Concern about flying for the first time with 3 kids

[usrtyz]

We have a Disney Resort booked for June 2012. We have considered flying this time around. We would save about 4 days of driving. I have 3 kids. At the time of our vacation, one will be 23 months, 5 years old and 6 years old. My first choice would be to fly nonstop. That would be out of Milwaukee because Madison doesn't. It looks like the airlines that fly direct are Southwest, Airtran & Frontier. My concern is that we won't be able to sit together on the airplane. My kids have NEVER flown before. Is it true that those airlines won't let me pick my seats ahead of time? Any advice or suggestions is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Mkrop]

I can only speak about SW. SW you can not pick seats but you can control when you board. If you get an A boarding pass, you will have lots of seats to choose from. Also since you have young kids, you will most likely be boarded with Family Boarding, which occurs after the As. This still leaves plenty of room on the plane to pick your seats all togther. We love SW, bc unlike other airlines we control where we sit. Other airlines can change your seat assignments even when you have paid.

 

[backyardponder]

Even if you get separated, the flight attendents will ask if there's folks who will move around. Folks are quite cooperative. You won't have any problems.

 

[Jestocost]

If flying on SWA, if you aren't a top-tier frequent flyer or purchasing a more expensive Business Select ticket, your options are to sign up for Early Bird Check In ($10 per person each way; you can do it just for one way if you want) or to check in yourself in. With EBCI you are automatically checked in and assigned a boarding number 36 hours before your flight. If you check yourself in, you can do it starting 24 hours before your flight. The earlier you check in, the earlier you board and you select your seats when you board.

One thing to note about SWA is that they do family boarding for families with kids four and under between the A and B groups. So, even if you have B or C passes then at least one of you will be able to board with your 23 month old if they do family boarding.

AirTran does allow you to preselect seats, but there is a charge per ticket for doing it. The amount varies based on which seat you want to select.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

SWA planes have 3 seats across, center aisle, 3 seats across. With a family of 5 you could choose to sit across the aisle from each other or front and back. Getting an early boarding number is essential. If you fly SWA and check in for your flight at exactly 24 hours, you have a good chance of getting an "A" boarding pass. If you get a "B", don't worry because you will be able to use family boarding and board before the "B"s.

 

[pooch]

I suggest heading straight for the back of the plane. There are always plenty of empty rows back there as most people try to be closest to the exit door. Sitting in the back of the plane will give you time to get your crew settled in their seats without holding up the boarding process and put you and your kids close to the rear bathroom cuz you know the kids are gonna want to use it!! AND, if the plane is not full, you may end up with an empty seat in one of your rows, giving you extra room! We have had great luck with this on our trips. AND the back of the plane lands FIRST!!!!

 

[Greysword]

Frontier has seat assignments, which you choose when you purchase your ticket. They also have Direct TV for $6 (by swiping your credit card). Here are the good and bad of Frontier (my favorite airline, BTW):

Economy Ticket:
- Cheapest fares
- baggage costs (per person) $20 for 1st and 2nd, $50 for third+
- Direct TV and movies available for purchase on the plane
- $50 flight change fee

Classic Ticket:
- mid tier (can be comparable to Southwest)
- Baggage costs (per person) 1st & 2nd baggage is free, 3rd+ $50
- Direct TV included, in-flight movies available for purchase
- $25 flight change fee

Classic Plus:
- highest tier
- Baggage fees: same as Classic
- Direct TV and Movies: same as Classic
- $0 flight change fee
- priority boarding & stretch seating

Everyone: freshly baked cookies!!! and the cute animals on the tail!!!
- http://www.frontierairlines.com/frontier/fun-stuff/commercials.do
- http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=frontier+airline+commercials&aq=f

They are HQ out of Denver and a nice airline to fly. I usually compare prices between Frontier (Classic) & Southwest (w/$10 per ticket per trip preboard fee). If Frontier is close, I pick them due to seat choices, Direct TV availability, and cookies!!

Info can be found: https://www.frontierairlines.com/fr...o;jsessionid=AED5EF4C5A570A03389F118E7BA75E0E

Oh, Frontier also has a family preboarding, but that is more for convenience than seat choice, so other people are not as cranky about those that preboard

 

[kaffinito]

At Airtran when you book you can pay for your seats. That way you will be guaranteed to have adjoining seats. I prefer to fly Airtran, I like the way they do things, and their customer service is great.

 

[usrtyz]

Thanks for all the great advice! I appreciate it. My head is spinning and the trip is next year.

 

[crashbb]

We have a Disney Resort booked for June 2012. We have considered flying this time around. We would save about 4 days of driving. I have 3 kids. At the time of our vacation, one will be 23 months, 5 years old and 6 years old. My first choice would be to fly nonstop. That would be out of Milwaukee because Madison doesn't. It looks like the airlines that fly direct are Southwest, Airtran & Frontier. My concern is that we won't be able to sit together on the airplane. My kids have NEVER flown before. Is it true that those airlines won't let me pick my seats ahead of time? Any advice or suggestions is appreciated. Thank you.

Others have discussed the seat selection question. I wanted to address what I have bolded.

Be sure that you understand that NON-STOP and DIRECT are not the same thing.

On a NON-STOP flight, you take off from your home airport and land in Orlando.

On a DIRECT flight, you take off from your home airport, land somewhere (but generally don't get off the plane), take off again and then land in Orlando. The difference between DIRECT and CONNECTING, is that in a direct flight, you only have a single flight number (and stay on the same plane - even if you have to get off and get back on).

 

[goofy4tink]

Go with SW. No, you can't choose your seats ahead of time. BUT...that's not a big issue. I have had my seats changed many, many times after 'choosing' them with other airlines. Other airlines also tend to change their flights around which can be upsetting when flying with little ones. You need to check on the flight status all the time. Not an issue with SW.
So....if you do choose SW....one parent is going to be able to board in between the A and B groups anyway...doesn't matter what their boarding group is. I would pay for Early Bird checkin for the other three...parent and two kids. That's going to be $30 addtl, each way. That way, you will get the lowest boarding group possible and you don't have to worry about being online to do the checkin yourself.

In any case....as long as you get boarding passes in the A or B groups, you will be fine. You should head to the rear of the plane since the vast majority of people flock to the front. You will find more empty seating back there. Yeah, it will take you an addtl few mins to get off the plane but that's not a huge deal.

I love flying SW. Many are intimidated by the inability to prechoose seating. It's a huge non-issue for you once you fly them once.

 

[Pembo]

We have flown SW many times with 3 kids. I always check in right at the 24 hour mark and get an A boarding pass. I sit in one row with 2 kids, DH sits behind us with 1 kid. We've never had a problem. For the return trip, I have checked in at 24 hours but this last trip I paid the $$ for auto check in. That was nice and I printed the boarding passes at the airport.

Fly, enjoy.

 

[hildarumpole]

We've flown with 3 kids to Orlando non-stop on AirTran out of Milwaukee 4 times and never had any problems. We always pay the $6/person to choose our seats when we make the flight reservation. It saves a lot of confusion for everyone. Two of my kids aren't big fans of flying, so knowing ahead of time where they'll be sitting helps them feel more comfortable. You can check-in online 24 hrs. before your flight and print your boarding passes without a fee and pay checked bag fees. It makes things go smoother at the airport. We've been very pleased with AirTran and aren't terribly thrilled about the recent merger with Southwest. I don't know what the status of AirTran will be next June. We're going to give Frontier a try next time. We used to fly Midwest, which was a wonderful airline. Frontier bought them out, so we're hoping for good things.

 

[corster]

Keep in mind that AirTran will likely be all but a memory come June 2012, so i'd suggest not paying extra and picking them simply because they assign seats - there's a good (but not 100%) chance it'll be a Southwest flight by then.

 

[usrtyz]

Thanks for all the help everyone! Now I just need to wait for the schedule to open up so I can book for June 2012. I'm REALLY looking forward to this vacation.