Southwest/Air Tran many confirmation #s

[cjnix29]

We booked an Airtran flight on SW's site with our southwest rapid rewards. I have 5 different confirmation numbers. How on earth do I assure I get at least two seats together when checking in at 24 hours?!? I didn't realize that even when I booked the flights down all at the same time that they would give me three different numbers! We don't all have to sit together, but I would prefer if my 10 year old was with one of us!

 

[4under4]

They will find a way to make sure minors are sitting with an adult from their party, even if the gate agents &/or flight attendants need to make last minute changes. I wouldn't worry too much, just talk to the gate agents if the online booking doesn't result in side-by-side seats.

 

[Lewisc]

They will find a way to make sure minors are sitting with an adult from their party, even if the gate agents &/or flight attendants need to make last minute changes. I wouldn't worry too much, just talk to the gate agents if the online booking doesn't result in side-by-side seats.

Absolutely not. Maybe for a young child. A minor is under 21. OP has a 10 year old. Old enough to sit by himself. FA won't move passengers.

 

[cjnix29]

But what I really don't understand is why I have so many confirmation numbers when I booked them all at the same time. Why did each of us get a separate one?

 

[4under4]

Just the way they do business, mine are the same. 5 fliers, 5 numbers.

 

[brettb]

But what I really don't understand is why I have so many confirmation numbers when I booked them all at the same time. Why did each of us get a separate one?

I think that happens when you book with points rather than cash.

I thought I saw some posts where people said they had called Southwest to have these separate reservations associated with each other. If you try that, please report back.

I booked my flight with my wife's points but I used my points to book the tickets for her and my daughter. I had to change our flights and, if I recall correctly, when I changed one of theirs, the system alerted me that there was another flight associated even though they were separate reservations numbers. And I did have to change each of them individually. (My flight was not associated.)

 

[stitchlovestink]

Absolutely not. Maybe for a young child. A minor is under 21. OP has a 10 year old. Old enough to sit by himself. FA won't move passengers.

A minor is someone under the age of 18. Once you are 18, you are no longer a minor by law. Now you don't reach the age of majority (for purchasing alcohol) until 21 but that is different than being a minor. Age of majority and being a minor are not the same.

 

[Lewisc]

A minor is someone under the age of 18. Once you are 18, you are no longer a minor by law. Now you don't reach the age of majority (for purchasing alcohol) until 21 but that is different than being a minor. Age of majority and being a minor are not the same.

Some places define a minor as someone who hasn't reached the age of majority.
Regardless, a FA wont move passengers so a 17 year old.
can sit next to a parent

 

[LynnTH]

I was just going to ask this same question. We leave tomorrow. Checked in online and all 4 of us are in different rows. Hopefully, they can switch seats at the airport. Kids are 14 and 12 so could sit by themselves but would rather sit with family then with strangers. Will let you know how it works out.

 

[Lewisc]

I was just going to ask this same question. We leave tomorrow. Checked in online and all 4 of us are in different rows. Hopefully, they can switch seats at the airport. Kids are 14 and 12 so could sit by themselves but would rather sit with family then with strangers. Will let you know how it works out.

Depends on what seats you have. Do you have 4 middle seats? Good luck trading a middle seat for a window or an aisle.

 

[LynnTH]

Depends on what seats you have. Do you have 4 middle seats? Good luck trading a middle seat for a window or an aisle.

Looks like we have 4 aisle seats. I just looked on Airtrans website and the had about 4-6 rows of seats not assigned yet. There are still tickets for sale so hopefully the flight will not be sold out.

 

[stitchlovestink]

Some places define a minor as someone who hasn't reached the age of majority.
Regardless, a FA wont move passengers so a 17 year old.
can sit next to a parent

Well 'some places' can TRY to say what 'they' want but the LAW says you are no longer a minor once you turn 18. Age of majority is a totally different issue from being a minor...just clarifying.

 

[leebee]

Has anyone tried opening multiple windows, one for each reservation number, then hitting "check in" (or whatever the toggle button says) in rapid succession, boom-boom-boom-boom-boom?

 

[TJA]

Has anyone tried opening multiple windows, one for each reservation number, then hitting "check in" (or whatever the toggle button says) in rapid succession, boom-boom-boom-boom-boom?

Oooh awesome idea - I will have to try that next time, which will be at the end of June. Would love to hear if anyone has tried it and how well it worked. We are flying SW, so it's not critical but it's still a nuisance when we get split up at the end of A and beginning of B.

 

[hsmamato2]

We always have multiple numbers..... I check us all in in order of importance 1st me, then ds2 so we are close in boarding, then ds1,then dh who actually enjoys sitting separate,more quiet for him LOL this way at least the 1st 2 checkins are within steps of each other

 

[bjscheel]

Has anyone tried opening multiple windows, one for each reservation number, then hitting "check in" (or whatever the toggle button says) in rapid succession, boom-boom-boom-boom-boom?

This is my plan for tomorrow, which I just posted about a little bit ago. Hope it works- and hope I don't get interrupted as I will be at work too.

My plan is to check in me, then DD11, then DD14, then DH I guess. Then I will stand with DD11 at whatever spot she gets, and DD14 will stand with DH at the spot he gets so each kid is boarding with a parent. If for some reason there are not 2 spots together, the kids are big enough to manage. But I suspect we'll be fine as I'll be at the ready 24 hours ahead- I hope!

 

[tigerkitty]

I posted this in my separate thread about checking in with multiple confirmation numbers, but I'll post it here too since we were talking about it. I had 4 tabs open and pre-loaded with info. But I got in too much of a hurry. I clicked check-in on each tab right away. BUT the second screen also has a check-in button. You need to click check-in twice for the first tab BEFORE you move to the next tab. If you don't, the end result is the first person who you click the second time for is the only one who gets checked in- and their boarding pass shows up on all 4 tabs. I had to retype the info for the rest of us.

Oops- this is bjscheel from the post above- logged into the wrong ID!

 

[cjnix29]

Ok, a related question.....I realized that this will only be problematic on our way home. Our flight down I have DS and myself on one reservation. So...how do I do this at WDW with all the numbers for our flight out??? And...when I made the ME reservation, I gave them the both the SW flight number and the AirTran number since it is an airtran flight booked thru SW. I dont' want to pay baggage fees. On my ME info, it says the airtran flight. Not sure how to manage all of this for our return flight. Any suggestions?

 

[shyjade]

Ok, a related question.....I realized that this will only be problematic on our way home. Our flight down I have DS and myself on one reservation. So...how do I do this at WDW with all the numbers for our flight out??? And...when I made the ME reservation, I gave them the both the SW flight number and the AirTran number since it is an airtran flight booked thru SW. I dont' want to pay baggage fees. On my ME info, it says the airtran flight. Not sure how to manage all of this for our return flight. Any suggestions?

I gave them the AirTran number for my SW booked flight. I never thought about whether or not that will flag RC to try and charge me for my luggage. I do have my SW confirmation number, so hopefully that won't be an issue?

And I, too, wonder about checking in from the resort 24 hours in advance. I plan on checking in from my phone while we're at MNSSHP the night before. Maybe I should have DD15 load the info for her flight in her phone so we can both try checking in at the same time?

I know DD15 is plenty old enough to fly in a seat away from me, but hoping we can fly together since it's just the two of us. But no matter what happens, we've discussed it and both agreed it's worth both of us being able to check a bag and risk sitting alone on a 2-1/2 hour flight than pay the baggage fees.

 

[shyjade]

I just checked my SW receipt (for AT operated flight) and there is only ONE confirmation number. Does that increase the chance of our seats being assigned next to each other?