Can skykcaps check in an infant on SW?

[jmpurdy]

Leaving on Sunday--yea! Will print out boarding passes at midnite for SW, but we have an infant traveling on the lap (no flames please) of my daughter. If we do curbside check in, can the skycap issue a boarding pass for our grandson? Yes, we have his birth certificate in hand. Thank you! I appreciate any help on this one.

 

[GEM]

(no flames please)

Good luck. Seriously. You'll need it.

 

[n2mm]

Do they print a boarding pass for a lap baby? I thought you only get a boarding pass if you purchase a ticket. They don't on United. You just have to let them know at the gate. My GD has gone to WDW 3 trips now. Once we bought her a ticket and twice she was a lap baby. We only got a boarding pass for her when a ticket was bought. However, SW could be completely different. I'll be curious to hear since we may have to fly SW in the near future.

 

[Kies99]

Hey, don't worry about having the baby on your lap. My wife and I did it with both our daughters (now 3 and 5) and it was never an issue.

Back to your question, I don't remember ever having to "check" in the baby. When we made the reservations with the airline we made sure to tell them we had an infant "in lap" and I believe it printed on one of the adults boarding passes something about "infant in lap". I also never had them ask to see a birth certificate in the 4-8 times we did it.

 

[jmpurdy]

"If you choose to travel with your infant on your lap (at no additional charge) the infant will not need a boarding pass; however, you will need to obtain a Boarding Verification Document (BVD) for the infant prior to proceeding to the security checkpoint. The BVD will allow the infant to proceed through security screening and to board the aircraft. BVDs are available at the Southwest Airlines Ticket Counter on the day of travel. In order to complete your BVD, the Customer Service Agent will need to verify that your infant has not reached his or her second birthday, so be sure to bring along a copy of your baby’s birth certificate."

So, I am wondering if the skycap can do this for us to save us standing in the perpetual never ending lines at our airport. Anyone? Thanks.

 

[jmpurdy]

Hey, don't worry about having the baby on your lap. My wife and I did it with both our daughters (now 3 and 5) and it was never an issue.

Back to your question, I don't remember ever having to "check" in the baby. When we made the reservations with the airline we made sure to tell them we had an infant "in lap" and I believe it printed on one of the adults boarding passes something about "infant in lap". I also never had them ask to see a birth certificate in the 4-8 times we did it.

I appreciate everyone not flaming me on this topic. We are very aware of all risks. We are quite prepared and have a plan in place with 5 adults all ready and eager to make this flight enjoyable for him and everyone around us.

 

[kaytieeldr]

BVDs are available at the Southwest Airlines Ticket Counter on the day of travel. In order to complete your BVD, the Customer Service Agent will need to verify that your infant has not reached his or her second birthday, so be sure to bring along a copy of your baby’s birth certificate."

So, I am wondering if the skycap can do this for us to save us standing in the perpetual never ending lines at our airport. Anyone? Thanks.

I think no (but you can always call Southwest for verification), because... the SkyCaps are not Southwest Airlines Ticket Counter Customer Service Agents. I think the information you quoted from Southwest's website is very clear on this issue.

Arrive early and expect to wait in line. It may not be as bad as you expect.

 

[NotUrsula]

If you already have all the other boarding passes, you can probably go to one of the baggage check-in kiosks to check your bags and get the lap baby's security document. At many airports (including MCO on every occasion I've been through there), the line at the bag-check kiosk is often shorter than the one for the skycaps.

Unlike the BP-only kiosks, the baggage-check + BP kiosks have agents behind them to do the physical processing of the bags. These folks can also check ID's and deal with BP issues if they arise. You could probably call SWA ahead of time and ask if they can also check in a lap baby when the rest of the party has BP's already.

If all else fails, let the parent who is carrying the baby wait in the long line while everyone else goes to the gate and gets a place in the boarding lineup if need be. Then the one straggler can catch up at the gate.

 

[Mickdeb]

Leaving on Sunday--yea! Will print out boarding passes at midnite for SW, but we have an infant traveling on the lap (no flames please) of my daughter. If we do curbside check in, can the skycap issue a boarding pass for our grandson? Yes, we have his birth certificate in hand. Thank you! I appreciate any help on this one.

Good Morning,
I noticed above you say you will be printing your boarding passes at midnight, just an FYI you can print your boarding passes out 24 hours
before your flight is scheduled to depart. So if you are looking for A boarding passes, do it.
Hope it is not too late.
Deb

 

[katerkat]

I've always gotten some sort of boarding pass-like document with my son, though I've never done the Skycaps. It's always been noted on my reservation that I would have an "infant in arms" and a pass has been printed automatically when my tickets printed, for him to go through security with.