airport boarding question

[mrFDNY]

so at the airport when your about to board and they say people with small children can board now. how old do you consider "small children" to be?

 

[betterlatethannever]

so at the airport when your about to board and they say people with small children can board now. how old do you consider "small children" to be?

Each airline has their own rules. And each flight has their own rules. It depends on how many kids will be on the plane.

Going to WDW, the whole plane is families with kids. On flights to Orlando, I've heard them say "families with children 2 and younger" could board first.

Ed

 

[golfgal]

The last few flights I have been on said the same thing, those families with children 2 and under.

 

[maryliz]

In January with SWA, it was "4 and under". Although coming home, they alternately boarded those of us in the preboard line with the "A" boarding pass line.

MaryLiz

 

[inkkognito]

Interesting...I haven't seen the "alternating boarding" yet, but on my last flight on SW out of Orlando, they were WAY strict about the age. Several people with pubescent "4 year olds" were sent to the back of their letter lines. Boy, were they steamed!

 

[ducklite]

US Air and SW are pretty much not even preboarding kids unless there's a car seat involved these days.

Last night I flew from PHL to MCO, this one family with two kids who looked to be in the 6 and 8 year old range tried to preboard and were turned away. They preboarded a lady with a disabled daughter and a lady in wheelchair. A family with the lap baby was also denied preboarding, although the gate agent told them that if they had bought the baby a seat and were using a car seat they would have been able to do so.

Anne

 

[Stimpy]

We've never had a problem pre-boarding on SWA with our kids (5 & 1...when DS turned 5, we got an extra 4 yrs of pre-boarding with DD...couldn't have "planned" it better LOL) We also always purchase a seat for the baby and have the car seat with us.

I wanted to add though that they are getting very strict with who can pre-board with the child. Only IMMEDIATE family can preboard.....no grandma, grandpa, Uncle Joe and his 3 teenage kids etc. That used to be one of the little things that irked me, 20 people preboarding with 1 infant. On the last few flights, we have seen them turn away extended families and they had to go to the end of the "correct" line. (And we saw a nasty fight on our last flight b/c a preboarding family tried to save an additional 2 rows for the rest of their group.)

 

[Disney Hot Mama]

I have done it both ways. My kids are now 7 & 9 but when we had the option to preboard I did it in the beginning but after a few years choose not to do so. The reason was they didn't like sitting on the plane for long periods of time with no air. If we had seats assigned we usually boarded in the last group. Yes it took a few extra minutes to buckle the car seat in but by that time there were less people behind me to delay. This way we stayed in the terminal and they were not confined in one area. I would preboard though if you were on SWA without assigned seats. That changes the picture.

 

[inkkognito]

Is saving two rows allowed? I've only seen that happen once, and the person who tried to sit down backed off when informed by a passenger that "Those three rows are all saved for my family." Personally, I would have just parked my butt! But I was heading back to an exit row, so it had no effect on me. I'm curious who the flight attendants would back if there was a problem.
Barb

 

[Stimpy]

Is saving two rows allowed? I've only seen that happen once, and the person who tried to sit down backed off when informed by a passenger that "Those three rows are all saved for my family." Personally, I would have just parked my butt! But I was heading back to an exit row, so it had no effect on me. I'm curious who the flight attendants would back if there was a problem.
Barb

No, I don't think it is allowed. During the argument that was said many times LOL The FA's found other seats for the people that tried to sit in the "saved" seats. While they did say saving seats is not allowed, I think it was a good idea to seperate the 2 parties for the 2 1/2 hr flight.

We fly pretty frequently and I have never seen as many problem passengers as we do on SWA. (Passengers, not employees....the employees, whether they be gate personnel or FA have always diffused the situation and been great with the passengers) It's become like a family joke to us....we always wonder what the "inflight entertainment" will be this time (Disclaimer....I'm not trying to insult or demean anyone flying SWA and it does NOT happen every flight. We fly SWA atleast 2-3 R/T's a year)


BTW, I also agree that if you have assigned seats, wait until the last moment to board with young kids. We usually send DH on board early to install the car seat and I stay behind with the kids.

 

[inkkognito]

Stimpy, I'm going to have to get on one of your flights! We've had the opposite experience...LOTS of "inflight entertainment" by fellow passengers when we used to fly ATA, but mostly very calm flights on SW. There was one that was delayed multiple times, had a gate change, and then had us get off the plane because a mechanical issue arose while it was taxi-ing. But even with all that, the passengers were remarkably calm. The only excitement I've seen on SW so far, other than a shipment of Sea World animals, was a man so dirty and smelly that they had to make him wash and change clothes in the lav. But they handled it very discretely, and he didn't make a fuss.
My husband saw a raging drunk last time he flew SW alone, but they were filming the guy for "Airline" so they were egging him on.
Barb

 

[Lewisc]

Is saving two rows allowed? I've only seen that happen once, and the person who tried to sit down backed off when informed by a passenger that "Those three rows are all saved for my family." Personally, I would have just parked my butt! But I was heading back to an exit row, so it had no effect on me. I'm curious who the flight attendants would back if there was a problem.
Barb

There was a long thread on seat saving etiquette, not sure if it was on disboards or flyertalk.

The consensus was; it's OK to save the seat(s) in the same half row as you but that's it. Most put that in the same category as saving one seat in the movie theater for a spouse who's in the rest room. Some pax left sweaters and the like in an empty row. They didn't own up until the FA was going to take the items off the plane to lost and found. FA said since no one is claiming the items they must have been left by pax from the prior flight.

 

[nybound]

We are traveling with two kids 6 and 3, and I called SWA to check/confirm their boarding policies.

They told me to inform the gate personel when we arrive and that should cover things to preboard the flight.

My mom is also joining us, and was told that it's up to the gate personel as to whether they will allow her to join us for preboarding or wait in the "lettered" lines. I plan on printing out the boarding passes at midnight just to make sure we all have "A"s.

For those that are taking car seats for your children: make sure they say they are approved for airlines. Otherwise, you will not be allowed to use it. And, FAA rules stipulate that children in restraint devices must be at a window seat.

We fly out Saturday . If I found out any more, I will post it when I get back.