Southwest adds charge to board sooner

[Hannathy]

I do hope you never have the misfortune of being seated next to my hyperactive 7 year old. He would be all over his seat AND yours, and talking to me in whatever row I was in even if he had to yell the length of the plane to do so. Good luck with ignoring HIM!

I would likely pay the extra fee to guarentee that my youngest kids and I sit together. However, those of you being snotty about not accomodating parents with kids need to realize that YOU might wind up sitting next to one of those unsupervised kids. Juice spills, potty accidents, air sickness, loud DS games and lots of restlessness. Stick your principals of "not moving because you paid", and let me know how that works out for you.

Not to get in p****ng match with you but i would be calling the FA if a 7 yr old behaved so badly, there is no excuse for that and yes I have children that have flown extensively and if any of them did this they would be dead and they knew it! Potty accidents with a 7 yr old yeah right. The DS would be turned to silent or off. And guess what your child would probably behave much better without you they usually do.

I am just curious why you can threaten people who just want to sit and mind their own business with threats of your ill behaved children but we are considered the rude ones? Why don't you have to accommodate others as much as you want accommodated? Entitlement much?

 

[kpgriswold]

Please see the post above. I DO accommodate others, frequently. And I do NOT feel entitled to get help. I only hope for the same type of kindness that I often extend to others.

What I DO object to here is the tone of the few folks who seem to be saying that I am S.O.L if I happen to get seated apart from my special needs child or my toddler. Common human decency would seem to dictate that someone with no special issues assist someone who has them by simply changing seats. Yet there is alot of venom being spewed by those who appear to think that they should never be asked to do so.

BTW, three of my four four children behave beautifully when they travel. The other is severely ADHD, on meds, acts out and yes, does sometimes wet himself because his brain has faulty wiring. All I am saying is woe unto you if you refuse to change seats with me, and then wind up with him next to you....

 

[Moomduck1]

All I am saying is woe unto you if you refuse to change seats with me, and then wind up with him next to you....

I don't think there is any reason to be so nasty.

 

[Moomduck1]

SOME people who are posting here seem to be so proud of the fact that their children are bratty and loud. I would be absolutely mortified if my children acted the way some of you are describing. They were very well-behaved as children (still are as young adults).

If I had a special needs child who was older and I needed to sit by him/her, you can bet that I would pay the extra fee to ensure his/her comfort, as well as the other passengers' comfort, and my peace of mind. Or, I would skip SW and fly an airline that would assign us seats together.

For all of you that are laughing about strangers getting stuck next to your children, I think you should be ashamed of yourselves.

The bottom line is that NO ONE has more rights than anyone else. If people are willing to move, fine, but maybe they have a reason that they aren't moving. And it doesn't have to be a reason that anyone else "approves" of either.

I have ended up sitting next to nice people, quiet people, and even one guy who smelled like he hadn't bathed in a week. There's no guarantee of who you will sit next to. It's a risk you take when you use any public transportation.

Which also reminds me.....when you get on a Disney bus, you take whatever seat you can get. The bus driver doesn't ask people to move to allow families to sit together. And that transportation is free. Why should people who PAID for their plane ticket be expected to move?

 

[henry72]

I haven't read all the posts but I think you people are crazy. I don't plan to pay the add'l fee. I would be willing to move where I am sitting so a family with young children or someone with a disablility could sit next to their caretaker. I expect that on the flight, there will be someone who is nice and has the manners to realize that my 1-year-old (who I am paying for her own seat) will need her mother next to her. If not, I guess the flight won't be taking off as I am not letting her sit by herself. I also figure the flight attendants will help me out to meet my needs. My needs are equal (not greater than) all those on the plane.

 

[johnGorski]

We will be flying out of sun country airlines "local MN charter plan" and they are charging a 8 dollar convince fee for selecting you own seats. I have always liked that airline! but this is kind of ridiculous. They had the same fare as Delta but we picked sun country because of it service and always have been on time but at the end of our booking it asked if we would like to choose seats we said yes and then it said there is a connivance fee of 8 dollars per person. Wow what a way to anger a person, with on top of the baggage fee. Personally I would like to see them rolled into the ticket price, to me fees seem like a method of pick pocketing. I did read south west is doing the something. I travel for biz by myself as this would not bother me but with a family?

 

[yitbos96bb]

The policy sucks... it saddens me that Southwest as started heading this way... guess the baggage fees are next. Fun. I give them my business because the don't have those stupid fees and taking one bag for a long WDW trip is very difficult.


That being said, I'll probably end up paying it. I wantt o be able to get my 7 month old off the plane as soon as possible, so $20 it will be to get off in Orlando quicker... don't care as much for the ride home since I have to wait for Baggage anyway.

 

[Moomduck1]

I expect that on the flight, there will be someone who is nice and has the manners to realize that my 1-year-old (who I am paying for her own seat) will need her mother next to her.

You would pre-board after the A group with a one-year old. You won't need to have to ask people to move, as you will have plenty of seat options. The problem is with people who have older children that feel that they will throw a fit until people move for them so that they can sit together. It is those people who are causing the problems. Not people with a one-year old.

And people with disabilities board first. So there shouldn't be any issues there either.

 

[yitbos96bb]

I haven't read all the posts but I think you people are crazy. I don't plan to pay the add'l fee. I would be willing to move where I am sitting so a family with young children or someone with a disablility could sit next to their caretaker. I expect that on the flight, there will be someone who is nice and has the manners to realize that my 1-year-old (who I am paying for her own seat) will need her mother next to her. If not, I guess the flight won't be taking off as I am not letting her sit by herself. I also figure the flight attendants will help me out to meet my needs. My needs are equal (not greater than) all those on the plane.

I gotta be honest, and I know this makes me sound like a jerk, but I'm not sure I could give up my seat and be forced to move to a middle seat or Window. I'm broad shouldered as it is and being cramped in there really makes the whole flight uncomfortable. I guess I'd have to see the situation.... Of course flying with my wife and 7 month old, I'll pay the extra money at least going there and will be checking in at the 24 hour mark to get as high a seat as possible.

 

[Moomduck1]

I gotta be honest, and I know this makes me sound like a jerk, but I'm not sure I could give up my seat and be forced to move to a middle seat or Window. I'm broad shouldered as it is and being cramped in there really makes the whole flight uncomfortable. I guess I'd have to see the situation.... Of course flying with my wife and 7 month old, I'll pay the extra money at least going there and will be checking in at the 24 hour mark to get as high a seat as possible.

Please don't feel like a jerk. You have just as much a right as anyone else to be comfortable on a plane trip. You paid for your ticket. Your wife would want you to sit with her and the baby. You will more than likely take turns with the baby. You should not feel like a jerk for wanting to be comfortable.

Honestly, people who are that worked up about sitting together should fly an airline that assigns seats. I like SW because it doesn't and it's cheaper.

 

[PlutoPony]

I expect that on the flight, there will be someone who is nice and has the manners to realize that my 1-year-old (who I am paying for her own seat) will need her mother next to her. If not, I guess the flight won't be taking off as I am not letting her sit by herself. I also figure the flight attendants will help me out to meet my needs. My needs are equal (not greater than) all those on the plane.

If it's THAT IMPORTANT for you to sit next to someone (in this case your 1 yo)
a) why aren't you paying the EB to improve your chances of sitting together or
b) why are you flying SW?

I really really don't get it

 

[crashbb]

I gotta be honest, and I know this makes me sound like a jerk, but I'm not sure I could give up my seat and be forced to move to a middle seat or Window. I'm broad shouldered as it is and being cramped in there really makes the whole flight uncomfortable. I guess I'd have to see the situation.... Of course flying with my wife and 7 month old, I'll pay the extra money at least going there and will be checking in at the 24 hour mark to get as high a seat as possible.

In your case, I probably wouldn't pay the fee to be honest. With your daughter you get to board between group A and group B. Given that the EB system doesn't guarantee that you'll board any earlier than this, I'm not sure that the money is worth it.

NOTE - this assumes that either you paid for your child's seat or that lap children qualify for family boarding. And, it assumes that changes are not made such that families board after all EBs.

 

[LWatson]

I called Southwest and they said that for families of kids that do family boarding (4 &Under) its not worth it to buy the $10 EB. The $10 doesn't guarantee you an A, so you could pay that $10 and get a B and have wasted it because if you have a kid under 4 you board between A&B still. The max number of people that would board b4 you would be 60 + disabled/unaccompanied minors. Not enough people that wouldnt guarantee you a window seat for a car seat or at least 2 seats together. That is what they explained to me.

 

[henry72]

If it's THAT IMPORTANT for you to sit next to someone (in this case your 1 yo)
a) why aren't you paying the EB to improve your chances of sitting together or
b) why are you flying SW?

I really really don't get it

Well for one I bought my non-refundable tickets before they announced this plan. And why should I pay more when I can board between the A and B groups for no extra charge? And make no doubt - we will be sitting together either way.

 

[henry72]

I called Southwest and they said that for families of kids that do family boarding (4 &Under) its not worth it to buy the $10 EB. The $10 doesn't guarantee you an A, so you could pay that $10 and get a B and have wasted it because if you have a kid under 4 you board between A&B still. The max number of people that would board b4 you would be 60 + disabled/unaccompanied minors. Not enough people that wouldnt guarantee you a window seat for a car seat or at least 2 seats together. That is what they explained to me.

Good to know! I wasn't worried about it anyway but it is nice to hear that from Southwest.

 

[pyrxtc]

SW offers a fare class called business select. Those passengers get the first 15 A BPs automatically. People who need an (almost) guarantee are free to purchase those tickets. The issue is none of us want to pay for the service we demand. Many adults are nervous fliers. We've seen some recent threads on the transportation board. Couples have just as much right to sit together as a parent with a 12 year old child.

Posters are grasping at straws. A stranger will assist your child with an oxygen mask, even if your child was as badly behaved as posters threaten.

I think JetBlue is probably a better option for many people. Directv. One free checked bag. Assigned seats.

You can guarantee that if SW keeps this fee, I WILL be flying Jetblue out of Boston in the future. I get to know what seat I am in when I book and have no problems wiht getting there.

On SW,I just hope I get to pick a seat that is close to the bathrooms and nobody is irked when I make my 7th trip to the bathroom in 3 hrs or get sick in my airbag next to them if they don't/can't move fast enough.

 

[caligirl stuck in va]

To be fair, I think that most of us are just tired of being bullied and threatened (which does happen regularly here and in real life) because some people feel that they don't want to pay for a seat but the fact that they have children trumps every other situation.

Just imagine how uncomfortable a situation it would make for someone like honugirl - she has a definite and definable need, chooses the seat which meets her need, but someone assumes by her appearance that she can (and should) move. It happens all the time. She shouldn't have to explain herself or her needs, and nor should anyone else. (Sorry to single you out honugirl, but it really irks me to see people make assumptions or think that their need trumps someone else's needs. You have a need, and hopefully you won't ever find yourself in such a situation when you fly)

There are tactics which one can use to ask passengers to move to another seat, including what others have listed. Threatening and bullying won't work as effectively as asking or offering some form of incentive, be it a better seat, a beverage, or just a polite request.

But I agree - there is no law requiring airlines in America to force passengers to move to seat families together. The best option is to be proactive and pay the seat selection fee, or early boarding fee. If you don't want to do that, assume that there is a risk that you won't have seats together, and prepare a strategy to request assistance from others.

Happy flying!

WOW what is wrong with you?

 

[Hannathy]

Well for one I bought my non-refundable tickets before they announced this plan. And why should I pay more when I can board between the A and B groups for no extra charge? And make no doubt - we will be sitting together either way.

I just love the threats being thrown around!!! Yeah if either way means in the security office in the terminal if you don't sit down and keep making a fuss and they escort you off the plane. Being together isn't guaranteed on ANY airline.

 

[Hannathy]

I called Southwest and they said that for families of kids that do family boarding (4 &Under) its not worth it to buy the $10 EB. The $10 doesn't guarantee you an A, so you could pay that $10 and get a B and have wasted it because if you have a kid under 4 you board between A&B still. The max number of people that would board b4 you would be 60 + disabled/unaccompanied minors. Not enough people that wouldnt guarantee you a window seat for a car seat or at least 2 seats together. That is what they explained to me.

I haven't seen it writing yet from Southwest that the number of "A's" as they call them are going to stay the same. Until then if I had to guess they will add A's to match the demand then families-getting very strict again, thank goodness, then non EB's It wouldn't make sense to pass up the money by limiting the number of A's to as few as they have now if they have done this to make money.

 

[caligirl stuck in va]

If it's THAT IMPORTANT for you to sit next to someone (in this case your 1 yo)
a) why aren't you paying the EB to improve your chances of sitting together or
b) why are you flying SW?

I really really don't get it

WOW people are amazing! So, someone's WISH to sit next to the window or next to the aisle is MORE important than a parent sitting next to a 1 year old?!? And if the parent ISN'T able to sit next to the 1 year old because nobody will move because they are all so much more important, just who is going to be responsible for the 1 year old for the flight?? Why should someone with children pay more? Honestly, the question/issue here is that the airlines found ONE more way to impose an additional fee (optional fee, yes, but this is EXACTLY the kind of problem it causes). I can tell you all that I wouldn't let my EIGHT year old sit by herself on the plane, let alone my 5 year old. For one, it is simply not fair to the child (MY kids would not be comfortable with it, for sure). For two, the children would be subject to sitting next to GOD knows who, yes, freaks and druggies and molesters and such ride airplanes, too. And if you think that something "would never happen" on a plane, just ask all those people who have joined the mile high club on a packed plane.

No, people with families and children should not get more than they deserve. (I don't even understand where this anymosity toward children is coming from, it's utterly ridiculous - people with families are bullying and threatening??????) HOWEVER, parents sitting WITH their children I can hardly call more than they deserve.