Flying SW please tell me about what to do with seat assignments?

[3kidz4dis]

I know that 24 hours ahead of time you go on line I think to get some kind of boarding pass or seat assignment with SW, but what website am I on, and what do I want to do on line once I get there. What am I trying to do? I just a little confused about A, B, C seating. We have a 4, 6 and 8 year old so I would like to get some kind of boarding pass ahead of time. Thanks so much for your help!

 

[bicker]

It's not a seat assignment. It basically divides the passengers into three groups (A, B and C). The folks with the A boarding passes get to board first, then the folks with the B boarding passes, and then the rest. Clearly, everyone wants the A boarding passes, since they give you the most choice of seats and the best chance of getting seats together.

Unfortunately, Southwest doesn't offer advance seat assignments that would help ensure that you'll have an easy time getting the seats you'd like best for your family.

 

[helenk]

I think that you may be able to pre-board as generally SW allows for families with children 4 and under to pre- board. I am not sure if this is done online or at the gate. Someone with younger children that has used SW may be able to give you some info or you may want to call SW.
To get a boarding pass online, Go to the SW website and click on travel center, from there click on checkin online/print boarding pass. You will need your confirmation #, it will take you to the next step, just follow the directions. This can be done 24 hours before your flight. The A passes board after the pre-boardings are done, then the B passes etc.

 

[NotUrsula]

The website you want is www.iflyswa.com, which you've already visited if you bought a ticket. Just go to online check-in and input the info it asks for from your purchase confirmation.

There are no seat assignments. What you will get when you check in online(as far as 24 hours before departure) is a boarding pass, without which you cannot get through security at the airport. The boarding pass will have a group letter on it: A, B, or C, which corresponds to the signs above the gate door at the airport. When you arrive at the gate, get into the corresponding line; your line will start moving when it is time to board. Once on the aircraft, sit in any open seat you wish to, as long as it doesn't have a "reserved seat" placard in it (those are situations where someone has purchased two seats for one person, usually due to the person's size.)

If you have a 4 yo, you will normally be allowed to preboard, which means that you would look for the sign for the preboard area. Parties preboarding with kids may not contain any adults other than the children's parents. When you get on the plane, no one in your party may sit in an exit row if you have preboarded. It is a good idea to go ahead and check in online anyway, even if you expect to be able to preboard.

You need to be at the gate no later than 40 minutes before scheduled departure if you have an A and want to use it to advantage. If you arrive less than 15 minutes before scheduled departure, your seat may be gone, as they consider you a no-show if you arrive after that point, and will give your seat away if there is a standby passenger who wants it.

 

[3kidz4dis]

The website you want is www.iflyswa.com, which you've already visited if you bought a ticket. Just go to online check-in and input the info it asks for from your purchase confirmation.

There are no seat assignments. What you will get when you check in online(as far as 24 hours before departure) is a boarding pass, without which you cannot get through security at the airport. The boarding pass will have a group letter on it: A, B, or C, which corresponds to the signs above the gate door at the airport. When you arrive at the gate, get into the corresponding line; your line will start moving when it is time to board. Once on the aircraft, sit in any open seat you wish to, as long as it doesn't have a "reserved seat" placard in it (those are situations where someone has purchased two seats for one person, usually due to the person's size.)

If you have a 4 yo, you will normally be allowed to preboard, which means that you would look for the sign for the preboard area. Parties preboarding with kids may not contain any adults other than the children's parents. When you get on the plane, no one in your party may sit in an exit row if you have preboarded. It is a good idea to go ahead and check in online anyway, even if you expect to be able to preboard.

You need to be at the gate no later than 40 minutes before scheduled departure if you have an A and want to use it to advantage. If you arrive less than 15 minutes before scheduled departure, your seat may be gone, as they consider you a no-show if you arrive after that point, and will give your seat away if there is a standby passenger who wants it.

When you go on line to get your boarding class, I am assuming from your post that they assign you A, b or C then (on line)? Are they asking you your age children for them to determine that letter? Also, is it first come first serve with that? Meaning should I get on line right at 24 hours before vs 12 hours before? Thanks!

 

[ducklite]

Your kids ages have nothing to do with your letter. It's entirely first come, first served.

Keep in mind that they suspend preboarding at MCO on a regular basis because otherwise 3/4 of the plane would preboard. You MUST prepare your children for the slim chance that you will not all be seated together. While the FA's will try to shuffle people for really young kids to be able to sit with a parent, the six and eight year old could end up by themselves if you don't have an "A" pass and there's no preboard.

When you've got a plane full of families, it can get difficult to get people to move around and be seperated from their family to benefit yours.

So make sure your kids have their backpacks with things to keep them occupied and know how to buckly their seat belts. It probably won't come to that, but it could. Better to be prepared and find out you won't need your advance prep than to not be prepared and have a problem when you board.

Anne

 

[bicker]

Keep in mind that they suspend preboarding at MCO on a regular basis because otherwise 3/4 of the plane would preboard.

Incidently, this is true of many airlines, not just Southwest. (Though, on other airlines, at least you have seat assignments to assure you'll be able to sit together.)

 

[disneyfor3]

It is a good idea to do 24 hours beforehand. You go to travel center and into print boarding pass. If you made the reservation under one confirmation number you will enter that confirmation number and the person's name whose credit card you used. The screen will then show all the persons listed on the reservation with checkboxes besides each. If you want to print ALL confirmations, click all boxes and then next. Each confirmation will have a letter on it (A, B, or C).

 

[OzFan]

They changed the check in time thank goodness, last year you could check in midnight before your flight. So at 12:00 am here was me and my SIL waiting............. We got A1-A11. It doesn't matter what Number is on the A B or C, you still line up at the desognated "corrals" as we call it. As for pre- boarding, I would still check in online and get my boarding pass. My SIL HATES the way SW does the seating. She worries about the flight down and back everytime. This year we booked through Air Tran and since we were a group, we got our seat assignments. She is sooo happy! We still plan on checking in online, it's just 1 less thing to do at the airport!