Southwest Air question

[crzy4mickey]

I would love to hear anyone's feedback on Southwest Air. They have a great price but i heard you can't always sit together. I will be traveling alone with my 2 children and would not want to be seperated as they are only 5 and 9. Would they do that to us??

 

[MaMudduck]

I love SW- the staff is really friendly.

Because they give you lettered boarding pass, if you get to the checkin early enough you should get an A pass. then you'll get seats together. I think they are very flexible with families with small children going first anyways. I don't think you'll have any problems, just speak to someone at the counter if you get "c" boarding passes.

Worst case, I'm sure someone will give up ther seats so the three of you can sit together.

 

[MO Disney cruiser]

I fly SW often. They do not have assigned seating. You are boarded by group. A B C. The key for you and your children to be seated together is to get an A boarding pass. There are 2 ways to have a better chance to get an A boarding pass.

1) Get to the airport real early. Your assigned A B or C based on when you check in. The first people to check in get As.

2) If each member of your party gets a separate confirmation number, you can go on line at 12:01 am the day of your departure and print your boarding pass. We did that this past May and it worked just fine. All 5 of us had A boarding passes.

If by chance to get a B, just make sure you are in the front of the B line. You should still get 3 seats in the rear of the plane together.

Southwest will ask if any passengers will change seats if there are not 3 together. They will not force anyone to do this.

If it's a real savings, definitely fly Southwest. I find it to be a pretty good airline.

Hope this helps.

 

[Svenson]

Can you get your boarding pass online even if you have luggage to check? I thought that was just for those flying without checked baggage...

 

[LeftCoaster]

Originally posted by Svenson
Can you get your boarding pass online even if you have luggage to check? I thought that was just for those flying without checked baggage...

Yes, you can get your boarding pass online even if you have checked luggage... I think you're thinking of getting the "security document" that gets you through security checkpoint. And honestly, ever since Southwest started online check in, I haven't even noticed if they still have that security document or not.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by MaMudduck
I love SW- the staff is really friendly.

Because they give you lettered boarding pass, if you get to the checkin early enough you should get an A pass. then you'll get seats together. I think they are very flexible with families with small children going first anyways. I don't think you'll have any problems, just speak to someone at the counter if you get "c" boarding passes.

Worst case, I'm sure someone will give up ther seats so the three of you can sit together.

They can only be so flex. with families. They allow preboarding for children under 5. They cannot make anyone move to accomodate families with children 5 and over. They will try their best, heck, they will even bribe them with free drinks. But, short of that, you need to get there early and get an a or b pass.

 

[Svenson]

Yes, you can get your boarding pass online even if you have checked luggage... I think you're thinking of getting the "security document" that gets you through security checkpoint. And honestly, ever since Southwest started online check in, I haven't even noticed if they still have that security document or not.

Thank you, Leftcoaster! Now I understand why lately we've been getting in the C group even when arriving nearly two hours before a flight. Everyone must be getting their boarding passes online now, so the entire A group and probably most of the B group is filled the morning of the flight!

I'm "onlining-it" from now on!
Thanks!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by LeftCoaster
Yes, you can get your boarding pass online even if you have checked luggage... I think you're thinking of getting the "security document" that gets you through security checkpoint. And honestly, ever since Southwest started online check in, I haven't even noticed if they still have that security document or not.

Yes, they still have that security document.

 

[LeftCoaster]

Originally posted by Svenson
Thank you, Leftcoaster! Now I understand why lately we've been getting in the C group even when arriving nearly two hours before a flight. Everyone must be getting their boarding passes online now, so the entire A group and probably most of the B group is filled the morning of the flight!

I'm "onlining-it" from now on!
Thanks!

I'm totally guessing at this but, it possibly also depends on what time of day your flight is. I had a flight where I was returning from San Jose and it was an early flight.... I believe around 8 - 8:30 am. BTW, I hate that airport with a passion. Anyway, I got up at around 5-5:30 am and did the online check in. I was still one of the first people to check in. So, maybe with early am flights and late afteroon flights, you can just do it first thing in the am.