New to Southwest. 1 adult, 3 kids. Help!!!

[jekjones1558]

My DSis and 3 kids will be joining us at WDW in March. The best-priced non-stop return flight is a Southwest "Wanna Get Away" fare. We have NO experience with the boarding rules on Southwest. The children are ages 4, 6 and 12. Trying to read up on the Southwest website, it looks like my DSis could board with the 4 year old immediately following the A group but what about the other 2 kids? If she buys Early Bird Checkin for all 4 of them, can she still use RAC to get boarding passes and check luggage at Boardwalk?
Is there any one out there who has traveled with kids on Southwest and used RAC who would be so kind as to offer us advice? TIA.

 

[DebbieB]

My DSis and 3 kids will be joining us at WDW in March. The best-priced non-stop return flight is a Southwest "Wanna Get Away" fare. We have NO experience with the boarding rules on Southwest. The children are ages 4, 6 and 12. Trying to read up on the Southwest website, it looks like my DSis could board with the 4 year old immediately following the A group but what about the other 2 kids? If she buys Early Bird Checkin for all 4 of them, can she still use RAC to get boarding passes and check luggage at Boardwalk?
Is there any one out there who has traveled with kids on Southwest and used RAC who would be so kind as to offer us advice? TIA.

Most likely she will be able to board with all 3 of her kids during family boarding.

Anyone flying Southwest can use RAC for luggage and boarding passes unless there is some kind of security issue.

 

[jekjones1558]

Most likely she will be able to board with all 3 of her kids during family boarding.

Anyone flying Southwest can use RAC for luggage and boarding passes unless there is some kind of security issue.

Thanks, Debbie. Should she buy the Early Bird Chec-kins just in case? Early Bird Check-in still requires boarding passes, so she can get those and check luggage at Boardwalk? DSis is very nervous about this but she can save $600 in airfare by going Southwest!

 

[DebbieB]

Thanks, Debbie. Should she buy the Early Bird Chec-kins just in case? Early Bird Check-in still requires boarding passes, so she can get those and check luggage at Boardwalk? DSis is very nervous about this but she can save $600 in airfare by going Southwest!

It's a tricky question. Although I've never seen it, some people have reported that they sometimes don't have family boarding if there are too many kids. If she's saving $600, I'd splurge and pay the extra $25 a person for EBCI. They will print her boarding passes at RAC either way. It will save her from having to check in at 24 hours. On my last trip I was sitting in Tomorrowland on a bench waiting for the exact second to checkin. Still got a B.

 

[rwdavis2]

Have her buy the early boarding for peace of mind if nothing else. She will almost certainly get boarding numbers where they can all sit together without doing family boarding. You have to almost get a very high B or a C number to not find 4 seats together.

 

[goofy4tink]

I would buy EBCI for the return flight in any case....so much nicer to not have to worry about checking in at the 24 hr mark, especially if you're in a park.
As far as the flight down.....she will most likely be able to board with all the kids in between the A and B groups. But....that can be suspended depending on how many families there are in that boarding group. It doesn't happen often but it can. To be completely safe, she might want to spend the money to buy EBCI for that flight as well. She might even get a better boarding position that way.

Buying EBCI is no big deal when using RAC. Everything is the same.

 

[paults]

buy the ebci for coming home. For going down just check in on-line at 24 hrs.

Just remember that buying EBCI doesn't mean you'll get all 4 BP in a row. If you get all A's that's great but if you get 3 A's and 1 B you will either need to board with the B pass or have 2 A's go in and 1 A board with the B or just board with family boarding after the A group if it's available.

 

[jekjones1558]

Thanks everyone for the great tips. DSis may actually fly a different airline outbound to WDW because the nonstop time that Southwest offers is later than we would like. This thread makes us more comfortable trying Southwest. Avoiding problems when 1 adult is taking 3 kids is pretty important!

 

[dgaston]

I love SWA. The two free bags are great, and most planes have free wi-fi now. There is an app they can download for their electronic devices to keep the kids busy on the flights too, watching the freebie tv shows. When my DD has flown with DGD Abby she's had no trouble boarding between the A and B seats, and has been able to sit next to us. We get preboarding due to DH's use of wheelchair and cane.