Southwest Family Boarding--Did Age Change?

[jodiariel]

I am not sure you are going to be able to have both seats in same row as you must have carseat in the window seat. if you are able to have both seats in one row the seats will have to be next to each other, not with you in the middle. I would talk to Southwest to be sure you can have 2 carseats in one row

There is no way you won't get 3 seats together. A two year old cannot sit in a row without a parent. The flight attendants will make people move if they have to.
The other thing you can do is check the car seats at the gate. That way you have them when you land for the rental. Do you really need them on the plane? We've never put our daughter in a car seat. We just buckle her in. She's flown as young as 2. Maybe that makes us bad parents, I don't know! Just an idea.

@Betty Rohrer they will allow two seats side by side (window/center). They just dont allow the seat to block the passage of an adult passenger.
@Aurora0427 I am a CPST aka car seat tech. It is not safe to check car seats as you risk damage to them. Also I find that my kids travel better in their car seats since they are used to traveling in them. Also they are far safer from turbulence, etc in a harness. I am not worried about the actual install part, it is the what to do with the kids while I am installing part!

 

[jodiariel]

You're a much braver soul than I am!!! I just can't for the life of me figure out logistically how you would corral two 2-year-olds AND two car seats being just one person. How do you even get through the airport? And the plans are so cramped, with people pushing to get through and find seats. I just can't even imagine.... Good luck!

@mom2AidanAndEli this is how I navigated the airport last time. I went through security alone and my husband met me at the gate so I didnt have to do on the plane alone part. This time he is not flying until later that evening.

 

[DebbieB]

I agree. In my opinion, this is a safety problem which I wish be addressed by the FAA. How old does a child need to be to sit by himself/herself on an airline without an adult responsible for the child sitting next to or nearby? In the event of an emergency, I doubt a 5 or 6 year old has the ability to put on an oxygen mask and know how to exit the plane! I am not sure what the correct minimum age should be, but I agree a young child should be required to sit next to or near an adult responsible for the child. Not necessarily the entire family, but at least one parent/adult able to assist the child in the event of an emergency. Just my 2 cents.

Age 5 can fly as an unaccompanied minor. The airline charges a fee to make sure the make it to their destination but they don't sit with them. Age 12 can fly alone with no fee.

https://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/family/unaccompanied-minors-pol.html

 

[Aurora0427]

@Betty Rohrer they will allow two seats side by side (window/center). They just dont allow the seat to block the passage of an adult passenger.
@Aurora0427 I am a CPST aka car seat tech. It is not safe to check car seats as you risk damage to them. Also I find that my kids travel better in their car seats since they are used to traveling in them. Also they are far safer from turbulence, etc in a harness. I am not worried about the actual install part, it is the what to do with the kids while I am installing part!

Yeah, I figured we were being terrible parents by not putting her in a car seat! Oops! Good luck!

 

[LoveMMC]

Jodiariel- you are awesome. I will remember this picture when I have my 2 and 6 - and my husband. I can't complain!

 

[Allison]

Jodiariel- you are awesome. I will remember this picture when I have my 2 and 6 - and my husband. I can't complain!

I agree. That's a lot to handle and to be smiling while doing it.

 

[TexasPete]

We flew to ECP August 1 through Houston and non-stop back on August 8. ECP services the Florida panhandle beaches, and half the plane was children. On the August 1 flight they said "under five" but the gate agent was not even glancing at the families to enforce the rule. On the August 8 flight home, they said "under five" and they were very strict about it. Families with mid-B boarding and up were not able to sit together.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

And then it will be even MORE cranky kids who don't understand why they are sitting in a plane, not being able to be up and moving, while the plane just sits there for 30 more minutes...

Never understood boarding early for kids...just made my son more annoyed.

It's so the parents can sit with their child. Southwest doesn't have assigned seating and we got screwed by this policy 6 years ago. My son was 6 and we boarded in the last group, there were no seats together and the flight attendant tried to tell me he had to sit with strangers halfway down the plane. This was my son's first flight, and only my 5th flight ever, the other times I'd flown was for work and I was either by myself or with one other person (and never on Southwest, coincidentally) so I didn't realize that there weren't assigned seats. I argued, ready to pull both of us off the plane if I had to, and finally someone took pity on me and let me sit in their seat, which was only 3 rows down the aisle from where the flight attendant was trying to seat my son. Lesson learned, I'll never fly Southwest again.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

It's so the parents can sit with their child. Southwest doesn't have assigned seating and we got screwed by this policy 6 years ago. My son was 6 and we boarded in the last group, there were no seats together and the flight attendant tried to tell me he had to sit with strangers halfway down the plane. This was my son's first flight, and only my 5th flight ever, the other times I'd flown was for work and I was either by myself or with one other person (and never on Southwest, coincidentally) so I didn't realize that there weren't assigned seats. I argued, ready to pull both of us off the plane if I had to, and finally someone took pity on me and let me sit in their seat, which was only 3 rows down the aisle from where the flight attendant was trying to seat my son. Lesson learned, I'll never fly Southwest again.

But none of this is Southwest's fault. They're very upfront with policies and how things work. A little research on your part would have solved the issue. The only reason you got "screwed" was because you didn't pay attention to the policies when you booked your flight.

 

[mickeygirl78]

I've noticed Southwest allowing kids much older than 4 board for the family boarding. I check in my family of 7 (5 adults, 2 kids) 24 hours in advance and we are typically late A or early B's. Even when we are B's, we've never had a problem finding seats together. We sit 3, 2 and 2. We've been lucky that our rows have been near each other but as long as each kid is with an adult that's all that matters. There was a family that boarded in C last trip and the kids were very afraid and there were only single seats. My family split up to give them two seats together as did another group. People are most times willing to help.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

I think it is unreasonable if you have small children and don't buy EBCI to expect others to move for you. It appears family boarding is hit or miss. When my kids were young we never flew SW because of the no seat assignment. We now love SW.
My kids are 19 and 20. I purchase EBCI so we can get aisle seats, due to their height and my dislike of feeling closed in. Call me mean, but if I pay for the EBCI and get my seat and someone else doesn't and can't sit where they want I probably won't move. If sitting together is important buy EBCI and understand SW boarding, especially be aware family boarding not always an option. If asked nicely I might move, but if there was drama or poor me story I'd keep my headphones on.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

But none of this is Southwest's fault. They're very upfront with policies and how things work. A little research on your part would have solved the issue. The only reason you got "screwed" was because you didn't pay attention to the policies when you booked your flight.

You're absolutely right, I could have avoided what happened with a little bit of research. But as I tried to explain in my first response, I had very little experience with air travel at the time, and the little experience that I did have was with airlines that had assigned seating. I was only 26 at the time and not very travel-savvy. I had no idea that there was anything to research, because I didn't understand at that point in my life that anything else was possible--I thought that you bought a seat on an airplane, then sat in that seat for your flight. As I said, I had only been on 5 trips before our Disney trip in 2010, and all those trips were business trips--all the arrangements were made for me and none of the flights were on Southwest.

Another problem was that we booked our trip through a travel agent. Maybe if I had spent time on travel sites I would have had an inkling about the policy, that didn't happen though. And my MIL printed our boarding passes for the trip, I never even saw that paperwork from the travel agent. It was a family trip and we all took responsibility for planning certain aspects of the trip. Really, it was a cluster-fudge of circumstances and naivete that contributed to what happened.

I can absolutely blame the Southwest personnel for their part in handling the situation. I didn't go into details, but lets just say my inner mama bear was triggered by one very rude flight attendant who got pushy with my frightened child. My son is on the autism spectrum and is a worrier, he was terrified of his first aiplane ride and I was stressed out with worry that he would lose it. Yes, I did him a disservice by not finding out about the policy and that's on me, but I am perfectly entitled to hold a grudge against a company for poor customer service, and there are plenty of other carriers--I don't need to give Southwest my business. Maybe our flight attendant was having a bad day, we all have those, the way my family was treated was wrong and I won't fly the carrier again. It was a bad experience all around. My in-laws have managed to never fly southwest again as well--we're leaving plenty of seats for you if you like southwest.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

Well, my flight in 2007 was only my second flight ever---the first being 20 years before that. But I did all the necessary research, got us checked in at 24 hours, and our family of 4 had no trouble sitting together. Not being aware of what's going on is not someone else's fault.

And were you pushy with the flight attendant, too? My guess is if you were that stressed out, realizing you wouldn't be sitting together, worried about your son, etc., you were probably not the most calm and rational passenger either. I see the "stuff" the flight attendants have to put up with and always think....boy, they don't get paid enough!

But, yes, you're entitled to hold a grudge if you'd like. For me, I like saving the huge amounts I do by flying Southwest and, knowing their systems, it's really a great way to get where I need to go! My only concern is all the new family boarding rules and changes--but we'll just wait and see on those!

 

[DebbieB]

Assigned seats on other airlines are not guaranteed either. Plane models change, flights change and seats are reassigned, sometimes not together.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

Well, my flight in 2007 was only my second flight ever---the first being 20 years before that. But I did all the necessary research, got us checked in at 24 hours, and our family of 4 had no trouble sitting together. Not being aware of what's going on is not someone else's fault.

And were you pushy with the flight attendant, too? My guess is if you were that stressed out, realizing you wouldn't be sitting together, worried about your son, etc., you were probably not the most calm and rational passenger either. I see the "stuff" the flight attendants have to put up with and always think....boy, they don't get paid enough!

But, yes, you're entitled to hold a grudge if you'd like. For me, I like saving the huge amounts I do by flying Southwest and, knowing their systems, it's really a great way to get where I need to go! My only concern is all the new family boarding rules and changes--but we'll just wait and see on those!

I stood up to the flight attendant when she started ordering (loudly and forcefully, like he was a stray dog) my child (who was petrified with fear) to separate from me and sit in the seat way down the plane. She didn't say two words to me when this incident began, she directed her impatience and anger toward my 6 year old child. That's just plain terrible customer service, didn't give me a good impression of her as a person either. Would you allow someone to bully your child? Do you have any kids with sn? Can you imagine how hard that was for my child to deal with?

If that flight attendant had spoken to me--I boarded right after my son and I was right behind him, practically walking on his heels--there wouldn't have been an issue and you and I wouldn't be having this discussion now. We're not in the habit of outright asking people to treat our son with kid gloves--you'll notice that I didn't even mention autism in my first post--but I expect common courtesy from anyone in a service position. If a cast member at Disney World had treated my son half as badly no doubt people would be up in arms about the injustice, but because this was a flight attendant who deals with so much "stuff" you think it's ok to bully a terrified child? When you work in customer service you don't get to have a bad day, and I say this as someone who worked in service positions for years. I don't really care about the "stuff" they have to deal with, if they can't handle it they're in the wrong profession. If she was angry about someone else's "stuff" she had no right to turn that on my son. Probably she had no idea that my son has autism, most people can't tell from a few seconds of interaction, my point is that her behavior was inappropriate toward ANY child.

Seeing as how that's the only example my family has of Southwest's brand of customer service, we'll do business with other companies, even if it costs a bit more. We have yet to complain about any other carrier, and I've never had another carrier try to separate one of my kids from me. Personally, if their new leniency on family boarding helps people avoid an incident like we experienced I think that's awesome. No child should be treated like that. It's inexcusable, imo.

 

[goofy4tink]

Everyone is entitled to fly with whatever airline they want. They don't need to 'prove' that their choice is a good one for them. My threshold for 'rudeness' may be very different than someone else's. Treatment I may be able to live with could very well upset another person.
Let's try to keep in mind that people have different needs, and different experiences.

 

[barbliny]

We are flying into Tampa. Anyone have experience flying with Southwest into/out of TPA? I was planning on checking in at 24 hour mark and not purchasing EBCI, thinking family boarding would be less than flights arriving/departing from MCO.

Just checked in this morning for our Tampa flight at exactly 24 hours - got B13 through B16 - good enough for us, as we don't have young children. We fly Tampa purposefully to Disney to avoid the high number of families with young kids at Orlando - it makes security easier, and chances of being bumped back in the boarding process because of family boarding less likely.

And EVERY seat on our flight is sold.

 

[maxiesmom]

QUOTE - JMHO, I think kids even as old as 12 should be able to sit with a parent. Maybe not both parents and the entire family together, but certainly one parent & child. If DH & I were flying without kids, I would sit apart from him if it meant a kid could be by a parent.

I agree. In my opinion, this is a safety problem which I wish be addressed by the FAA. How old does a child need to be to sit by himself/herself on an airline without an adult responsible for the child sitting next to or nearby? In the event of an emergency, I doubt a 5 or 6 year old has the ability to put on an oxygen mask and know how to exit the plane! I am not sure what the correct minimum age should be, but I agree a young child should be required to sit next to or near an adult responsible for the child. Not necessarily the entire family, but at least one parent/adult able to assist the child in the event of an emergency. Just my 2 cents.[/QUOTE]


Children as young as 5 can fly without an adult. The FAs do pay special attention to them. Children not much older than that ride buses and manage to get themselves to classrooms without a whole lot of help. I'm sure a child of 11 or 10 or 7 can manage to sit on an aircraft without a whole lot of assistance.

 

[charmed59]

JMHO, I think kids even as old as 12 should be able to sit with a parent. Maybe not both parents and the entire family together, but certainly one parent & child.

I agree. In my opinion, this is a safety problem which I wish be addressed by the FAA. How old does a child need to be to sit by himself/herself on an airline without an adult responsible for the child sitting next to or nearby? In the event of an emergency, I doubt a 5 or 6 year old has the ability to put on an oxygen mask and know how to exit the plane! I am not sure what the correct minimum age should be, but I agree a young child should be required to sit next to or near an adult responsible for the child. Not necessarily the entire family, but at least one parent/adult able to assist the child in the event of an emergency. Just my 2 cents.

Children have been flying, at the age of 5 or 6, as unaccompanied minors for decades without incident. This is not like lap babies, where there have been the very rare incident of injury or death. I think if the FAA is concerned about the safety of children, they would tackle lap babies well before they start on something that has not been a problem as of yet.

As for families sitting together, there are very few airlines that do not have assigned seats. I'm not sure the FAA wants to step into SouthWest's business model for families that don't want their older children sitting alone. However, if SouthWest finds they are losing enough customers due to the worry that families can't sit together, they would likely change their policies themselves.

Interestingly enough, if one looks up the unaccompanied minor policies of various airlines, Southwest's is the most lenient, in that a 5 year old only needs someone 12 or older to be consided accompanied. So if you have 12 and 5 year old siblings, they are not considered unaccompanied.

 

[FlyingBelle]

First time SW flyer with kids...
DS just turned 4, DD turned 8 today.
Are we all able to board together during family boarding, or can only 1 of us with DS?

DD flies with me quite often on other airlines and has even sat "by herself" due to last minute booking and no seats together available. 8 out of 10 times I don't have to ask someone to switch, they gladly take my seat so they don't have to sit next to a child.

The only time I actually ask someone to switch is if we are seated so far apart that I can't see her. She's a good girl and entertains herself quietly on the plane, but I am not comfortable leaving her sitting alone with a stranger if I can't see her. Otherwise I have no problem with her and I in middle seats if we're in the same row or if she's in the row right in front of me.