I did online check-in at Southwest.com and.....

[denisenh]

Just an FYI...a SWA rep at MHT told me that VERY, VERY, VERY few folks do on line check in.
So, if setting an alarm for midnight to get up out of bed on what will be a busy day and print your boarding passes isn't your cup of tea, I betcha that if you just checkin at the airport a bit earlier, you would be fine. We arrived 2 hours ahead for our trip each way and got in the "A" boarding group (in fact our cards were numbered in the single digits) , and BTW, both flights were full.

 

[iluvtink]

Cosmo2003,

Yes, I've been on a flight from Nashville to Phoenix where no one in our party of 5 could find even 2 seats together. (And we were not last in the "C" line.) My youngest DD was only 6 at the time, and I had to tell the flight attendant that they would have a very unpleasant flight if she had to sit alone! She went on the intercom and asked for one volunteer to switch seats so DD could sit with Mom, and after 30 long seconds, one nice guy said he would move.

Since then, my DD heads for the line as soon as we get to the gate... even if she's the first "A."
Kim

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Hmm. after reading these posts I just dont know what to do. We have flown before and always have gotten the a group. Our limo guy always get us to the airport early, but now with on line check in I am concerned. For our family of 5 we have 1 confirmation number I think and I already see our flight is sold out going and most likely back (easter break). So should I call to ask for seperate confirmations? Or just get there extra early. We always use curbside check in too. Our flight leaves at 7:05 am and I am wondering if anyone will stay up past midnight to do it (other travellers if they see the flight is already sold out too). Help!!

 

[denisenh]

Originally posted by luvmarypoppins
Hmm. after reading these posts I just dont know what to do. We have flown before and always have gotten the a group. Our limo guy always get us to the airport early, but now with on line check in I am concerned. For our family of 5 we have 1 confirmation number I think and I already see our flight is sold out going and most likely back (easter break). So should I call to ask for seperate confirmations? Or just get there extra early. We always use curbside check in too. Our flight leaves at 7:05 am and I am wondering if anyone will stay up past midnight to do it (other travellers if they see the flight is already sold out too). Help!!

I was concerned too. After reading all of these posts it seemed to me that everyone would be getting up at midnight to print their boarding passes, except me. So I called the airport that we were using and asked to be connected to the SWA counter and inquired as to the chances of getting into "A" boarding group since folks can checkin online starting a midnight the day of flight.
Anyway, the print your own pass thing has just not caught on, as of yet anyway. I really worried over nothing and I am glad that I called and asked. (It would have been a real pain to separate our reservations too) It is used so rarely that it is really a non issue.
It just seems that everyone is "doing it" when you read that a few people have.

 

[iluvtink]

That's a tough question, and one that we'll face in July! Call SW and ask, but I'm pretty sure that if you booked on line, the only way to get separate confirmations for on-line check-in is to cancel the first booking and try to re-book each person separately. Not a safe thing to do unless you are really, really, far out on your travel date. I think on-line check-in is still new enough that some people will still be booked, like you, in groups and have to get boarding passes at the airport. As long as you get there early, if you don't get "A's" you can at least get "B's" and go stand in that "B" line for good seats!

Please let me know if you find a way around the group confirmation-no on-line check-in issue, so I can do it in July, also. Thanks!

Kim

 

[castlegazer]

I had a group reservation number. I called SWA directly and had absolutely no problem separating the reservations. It was painless and easy and they tell me now I will be able to use on-line check-in.

 

[iluvtink]

I am soooo excited... had you booked your reservations on-line in the first place?

Kim

 

[TigerLilly's Mom]

I booked mine online and had absolutely no trouble separating them over the phone. They were as nice as could be.

I don't go to bed until 11:30 anyway, so staying up until 12:00 is no big deal for me. Even if you tried when you got up at say, 6:00ish, I bet you could still get A's. We used online boarding in Orlando and I didn't print them until 7:30am, and we still got A's. They also have a cancel button, so if you tried and got a B pass you could always cancel or show up at the airport early for the other passes.

I just wanted to let everyone know how easy it was to print these passes. It took about 3 minutes, and the peace of mind you get from knowing you have an A pass before you even get to the airport is wonderful!

 

[iluvtink]

Y'all have made my day!

One last question, is there somewhere on the Wonder that I can go at 12:01 a.m. on debarkation day to print out my boarding passes for the flight home?

Thanks! Kim

 

[pgjam]

SWA has just come to Phila so this is all new to me. What is "A" "B" "C" mean? I have a special needs child so if there is a real hassle getting seats together it's not worth the extra money to me. Thanks for the help
pgjam

 

[iluvtink]

Hi pgjam, and welcome to the Boards. You will find so much information here, and there is a forum entitled DISabilities that might be helpful for traveling with your child.

The A, B, C designations are the order in which Southwest boards its planes... kind of a "first come, first serve" in seating, since no seats are assigned. The people who get boarding passes first get A's, then when A's run out, they start handing out B's, etc.

However, it won't matter for you, because they have a special seating area for people traveling with small children or people with special needs. They board that group first of all. When you check in at the desk, sometimes they will give you a different colored boarding pass so you can get on before the A's, or sometimes they will just tell you to go over and be seated in that area.

My DD has Sensory Integration Dysfunction and General Anxiety Disorder. Not huge special needs, but she is very dependent on me to shelter her from things that scare her. After a flight where we had the C passes and had to get a volunteer to switch seats so DD could sit with me, we always try to get to the airport early to avoid the problem. However, if we are late, I just tell the SWA hosts at the gate check-in desk about her disorder and they let us board first, even though she is 10 years old and looks fine.

We LOVE Southwest and would fly it any time we could... it has the safest flying record and the staff members are happy and friendly. IMHO, they are the happiest people in customer service I know, after our beloved Disney Cast Members! Do you know to go to www.southwestairlines.com and sign up for their e-mail specials? They come to your mailbox faithfully every Tuesday, and there are usually new specials every week.

When are you making the magical trip?

Kim

 

[dpayne1969]

Hello
we are not going until Nov.I have never flown before so i am totally clueless here.I have a DD that is 8 and DS that is 11.Do these qualify as small children???Also i went to the website and was wondering if they always have the 99.00 thing going??
What price thingey should i do??When do you expect the dates to be out for Nov.??Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[iluvtink]

Howdy dpayne1969!

Here's the deal with Southwest... everyone please forgive the length of this post, but I want to be sure to tell this completely!

Your kids fly as "adults" because all prices are the same for everyone, regardless of age. Southwest bills itself as a "no frills" airline, and it is. That's why there are no assigned seats on the plane and there is all this talk about "A, B, C" boarding passes, and the best deals are if you book on line. Those are all cost-saving measures for them.

The best thing you can do to be sure you get the November fares when they come out is to sign up for their weekly e-mails. Go to the Southwest website, put in your e-mail address where required, and every Tuesday you should get an update saying which city is the "featured city." That city will have good fares to and from a whole lot of other Southwest cities. Then they have regular specials most weeks, too, so if you were, for example flying out of Oklahoma City, one week there might be specials to Columbus, Orlando, Las Vegas and New York (Islip), and the next week might be San Diego, Phoenix, Baltimore, Boise and Nashville. I don't know if your $99 fare is the regular "cheap" fare, or if it goes lower sometimes. If Okla. City is the featured city, it might go lower that week. Then it's just first come, first serve again ... when a certain number of seats sell out at the lower price, then those flights are marked "unavailable" for that time slot and you have to choose a higher price or a different flight/date.

Each e-mail will say how far out you can book. I waited for several months for them to releast dates beyond June 12 so we could take advantage of good fares in late July. The first Tuesday that the dates were extended past our trip, I went on line, found great fares and booked 11 of us out of Indy, because it was a lot cheaper than Columbus and had better times.

The other really good thing about booking on Southwest is that if you need to change your tickets, there is no "service charge" like with the major airlines. The money you have charged gets put in a special "Ticketless Travel Fund" and you have a full year to use that credit toward other tickets. The only problem with trying to change times after you have booked is that the only fares available on another date may be higher.

Hope this helps! SW is our favorite airline... wonderful staff, great safety record. Just remember to pack your own snacks/food because their peanuts don't last very long. They do give you soft drinks/water, etc.

Feel free to PM me any time!

: ) Kim

 

[NotUrsula]

SWA normally allows preboarding only for children under age 5, although preboarding for young children is sometimes suspended on the Orlando routes b/c so many kids are getting on. However, you should always be able to preboard 1 child/1 adult if you need to install a carseat.

Persons with disabilities (including children) are another preboarding category, you need to ask in that situation. IME, tere is usually no problem getting a disability preboard for the disabled person and a companion just for the asking, but bring a physician's note if you are concerned that you might encounter difficulty.

If there is only one adult in the party and one of the children needs to preboard, they won't make you leave the other children to wait in line at the gate. However, in fairness to other passengers, add'l adults in the party (and older children who can wait with them) will probably not be allowed to preboard. Sometimes people do get away w/ preboarding big family groups on the coattails of one baby, but it's not usually allowed, and SWA has been cracking down lately. (Thank goodness.)

Saving seats within your own row is normally OK, as long as there is a real person that will be sitting with you. You cannot save several rows, or save seats in the hope of blocking an empty seat beside you; if the flight is sold out, someone WILL end up sitting there, and the FA's will not be happy with you for delaying the boarding process.

Age 5 is the FAA-mandated age at which a child can travel without an accompanying adult, so there is no rule which says that they MUST seat a child 5 or older next to an adult in the same party. (The adult being on the same plane satisfies the rule.) They will let you ask around, but the FA's won't force a seat change unless a child is under age 5 or disabled. FYI: This isn't just SWA, it's all US carriers. Families get separated when there are cancellations or equipment changes, too.

 

[pgjam]

Thnaks for the info Iluvtink - sorry it took so long to respond - been a rough week. We have no plans to go - we were there over president's wknd last year. My son has a visually hidden disorder too so sometimes it tough for people to understand his needs. Thanks for the dvice about the doctor's note. Flying is tough for him if I or my DH could not sit next to him the flight would be miserable for everone on the plane.
pgjam

 

[Lewisc]

Originally posted by iluvtink
Howdy dpayne1969!

Your kids fly as "adults" because all prices are the same for everyone, regardless of age.

SW has a childs fare for age 2-11 BUT (as is true with most airlines) the discount is off the full fare. Generally the discounted fares we book is cheaper.

 

[dpayne1969]

thank you all for responding to my question.I apologize to anyone if i have offended anyone for posting on someone elses post.I hope they will have the 99.00 fare for Nov.