the 4 day cruise. When we were on the flight home there were 2 others that wanted to sit together and they were in group C. All they did was ask the steward and he offered free drinks for the first person to volunteer 2 seats together. (had I known that I would not have worried about it)

Don't wreck your trip by worrying about this! Even if you go thru that site you won't be guaranteed, it sounds like, that you will get it. What time does your flight leave that day? Are you on the 3 or the 4 day?

Even if you go later to the computer you still have a chance of getting A. We didn't print my folks and when we got to the airport, they got B. (not C like I imagined they would.) It appears more people print their passes on the going flight then on the returning flight.

This board really is great and has lots of useful information!!!!!

I also looked at the site -- did you read the FAQ? Online check-in is only available for those travelers that have purchased an electronic ticket, but these tickets can be purchased either on the internet or over the phone. However, if you have purchased your ticket through a travel agent or any other outlet that provides you with a paper ticket, online check-in is not available. Did you read that? Didn't know if that applied to you or not either.

I'm with Carole88 --call SW and ask them about the site.

Good Luck!

 

[pearlieq]

Thank you. It's unfortunate that every time I ask a question, it turns into a flame war. It seems that this group is dominated by the type of people who are able to go on 12 cruises per year. People need to understand that the needs and priorities of someone, such as myself, who can only go on a vacation every several years or so, are different than the people who go on 12 cruises per year.

I don't see any flames in this thread. Some people didn't understand your logic/thinking and questioned you. That's not a flame.

There's no need to trash everyone on this board (I think you're effectively calling everyone here snobbish with your "12 cruises" comments). It comes across as very defensive. If you don't like the people/tone here, why are you still hanging around?

 

[Flagger]

So, are you saying it is illegal, unsafe, or unreliable? If it's unsafe, I'm willing to take a risk, and can cancel the credit card after the cruise if needed. If unreliable, it is still better than the alterrnative. If illegal, then I don't want to take my chances.

No if you would take the time to go up and read. When you said that you had HEARD that people have a hard time sitting together with even A passes then why spend the money. Secondly as has been pointed out to you in this thread boardfirst.com does not GUARANTEE you will get A passes. They will only charge you if they do.

Finally, as was pointed out to you several times if sitting together is so important to you, then you best WASTE YOUR TIME by logging on to checkin within 24 hours. By the way not until advised you could use the ship's computers did you bring up wasting time. Your concern was there were not computers at CC. It seems like the only one being argumentative is you.

You are the only one in this thread being insulting and argumentative and frankly I hope you have a good cruise, but of all things to worry about?!?

 

[BBBFamily]

We just returned and were booked on a Southwest Flight. My hubby signed onto the internet on the ship and printed out our boarding passes. We have five people in our family and had connecting flights -- we had to print like 10 pages of boarding passes but it was worth it to have Group A. The total cost for internet use and printing costs was $7.50.

Our flights out of MCO were NOT full - we had a 1:15 pm departure. But our flight from ABQ to PHX was very full and we were glad we were in the first boarding group.

In our experience, the $7.50 was well worth having those A Group boarding passes in our hands when we left the ship.

 

[kehouse]

never heard of this company before now, but i can see the value in not having to sit at my computer and worry about it. well worth the $5, if it was a sure thing. that being said, i think i would still worry about not knowing for sure until you can get to a computer(at the airport or wherever) to find out if they were able to get it. will you be able to relax without worry?not me, i'd lay in bed awake all nite wondering
i wish there was someone on here that could tell you how reliable they are, or maybe like someone else suggested, get family or friends to do it for you. that way at least its someone you trust.
if you do use them, please let us know how it worked out for you.
hope this is a great vacation for you!

 

[pamjb]

Just an FYI, you don't have to actually print the boarding passes. You just have to check in online in order to get the boarding pass. You can skip the printing part. A friend of mine printed my boarding passes here at home, while my kids and i were in Florida a few weeks ago. They had gotten "A" for me. When we got the MCO, I just went to a kiosk and checked in and reprinted my passes.
This way you can still check in, but won't need to pay for printing.

 

[OurDogCisco]

I assume that wasn't at MCO. I've heard that at MCO, there are so many pre-boards that even with an A pass you are not guaranteed seats together.

That doesn't make sense. You gotta assume they divide the boarding passes in groups. So unless they put all the passengers in group A then, this couldn't happen. The only way would be if none of the passengers in group A sat together which I find highly unlikely. I don't agree with this statement because it isn't possble.

 

[Verandah Man]

I have flown Southwest quite a few times out of MCO, and even though there were a lot of people pre-boarding, my DW, DD and I always found three seats together, and we were in Group A on each flight.

 

[CACruisin']

The first people on the plane are the people with official medical preboards, then the families with children under 5, regardless of their boarding pass letter. Then the A, B and C's board. I would be surprised if there were not ANY seats together after all the preboards, but I see how this could "theoretically" happen. In Orlando, I am sure there are a larger number of families, and when we flew out of Ft. Lauderdale, there were definitely a larger number of "wheelchair" passengers. However, SW planes generally have +20 rows. For there to be no seats together there would have to be about 80 "preboards" and I think that is highly unlikely, even at MCO.

 

[Lewisc]

Thank you. Have you used it recently. I'm still curious as to why Southwest banned board-a.com, but have not (yet) banned boardfirst.com. Are you sure that it's still legal?

bOARD-A.COM decided to shut down when they received the first letter from SW. Some of us speculate that boardfirst.com, a commercial website, may just be waiting for legal action.

The terms of use of SW's website have been changed to ban third party checkins.

I'd be afraid that boardfirst might be shut down while I was on the cruise.

 

[Peggy Jean]

I assume that wasn't at MCO. I've heard that at MCO, there are so many pre-boards that even with an A pass you are not guaranteed seats together.

This was in Chicago, Midway


But we have flown our family of 4 from MCO numerous times and have been able to sit together. Just lucky I guess.

 

[dgaston]

I'm also curious about your friend saving you a seat if she had an A boarding pass. We've flown as a family and 3 of us had A passes and DD22 forgot to go online until all she could get was a B. We saved her a seat, it was no problem.

 

[mitsguy2001]

I hesitate to respond since I don't want to cause any arguments. To answer a few questions: The reason why I want to use the site even though Group A is not guaranteed is because the site has a good chance at getting Group A, while not using the site gives me no chance of Group A. As for why I want group A if it doesn't guarantee 2 seats togeter: because Group A gives us a good chance of 2 seats together, while Group B or C gives basically no chance. As for having one of us get Group A and reserve a seat for the other: there are 2 problems with that. One is that my friend and I will be together on the cruise, so if one of us is not near a computer neither of us will be, so we'll either both end up with A or neither of us with A. The other problem is that Southwest does not allow passengers to reserve a seat for others.

All I really want to know is if boardfirst is legal, and if anyone has used it since March 11, but no one seems to know.

Again, not trying to cause any arguments. Just answering a few questions.

Thank you to those who wished me a good trip.

 

[kdsluvdisney]

Try it and then let us know.

 

[beachblanket]

IMHO, this entire thread is exhibit A of the core problem with the entire Southwest value propositon. In return for a (often nominal) discount, passengers have to engage in all sorts of silly scenario planning just to try get seats together. What a fun way to start/end a vacation.....and which may explain why the passenger growth of that airline has begun to flatten!!

 

[markey]

The more I read this post the more I laugh. I have never seen so many people worry about seats together. We fly SW at least 2 times a year, just DH and me and also with our 2 grandchildren. We have never, never had a problem getting seats together, and we do not pre board. Never get boarding passes before we arrive on our home flights back home. This is completely silly. If you are that worry about sitting together then don't fly SW, pay the difference in price and maybe you can enjoy your vacation, go ahead and flame me but I worry more about the plane staying in the air then where I'm sitting!

 

[Diamond_Girls]

Well we have had to sit apart from our children so please don't assume it never happens. I don't think the original poster was looking for people's opinions of S/W or of their boarding methods, he was just asking about a particular website. If someone could answer the question and all of us stop judging then he (or she) can make his decision and then start working on the important stuff... the MAGIC of Disney!

 

[beachblanket]

If you are that worry about sitting together then don't fly SW, pay the difference in price

If one bothers to do the homework, the "discount" on SW isn't always as big as people generalize it is. In fact, SW isn't always the lowest cost provider. For our upcoming trip to the DVC Vero Beach resort, SW was almost $90 more per person that Jet Blue and about $80 more than Delta and American. And on all three of the latter, one can pick seats for their entire pary at the time of purchase (what a concept!)

So like markey, I'm also starting to laugh at this thread. Accepting a lower quality product because one assumes they're always saving money.....