Southwest boarding group B--how bad is that? Need quick reassurance pls!

[coastgirl]

I checked in right at the 24 hour mark, and had a little problem with my phone...we ended up with B9, B21, B22 and B24. We don't want to be at the front of the plane, we just want two + two seats (kids 7 and 10) or maybe 3+1, maybe within sight of each other! Are we going to be ok? I haven't flown SW in a couple of years, last time checkign in on time got us easily in A.

(Our flight is this afternoon from MHT.)

 

[DISNEY FIX]

It's all good you guys will find seats together. Have a great trip.

 

[Paging Tom Morrow]

You'llwind up near the back of the plane, but will get a seating situation you feel comfortable with.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

agree with the above posters......i forgot to check my son and his girlfriend in once and they had B57 and B58....they found 2 seats together in the back of the plane

 

[coastgirl]

Thanks guys, that makes me feel better. I checked the website and they are still selling seats in two fare categories, so I'm guessing it's not full or overbooked.

 

[Royal Duke of Epcot]

Overbooked or not you will be fine. you will be the 50-80th people to get on a plane that likely seats 150. A1-15 are reserved for business travel and the people who pay extra...its never really 15 people. so the A 1-60 will be about 50 people, then they will offer spots to people traveling with little kids. the back half of the plane will still be relatively empty for ya.

HRH Duke of Epcot

 

[coastgirl]

THank you!

(Now I have to figure out how to edit my ticker b/c it's looking really lame right now...)

 

[zumbergc]

You'll most likely be in the back of the plane. However sometimes it depends on how many of the family boarding that occurs between boarding of A & B.

We have had b's several times, and worried about being seperated.
I would say. Don't be afraid to ask people who are 1 in the row of 3, if the seats are emtpy and sit 2 & 2.

We've noticed that on boarding sometimes, lots of 1 person in the seats of 3. So, now we just ask if they are taken, and grab ourselves a seat towards the front. Sometimes people travel alone, although sometimes they are wanting to save seats for others.

 

[Hannathy]

do prepare your kids tho for worse case scenarios and that would be sitting away from you. While you will probably have no problem at least finding 2 and 2 somewhere on the plane there are always circumstances beyond your control that could effect that. If there is weather and flights get combined and the flight is packed, if it is a connecting flight and is 3/4 full before you get on, if it is your connecting flight and you are late getting there cause your first leg was late., you get held up in a long security line and you are last on board. Because you have older kids the FA's will not spend a lot of time trying to get people to move and with kids your ages especially the 10 yr old people won't be as willing to move either so just make sure they have their own carry on with their activities for the plane with them and remind them you are all on the same plane and will all get there at the same time and to stay in there seat till you get them to get off.

 

[Mixie]

Because you have young children, you can all board with the B9 pass, regardless of what the other passes say. They will not split up parents from kids just because of the boarding pass number. B9 is very good and you will have *no* problems getting seats together.

 

[Bobo912]

Last time we flew on SWA about 6 weeks ago, the GA announced that if your group had non-sequential boarding passes and you wanted to stay together, then everyone had to board with the highest numbered boarding pass. So they might not let the everyone board with the B9. I purchased EBCI for both my 10-year-old DS and myself, but he got A16 and I got A36. I didn't attempt to board with him, so I don't know if they would have stopped me if I'd tried. He's a seasoned SWA flyer, so I just sent him ahead and told him to save me a seat. I was about 2 minutes behind him anyway, so not a big deal. I think with B's you'll at least be able to find 2 + 2. We had C boarding passes once and still found 2 seats together.

 

[Vijoge]

Last time we flew on SWA about 6 weeks ago, the GA announced that if your group had non-sequential boarding passes and you wanted to stay together, then everyone had to board with the highest numbered boarding pass. So they might not let the everyone board with the B9.

Yes, this is how it works.

 

[dancin Disney style]

It's been a couple fo years since flying SW....are the boarding numbers attached to a name in your group??? I'm thinking we could send our kids on ahead of us to get their seats together. The youngest is 12 and a seasoned traveller so no issues with them going ahead.

 

[DVC-Don]

We once had a party of 4 with B-46 - 49 and we no problem with seating about the middle of the plane. People seem to over stress over this.

 

[Vijoge]

It's been a couple fo years since flying SW....are the boarding numbers attached to a name in your group???

Yes, each boarding pass consists of a name and number.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Would it matter is the people in our group traded boarding passes? May sound weird but I'm thinking the kids could take the lowest numbered passes and find seats together.

 

[coastgirl]

Just thought I'd update what happened... Dh went to the service desk before boarding started and asked if we could all board with him so that we could be seated with the children, and he was told no. (She did say he could try to "save" seats for the rest of us.) After group A, about 6-8 more families boarded, most with school aged kids like us. (I was under the impression the family "pre board" was for kids 4 and under.)

There were maybe 30 people left lined up for B group. The attendant who was in charge of boarding then went down the line and pulled all the remaining families out and let us board before starting the rest of B. There were only 2 or 3 families who weren't trying to "pre board", so I was feeling cranky for being a law-abiding citizen and waiting, but was really happy when the attendant pulled us. When we got on, there really weren't many "multiple" spaces left, including all the way to the back. A nice guy about mid-plane was alone in an aisle seat, and offered to move up to another row so we could have a three. My dh got the aisle seat behind us, with another family. Worked out ok, but only through the kindness of strangers.

All that aside, we had a great flight. I heart Southwest. We were on time coming and going, the staff was pleasant and efficient, and none of my bags got lost. The parents of the two boys in row 14, however, need to set some boundaries for those children! I've never been on a noisier flight. I have NO ill feelings for the 2 mo old boy and his mom who was doing her very best--his ears hurt, or his teeth, or something, and he made a lot of unhappy noise, but Mom really did her best--it was the parents whose kids were old enough to know better, but didn't.

Thanks for all the feedback. Hope my experience is useful information for someone.

 

[DisneyKobi]

Not to worry! I've flown SWA many times and "B" is great seating for boarding the plane. In fact, if you are elderly and have kids and are struggling to manage this I've seen these groups simply respond to "early boarding" for those needing assistance or extra time. I've also offered to switch seats to give families the ability to get seats closer together. Keep the faith!

 

[Vijoge]

Would it matter is the people in our group traded boarding passes? May sound weird but I'm thinking the kids could take the lowest numbered passes and find seats together.

You can't trade boarding passes. They have your name on them.

 

[2tinkerbell]

Just an FYI - the plane will fill up front aisle/window seats first, back aisle/window second, middle aisle/window seats third, then middle front, middle back, and the middle. If there are families or multiple people traveling together it still fills up front, back, and middle.