Increased Pre-Boarders on Southwest

[bubba's mom]

No, that's an FAA rule, not a SWA rule.....

well, then SW was breaking the rules. that child's carseat was in an aisle in front of me! guess SW doesn't even enforce their own policies (preboards), how can we expect them to follow FAA rules?

 

[Lewisc]

The flight attendant should, and probably will, make no effort to move people so you can sit with your 14 year old son. There isn't any reason why couples, other famlies or even friends that want to sit together should split up for you. FA try to help famlies with small children sit so at least one parent is with a small child.

If it's important to you than you have to arrange your schedule to get a BP on a timely basis. With an "A" BP you'll sit together. Leave the park and go to a hotel to print your BP.

I am starting to regret booking my dec. flight with southwest. I have never flown this airline but a lot of people reassured me that it is a great airline. I have this hangup that I need to sit with my son who is now 14. It is a stupid thing thinking "what if the plane crashes". Anyway I am so afraid that we won't be sitting together that I am losing sleep. I know you can get the boarding passes 24 hours before the flight so it might not be a problem going to orlando but coming back I will be in the parks so I won't be able to get the boarding passes right away. I guess my question is do the flight attendants make all efforts to try and sit families together.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

People need to preboard because they need more time, so I have no idea why SW doesn't make them go to the back of the plane. If they take more time to get on then they take more time getting off. I'm guessing that would decrease the preboards but if the car seats were required to go to the back of the plane then it would speed exiting.

 

[inkkognito]

I agree with Lewisc...I have seen "Airline" segments filmed at Midway airport many, many times, and all I can say is that the people are "encouraged" so that the whole thing bears about as much resemblence to reality as "Survivor" does to people actually surviving in a desolate area.

As for the couples on a window and aisle, not all couples are doing that to get an empty middle seat. Hubby likes a window, but I tend to have a nervous bladder while flying if I don't take my Xanax (I am a VERY paranoid flyer), so sometimes he takes his window spot and I take the aisle to prevent having to keep climbing over my neighbor. If a person sits in the middle, I explain the situation and offer to switch with them if they don't mind my getting up. If I don't switch, we make a concerted effort not to annoy the middle person by talking over them, passing items over them, etc.

Barb

 

[riu girl]

This thread has been very interesting to read. It has given me a lot of info about 4 and under preboards and their families.
My ?s:
In comparison to the 4 and under preboard line, how big is the special needs boarding line? We have a BUF-MCO flight Sat Dec 17 and will hopefully be in that line. Our daughter has "non visible" special needs and we ask the gate agent if we can get into this line. Will other SWA passengers give us a hard time since it doesn't look like we belong in this line (when we in fact do)?
Thank you
Suzy V.

 

[disneyjunkie]

ducklite:
I am very offended that you think I am being neurotic. I don't have the luxury of having a husband or any other children, it is just me and my teenage son. I have been dealing with a very bad case of depression and I hope you are happy that I am writing this while crying.

Don't feel bad. I know how you feel.

I'm also a single mom with a 14 year old son. Call me crazy, but when I travel with my son, I like to sit next to him.

I don't care how cheap SW prices are, I won't fly with them. My family wouldn't get to preboard and there's no way to know where we'll end up sitting.

It would drive me nuts to see preboarders holding seats for people not on the plane. If SW can keep aunts, uncle, grandparents.... from preboarding witha a 4 year old, why can't/won't they keep preboarders from saving seats?



SW's prices are tempting, but I just couldn't do it.

 

[tjmw2727]

I have a different perspective, I fly often, 3-7 times a year, and many times as the solo adult with my dd's. Done this since they were about 3 and 5. After flying AA and other major carriers and getting "assigned" seats quite far in advance only to have them changed, 1,2 and sometimes 3 times prior to the flight separating the three of us I had it. AA was the worst and sometimes the gate agents would help other times I was at the mercy of others. One trip we had window and middle and my dd had asile in front of us, the 20 somthing gentleman next to us was very hesitant to move one row forward to the same exact seat ??

anyway -

To the OP - assigned seats don't always mean you will sit next to ds, if I couldn't persuade people to switch with my 3 and 5yo I wouldn't expect much success with a 14yo!

Don't worry...

We flew SWA for the first time in October and it was the best flight ever (ok except First Class with just dh and I LOL). Do some research, understand the rules and do your best to get the A pass. We check in online at home 24 hours in advance, got an A pass, arrived at the airport in plenty of time and sat in a row of 3 with my dd's. It was all under my control, I like that! You can have the same experience. The FA's were wonderful and treated us with respect and courtesy - can't say that about many of our other flights.

For the return, my dh was able to check in for us from home 24 hourr prior and we got A passes, I then I re-printed from ALK concierge desk. I had explored the options and if DH wasn't able to I would have gone to one of the business centers 24 hours prior to check in online and print the passes. I know for certain that the Dolpin and CSR have a business center and the CR may have one. IMHO if its important to sit together then you should consider leaving the park to check in online 24 hours prior to departure.

Good luck and don't worry, SWA was great.

TJ

 

[tjmw2727]

I agree that the worse preboarding exists on flights to and from MCO. I recently flew from Vegas to John Wayne in CA and there was only ONE preboarder.

I have seen a gentleman gate agent at MCO who really cracks down on preboarding there. He is GOOD. He calls for preboarders and as they board with someone that LOOKS over the age of 4, he asks the child his age and if they say 5, he tells the family to get into the right coral.

Also, he makes numerous announcements that preboarding is limited to child under 4 and IMMEDIATE family only and says NO grandparents, aunts and uncles and won't let them board. He has worked a few flights that I have been on recently and I hope there are more like him!

pinnie

Ha - we must have had the same gentleman on our October flight - hilarious. FWIW they did send many a grandma, aunt etc back to the end of their appropriate boarding line. I was 3rd family in the A line and it was kind of funny, all but one family took it well and knew they were 'busted!".

He was constantly checking the preboard line, reminding them to gate check strollers and that only immediate family was boarding preboard. Every time a new family joined the pre board line he repeated the argument so they must have known.

TJ

 

[bubba's mom]

For the return, my dh was able to check in for us from home 24 hourr prior and we got A passes, I then I re-printed from ALK concierge desk. I had explored the options and if DH wasn't able to I would have gone to one of the business centers 24 hours prior to check in online and print the passes.

I think I remember seeing a kiosk at MCO at SW terminal/baggage checkin that said "Print Passes". It's been since summer, so my memory is foggy, but I thought you could check-in and if you didn't have access to a printer, you could print your passes there....already being checked in. If so, do you get assigned a pass according to what number person you are checking in or when you actually print your pass?? I'm asking out of curiosity because we usually print our passes at 12:03am day of departure from my FIL's

 

[kathylovesdisneyworl]

I think I remember seeing a kiosk at MCO at SW terminal/baggage checkin that said "Print Passes". It's been since summer, so my memory is foggy, but I thought you could check-in and if you didn't have access to a printer, you could print your passes there....already being checked in. If so, do you get assigned a pass according to what number person you are checking in or when you actually print your pass?? I'm asking out of curiosity because we usually print our passes at 12:03am day of departure from my FIL's

Yes you can check in but not print your boarding pass. I did this for my daughter in the spring. I checked her in and when she checked her luggage they printed out her the pass. She still had her A boarding pass. And since she almost missed her flight to the extremely long line at MCO I know she would not have gotten an A pass if she would have waited till she got to the airport.

 

[WeLoveThePoly]

I think this depends on the airport and destination. As I mentioned earlier my couple of experiences from IND to MCO on SWA the pre-boarding line had more than 40 people in it. I didn't mention that the white-haired people also lined-up in pre-boarding. I mean people with golf tans and a bunch of carry-on baggage in tow and then run on the plane to beat the kids. So far we have other non-stop flights with low prices from IND to MCO. I will fly SWA to any other destination other than MCO and then to MCO only as a last resort.

Gary - Thanks for your post. I was glad to read some insight from someone who has has flown the IND-MCO route on SW. My DH suggested SW for our trip in October (since ATA no longer has flights in/out of IND) but I really would feel better if we can select our seats at the time we purchase our tickets. We'll be flying with our DD who will be 9 at the time.

Debbie

 

[inkkognito]

It would drive me nuts to see preboarders holding seats for people not on the plane. If SW can keep aunts, uncle, grandparents.... from preboarding witha a 4 year old, why can't/won't they keep preboarders from saving seats?

Since saving seats is against the rules, what would stop you from just sitting in one of those "saved" seats? It's not like they can complain to the flight attendant. I've seen people saving entire rows (i.e. six seats), and if I wanted one, I would have no compunction about simply parking my butt. That's never come up on the plane because I head to the exit row, but I've done it in theaters when rude people try the same thing. Once, on a Disney cruise, some moron thought he could save the entire first row. I just plopped down and told him to go find someone to complain to.
Barb

 

[Rags]

Yes, we were the first "A" passengers to board from PIT to MCO in September and the attendant at the podium had me hold onto my boarding pass and hand it to the attendant just inside the plane so that she would know I was the beginning of the "A" group.

Tracey,
We fly out of Pittsburgh in 11 days on SW. I have a few questions if you don't mind?

Did you print your passes on the internet?
What time did you get to the gate to be first in the "A" line?

We are flying out at 7:35am the Sun after T-giving so I know we will have to get there earlier than normal. So any advice would be great!

Thanks!!!

 

[jcemom]

Tracey,
We fly out of Pittsburgh in 11 days on SW. I have a few questions if you don't mind?

Did you print your passes on the internet?
What time did you get to the gate to be first in the "A" line?

We are flying out at 7:35am the Sun after T-giving so I know we will have to get there earlier than normal. So any advice would be great!

Thanks!!!

Yes, I printed my passes online about 5 minutes after the 24 hour point...we were the first checked in (the passes are numbered). We got to the gate about an hour or a little more before flight time. SWA is still new to Pittsburgh and not everyone lines up like they do in Orlando. So, I'd say we probably didn't jump on line until maybe half an hour before flight time, or just ten minutes before boarding, and we were first in the A line. The flight wasn't full though, and there weren't many people in the C line. There were a handful of preboarders, maybe 6 or so. It was on a Monday morning and the airport was crazy, so I was worried our flight would be full, but it wasn't. The people immediately behind us and right next to us in the B line were all returning to Florida after being here for the Steelers game.

 

[TDC Nala]

I'm usually flying alone and I will give up a seat for a parent to sit with a minor child.

I won't give up a good seat so adult couples can sit together on a two hour flight. If it's important to you to sit with a companion, it's a great idea to get to the airport early or do online check in.

 

[madge]

I agree that the worse preboarding exists on flights to and from MCO. I recently flew from Vegas to John Wayne in CA and there was only ONE preboarder.

I have seen a gentleman gate agent at MCO who really cracks down on preboarding there. He is GOOD. He calls for preboarders and as they board with someone that LOOKS over the age of 4, he asks the child his age and if they say 5, he tells the family to get into the right coral.

Also, he makes numerous announcements that preboarding is limited to child under 4 and IMMEDIATE family only and says NO grandparents, aunts and uncles and won't let them board. He has worked a few flights that I have been on recently and I hope there are more like him!

pinnie

That gate agent was working when we flew out of MCO in October. He IS very good!

I'm on a flight in January that should be interesting....there's a church youth group conference at WDW, and the outbound flight to Orlando is nearly full. I know of at least 2 other churches besides ours that are on the same flight. Instead of little kids, this is going to be a flight full of teenagers...and I think I'm more worried about that than preschoolers, LOLOL!

 

[madge]

I am starting to regret booking my dec. flight with southwest. I have never flown this airline but a lot of people reassured me that it is a great airline. I have this hangup that I need to sit with my son who is now 14. It is a stupid thing thinking "what if the plane crashes". Anyway I am so afraid that we won't be sitting together that I am losing sleep. I know you can get the boarding passes 24 hours before the flight so it might not be a problem going to orlando but coming back I will be in the parks so I won't be able to get the boarding passes right away. I guess my question is do the flight attendants make all efforts to try and sit families together.

If you are staying at a WDW resort, they will print SW boarding passes at the guest services desk.

If getting an A boarding pass is a priority for you, then I would make a point to be at the GS desk printing passes. Plan your day around it.

 

[disneyokw]

I have never flowen Southwest and never plane too. Even for a free fllight. My parents have and have seen all that was mentioned on this board.

I wanted to state that my mother and I also choose a window seat and an aisle seat. My mother loves the window seat because she tries to find Disney. We have seen it from the air. Really cool. But I have colitis and when I have to go to the bathroom I really have to make a run for it. I use to sit next to my mother before the colitis. Yes, I have been in the middle seat once with this colitis and it really did not work out.

Also my mom and I stay in our seats when everyone is rushing off. In October I got to watch the conclusion to All About Eve on Jetblue while the crowd was moving by. We were the second to last people to leave. Especially no rush to get off when we are heading home.

 

[Rags]

Yes, I printed my passes online about 5 minutes after the 24 hour point...we were the first checked in (the passes are numbered). We got to the gate about an hour or a little more before flight time. SWA is still new to Pittsburgh and not everyone lines up like they do in Orlando. So, I'd say we probably didn't jump on line until maybe half an hour before flight time, or just ten minutes before boarding, and we were first in the A line. The flight wasn't full though, and there weren't many people in the C line. There were a handful of preboarders, maybe 6 or so. It was on a Monday morning and the airport was crazy, so I was worried our flight would be full, but it wasn't. The people immediately behind us and right next to us in the B line were all returning to Florida after being here for the Steelers game.

Thanks for the info!!!!