seating on southwest

[solana131]

We just flew SW for our first time and I was worried about this too. In my opinion, $10 is not too much to get seats together I didn't know that with EB I didn't have to check in 24 hour ahead and I still did it. Even with EB and printing it off 24 hours ahead, we were A53-58! I thought that was pretty far back, but we were very near the front. And if you are staying onsite, if you have early bird, they print off the boarding passes and deliver them to your room the last morning along with your Magical Express stuff. Very cool.

Good luck And just so you know.....if I was on that flight, I would switch with you

 

[vacationclub]

Just FYI- none of this is a guarantee...buying EBCI, flying with young kids for early boarding....even buying business select.....if you don't have a direct flight. Any plane change situation is a chance that your arrival to the new plane will be delayed. They don't care what seat class you bought, or if you paid extra for each person, or if you have young kids. If you get to the connecting plane late (because of SW or not)....you're screwed.

I was on a plane from Vegas to BUF. We waited for another group of about 12 people from another plane on the way in. Sat on the plane for nearly an hour after boarding. Finally about a dozen people showed up....a youth hockey team and a couple chaperons. Every kid and adult sat between 2 strangers, spread all over the plane for over 4 hours. They were old enough I guess....but what if they weren't?

Be especially careful if you have 2 legs, and the 2nd leg is the longest. That could be the one you're separated on...no matter how much extra you paid.

I'll never understand archaic logic of SW.

 

[babygirlamg]

thanks solana and yes we are staying onsite at the POP....also i know my 9 year old is fine being by her self but for the first time flying is what im worried about...she is independent on other things but this im sure she would be upset....but i will be getting the ebci

 

[Mr Toad was Framed]

i'd say for the $20 you will have to spend its worth it for peace of mind. if you don't go that route make sure you check in online exactly 24 hrs before. Used to be less of an issue and pretty easy to get an A assignment as long as you did it before getting to the airport but with everyone choosing the EBCI it definitely bumps everything further back.

 

[Mkrop]

On our flight home in Dec, even though we paid for EBCI, DH was kind and gave up his seat for a mom and her two boys about 9 or so, and sat behind us instead of across, no big deal right....ummm no the woman he sat next to was a total witch and smelled and her kids sitting behind her were obnoxious brats. So although DH is a gentleman, I dont think he will be so quick to give his seat up next time

So do not assume people will give up their seats. I would buy the EBCI if I was traveling with a child that I wanted seated with me.

Have fun!

 

[babygirlamg]

oh i dont expect anyone to give up their seats for me...well i fly out next tuesday i will come back an update how it went....

 

[n2mm]

We flew home in January and a family could not get seats together with their kids, so my DH and I had a 5 year old sitting in our aisle seat and his brother (est. 7) sat across in the opposite aisle seat. Grandma sat a few seats up and mom and other kids sat elsewhere. I have to say that the little guy was well behaved, though my DH had to help him open is juice and helped him open his cookies when snacks came. Neither mom nor grandma ever checked on him during the entire flight. Lucky for us we were on Jetblue, so he had the TV and a headset to keep him busy. So OP, yes kids do sometimes have to sit away from their parents on flights. And I agree, if I was flying SW and had to PAY for my seat choice I would be very reluctant to give it away to someone who didn't think paying for the early bird was important to them.

 

[Missytara]

I agree! Now that people are paying to sit with their fellow travelers/family, people are even less inclined to give up their seats for someone who didn't bother.
We flew Airtran a year or 2 ago and paid the $6/pp for our family of 4 so we could sit together: 2 kids and I together, dh in the aisle seat behind us.
On the way home a frantic mom of 3 very young children frantically pleaded for him to trade seats so her 5 yr old wouldn't have to sit alone. Of course dh jumped up but he didn't know we paid for our seats.
I asked her why she didn't just choose her seats when she booked and she replied she didn't think she had to because she has young kids and assumed the airline wouln't separate them. I made it a point to let her know we did pay and that why we were seated together.

Happened to me as well a few years ago. I was flying Airtran and it was the 2 seat - 3 seat set-up. I was in the third row, on the left hand side both directions. Going down and coming back, the seat next to me was never chosen.

I sat alone going down, but coming back, a woman sat next to me. She tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I would switch with her husband. She pointed to a middle seat on the other side of the plane, all the way in the last row.

I looked at her, like are you kidding me? Next time, pay for your seats.....

 

[Tara]

Happened to me as well a few years ago. I was flying Airtran and it was the 2 seat - 3 seat set-up. I was in the third row, on the left hand side both directions. Going down and coming back, the seat next to me was never chosen.

I sat alone going down, but coming back, a woman sat next to me. She tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I would switch with her husband. She pointed to a middle seat on the other side of the plane, all the way in the last row.

I looked at her, like are you kidding me? Next time, pay for your seats.....

I don't understand why people aren't a little more logical about this. If she wanted to sit with her husband, why didn't she offer her seat (not clear if she was in the window or aisle seat from your description) to the person next to her husband in the back? Aside from the fact that it takes a lot of nerve to ask someone to switch from a good seat to a bad seat even if they DIDN'T pay for the seat, it is a much better bargaining position.

I've asked plenty of times to have someone trade with me or a companion, but I always do so in a way that gives the other person an advantage (in general...there's no way to know if someone has some unusual preference). I've offered my exit row aisle seat to someone with a middle seat next to my boss so that I could work on the plane. I've given my Economy Plus seat to someone farther back in regular coach. Once when I had the exit row middle in a quite roomy Economy Plus configuration, my boss gave his first class seat to the woman sitting next to me in the exit aisle seat. She was tickled and we knocked out a chunk of work in 2 hours!

 

[JenSinMA]

oh i dont expect anyone to give up their seats for me...well i fly out next tuesday i will come back an update how it went....

I look forward to hearing how it went. I've never flown out of CT but I would consider it if the SW fares are better there than out of Providence. ANYTHING is better than SW out of Boston! Have a great time with your DD.

 

[Mr Toad was Framed]

I look forward to hearing how it went. I've never flown out of CT but I would consider it if the SW fares are better there than out of Providence. ANYTHING is better than SW out of Boston! Have a great time with your DD.

Ive never flown out of providence so I can't say for sure but like most airports, fares out of CT can be pretty reasonable if timed right. Plus bradley is a much mellower airport, its not in a city so theres no traffic nearby to speak of, theres parking on and off site and its pretty much just walk-in and go. There is a line for security but its usually not too long and moves pretty steadily.

 

[babygirlamg]

printed out my boarding passes got in the A's so me and my daughter will def be sitting next to each other

 

[mousefan1972]

printed out my boarding passes got in the A's so me and my daughter will def be sitting next to each other

Glad it worked out for you. Have a great trip!

 

[tkitty]

I don't understand why airline don't all let you chose you seats at the time of purchase. Even tacking on the $10 or so to do it. To me that would save so much aggravation.
In the past, my DH would not even let me book flights that we could not chose our own seats. I now have the SW visa and will be using miles for our trip and plan on paying the extra $10 but still a bit worried as we will be traveling with our grandkids 5 and 11. Not sure if the 5 year old will give us an advantage when boarding.
I am also thinking that I want to find a nonstop flight so that there are less boardings to worry about. The flight dates are now available but there is only one nonstop and it is so late in the day. I hate to lose the whole first day!
I will have to commit to something soon. May go ahead and book the outgoing now and think about the return as the return nonstop, of course, leaves early!-
Anyone know if SW may release more flights for Oct? Of course who knows how much the fare will go up if I wait. AAaaahhhh!

 

[Mkrop]

I don't understand why airline don't all let you chose you seats at the time of purchase. Even tacking on the $10 or so to do it. To me that would save so much aggravation.
In the past, my DH would not even let me book flights that we could not chose our own seats. I now have the SW visa and will be using miles for our trip and plan on paying the extra $10 but still a bit worried as we will be traveling with our grandkids 5 and 11. Not sure if the 5 year old will give us an advantage when boarding.
I am also thinking that I want to find a nonstop flight so that there are less boardings to worry about. The flight dates are now available but there is only one nonstop and it is so late in the day. I hate to lose the whole first day!
I will have to commit to something soon. May go ahead and book the outgoing now and think about the return as the return nonstop, of course, leaves early!-
Anyone know if SW may release more flights for Oct? Of course who knows how much the fare will go up if I wait. AAaaahhhh!

I love the open seating I believe it is a cost issue for SW. And we have never had an issue finding seats if we use EBCI, even the one time we got B9. And we also were fine the one time we landed but did not get off the plane, and the other time we switched planes in Denver on our way to CA.

I do no think a 5 year old will give you any advantage. Mine youngest is 9 and we have not had any advantage with him when he was 5. I think it stopped when he was 3.

Also everytime we had tickets on another airline, there has always been an issue with seating. Granted it has been years since we have flown anyone else.

Get the EBCI, get to the airport at 2 hours before and you will be fine. Have fun.

 

[pooch]

I don't understand why people aren't a little more logical about this. If she wanted to sit with her husband, why didn't she offer her seat (not clear if she was in the window or aisle seat from your description) to the person next to her husband in the back? Aside from the fact that it takes a lot of nerve to ask someone to switch from a good seat to a bad seat even if they DIDN'T pay for the seat, it is a much better bargaining position.

I've asked plenty of times to have someone trade with me or a companion, but I always do so in a way that gives the other person an advantage (in general...there's no way to know if someone has some unusual preference). I've offered my exit row aisle seat to someone with a middle seat next to my boss so that I could work on the plane. I've given my Economy Plus seat to someone farther back in regular coach. Once when I had the exit row middle in a quite roomy Economy Plus configuration, my boss gave his first class seat to the woman sitting next to me in the exit aisle seat. She was tickled and we knocked out a chunk of work in 2 hours!

last year on Delta. Had to wait to get my seat assignment at the airport & got a decent seat in the 3rd row of a 2 seat side in coach. My seatmate then nicely asked if I would mind switching with her boyfriend in...... FIRST CLASS! Gee, let me think about that one for a while . I wondered if her BF really wanted to switch!!

And if I might add my 2 cents to this discussion, I am really disappointed at the general lack of sympathy here. Yes, we paid to be together, you should have known better, its my seat, yada, yada, yada. When and how do we teach our kids to be nice to each other? Did the woman who's husband gave up his paid for seat turn to her kids and point out how nice Daddy had been?

 

[tkitty]

I love the open seating I believe it is a cost issue for SW. And we have never had an issue finding seats if we use EBCI, even the one time we got B9. And we also were fine the one time we landed but did not get off the plane, and the other time we switched planes in Denver on our way to CA.

I do no think a 5 year old will give you any advantage. Mine youngest is 9 and we have not had any advantage with him when he was 5. I think it stopped when he was 3.

Also everytime we had tickets on another airline, there has always been an issue with seating. Granted it has been years since we have flown anyone else.

Get the EBCI, get to the airport at 2 hours before and you will be fine. Have fun.

Thank-you I will definitely purchase the EBCI for each of us.
I hope that counts if you have a plane change. Trying to get nonstop but don't want to arrive so late!

 

[Tara]

Thank-you I will definitely purchase the EBCI for each of us.
I hope that counts if you have a plane change. Trying to get nonstop but don't want to arrive so late!

It does count. In fact, it's helpful because you get checked in at the 36hr mark for both flights. Say your schedule is Phoenix to Dallas departing at 8am and Dallas to Orlando departing at 1pm. When you are checked in for your originating flight at 8am - 36hrs, you'll be checked in for both. People who are taking that flight from Dallas to Orlando at 1pm can't check in until 1pm - 24hrs or 1pm - 36hrs if they have EBCI. So you have more of a head start for the connection than people who are taking that as their originating flight.

 

[LisaS]

I don't understand why airline don't all let you choose you seats at the time of purchase.

I've read that their boarding process helps them turn planes around faster, which saves money. Passengers who don't have an assigned seat are more likely to be in the boarding area ready to go before boarding begins so they don't lose their place in line. We've flown SWA many times. We book soon after the schedule is released and purchase EBCI. So far we've gotten low A boarding positions and have our choice of seats when we board except for the first couple of rows which are taken by pre-boarders.

Anyone know if SW may release more flights for Oct?

I wouldn't count on them releasing more flights. I've never seen them do that on the routes we fly with them but maybe they do that on some of their busier routes.

 

[TheWog]

And if I might add my 2 cents to this discussion, I am really disappointed at the general lack of sympathy here. Yes, we paid to be together, you should have known better, its my seat, yada, yada, yada. When and how do we teach our kids to be nice to each other? Did the woman who's husband gave up his paid for seat turn to her kids and point out how nice Daddy had been?

There could be some circumstances that people don't want to do that. They took the time and spent the money to prepare for this ahead of time. If you are a family of 4 who are seated 2 and 2 with an open seat next to you, should it be assumed that you had the foresight to plan ahead so you could sit with your child that you should give that seat up because someone didn't do that and wasn't prepared for the possibility this would happen? If I were sitting next to my child with an empty seat I don't believe I would move, because now my child is going to be alone - well sitting with strangers. Is that fair and still causing disappointment? Some people are not good flyers and need their spouse or travelling companion next to them to endure the flight. They paid and planned and now they should be separated, because of this. While I get it and I don't want children separated from a parent, SW is not novelty and is very well known for how the boarding procedure is and can be overcome. In this instance mom took the steps to make sure she and her daughter are together. You can still be nice and considerate, but not indulge those who claimed to have not known what will happen so they can save a few dollars.