Computer assistance at DVC

[jbhaupt]

Hi,
We booked a SW flight for this trip...will be the 1st and last time. As we were told we can't pre-book out seat reservations. Apparently you can early check in online and get assigned a boarding group letter...A, B, C or D. A's board 1st. They can't confirm family members will sit together and could only assure us that my 3 yo will sit with one parent. They said if we don't do early check-in or arrive at least 2 hrs early..DD's 6yo and 7yo may sit without parents...CRAZY. Wondering if we can have access to a computer to do early online check-in before leaving DVC? Even if there is a fee..or can a cast member do it for us? Anyone else had this problem with SW?

Thanks,
Bonnie

 

[Greg K.]

...stopping by one of the resort convention/business centers during your trip. For a fee, you can use a computer, no problem. They charge in 15 minute increments, I believe.

I've used the ones at the Board Walk and Coronado Springs. They usually open at 7 am.

I don't know how much luck you'll have asking to "borrow" a Disney computer for this. But it can't hurt to ask!

 

[CarolA]

Well, this is the way SW works and it sounds like you didn't do your homework before you booked. It's the trade off for lower fares and for a flight schedule they actually intend to fly. However, a few things to help you.

Children under age 4 or so qualify you for pre-boarding. Which means you will get to board before the A, B, C groups. (All of you) Also in probably over a hundred SW flights I have NEVER seen kids sit alone if thier parents were on the plane. The SW flight attendants are great and will con folks into moving if need be to get the child with a parent.

Most airlines actually don't gurantee you that you and your kids can sit together. Those great "seat assignments" prove nothing. At least once a week I read a post on the Transporatation board where someone is upset that they were moved.

If you take a laptop you can check in early even if you don't print the boarding passes.

 

[Beca]

I was a SWA flight attendant for eight years. Don't worry!!! You will be fine! You will be allowed to preboard (as long as you get there before general boarding starts). The only thing to be aware of is that all SWA planes are in the "3 and 3" configuration. You and your spouse will have to split up. One parent can sit with one child, and the other parent can sit with the other two. I suggest sitting across the aisle from each other, that way you can see each other and talk.

Please hold off your disdain for SWA until you fly them and see how smoothly it all goes. They are one of the BEST airlines in the sky, and have a wonderful safety record. They NEVER cancel flights for lack of bookings, and are usually right on time (unless weather or mechanicals change things).

I have a 3 yr old dd, and we ALWAYS travel SWA. I never even worry about trying to get into the A boarding group...my child is my "pre-boarding pass".

Enjoy your trip!!



Beca

 

[Stitch 626]

Please hold off your disdain for SWA until you fly them and see how smoothly it all goes. They are one of the BEST airlines in the sky, and have a wonderful safety record. They NEVER cancel flights for lack of bookings, and are usually right on time (unless weather or mechanicals change things).

um, most airlines will run on time unless there are weather or mechanical issues. Yes, there are other reasons for flights being late, but the two big ones are weather and mechanical issues which also happen to be two of the issues that the airline can not directly control (ok, mechanical to some extent, but parts break on everything that is mechanical no matter how well you maintain them.) If you want a good handle on who departs and arrives on time, the DOT publishes a database frequently that is available to the public. (Of course, those statistics are provided to the DOT by the airlines, airplanes/airlines that do not use ACARS technology or another automatic times reporting systems (such as SWA) rely on reported times by the crew. I am not saying that SWA crews are fibbing, but I have taken part in studies at airlines that do not auto report times and have seen flights push back 30 minutes late being reported out on time. This happens even more so at airlines where the flight crew gets paid a bonus for an on time departures or gets paid from when the airplane is reported to push back which in my example would net another 30 minutes of flight pay.)

 

[CarolA]

Stich,

"Most airlines will run on time" ... Well... that's a matter of opinion. I fly a lot and SW seems much better to me! Plus SW will burn fuel to get back on schedule. If the plane for Orlando leaves Nashville half an hour late on DL or SW, trust me SW will get me to Orlando much faster then Delta.

DOT also normally shows SW much better then the others. (Haven't checked lately)

 

[Stitch 626]

Actually, if you check the stats, for the past few years UAL has a better on time perfromance rating than SWA and thats with auto time reporting so no fibbing allowed. As far as the BNA-MCO example, what type of airplane you referring to for DAL? If you are flying on a CRJ or MD-80, well, yes the SWA B737 will get you there faster as it is desinged to cruise at higher speeds. I have dealt with over 6 airlines in the past 10 years, and in most cases, pilots and dispatcher will burn more fuel to get you back on schedule if it is possible. If you are comparing SWA to ACA or Comair dba Delta Express you are not comparing apples to apples. You are comparing a major airline with major airline equipment to a commuter airline with commuter airline equipment.

I am not busting on SWA as I fly them as well when the routing fits my schedule. I was just kind of astonished by comment that Southwest is only delayed due to MX and WX. Other than airlines that are having labor issues or extreme financial issues, if you looked into the root cause of 85% to 90% of their delayed flights you will find it to be either weather or maintenance. If you look into the root cause of cancellations, 95% or higher are due to weather and maintenance.

Just because the weather or broke airplane is not sitting at the station that you are trying to leave does not mean that it is not WX or MX delayed or cancelled. If a plane breaks upline from your station or is delayed into an upline station and the airline flies in another jet to take over the route and your late, it is still a delay due to maintenance. You, the passenger, will never realise this, but that is what happens on a daily basis. Flights delayed due to weather and maintenance issues cause everyflight behind it to be delayed. Airline Operations Control centers will do their very best to try get the system back to on time status, but that is just not achievable in today's national airspace system. Traffic levels in certain parts of the country have already exceeded the year 2000 levels (busiest year ever) which will only lead to even more delays.

ATC delays. Everyone loves to blame ATC right? Well, what do you think causes ATC delays? Weather and lack of airport/airspace capacity. You can not change the weather so thats out. No one wants an airport within 200 miles of their house so that out. No one want an airplane flying near their house so airspace is out. When the weather does not allow a perfect operation, delays will occur no matter what the name on the tail is.

As SWA enters more and more distressed markets (PHL, PIT, eventually CLT) their system will experience more and more of these effects. In the past, they stayed away from the high volume airports as a way to keep on time performance up and turn time down. Now, however, they are paying the same price that all the other carriers have been paying on the east coast and their on time records are reflecting that. Obviously, they are as not as exposed to the effects as much as DAL and USAirways, but as they move into more east coast markets their on time results will continue to suffer. SWA and many other airlines are really good. SWA gets more press, AA always seems to be able to sweep things under the rug without much public fanfare, the bankrupt carriers are taking beatings, but they all have to fly in the same reality. SWA, DAL, AA, AAI, COA, and UAL all fly B737's and I am willing to bet that their reliability on these airplanes is all very similar (with the exception being airlines undergoing labor issues.) They fly the same planes on similar routes with similar reliability. Take away the weather and mechanical delays and cancellations and I would bet that their on time performance are very similar on routes where they compete.

 

[jbhaupt]

Thanks for the feedback. I was really worried that the DD's would be seperated from a parent. As long as I am with 2DD's and DH is with DS that is fine by me. We don't have to sit across from each other. I feel a little better now. Will let you know how it goes next week. If it runs smoothly I won't rule out use of SW for future flights.

Bonnie

 

[Beca]

um, most airlines will run on time unless there are weather or mechanical issues. Yes, there are other reasons for flights being late, but the two big ones are weather and mechanical issues which also happen to be two of the issues that the airline can not directly control (ok, mechanical to some extent, but parts break on everything that is mechanical no matter how well you maintain them.) If you want a good handle on who departs and arrives on time, the DOT publishes a database frequently that is available to the public. (Of course, those statistics are provided to the DOT by the airlines, airplanes/airlines that do not use ACARS technology or another automatic times reporting systems (such as SWA) rely on reported times by the crew. I am not saying that SWA crews are fibbing, but I have taken part in studies at airlines that do not auto report times and have seen flights push back 30 minutes late being reported out on time. This happens even more so at airlines where the flight crew gets paid a bonus for an on time departures or gets paid from when the airplane is reported to push back which in my example would net another 30 minutes of flight pay.)

Actually, I was referring to airlines who routinely cancel or adjust times of flights to fill them, rather than flying them empty. It seems I read a LOT of posts here on the dis from people who have been notified (sometimes at rather short notice) that their flight has been cancelled, or been "time adjusted" in advance. SWA does not do that. I have personally flown on flights where no one (or sometimes 1 pax) was on board. The flight goes anyway.

And, I can also personally attest to the fact that SWA ops agents do NOT get "bonuses" based on whether or not planes take off. Well, that's not exactly true...all vested SWA employees (5 years or more) participate in profitsharing. So, when the company does better, profitsharing percentages are higher. But...there is NO specified bonuses for "fibbing" on the ops reports. On the contrary, most times I have been in "Ops command central" there was an FAA rep present. I had many ops agent friends who took their job very seriously. "Fibbing" on an ops gate report would be something that could get them fined by the FAA, or fired. Remember, that an ops agent's report has to match closely with the flight log...these are audited often. And, if a pilot makes "mistakes" on this, he/she could lose their certificate...something they take VERY seriously. At SWA, "fibbing" on departure times and arrivals would be akin to fibbing on weight and balance...its just isn't done (I won't say "never"...but, to say it is a trend, or a process that you cast doubt upon bothers me, as it is insulting to the people I personally know who wouldn't do that. It also casts "doubts" upon the airline that I know from "first-hand experience" doesn't operate that way.)

SWA has it's issues, like any airline does. But, the people who work for that airline are VERY hard working people who take great pride in the work that they do, and the company that they work for. I'm not sure about now, but when I was employed by them, SWA made the "Top 100 Companies" list by Forbes every year. It's hard to believe that a huge corporation can be on the "up and up"...but, they truly are.

In my experience, SWA was the first to report "failures" in its system so that the employees could try to make it better...and, we did. Obviously, you can tell from my statements that I love and care about that company. It is a great airline, and a great company to work for. Somewhere in the skies today, there is a "25th anniversary" plane that has my name on an overhead bin. I really hope I can show that to my daughter someday!



Beca

 

[RobDoc]

Boarding passes can be printed out for you by the front desk staff at DVC Resorts. Just have the necessary reservation info and they'll be happy to go online and print out your passes.

The transportation board will be a better place for any future discussion about airline schedlues and policies.

 

[jbhaupt]

Thanks

 

[Good Ol Gal]

DH just flew from CA to OH on SWA with our DD8 and DS10.

He too was worried about the kids being seperated from him on the flight.

Eventhough the kids were "older" they allowed him to preboard and they all got to sit together.

You can print off your preboarding passes after 12am on the date of your flight. DH ended up staying up late and just logging in and printing at 12:01 am.

Like mentioned before, as long as you're there before boarding begins you all can board together early.

Good luck and have fun!! Our last trip to WDW via airlines we had our DS3, DS4, DD6, DS8 with us and it was tons of fun! And challenging too!!

 

[madouglas3]

I just returned from Disney World and stayed at Saratoga Springs. I also booked a return flight home on Southwest. When I called the front desk to inquire about how I could print my boarding passes they told me just to bring my information with the reservation number. At midnight, the day of my departure I went to the front desk and they printed my boarding passes. I got section A and wasn't charged anything for it. By the way, if your children are young Southwest will let you preboard.

Mary Ann