Question about Southwest Seating . . .

[icarus]

I have not flown Southwest in over 6 years or so, and at that time I remember not actually having a seat, but getting a section and it being a free for all with regards to where people sit.

Is this still the case? Back then it was fine with just me and my wife, but now, with two children ages 7 and 5, I'm not so sure if I want to deal with such randomness. I am one who does not like such surprises. I would like to be able to select seats when purchasing the tickets, like I've done in the past, but I fear this is not the case with this airline. Unfortunately Soutwest is the only non-stop airline for us if we want to fly out of a close airport.

 

[Jestocost]

SWA still does not do assigned seats. It's open seating in three groups—cleverly called A, B & C—of roughly 45 each. People needing special assistance, children travelling alone and families with small children (sorry, five is too old) are allowed to preboard, followed by Group A, Group B and finally Group C. Sometimes there are people already on the plane if it started in another city before coming to your airport.

A, B & C boarding cards are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

The big difference between today and six years ago is that you are now able to check-in online starting 24 hours in advance of your flight. Doing so almost certainly will get you an A boarding pass, which will allow you to sit pretty much anywhere you want. You can check in on your computer and print out your card when you do, or you can check in using any Web enabled device and get your cards when you get to the airport. If you check in and don't get your card printed, you will still get the group you had when you checked in.

It's really not bad at all and certainly better than taking an indirect flight, IMO.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

As long as you check in online at the 24hr mark and get an "A" boarding pass, you will be all set. In fact... if you do a search on here, you'll see MANY posts from folks who booked and got "assigned" seats, only to have the airline re-arrange the seats, and separate them.

SWA is good about making sure you sit together. I think the only time I've heard of any family getting separated are those who don't prepare, and show up late to the airport.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

You definitely need to do the 24hr. check-in for SW flights to and from Orlando because so many people are allowed to preboard that the plane is already about half full before the "A" group even starts boarding. It might not be as bad if you fly during unpopular times, but with two young children you probably wouldn't want to.

 

[auroraarielella]

Would SW really have a five year old seated wihout an adult? I can understand not accomidating the whole group together, but a five year old alone sounds like alot of liability for SW.

 

[pezpam]

With an A pass, you should all be able to sit together. With a B pass, you might be able to all sit together, but you shouldn't have a problem at least sitting two and two - one parent with each child.

Unless you show up so incredibly late that they need to take off as soon as you board, the crew will do everything in their power to seat your kids with you. (Even if that happened for some odd reason, they'd rearrange you after takeoff, I'm sure.) I have *never* seen a child sit alone and we fly SW quite a few times a year. As I mentioned on another thread, and I say this nicely as a Mom myself not as someone being snarky, some people will be understanding and those who aren't don't want to babysit your kids. Someone will move to accommodate you.

On our last trip, the only airline we could book was US Air. Assigned seats, sure, but there was a LOT of rearranging that went on. Families had been separated and both exit rows had been assigned to children. The crew was very nice and the passengers were good about helping each other out. Of course, the couple who got our exit row legroom after I pointed out that DD wasn't old enough to be there were more than happy to help.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Would SW really have a five year old seated wihout an adult? I can understand not accomidating the whole group together, but a five year old alone sounds like alot of liability for SW.

Well, I've been seated next to an unaccompanied six year old, so I don't see why an airline wouldn't allow a five year old to fly in a seat not adjacent to her/his parent.

In all seriousness - it's ultimately the responsibility of the adult/s to plan and arrive at the airport enough in advance to allow for any unforseen circumstances and NOT put themselves in the position of being separated from their young children.

Given the OP's location, chances are any flight they board will be originating from their local airport - so all the seats will be in play 24 hours prior to departure.

 

[bavaria]

Would SW really have a five year old seated wihout an adult? I can understand not accomidating the whole group together, but a five year old alone sounds like alot of liability for SW.

Five is the minimum age for unaccompanied minors for most airlines. As katie says, it is the responsibility of the adult who is traveling with the child to plan ahead. It isn't the responsiblity of any other passenger or even the airline to ensure that families are seated together.

 

[NotUrsula]

The truth is that as long as you check in online the chances of being separated from children are much LESS on SWA than on legacy carriers that have assigned seating. Seat assignments get vacated all the time on legacy carriers, and the larger the party is, the more likely it is to happen.

SWA puts *you* in control of where your family sits.

 

[katrinao]

Here's my problem....I booked the whole vacation through Southwest Vacations. The tickets say that they are not "ticketless", that means I can't check in online...right? So I plan on being at the airport at 8:00 for our 11:15 flight. Does that sound about right? I want to be positive that I have my six year old, who has never flown and is terrified, sitting right beside me. Is there anyway around the not ticketless thing, where I can check in online?

 

[salmoneous]

This really isn't as big a deal as people imagine. It's only when you are down to the last few passengers that there are no seats together - i.e. the back of the "C" line.

And even if you do end up with C passes, and even if you do end up at the very back of the C line and are the last two people on the plane, your 6-year old simply isn't going to have to sit by them self.

In all my flights on SW, the few times this has happened the FA's have asked, then bribed people to move. You might not get your choice of front vs back of plane, you might not get your choice of aisle+middle or window+middle, you might not get to sit with the rest of your family, but you will get to sit next to your kid.

 

[katrinao]

That makes me feel a lot better...thanks!

 

[all4disney98]

We are thinking of flying Southwest. Our children are 3 and 5. Would we all be eligible to pre-board? What is the cut off age? If it is under 5, would they only allow one adult and the eligible child to pre-board?

TIA!!

 

[kathylovesdisneyworl]

We are thinking of flying Southwest. Our children are 3 and 5. Would we all be eligible to pre-board? What is the cut off age? If it is under 5, would they only allow one adult and the eligible child to pre-board?

TIA!!

You will all be able to preboard. The only time I have seen them not let an entire extended family preboard was at Orlando and that was moms,dads,aunts,uncles,grandparents,cousins and probably a few neighbors to. LOL

 

[pamjb]

The tickets say that they are not "ticketless", that means I can't check in online...right? So I plan on being at the airport at 8:00 for our 11:15 flight. Does that sound about right? I want to be positive that I have my six year old, who has never flown and is terrified, sitting right beside me. Is there anyway around the not ticketless thing, where I can check in online?

I didn't think Southwest had any "tickets", that everything was ticketless. I wouldn't think that SW would have you check in at the airport and get a "C" pass if you booked everything thru them. I would call their customer service phone (1-800-435-9792) and ask. They have always been very helpful when I have called.

 

[salmoneous]

I didn't think Southwest had any "tickets", that everything was ticketless. I wouldn't think that SW would have you check in at the airport and get a "C" pass if you booked everything thru them. I would call their customer service phone (1-800-435-9792) and ask. They have always been very helpful when I have called.

You wouldn't think SW would do that, but that's exactly how SW Vacations work. One of the view things that SW doesn't do right

 

[all4disney98]

You will all be able to preboard. The only time I have seen them not let an entire extended family preboard was at Orlando and that was moms,dads,aunts,uncles,grandparents,cousins and probably a few neighbors to. LOL

Thank you!!!

 

[rlrx]

When you book through Southwest Vacations, you actually get the tickets and cannot check in online. We called last year just to make sure and were told we had to bring our tickets to the airport. As long as you get there early, you should get at least a B boarding pass.
We were allowed to preboard as a family last year with a 3 year old. They will have a separate line for preboarding and didn't even question all four of us going onto the plane together.
Does anyone know the cutoff age for preboarding? Is it 3 or 4?

 

[pamjb]

The cutoff for preboards depends on how many preboards there are. I have seen preboards thru age 3 and on another trip, they allowed preboards up to age 4.

 

[missstcroix]

We have flown southwest a bunch of times and have never had a problem with being separated from my kids. I agree..if you go on line 24 hours in advance and get A or B seating, you won't have a problem. I have been separated from my kids on other "major" airlines and its not the airline that is the problem, it is the people who would have to give up their "aisle seat" to let you sit with your child...it all depends on people..some are super nice and understand, and some could care less. I have fought with one person as in "are you going to be responsible if he needs oxygen???" Some just dont care. Others will jump up and move and do what they can to accomodate you.

Regarding the preboard, a few years ago when my kids were probably 7 and 9 we traveled with friends who had a 2 year old. On the way to orlando, both families (us and them) were able to preboard because of that, on the way back, only the 2 year olds immediate family were. All depends on the people again.

The rates are too good at southwest to give up the minor inconvenience of not having assigned seating..for me at least...and also I only go from NJ to Orlando so its a quick flight anyway.