Anyone here actually been DENIED pre-boarding on Southwest with children under 5?

[Lewisc]

And for the record, Never once did I tell my DD to lie about her age, SW never asked. My DD is a very young seven and we are not getting on a plane and taking the chance of her not being seated with me or DH. Oh and we couldn't pre print out boarding passes either, because DH was randomly picked for added security everytime we flew and therefore the website refused to allow me to print the passes.

You posted

If we have an "A" ticket then fine but anything else and me or DH are preboarding.

You're lying the minute you get in or stay in the pre-board line after the GA makes the announcement that pre-boarding is for families with a child under the age of 5. You and/or your DD doesn't have to say anything, staying in the pre-board line is lying. By your actions you're saying your child is below that age.

You probably shouldn't be flying SW since you're unwilling to follow the rules.

 

[Goobergal99]

You posted

You're lying the minute you get in or stay in the pre-board line after the GA makes the announcement that pre-boarding is for families with a child under the age of 5. You and/or your DD doesn't have to say anything, staying in the pre-board line is lying. By your actions you're saying your child is below that age.

You probably shouldn't be flying SW since you're unwilling to follow the rules.

Didn't realize that the morality police patrolled the boards

But for the record there are far worse things in life, then preboarding with a smaller child over 5. I guess I better get to confession fast HUH?

 

[Donna]

wait, how can people get away with preboarding outside the guidelines when you have to obtain a blue pre-board pass? Without this pass, you will not be allowed to pre-board, at least thats what they said yesterday. It's just that they allow so many family members to go along. As far as age goes, they can check that before they give you the pass.

 

[ducklite]

Geez kind of a harsh assumption to say my DD will buy booze underage just because she pre boarded on SW airlines to avoid being terrified and alone once on board, i don't remember coming here and asking for a morality lesson on raising my child, all I did was try and calm the OP's fears

So I guess rules don't apply to you because you are one of those special people. The entitlement mentality at it's very finest. I suppose when they announce only three and under can preboard you'll suddenly walk with a limp?

Anne

 

[Goobergal99]

So I guess rules don't apply to you because you are one of those special people. The entitlement mentality at it's very finest. I suppose when they announce only three and under can preboard you'll suddenly walk with a limp?

Anne

All I said was that I feel uncomfortable boarding a plane and not knowing whether my child will be seated with me or not, sorry for being a concerned parent. For the record I don't plan on flying SW anymore anyway because of this very reason. I don't understand why they can't have assigned seating, although I think it has to do with the fact that they greatly overbook.

I apologize for being such an immoral toad

And as far as a preboarding pass goes, I never used one and never saw one on all four of my SW flights so maybe it is a new concept

 

[DebbieB]

Has anyone actually had a situation where a young child was forced to sit by themselves? It seems like the odds of this happening are way overblown.

 

[ducklite]

I have. About a year ago, a father arrived VERY late for a flight with two young girls. The flight attendents basically said sit in you seats and deal with it, it's too late and we are pushing back NOW. The girls were about 2 and 4. The two year old sat in a middle seat in the same row her father was in, in the other middle. The four year old was about six rows away in another middle.

Anne

 

[mdhkitten]

wait, how can people get away with preboarding outside the guidelines when you have to obtain a blue pre-board pass? Without this pass, you will not be allowed to pre-board, at least thats what they said yesterday. It's just that they allow so many family members to go along. As far as age goes, they can check that before they give you the pass.

Every time I've flown SW with my daughter, they've told me that people with children under the age of 5 did not require a blue pre-board pass, just those without the small child that needed to pre-board. I guess that they figure that they can look at a family and most times be able to tell if they have a child under 5. I guess this isn't always the case, though.

 

[bavaria]

Donna,

As a parent who flies SW fairly often, I think that all parents should wait for others to get off of the plane before trying to leave. That's what we always do anyway. Another thing is that I feel that people that fly should invest in strollers that are good for traveling with in general. That's exactly why I purchased a Maclaren. It may be more expensive, but is lightweight, and I can fold it up in a second, literally.

I didn't want to toss oil on this fire last week, but that was exactly what I was thinking - do the folks who preboard because they need extra time then wait for everyone else to deplane? it would stand to reason that they need extra time to deplane as well.

I don't really notice since I am almost always sitting in the front rows of a United aircraft, but it really irks my 80 yo grandmother. She and my 90 yo grandfather are lucky to be able to still travel the world, and only preboard on the days when my grandfather really needs to (he prefers to board late so that he can sit for as short a time as possible)

My grandmother tells me that when the plane lands in Honolulu, there are several miraculous cures whcih have occurred as several of the folks who needed time to preboard zoom off the aircraft and out of the terminal.

 

[Lewisc]

Almost all airlines overbook although SW has a very low number of passengers who are involuntarily denied boarding. SW doesn't offer assigned seating because they found passengers without assigned seats get to the gate early which contributes to their short turnaround times.

Sorry you see the need to lie and cheat.

I don't understand why they can't have assigned seating, although I think it has to do with the fact that they greatly overbook.

I apologize for being such an immoral toad

And as far as a preboarding pass goes, I never used one and never saw one on all four of my SW flights so maybe it is a new concept

 

[NotUrsula]

Didn't realize that the morality police patrolled the boards

OK, *now* I'm

Obviously, you haven't been here very long if you didn't know that yet. These boards are shark-infested with folks who will pounce on the mere *thought* of any action they consider immoral, dishonest or negligent.

Personally, I have absolutely *no* sense of moral outrage about these issues. I do enjoy a good silent chortle whenever I see people get busted while trying to scam SWA's boarding system, though.

If it's important to you to sit with your school-aged kids, get checked in early and get in line early; otherwise, deal with the odds you're dealt or risk being embarassed in front of a whole lot of people. (Or you can fly a legacy carrier, where last-minute equipment and schedule changes will actually increase the likelihood of your being seated apart from your kids.)

BTW, the odds are that your 7 yo would be just fine seated a few rows away from you; I know mine would be. Kids can be more resourceful than many parents give them credit for being. The British government has a rule that parents must be seated within arms' reach of children under age 13, but do you know why? Because evacuation drills demonstrated that while the children did exactly as they were told and evacuated the plane quickly, the parents absolutely LOST IT and "burned to death" trying to go against the tide to get to their kids, who had already left the plane.

 

[magsmom]

I usually don't preach morality on the boards but all those folks with "small" 7 and 8 year olds ~ abide with the rules and NOT PREBOARD. Do you think it's fair with parents of children of normal size who cannot?

We have been flying SWA since early 2002 (when DD was 5) and have never pre-boarded. On that trip, DH's grandmother (80) needed a blue boarding pass and a note from the Dr. to pre-board. When we went at that time it seemed as though not that may people used that prevelidge.

This past February on our trip home it looked like more people pre-boarded than did not! Kids, disabled, "of size", familes, extended family members...We had C passes and we were very, very lucky to get 3 seats together in the very back of the plane! We were extremely concerned that we would be split up!

If you are that concerned about sitting together - make sure you get A passes! And don't make the decision in the airport! If you get caught, you deserve to go to the end of the C line and take your chances!

 

[seashoreCM]

Let's start a fad!

If you are seated far from your small children against your will, get up every so often to attend to them. The aim is to make it dawn on the airline that an effort to seat small children next to their parents is not so bad an idea.

Don't forget to call any improprieties to the attention of the flight crew.

 

[HappyCamperToo]

I'm disturbed by the dad who walked on late with a 2 and 4 year old. I can think of several "legitimate" reasons why they were so late, so I don't want to judge him. And I can see the need to sit quickly in order to take off on time. But once the seatbelt sign goes off, don't you think people would be kind enough to offer to switch seats so they could sit together? Is having a "prime" seat really more important to most travelers than seeing a 2 or 4 year old seated next to her dad? I'm sad to think that no one in the dad/2YO row offered to change seats with the 4YO.

 

[Lewisc]

Seashore--This case wasn't really against the will of the group. A father with a 2 and a 4 year old would have been able to pre-board. They also would have been able to get 3 seats together if he took the time to get an A or even a B BP and get to the gate early. They got to gate much too late. Possibly so late that a legacy airline might have released their seats.



If it was important for the Dad to be able to sit next to his kids he would have gotten to the gate earlier or asked if they could be accommodated on a later flight.

I don't know if I'd change from an aisle seat to a middle seat to accommodate a group that didn't allow enough time to get to the airport. A late connecting flight is about the only excuse that would work for me, SW has open seating and a family that wants to sit together should be getting to the airport 1.5-2 hours before the flight and getting to the gate at least 45 minutes before the flight.

I'm disturbed by the dad who walked on late with a 2 and 4 year old. I can think of several "legitimate" reasons why they were so late, so I don't want to judge him. And I can see the need to sit quickly in order to take off on time. But once the seatbelt sign goes off, don't you think people would be kind enough to offer to switch seats so they could sit together? Is having a "prime" seat really more important to most travelers than seeing a 2 or 4 year old seated next to her dad? I'm sad to think that no one in the dad/2YO row offered to change seats with the 4YO.

 

[mdhkitten]

There is a SW flight attendant on these boards that I have spoken to, and she said that in cases where parents get split up from their smaller children, they will ask customers to switch seats so that they can sit together. She said the biggest reason for this is that when it comes time for coke and peanuts, they won't know if the child has a peanut allergy or isn't allowed to drink a soft drink and the child usually isn't go to say. I think that the exception would be if someone was holding up the plane and then they would be most worried about getting the flight pushed back. I agree that if I was traveling without a child that I would trade seats so that the parent and the small child could sit together, but I'm sure that the flight attendants paid extra attention to those kids and communicated with their dad, too.

 

[Pinnie]

I'm disturbed by the dad who walked on late with a 2 and 4 year old. I can think of several "legitimate" reasons why they were so late, so I don't want to judge him. And I can see the need to sit quickly in order to take off on time.

I can tell you what happened Easter week my SWA flight out of MCO making a connection at MDW and then on to DTW. Our flight was late (90 minutes) getting out of MCO due to gate issues and a circuit breaker. While our pilot booked it to MDW, we got in just as our flight from MDW to DTW was supposed to be taking off. Dh and I both had A passes, for what it was worth, on the connection. SWA held the plane for about 15 of us, including 2 families with kids between the ages of 6 - 12. By the time we got on, there were ONLY middle seats scattered around the plane and the FAs were anxious to get everyone seated quickly so we could push back and get OUT of Chicago.

I think if those families had even SUGGESTED that they needed seats together, there would have been a revolt on that plane Instead, these people got seated quickly and we were off and even managed to get to DTW ON TIME.

pinnie

 

[ducklite]

I'm disturbed by the dad who walked on late with a 2 and 4 year old. I can think of several "legitimate" reasons why they were so late, so I don't want to judge him. And I can see the need to sit quickly in order to take off on time. But once the seatbelt sign goes off, don't you think people would be kind enough to offer to switch seats so they could sit together? Is having a "prime" seat really more important to most travelers than seeing a 2 or 4 year old seated next to her dad? I'm sad to think that no one in the dad/2YO row offered to change seats with the 4YO.

I'm not sure, that might have happened, I was in an aisle exit row seat a few rows back, so obviously couldn't help.

By the same token, I don't feel that anyone should ever feel "obligated" to give up their seat. Particularly on flights from Orlando where the planes are full of families, sometimes that strategy doesn't work because you'd be breaking up other families to accomodate someone. I'm claustrophobic and suffer from anxiety attacks when I'm feeling "suffocated" and because of this I don't give up my aisle seat which makes me feel much less closed in.

You never know the reason behind someone's refusal to change seats. And frankly even if it's out of simple selfishness, that's their perogative.

Anne

 

[Goobergal99]

.

You never know the reason behind someone's refusal to change seats. And frankly even if it's out of simple selfishness, that's their perogative.

Anne

Hmmm... I wonder how guilty these ppl would feel if there was an emergency on the plane and the poor lil kiddles were seperated from their parent in the midst of all the chaos.

This is exactly why I will never fly SW again, if I can afford a Disney trip then I can afford to pay a little extra for a plane ticket for the peace of mind that knowing that my DD will be with me brings.

 

[Lewisc]

Hmmm... I wonder how guilty these ppl would feel if there was an emergency on the plane and the poor lil kiddles were seperated from their parent in the midst of all the chaos.

This is exactly why I will never fly SW again, if I can afford a Disney trip then I can afford to pay a little extra for a plane ticket for the peace of mind that knowing that my DD will be with me brings.

One of the persons complaining NOT IN THIS THREAD was a mother who was upset that she couldn't be guaranteed a seat next to her 16 year old son. I've never heard of a problem with parents who get to the gate on time, does what's necessary to get an A or even a B BP, not being able to have at least one parent sit next to a child under age 5. Older children can sit a few rows from their parents for the duration of the flight if necessary. Even without pre-boarding all of the As and almost all of the Bs can get at least 2 seats next to each other.

People who fly SW will tell you this is a problem that exists on internet discussion boards but is rarely an big deal on a flight. Flights to/from MCO have so many famlies that by the time the C's have boarded passengers changing seats may require breaking up their own famlies. I might move if people are nice but I get an AP BP and get to the gate early so I can get a seat that I want and sit next to my DW. I wouldn't be quick to change to accomodate a famliy that didn't allow enough time to get to the airport.

Famlies that get to the plane minutes before pushback should be happy they made their flight.