Pre-boarding with Southwest Airlines

[leebee]

DH and I pre-board with Southwest; we just got home from vacation today. We go to the agent at the check-in counter, where you'd check in your luggage. You don't need to have a physical disability; just tell them you need pre-boarding as you need to sit in a specific location on the plane (they may ask you if you are pre-boarding due to this or need assistance being seated). They can't ask, and don't want to know, what your specific issue is, just that you need to sit in a certain location. They should give you hard-copy boarding passes with "preboard" or "Prebrd" printed on them (if you are making a connection make sure it's printed on both boarding passes). They allow one other person to board with a pre-boarder. Pre-boarders are allowed on the plane first (with those who are mobile going before wheel chair boarders), followed by the A boarding group, family boarding, then B and C. (Active military and A-list also get earlier boarding but I don't remember when...)

The only limitation for being a pre-boarder is that you cannot sit in an emergency exit row. Also, if you sit in a bulkhead seat (first row of seats) you cannot have any kind of carry-on at your seat; everything has to go into the overhead bin. They let me keep my book and my sweater with me, but I had to wear the sweater during take off and landing.

 

[amandolin]

My friend, who uses a wheelchair permanently, always preboards. She is able to bring one person with her. She uses her chair to get to the seat on the plane and then transfer to the airplane seat. Then her wheelchair is gate checked. When we arrive at our destination, we are the last ones off the place since we have to wait for them to retrieve her chair and be able to bring her chair on the plane for her to transfer.

She's only flown Southwest but her boarding pass always just says "preboard" but I'm not sure if it was the very first time. I think now it might be saved in her profile. Also, since she has to gatecheck her wheelchair, the boarding agents usually call her out if she doesnt go to them so they can tag her chair... one more time.

Most recently, my sister and I were traveling and she was using a knee scooter since she was going to have foot surgery a few days after our trip.. (great timing... it wasn't planned.. LOL). She didn't have preboard.. but asked the staff where we dropped our luggage and they went ahead and added it with no problem.

She too was able to preboard and we were able to gate check the scooter!

I always fly SW and its usually to MCO... and the flights are full.. so its worth asking if you need it!

 

[Selket]

Two people can accompany the child during family boarding on SW, not the entire family. Sometimes the gate agents are lax and allow more, but generally the MCO flights - to and from - are pretty stringent.

Thanks for the clarification! I can imagine if you have extended family (with several adults/teens) they wouldn't let the whole party board with the little kid!

 

[SueM in MN]

We have Only flown Southwest twice because we really need direct, non-stop flights, which are not offered at our airport. When we did fly them, we were able to preboard, but had a wheelchair and our person with a disability needed to board with assistance from both parents.

This is Southwest's actual policy copied from their website (my bold):
Do passengers with disabilities get to preboard?

It depends. Some Customers with disabilities are able to preboard at the very beginning of the boarding process prior to general boarding. Preboarding is available for Customers with disabilities who need a specific seat to accommodate a disability, need assistance boarding the aircraft, or need to stow an assistive device.
A Customer Service Agent at the ticket counter or the departure gate can help with this accommodation, and you'll be asked questions to determine if you qualify. You'll receive a new boarding pass marked with PRBD if you qualify, which lets the Operations Agent at boarding know that you can preboard. Remember that you can't occupy an exit seat if you preboard.
One travel companion may preboard with you. If you feel you need an exception to this, please discuss your needs with a Customer Service Agent at the gate when requesting preboarding.
If you're preboarding because you need a specific seat, speak with the Operations Agent after getting your new boarding pass but before preboarding starts.

Customers with disabilities who simply need a little extra time to board or otherwise do not qualify for preboarding may board between the "A" and "B" groups, before Family Boarding. A Customer Service Agent at the ticket counter or departure gate can give you a new boarding pass marked with XT, which lets the Operations Agent at boarding know that you can board before Family Boarding.

So, when preboarding occurs, it depends on the reason for preboarding.
Link to Southwest Boarding Process page.