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

[diz-nee dreamz]

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. If not we'll survive...I do LUV Southwest!

The sad puppy dog look doesn't work. We boarded as a "B" group the last time we lew together and had no problems sitting together. We, however, do not fly Southwest anymore since they changed there family boarding policy. It is very hard to bring a full size car seat on board when everyone with an "A" usually sits in the very front of the plane. So, on the way home I asked to pre-board so that I did hit anyone with it and was told "no."

I understand their policy, but I don't have to like it.

 

[trimix]

I really don't get it - why is Southwest so popular?

My last trip with Southwest was before the electronic check-in kiosks were introduced, and I found the experience horrid.
We got to the airport 3.5 hours early and spent nearly an hour inline to check our bags. Fortunately security was fast and we got to the gate in time for A boarding passes.
Our flight was a little late, and was further delayed during our enroute stop. When we got to the airport where we change planes, we were in the back of the line for boarding, and there was no way we were going to sit together on the longer flight.


With other airlines I have never had a problem getting seats together, even if we miss a connection. Other airlines' schedules are more convenient - typically I have at most one stop on my trips unless I am connecting to a commuter airline. If you do a lot of travel on Southwest you get fast-tracked past the TSA lines - you get the same thing on other airlines, but you also get first class upgrades. And with other airlines, frequent flier miles can take you around the world - Southwest, not so much.

And finally, airfares. I have often heard, "But Southwest is cheaper!" Right now I cannot check airfares for our late August trip on Southwest, but comparing airfares four weeks earlier I can fly Delta for $2 less per person.

So Southwest lovers - what makes you love the airline regardless of these issues?

 

[TiaMaria]

I really don't get it - why is Southwest so popular?

My last trip with Southwest was before the electronic check-in kiosks were introduced, and I found the experience horrid.
We got to the airport 3.5 hours early and spent nearly an hour inline to check our bags. Fortunately security was fast and we got to the gate in time for A boarding passes.
Our flight was a little late, and was further delayed during our enroute stop. When we got to the airport where we change planes, we were in the back of the line for boarding, and there was no way we were going to sit together on the longer flight.


With other airlines I have never had a problem getting seats together, even if we miss a connection. Other airlines' schedules are more convenient - typically I have at most one stop on my trips unless I am connecting to a commuter airline. If you do a lot of travel on Southwest you get fast-tracked past the TSA lines - you get the same thing on other airlines, but you also get first class upgrades. And with other airlines, frequent flier miles can take you around the world - Southwest, not so much.

And finally, airfares. I have often heard, "But Southwest is cheaper!" Right now I cannot check airfares for our late August trip on Southwest, but comparing airfares four weeks earlier I can fly Delta for $2 less per person.

So Southwest lovers - what makes you love the airline regardless of these issues?

* USUALLY (but not always) much lower fares
* No fee for 1st checked bag
* No fee for second checked bag
* No change fees - strictly goes by what is current fare - this means sometimes I get a credit when changing
* No fee to choose a window or aisle seat - trade off to wanting an "A" boarding pass so I CAN choose.
* No curbside check-in fee (gratuities are appreciated)
* No phone reservation fee - not always able to do online depending what/where I am
* No fee for snacks (even though they are small - they will give you more if you ask)
* No fuel surcharges - not hidden - either fares go up or down.
* No frowns - I have NEVER had a grumpy 80 year old flight attendant still trying to look 25 and failing
* Earn a free round trip ticket (no blackouts) after just 8 round trip flights - mileage doesn't matter.
* Service domestically to most places I travel (I miss them when travelling internationally - maybe someday)
* Much better seating system than the old days when all you got was an A, B or C and had to get there 5 hours early (exaggerating - just a bit) and then not move out of the A, B or C line. Now you are A 1-60, B 1-60 and so on. You don't have to stand up until they are ready to board the A, B or C group - meaning I can go to the restroom, a restaurant or bar unlike the old days.
* It just works well for my family and our lifestyle - it may not be the answer for everyone - yes the boarding group thing can be a bit of a pain sometimes, but it is generally pain free except on busy, busy holiday travel dates - but so are other airlines in some respect or another.

Just my two cents for what it's worth.

 

[stitchlovestink]

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.

As this is how is should be. If you let everyone w/ a child board between the A and B group, there's going to be hardly anyone left afterwards. Since there seems to be more families w/ children, why not let everyone else board first? Devil's advocate here...

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 not accurate see post below stating correct info. Again if they did it this way, there would be hardly anyone left after all of the families w/ young children were pre-boarded and then the rest of the families get to go between the A and B groups.
Ummm.... I paid the same amount for my ticket. why are you more important and why should you get to board before me (when your boarding pass may very well be numbered after mine)? Because you are travelling w/ a 9 y.o. child? BTW I have 2 kids and flew w/ them when they were younger too. I did NOT expect other passengers to bow to me and my children. They paid to fly too. We weren't any better than anyone else on that flight. If you want the assigned seats then maybe SW is NOT for you. When you book the ticket you are taking a chance w/ seating. I think all boarding should be done in numberic order according to your boarding pass. The pre boarding exceptions should only be the unaccompanied minors (because SW employees are RESPONSIBLE for them) and disabled passengers.

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.

Exactly. And actually, they should be consisent on all flights from all airports if these are their policies. When certain places/employees deviate, that's when the problems start. Passengers get 'attutidinal' say things like 'Well, they let us do this at Airport X, why is it such a problem here?' Well, UMMM because Airport X did NOT follow the rules and chose to break them and now you're mad because Airport Y is making you follow the rules.

I really don't get it - why is Southwest so popular?

My last trip with Southwest was before the electronic check-in kiosks were introduced, and I found the experience horrid.
We got to the airport 3.5 hours early and spent nearly an hour inline to check our bags. Fortunately security was fast and we got to the gate in time for A boarding passes.
Our flight was a little late, and was further delayed during our enroute stop. When we got to the airport where we change planes, we were in the back of the line for boarding, and there was no way we were going to sit together on the longer flight.


With other airlines I have never had a problem getting seats together, even if we miss a connection. Other airlines' schedules are more convenient - typically I have at most one stop on my trips unless I am connecting to a commuter airline. If you do a lot of travel on Southwest you get fast-tracked past the TSA lines - you get the same thing on other airlines, but you also get first class upgrades. And with other airlines, frequent flier miles can take you around the world - Southwest, not so much.

And finally, airfares. I have often heard, "But Southwest is cheaper!" Right now I cannot check airfares for our late August trip on Southwest, but comparing airfares four weeks earlier I can fly Delta for $2 less per person.

So Southwest lovers - what makes you love the airline regardless of these issues?

Well for one, I have always gotten an "A" boarding pass and am happy w/ where I sit upon boarding. I think the employees are usually friendly and helpful (sometimes to a fault as stated above by breaking rules). I like the prices. My Delta experiences were less than positive. Plus Delta doesn't do direct flights from BWI to MCO (last time a checked but it's been a few years) they always lay over in Atlanta. SW has great non stops from BWI to MCO. Prices are awesome (have gotten flights as low as $39). They are flexible about changing your flight w/o penalties or change fees. If the price goes down, you can get a credit for the difference to use in the future. And they don't charge for checked luggage and you get 2 pieces per person too. I can remember when my children were young and we got 3 checked pieces per person on AirTran and by golley, we checked 3 pieces for the first 2 of us and 2 pieces for the other 2 of us. Plus we all still took a carry on. Needless to say, I'm an overpacker?
Need any more reasons why I like SW?

 

[luv2plan]

I Just wanted to report back.

I did check in online from the ship. It cost me $3 for 4 minutes online.
Just wanted to let you all know.

 

[loveysbydesign]

I Just wanted to report back.

I did check in online from the ship. It cost me $3 for 4 minutes online.
Just wanted to let you all know.

Thanks so much for the update!

 

[djd7292]

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.

What information do they need in order to check us in? This will be my first time flying w/Southwest. We usually have assigned boarding & seating. It is me & my DD (16); wouldn't matter if we are split up but most people like to sit together.

Thanks!

 

[WDW Princess 71]

Just wanted to give an FYI here, but I wouldn't necessarily count on being able to print your boarding passes on the ship's computer printers using the paid Internet access...I did try on our last night, the Internet connection was so slow and intermittment, after I tried to log in a few times I ended up being charged $5.00 worth of Internet usage and still never got past the airline's homepage. So then I spent the next 20 minutes with Guest Services to get the charge removed from my statement since it didn't work, but of course it wasn't showing up yet on their system. They tried to print the passes for me at GS and their computers were having difficulty too. Finally in the morning my statement of course showed the $5.00 charge so on the way to breakfast I had to hassle again and finally got GS to remove it. Not the way to end my last night or start my debarkation morning, so needless to say, I'm done with online checkin and will take the advice others have already said here, to have a friend do it at home.

 

[luv2plan]

I didn't try to print my boarding passes on the ship. I just printed them at the SW counter. Everything worked out great.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

I didn't try to print my boarding passes on the ship. I just printed them at the SW counter. Everything worked out great.

I understand, but the Internet was almost completely non-functional when I tried to get my boarding passes...it wasn't the printing part that was the problem, it was merely the trying to enter the website and "check in" part that was the problem. I'm glad it worked easily for you but I just want others to be aware that the ship Internet service can be spotty so you shouldn't necessarily count on that you will be able to check in online...better fly an airline with assigned seats or have someone do it at home to be safe.

 

[Mrsjvb]

I just flew from Albany to BWI this afternoon. it was a full flight.. in fact they were asking for people to give up a seat an hour before she arrived to take us all to Baltimore and then on to Nashville.

Observations:

A1-6 were bodies, then the 16-60. 7-15 there was a huge empty gap. there was one guy who had the blue pre board pass.. he was Blind.

I was A 34 and snagged a front row seat.. mainly because nobody else's roll away C/o would fit in the overhead. my two seatmates were a guy with a coke bottle as his carry on and a girl sitting separately from her mother



One thing to be concerned about.. because SW allows every passenger to have a C/O AND a smaller personal item., Overheads get full FAST. I wouldsay that all of the C group and the last 5 of the B group had to gate check their rollaways because the overheads were full.

In fact I think I will plan to NOT have anything other than my purse at all in September when we fly down to Orlando. DH will have the Camelback which is small enough to get stuffed under the seat.

 

[ACDSNY]

My question is a little different...if you have a SW flight with a change of planes along the way, will you get two boarding passes when you do you're online check in? I've only flown non-stop routes with SW.

 

[jajomo0118]

Hi all,
We are pretty new to flying as a family ...only once for our last cruise. So my question is that on SW you do not have assigned seats, it is all about what boarding pass you get? Or am I just reading this thread wrong? TIA

 

[kcashner]

Southwest does not assign seats. You can check in on line 24 hours before flight time and will be assigned a boarding number/group at that time. You board and choose seats in order.

Handicapped/special needs and ONE additional person with them can board in advance. If they are traveling with a family, the family is supposed to wait and board based on their numbers. On our last flight, the person accompanying the lady on oxygen grabbed 8 seats by putting stuff on them (grrrrr) for her group C family! A 1-15 is then business class. These people paid extra for their seats for the ability to board next. They have the same seats and amenities as lower fare passengers except for earlier boarding. Then comes A 18-31, B 1-20, C...you get it.

Since we are on Castaway the day before, it is a little difficult to check in on line. We typically have a friend/family member at home do it for us. Once you have secured the number, there is no worry. You can print out the boarding pass when you get to the airport.

 

[mrsdn5]

I have a 2 and 3 yo and when we took the car seats for them to sit in because it was a long flight, we could tie them down into the car seats and they wounldn't be trying to run all over the place.Group A was a big group an all sat in the front, so for my poor husband to lug those car seats to the back and avoid people heads was difficult. If we could had boarded with the first group or before with the car seats and strollers it would have been easier.

 

[TDC Nala]

used to be that Southwest allowed all families with children age 4 or under to board first - before anybody else except for the disabled passengers and unaccompanied minors. This resulted in the entire front of the airplane (a common occurrence on Orlando flights) being filled with the preboarding families. Those who made it a point to check in early complained that they could not get what is considered "prime" seating. Now that Southwest has its "business select" category that charges more for a low boarding number in the A group...they probably couldn't sell it if a person who put out the cash for this preferred boarding got on the plane to find the front full of families. So now, the families board after the A boarding group (unless they already have an A pass). This pretty much ensures that the families will be seated together - but more toward the rear of the plane.

Also used to be that anyone accompanying an eligible preboarding child, including Grandma, Grandpa, uncles, aunts, second cousins, your best friend that you just met in the security line, etc. could also preboard. The new rule is: parents and siblings (or other minor children) with the eligible child only. Extended family is supposed to board with their own boarding group. In cases where there are large numbers of families waiting between A and B, gate agents may restrict family boarding to the eligible child and one adult (plus siblings if there's only one adult in the party to start with)

 

[jajomo0118]

Thanks all!!
So my family will still get the same boarding assignment....its not like the 12 and 13 year old will get A and us C or something..... correct?