GREAT News for Southwest Flyers!

[NYDisneyMom]

No...it's not a discount code, but even better for those traveling with little ones. You can now print your boarding passes at home before leaving for the airport! Beginning at 12:01 a.m. on the day of your flight you can print your them from Southwest's website.

I know my major gripe with Southwest is the way they board, A, B, C groups -- it was always so stressful with the kids, worrying we wouldn't get an A boarding pass and have the chance of being separated as a family.

So..way to go Southwest!

 

[Luckymommyx2]

There is a thread about this on the transportation board. Just be aware that you CANNOT do this with multiple passengers under one reservation. That is causing some problems for families that are too old to preboard and do not want to get to the airport even earlier than under the old system!! It will be interesting to see how this works.

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Originally posted by Luckymommyx2
There is a thread about this on the transportation board. Just be aware that you CANNOT do this with multiple passengers under one reservation. That is causing some problems for families that are too old to preboard and do not want to get to the airport even earlier than under the old system!! It will be interesting to see how this works.

Why would they do this??? Oh man...now I'm back to being not a happy camper again!!! I hope they have this straightened out by the time we fly in May.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

You can get around this by making a seperate reservation for each adult and each child. Our problem is that we already have our reservation booked and they just implemented this new process. I think I'll just see how it goes this first time then next time make a seperate reservation for everyone. Good luck!

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Originally posted by Luckymommyx2
You can get around this by making a seperate reservation for each adult and each child. Our problem is that we already have our reservation booked and they just implemented this new process. I think I'll just see how it goes this first time then next time make a seperate reservation for everyone. Good luck!

I also had already made our reservations for May. I just got off the phone with a very nice rep, Missy, at Southwest. She changed our reservations so that each of us now have our own separate reservation number. This is what is needed in order to be able to print multiple boarding passes. It took several minutes of waiting on hold, but it was worth it.

Missy said that it will probably be figured out in the coming months but she believes that it is going to be FAA required that each person have their own individual reservation number and that when you book online you will only be able to book one reservation at a time.

So, there's the scoop. I feel better now.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

I'm glad it worked out for you! I just love the reps at SWA because every time I've spoken with someone they have always been very patient and extremely nice. I'm debating on calling them again to get seperate reservation numbers. We were planning on getting up at 4:30am to leave for the airport so I don't know if I want to set my alarm for midnight to get up just to print our passes or do it when we get up at 4:30. Hopefully it's still so new that not everyone will know about it! What to do, what to do! Have a safe flight and a great cruise. I can't wait to go back!!!

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Originally posted by Luckymommyx2
I'm glad it worked out for you! I just love the reps at SWA because every time I've spoken with someone they have always been very patient and extremely nice. I'm debating on calling them again to get seperate reservation numbers. We were planning on getting up at 4:30am to leave for the airport so I don't know if I want to set my alarm for midnight to get up just to print our passes or do it when we get up at 4:30. Hopefully it's still so new that not everyone will know about it! What to do, what to do! Have a safe flight and a great cruise. I can't wait to go back!!!

Maybe you can sleep a little later, though, if you have your boarding passes already. ?? I'm sure you don't need to print them at exactly 12:01, that's just when you're able to.

You're leaving from Baltimore, I'm assuming. That airport is a little nuts with all that construction. We have friends that live in Owings Mills, we fly SWA from Long Island to Balitmore last year for $34 one way! Doesn't even pay to drive with that airfare!

Have a great trip!!

 

[sjhlib]

Do you know if this means that, if you're not able to do the online thing, you can now get passes prior to the 4hrs before flight time? If so, that might be a better option for us.

 

[Mjasp]

Oh this is NOT making me happy. I don't want to print out my own boarding passes at midnight. If they are doing that online, why don't they just let you select your seat when making your reservation, that would be the thing to do.

 

[sjhlib]

I'm on hold right this minute w/SW - the agent I got is awesome and when I asked about the 4 hr thing, SHE offered the split res. #'s for everyone and is now working w/a supervisor to learn how to do it!
We had planned on heading out early that day to board, then go back later, but this just saved us a trip!! This board is wonderful! I'll bet the internet cafe will be mobbed at midnight on the last night w/all of us trying to get our return flight passes!Shhhhhhh!!!

 

[Carol RN]

So....let's see if I have this straight. If I wait up and print my boarding passes at 12:01 a.m., do I automatically get into the "A" group to board?

 

[sjhlib]

I'm still on hold, so I'll ask that ?

 

[sjhlib]

Hi: This is what she did - she issued all new confirmation numbers for each of us (e-mailed to me). She did state that the passes will be given out as A,B and C, just as if you were doing it at the airport. She also stated that they are NOT able to give the passes for any connecting flight (unlike when you get the passes in person), so if we do this, we will be stuck w/whatever we get on our 2nd leg. She said this may change as they work things out, but right now, it's only the 1st leg.
Another thing, because the tix are now much more expensive than when we purchased, they had to back date each ressie, so it did take a little while on the phone.
Thank you again everyone!!!

 

[sjhlib]

Do the computers on the ship have any printing capabilities? If not, I'm not sure that we'd be able to do the return thing.

 

[Carol RN]

sjhlib,

Thanks for the info about the A B C boarding and printing out boarding passes online. This really helps. It's worth it to wait up until 12:01 rather than arrive at the airport plenty early only to learn you are in the B or C group because most people have already printed their passes online.

Also, there are printers at the Internet Cafe. I have never used them to print anything from the internet. I have only printed a summary of my internet usage charge after each online session at the Cafe.

Carol

 

[cjsmith]

On the Southwest site, it does state that you can't print out boarding passes for minors. How will this work if our kids have a separate reservation?

As far as printing on board the ship, I had to print out an email for my husband for work on our 1/4/04 cruise. I simply sent it to the printer and it was there waiting for me. I believe it was 25 cents per page and this billing went right onto my account.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

Thanks Phyllis! I called and switched our reservation to individual reservations. The SWA rep never mentioned about not being able to print out boarding passes for my children and I did mention that they were my children when going over the information on my reservation. Exactly how will they know unless you paid a child fare? I'm going to print them out at 12:01 the day we fly and if there's a problem with it I'll report back to you all.

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Originally posted by Luckymommyx2
Thanks Phyllis! I called and switched our reservation to individual reservations. The SWA rep never mentioned about not being able to print out boarding passes for my children and I did mention that they were my children when going over the information on my reservation. Exactly how will they know unless you paid a child fare? I'm going to print them out at 12:01 the day we fly and if there's a problem with it I'll report back to you all.

I told my rep that two of my reservations were for my kids also and she didn't say anything. I figure even if it doesn't work, I'd get two boarding passes for my husband and myself then one of us can board first and save seats for the other three.

 

[Padre Disney]

I really don't think that SW is treating everyone equal. Not everyone will have eccess to a printer at 12:01 a.m the night before their flight.

We have a group of 12 with SW for our March trip. When we decided to book with SW it was because we wanted a direct flight. We were aware that we would need to arrive very very early (we planned 2 hours) with our group size if we wanted to sit near each other. When we booked we only had to worry about people with young children and those with out luggage. BUT it seems like unless we get to the airport 4 hours before we don't even stand a chance of getting an A or B pass.

2 of the people in our group are 76 years old and sitting at the airport 4 hours early will not be fun for them. Not to mention that 5 of our group are kids 11 - 16.

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Originally posted by Padre Disney
I really don't think that SW is treating everyone equal. Not everyone will have eccess to a printer at 12:01 a.m the night before their flight.

I believe most major airlines now allow passengers to print their boarding passes online. So, it's not just SW. But you're right, I'm sure on the return flights home it may be a problem for many. I'm going to make sure the hotel we're staying at after the cruise has a computer/printer I can access.