Southwest Airlines to SNA?

[STLstone]

I fly SWA all the time, but without having assigned seats, I would never book a trip with a plane change if I'm travelling with kids. Never.

 

[bcla]

I fly SWA all the time, but without having assigned seats, I would never book a trip with a plane change if I'm travelling with kids. Never.

I've never heard of Southwest flight attendants being anything but helpful in cases with children and parents. A connecting flight is just another boarding procedure, and families with small children get priority after the A group boards. In any case, you'll still need a boarding pass and can still get a good spot if you check in early enough.

On top of that, if that doesn't work, the flight attendants will work to keep families together, even if it means offering free alcoholic beverages or even shuffling around passengers against their will. That happens on almost any airline, as the flight attendants don't enjoy dealing with passengers complaining that a kid won't sit still without a parent.

 

[bumbershoot]

The cancelled flight was the most disconcerting because they kept telling us it would be going and then, an hour after flight time, they told us it was cancelled - we had a plane but no crew.

Of course that could happen on any airline.

Luckily, we were flying business select so they automatically pushed us to the next flight, but others had a harder time.

All should have been accommodated. There might just not have been room. But even on other airlines, if a flight is cancelled like that they put you on another flight. (I do recommend being on the phone to customer service, being online on the website, and being in line there at the desk, all at the same time, to increase your chances of being on a flight that's sooner rather than later LOL).

I think the not having a specific seat assignment is messing with my head but I sure like the price!

Especially with all grownups it's really not bad. If you really want to sit together, do earlybird.

I started going wiht SW after having my chosen seat changed on me by the time I got my boarding pass. (in the dark ages LOL before online checkin) I decided I would rather *literally* choose my seat as I boarded the plane.

I fly SWA all the time, but without having assigned seats, I would never book a trip with a plane change if I'm travelling with kids. Never.

Never? Not even with an older child?

If you flew another airline and there was an equipment change that you didn't catch and you got to the airport and there were NO seats available next to each other, what would you do? I'll tell you what we did on United...we dealt with it. My son sat 2 rows behind me and had the BEST time. He got two grandma-type ladies next to him and after that flight he said he always wanted to sit separately. It was neat.

even shuffling around passengers against their will.

I really REALLY doubt that that is a common thing. If they ever ran into my brother and his wife they would not get them to move. SIL doesn't drink and is traveling on business so a refund doesn't matter to her. My brother sits down and puts on his headphones and ignores the world. They paid their fare, they chose their seats; they are done. And honestly I'm not sure I would move, either.

Those things are the responsibility of the parent, not of other people, and not of the FAs.

 

[DisneylandDarling]

Southwest all the way. The first time we flew with them, we hated being in the corrals and didn't realize how the system worked so were placed all the way in the C category. Now that we know how to work the system, we like it better than Frontier (the airline we were pretty loyal to over the years). We miss the animals on the plane of Frontier (probably because when we were headed to California, we would always get "Mickey Moose"!).

We normally stay at least 5 days, so with everything that we pack, it's nice to get 2 free suitcases each. I would rather take 5 suitcases weighing 20 pounds each than to try and stuff everything into 2 suitcases weighing nearly 50 pounds each and stress about them being overweight and getting charged an extra fee. I hate taking carry-on suitcases, so it's nice to fit everything in the checked luggage and just take a purse and jacket with me.

 

[bcla]

I really REALLY doubt that that is a common thing. If they ever ran into my brother and his wife they would not get them to move. SIL doesn't drink and is traveling on business so a refund doesn't matter to her. My brother sits down and puts on his headphones and ignores the world. They paid their fare, they chose their seats; they are done. And honestly I'm not sure I would move, either.

Never said it was common, but it's certainly an option if all voluntary efforts fail. There are probably more freebies beyond alcohol. On top of that, I've seen quite a few people voluntarily do that when they see the alternative is a potentially restless four year old in the next seat without a parent. Or that a parent may be leaning over said passenger for much of the flight to handle the child.

Orders from a flight crew are to be followed. If they order people to move and it's refused, they can take it to the pilot and have such passengers removed from a flight. When that happens, it's standard operating procedure for police to enter the plane and escort the passengers off. Then they'll rebook. Southwest has done it before.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/loca...t-Airlines-Flight-From-Chicago-351450641.html

 

[Disney Lvr of Old]

I'm flying SW with my 8yo DS in August. I haven't flown SW in years. I paid for the early bird; we have a connecting flight. Will we be in the same group as the first leg of the trip? It hadn't occurred to me until I read PP's posts.

 

[ParkHopper1]

I'm flying SW with my 8yo DS in August. I haven't flown SW in years. I paid for the early bird; we have a connecting flight. Will we be in the same group as the first leg of the trip? It hadn't occurred to me until I read PP's posts.

Will not be the same exact positions. You will have a separate boarding pass and boarding position for the connecting leg. The ECBI applies to both boarding passes and the positions are usually pretty close to each other from one flight to the next so no worries.

The issue brought up when traveling with children arises if there is a delay on your fist flight and the connecting flight has boarded before you get to the gate and there are no seats left together. Occasionally happens but the flight attendants are great about persuading people to shuffle about to accommodate families. They are not gonna leave a small child parked between two strangers.

 

[courtneybeth]

Just be mindful about your arrival time to SNA. The airport has a hard stop of accepting planes after 10pm (I think 1030p is the cut off). So if your plane is delayed coming in you can't land.

book a flight with a morning or mid day arrival and you should be golden.

 

[SMD]

A child can fly alone on SW at age 5. If your child is 5 or older they absolutely will leave your child seated between strangers if there aren't 2 seats together.

 

[STLstone]

I've never heard of Southwest flight attendants being anything but helpful in cases with children and parents. A connecting flight is just another boarding procedure, and families with small children get priority after the A group boards. In any case, you'll still need a boarding pass and can still get a good spot if you check in early enough.

On top of that, if that doesn't work, the flight attendants will work to keep families together, even if it means offering free alcoholic beverages or even shuffling around passengers against their will. That happens on almost any airline, as the flight attendants don't enjoy dealing with passengers complaining that a kid won't sit still without a parent.

I should have specified small children. I do know that they work to keep families together, also. But making a connection on southwest is not always easy anyways - especially when you get to the gate with your A boarding pass and the flight is already loaded because the previous flight was late. It happens a lot.

Southwest is my favorite airline, by far. By myself, I can rush through the airport to get to my connecting flight, and sit in a middle seat, no problem. I'm not even thinking of attempting that with my 2 and 6 year old.

 

[STLstone]

Despite by bad attitude, I should share a good story about Southwest.

One time, I used my frequent flyer miles to get my best friend, his wife and 3 kids tickets from St. Louis to Orlando, through Baltimore (there weren't any direct flights left by the time we booked it). I was tracking their first flight online. The flight from St. Louis to Baltimore was late. When it landed they had less than 10 minutes for the plane to get parked and to get to the next flight. I'm terrified that they'd miss it or, at a minimum, not be able to sit together. Their vacation would be off to a horrible start because of the flights I booked!

I'm waiting to hear from my friend about which flight they would get switched to (I assumed they would not make the original connecting). He texted me and said they were on the plane. The flight attendants had saved the last row of seats for them. Wow!

 

[lalasmama]

Just be mindful about your arrival time to SNA. The airport has a hard stop of accepting planes after 10pm (I think 1030p is the cut off). So if your plane is delayed coming in you can't land.

It's actually a much later cut-off, unless the change was fairly recent. I had heard about the 10:30 curfew as well, but we've landed there, following a delayed flight, at midnight (flight was about 18 months ago).... And yes, there are still cabs there at that time, which was my biggest worry

 

[Baklava]

Never said it was common, but it's certainly an option if all voluntary efforts fail. There are probably more freebies beyond alcohol. On top of that, I've seen quite a few people voluntarily do that when they see the alternative is a potentially restless four year old in the next seat without a parent. Or that a parent may be leaning over said passenger for much of the flight to handle the child.

Orders from a flight crew are to be followed. If they order people to move and it's refused, they can take it to the pilot and have such passengers removed from a flight. When that happens, it's standard operating procedure for police to enter the plane and escort the passengers off. Then they'll rebook. Southwest has done it before.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/loca...t-Airlines-Flight-From-Chicago-351450641.html

Yep. I've heard a FA point out that if nobody takes her up on the freebies for doing it voluntarily, someone will be doing it just because she says so. Orders from the flight crew aren't optional. If they say you move, you move- either to a different seat or off the plane entirely.

 

[ktlm]

I fly SWA all the time, but without having assigned seats, I would never book a trip with a plane change if I'm travelling with kids. Never.

We have very few destinations with direct flight from our home airport and using the early bird check in we have never had an issue getting seats together on Southwest- before early bird checkout- we always made sure to check in right at the 24 hour mark and have never had issues. You get your early bird check in boarding passes for both legs of your flight. I get that if you had a tight connection or your flight was late and you weren't there when they started boarding that it might be a problem to sit together- but even the time that they held the plane for us and everyone, but the people coming from our flight were already on the plane- we were able to sit together (I can't recall if someone moved for us- or if there was still an empty row that time- seems like there was still a row). HOWEVER, we flew another airline and had assigned seats. When I went to print the boarding passes the day before, they had changed our assigned seats and assigned our then 6 year old a seat by herself away from DH or I. We called, but were told we would have to address it at the airport. Apparently, we had been bumped from our seats because a frequent flyer member who booked late was guaranteed an aisle seat on their program. DD was booked on that airline as a child and they had her age- yet they moved her a significant distance away from us by herself. Another time, when DD was 5, we actually had boarding passes with assigned seats and when DH went to gate check the stroller they checked his boarding pass and said "HMMM -something isn't right here" and called the rest of us over. We found out that they had moved our seats after we printed our boarding passes without letting us know- otherwise we would not have known until we attempted to get on the plane and they scanned our passes. Again, they had split all three of us up - and DD was 5. We advised that we were not pleased and did not want our 5 year old sitting by herself and they did wind up figuring out how to get us all seated together, but we went from being near the front of the plane to the back row. Another time, I was flying for business with some people I worked with and I had a boarding pass with my assigned seat and when they called our group number we went to get on the plane and when they scanned my pass told us me that I had to go to the counter because someone else was already in my assigned seat. That time they had also moved me after my boarding pass was printed. I also suspect it was due to one of their frequent flyer program guarantees giving someone our seats at the last minute. That time it was no big deal because I didn't really care whether I sat by my co-worker. So, assigned seats can't always be trusted either.

 

[ParkHopper1]

A child can fly alone on SW at age 5. If your child is 5 or older they absolutely will leave your child seated between strangers if there aren't 2 seats together.

Then why on every other flight I am on do they try and shuffle people around to accommodate families? I was not talking UA minors...but rather pointing out they will go the extra mile to deal with families and late arrivals...even to the extent as posted by other threatening to boot people off the plane. Context my friend.

 

[bcla]

It's actually a much later cut-off, unless the change was fairly recent. I had heard about the 10:30 curfew as well, but we've landed there, following a delayed flight, at midnight (flight was about 18 months ago).... And yes, there are still cabs there at that time, which was my biggest worry

I don't think it's changed. The scheduled gate departure can be no later than 9:45 PM. The scheduled runway curfew is 10 PM to 7 AM for departures and 11 PM to 7 AM for arrivals. Landings are quieter than takeoffs. It's 8 AM on Sunday.

http://www.ocair.com/reportspublications/AccessNoise/generalaviationnoiseordinance10-27-15.pdf

Going past the landing curfew gives two options. One is to land at LAX or LGB and bus the passengers to SNA. The other option is to just land, incur a fine, and take one strike against the number of penalties where they could get a stiffer penalty like temporary loss of rights.

 

[bcla]

Then why on every other flight I am on do they try and shuffle people around to accommodate families? I was not talking UA minors...but rather pointing out they will go the extra mile to deal with families and late arrivals...even to the extent as posted by other threatening to boot people off the plane. Context my friend.

Unaccompanied minors are certainly different than a kid flying with a parent or parents. There's really no option with an unaccompanied minor other than to sit alone, but when a parent is on board and separated from a child, guess who the child seeks out? Flight attendants like the path of least resistance. That's why it's rare for FAs to be sticklers for carry on size or perhaps too many items.

 

[tarheelalum]

Southwest is as good as other carriers but, unlike the past, they are usually the most expensive choice I have when flying from San Diego to anywhere on the east coast. Twenty years ago when I lived in another part of the country, southwest was usually the cheapest airline. But I do love the unassigned seating. I always get the aisle.

 

[TexasErin]

We have only flown into LAX, but this thread has made me start thinking about flying into SNA. I need to check Southwest's website to see if they have many nonstop flights to SNA from Love Field (DAL). Are the planes generally the same size as the ones they fly into LAX? I want the BIGGEST plane possible....if I could actually fly on a plane the size of the Starship Enterprise, that would be fantastic--LMAO.

 

[STLstone]

We have only flown into LAX, but this thread has made me start thinking about flying into SNA. I need to check Southwest's website to see if they have many nonstop flights to SNA from Love Field (DAL). Are the planes generally the same size as the ones they fly into LAX? I want the BIGGEST plane possible....if I could actually fly on a plan the size of the Starship Enterprise, that would be fantastic--LMAO.

Southwest only uses the 737.

SNA is much closer than LAX, so the ride is much shorter.