3rd Seat with Southwest

[MomOTwins]

Not quite.

It's pre-boarders who need assistance (that would include the OP), then A1-A15 which is Business Select and despite the name anyone can purchase these although there are of course only 15 of these per flight. You can however purchase Upgraded Boarding at the gate which for a nominal fee that varies per flight (usually $20-40 or so sometimes up to $60) you can purchase a Boarding Position in that A1-A15 should there be any left.

Then you have A16-30, then A31-60. After that it's A-Listers (regular and preferred) who did NOT get an A Boarding group I can only guess that is the preferred status folks you're talking about but even being an A-lister does NOT guarantee A-Boarding group. During the pandemic SWA did enhance the A-List by allowing those booked on the same confirmation number as the A-lister to board with the A-lister (they usually do it now by just assigning consequential Boarding positions like A24 and A25) however if you aren't on the same confirmation number that benefit shouldn't apply (that means those who have a Companion pass will not be boarding with their A-lister unless they are also an A-lister themselves as Companion passes have to be booked separately). That added benefit however can def. add more people boarding the plane earlier on than before.

Then you have active military and Family Boarding (allows for 2 adults with a child 6 and younger). It's been reported that especially to/from Orlando Family Boarding has a higher chance of being suspended because of the sheer amount of kids on that route but it certainly occurs often enough.

Then you have B1-30, then B31-60, then finally C1-30 and C31-C60.

Purchasing Early Bird Check-In (EBCI) automatically assigns a Boarding position at 36 hours in advance but is behind A-Listers who are also assigned at 36 hours in advance. Those who purchase Anytime Fares with EBCI are given priority over those who purchase WGA with EBCI. It's easy and complicated at the same time. EBCI should not be looked at in a preferred status way. It's something someone can do just 1 time or every time, up to them.

You're def. right about trying to locate seats all together and it's usually a question that comes up time and time again about people flying with their children. There is a dedicated SWA thread that has chronicled this over the years.

Yeah, I couldn’t remember the name but I remember them saying there was some preferred group that was allowed to board before us “if they did not get assigned an A group” so I guess that was the A-listers. Definitely started to feel like a but of a joke by the end as there were only about 10 of us left when they got to the Bs!

 

[DCLMP]

I mean in the end I get a larger seat not for my comfort, but for the comfort of those around me. But yeah, we're going with American Airlines First Class.

Good choice. SW cattle call seating is awful. They are bringing back hot meals in first so that’s a plus. We’re flying AA first class to mco too.

 

[cmph]

Actually your timing is digital, I was just looking over the possibility of American First Class.

Good call! I don't know when they will go back to pre-covid normal, but way back in 2019, you could pre-order your meals online if in first. Even special diets. Check on that when you are closer to the date. We flew first from Phoenix to Savannah (via Philadelphia IIRC) to stay at Disney's Hilton Head resort, and my kids now complain about any other option. Granted, we are a very tall family, so if it's not main cabin extra or first, we are whacking our knees on seat backs. Plus the SW boarding process is just stressful unless you are solo or don't care where you end up in the plane. I'm stuck with SW for work trips some of the time, but it for sure went from my go-to airline to my "sigh, if I have to, b/c the price / timing is better" airline.

 

[Starwind]

This might sound stupid, but how do I even do that? I've only been on a flight a handful of times in my life, this is the first time I've had to arrange the flights and prior flights have always been Southwest so I have no clue what I'm doing or how to figure out what other airlines might be leaving Phoenix to go to MCO.

Your airport's webpage is a start:

According to https://www.skyharbor.com/flights/WhereWeFly two airlines fly direct Phoenix to MCO: American Airlines and Southwest Airlines. Others will fly there via connecting cities.

The list of all the airlines that fly out of PHX are here: https://www.skyharbor.com/Flights/Airlines

One way to see all the options is to search Google: https://www.google.com/travel/flights plug in you from and to and date, set it for one way initially so make it easier to see your options and then you can see what the options look like.

 

[RedHead0186]

Not quite.

It's pre-boarders who need assistance (that would include the OP), then A1-A15 which is Business Select and despite the name anyone can purchase these although there are of course only 15 of these per flight. You can however purchase Upgraded Boarding at the gate which for a nominal fee that varies per flight (usually $20-40 or so sometimes up to $60) you can purchase a Boarding Position in that A1-A15 should there be any left.

Then you have A16-30, then A31-60. After that it's A-Listers (regular and preferred) who did NOT get an A Boarding group I can only guess that is the preferred status folks you're talking about but even being an A-lister does NOT guarantee A-Boarding group. During the pandemic SWA did enhance the A-List by allowing those booked on the same confirmation number as the A-lister to board with the A-lister (they usually do it now by just assigning consequential Boarding positions like A24 and A25) however if you aren't on the same confirmation number that benefit shouldn't apply (that means those who have a Companion pass will not be boarding with their A-lister unless they are also an A-lister themselves as Companion passes have to be booked separately). That added benefit however can def. add more people boarding the plane earlier on than before.

Then you have active military and Family Boarding (allows for 2 adults with a child 6 and younger). It's been reported that especially to/from Orlando Family Boarding has a higher chance of being suspended because of the sheer amount of kids on that route but it certainly occurs often enough.

Then you have B1-30, then B31-60, then finally C1-30 and C31-C60.

Purchasing Early Bird Check-In (EBCI) automatically assigns a Boarding position at 36 hours in advance but is behind A-Listers who are also assigned at 36 hours in advance. Those who purchase Anytime Fares with EBCI are given priority over those who purchase WGA with EBCI. It's easy and complicated at the same time. EBCI should not be looked at in a preferred status way. It's something someone can do just 1 time or every time, up to them.

You're def. right about trying to locate seats all together and it's usually a question that comes up time and time again about people flying with their children. There is a dedicated SWA thread that has chronicled this over the years.

I recently purchased early bird for a flight from Orlando to Chicago. Even with Early Bird (and having purchased my ticket quite a few months before so presumably 'earlier' in the early bird queue) I still got B17, which was really surprising. Add in quite a few pre-boards/needing assistance and families boarding between A and B and I wasn't thrilled. I get that's the gamble on SW and that's fine, it just was such an anomaly for me.

 

[katmigordon]

Thank you so much for this, I'm filing it away for next time.

Your airport's webpage is a start:

According to https://www.skyharbor.com/flights/WhereWeFly two airlines fly direct Phoenix to MCO: American Airlines and Southwest Airlines. Others will fly there via connecting cities.

The list of all the airlines that fly out of PHX are here: https://www.skyharbor.com/Flights/Airlines

One way to see all the options is to search Google: https://www.google.com/travel/flights plug in you from and to and date, set it for one way initially so make it easier to see your options and then you can see what the options look like.