Southwest Air boarding Passes

[Anna114]

Here is my sad tale...my husband was suppose to wake me at 7:00am (I work until mid so it was his job to wake me up) so that I could get the boarding passes at 7:10. Needless to say his alarm did NOT go off for the first time in months. My son's usually need to be woken for school and wake us up, nope! Quite at church mice. So now my boarding passes are B19-21. Can anybody give me a clue, with the new boarding procedure, do we stand a decent chance of all 3 of us sitting together. Any insight would be greatly appreciated, I'm so bummed right now.

 

[lilyv]

Here is my sad tale...my husband was suppose to wake me at 7:00am (I work until mid so it was his job to wake me up) so that I could get the boarding passes at 7:10. Needless to say his alarm did NOT go off for the first time in months. My son's usually need to be woken for school and wake us up, nope! Quite at church mice. So now my boarding passes are B19-21. Can anybody give me a clue, with the new boarding procedure, do we stand a decent chance of all 3 of us sitting together. Any insight would be greatly appreciated, I'm so bummed right now.

I'm guessing this post will probably be magically transported to the Transportation board, but in the meantime....Please don't let a boarding pass number be a reason to be bummed. You have B passes, that's better than C. Odds are you'll find 3 seats together. Keep in mind if you're in the same row, that's nice, too-even if you're across the aisle from each other. Work first to make sure at least one adult is with the child. Passengers and crew are reasonable folks-especially if you're kind and easygoing. They don't want a child to sit alone. In general, other passengers are much more likely to consider a trade if you ask really nicely, should that situation present itself.
Plan for a great trip-you guys are going to Disney!!!

 

[Claymax]

Here is my sad tale...my husband was suppose to wake me at 7:00am (I work until mid so it was his job to wake me up) so that I could get the boarding passes at 7:10. Needless to say his alarm did NOT go off for the first time in months. My son's usually need to be woken for school and wake us up, nope! Quite at church mice. So now my boarding passes are B19-21. Can anybody give me a clue, with the new boarding procedure, do we stand a decent chance of all 3 of us sitting together. Any insight would be greatly appreciated, I'm so bummed right now.

Hi Anna. Don't despair, you should all be able to find a place together. Southwest changed their boarding procedures from a cattle call to a refined rush.

Now, when they're a few minutes from boarding, they'll ask Group A to come to the gate. Group A people will then stand in their assigned area according to their boarding pass number. For example, 1-9, 10-19, 20-29 etc. Then once the gates are opened, everyone will file in.

What this does is erradicate the huge funnel of people jostling to get in the front of their group. Everyone now has a place to stand and there is no need to stand there until they call you up. It's a lot better system than their old one.

Your group will board together and the plane may be up to half full. There still should be places for you all to sit together.

Here's a link to their website which explains how it works.

http://www.southwest.com/help/boardingschool/


Enjoy your trip!

 

[mdguy429]

I experienced the new boarding procedures over Thanksgiving. It is wonderful!!! No more camping out to get the best position! Beware though, there are people who will try to get ahead of where they should be in number order. On my flight Sunday, I was B45, and there were plenty of completely empty rows.

 

[Claymax]

I experienced the new boarding procedures over Thanksgiving. It is wonderful!!! No more camping out to get the best position! Beware though, there are people who will try to get ahead of where they should be in number order. On my flight Sunday, I was B45, and there were plenty of completely empty rows.

Hopefully the gate agents are catching these folks and asking them to wait.

They were pretty good in the past at refusing B's and C's in during A boarding etc etc.

 

[Anna114]

Well thank you all for making me feel better. As long as one of us can sit with my son all is good. It seems like there should be enough empty rows so we should get 1. Thanks to you, again.

 

[Booyakasha]

Also if your son is young, Southwest Flight Attendants and most passengers on a flight to Orlando will be very accomodating to change seats in order for you all to sit together.

You have nothing to worry about.

B.

 

[TinkAsh2001]

I have a question I ordered our flights online for southwest for our trip in march and I guess I got the paperless ticket so I just have the confirmations numbers...Do I get the boarding pass at the airport when I leave with the letters? because I am clueless never done this before!

 

[lighttech]

I wouldn't worry too much. We just got back from a trip, and it wasn't until the very end on our VERY full flight that we noticed anyone having trouble finding seats together. So, you've got about 1/2 the B group and all of the C's boarding behind you.

Also, depending on the age of your son, Southwest currently boards families with children between the A and B group, so, if he's young enough, you'll be boarding right after the A group anyway.

Have a great trip!

 

[lighttech]

I have a question I ordered our flights online for southwest for our trip in march and I guess I got the paperless ticket so I just have the confirmations numbers...Do I get the boarding pass at the airport when I leave with the letters? because I am clueless never done this before!

Go onto Southwest.com. They explain the boarding pass procedure very well.

But, generally, you have two options, you can either check in online, or at the airport. I HIGHLY recommend the first. You can go to southwest.com 24 hours before your flight leaves. You click on Online CheckIn and type in your confirmation number and name. The website will take you through the steps and will give you printable boarding passes. Just print them out on your printer at home and take them to the airport.

Southwest boards its passengers in groups and by number as dictated on your boarding pass. They do not assign seats. (So, if your boarding pass says B-27, you will be the 27th person in the second group to get on the plane.) Obviously, the earlier you get on, the better chance you have of getting the seat you want if you happen to have a preference.

If you really feel you MUST be among the first on the plane, get online exactly 24 hours before your flight and check in. If its not so important to you, relax and hop online whenever you feel like it.

Hope this helps.

 

[Claymax]

Go onto Southwest.com. They explain the boarding pass procedure very well.

But, generally, you have two options, you can either check in online, or at the airport. I HIGHLY recommend the first. You can go to southwest.com 24 hours before your flight leaves. You click on Online CheckIn and type in your confirmation number and name. The website will take you through the steps and will give you printable boarding passes. Just print them out on your printer at home and take them to the airport.

Southwest boards its passengers in groups and by number as dictated on your boarding pass. They do not assign seats. (So, if your boarding pass says B-27, you will be the 27th person in the second group to get on the plane.) Obviously, the earlier you get on, the better chance you have of getting the seat you want if you happen to have a preference.

If you really feel you MUST be among the first on the plane, get online exactly 24 hours before your flight and check in. If its not so important to you, relax and hop online whenever you feel like it.

Hope this helps.

That's right.

Concerning the entering your name part, they want exactly what was registered. If it's not the same you get a 'not found' message, not a 'try again' and that can be disconcerting. (Was to me!)

Same my name is Joe B Block. I entered my confirmation number, then in the name box I entered Block. Not found. Joe Block. Not found. Joe A Block. Bingo. Usually validation programs just want your last name. No real big deal except they don't prompt you to try it again, just 'not found'. Can be scary until you get it right.

 

[byoung]

Will be trying the new boarding sunday morning.

 

[Claymax]

Just got mine for tomorrow morning.

Just an FYI here. I got mine exactly at 6:30, 24 hrs from the first flight's departure time.

I got A34 for the first one and A18 for the second leg. What you need to remember is that Southwest allows you to book all legs of your flight as soon as the first leg is 24 hours away*. So people already on the plane whose first leg departed before your first leg have already had the right to get a pass. That's how 33 people got a pass before I did at exactly 6:30.

What this tells me is how important it is to do it at the 24 hour mark if you're concerned about choosing your seat.

Another thing to put on the must do list, just like ADR's!

*=Not sure about them allowing you to book ALL legs of your trip at 24 hour mark but I was able to book my connecting flight.

 

[SLDL]

So what is your plan for printing boarding passes for return flight? Will they do this at the resort for us or are we just out of luck?

 

[loinsley]

We too just flew SouthWest - on time departure and 20 minutes EARLY on arrival! As far as getting boarding passes for return home flights, my in-laws went to Guest Services in the Magic Kingdom 24 hours before their departure and guest services printed out boarding passes for them, we left a few days later and went 24 hours in advance to our concierge desk and they were more than happy to print them for us! Just make sure you have your reservation # with you when you are in the parks etc....you need that number to get passes printed! (Just thought I'd throw that in, inlaws almost left their flight info in their room before heading to park.....)

 

[SLDL]

Thanks for that info! We will be at Epcot the day before departure. Do you think they could do it there as well?

 

[DisneyWalkerGirl]

So what is your plan for printing boarding passes for return flight? Will they do this at the resort for us or are we just out of luck?

I do the 24 hours in advance for my return flight from my Blackberry, so a printer is not an option. I am the one checking in for my flight while waiting to ride Peter Pan

I love my "A" boarding, so I am obsessive about this. Once you are checked in, you have your spot period. When I get to the airport and check my luggage, I ask the folks at the desk to print my boarding pass. No biggie, it is actually a "re-print" since I was already checked in, so I still have the same boarding number

I've never tried at the resort, but have heard it is very common.