Southwest Boarding Policy

[HelenePA]

I don't know why they can't change their "family pre-board" policy to one adult per young child.

My son gets to preboard because of his peanut allergy. They let us on to pick our seats and wipe everything down. We had a party of six but they only let one adult accompany my son for the preboard.

I think that this type of policy would ensure that a child was not alone and could sit next to one adult. I guess it doesn't solve splitting up the whole family but that's the risk you take with Southwest.

Then what would my family do? leave my 7 and 9 yr old alone in line? I know they aren't "young" but in no way are they ready to wait inline alone. No thanks! We'll be driving next year anyway. As much as I liked the 2 hour ride there I can't justify the 1200$ to fly vs the 250$ or so to drive

 

[NotUrsula]

Key word - technically. Although Southwest does officially allow saving of seats. Somebody dug that little policy up on the transportation board not too long ago.

In this case, the owners of the crap would not move it, they were guarding the front of the rows, jumping up and blocking people from trying to get into their saved rows and the flight attendants would not ask them to stop it. Yes, you could technically try to move it yourself, but then you might be asked to deplane after the cat fight starts.

I love Southwest and it is the carrier of choice for my family. We really don't care where I sit on a plane - the back is going to get there at almost the same time as the front, so who really cares? But it really makes them look bad when they offer paid Early Bird and then the people who paid for Early Bird have to move to the back because somebody has numerous rows blocked off.

Write to SWA and complain, and tell them what flight number it was and what route. This is NOT how people who try to save multiple seats are supposed to be handled -- policy is that if another passenger wants the seat and there is "stuff" on it, the FA is to remove it (they can give a warning if they want, but they don't have to.) The only exception is a paid-for extra seat that has a "Reserved" placard in it. The flight attendants should have picked the stuff up and removed it the first time someone said anything, and that they did not merits a complaint letter. (Real snail mail, that is. SWA doesn't take email complaints. However, you can go out on blogsouthwest.com and post a comment.)

SWA tolerates seat-saving, but only when it does not inconvenience other passengers. There is no RIGHT to claim an empty seat unless you have paid for it. In practice, that means that you can normally manage to save up to two seats in the BACK, and unattended "stuff" of any kind is not supposed to be tolerated for security reasons. I've more than once seen annoyed FA's put the "stuff" out on the jetway to be taken away even if someone was trying to belatedly claim it.

 

[cepmom]

Then what would my family do? leave my 7 and 9 yr old alone in line? I know they aren't "young" but in no way are they ready to wait inline alone. No thanks! We'll be driving next year anyway. As much as I liked the 2 hour ride there I can't justify the 1200$ to fly vs the 250$ or so to drive

in your case it would make most sense to allow one parent to board with the 2 younger kids, the other parent wait in line with the older 2 kids

 

[design_mom]

Then what would my family do? leave my 7 and 9 yr old alone in line? I know they aren't "young" but in no way are they ready to wait inline alone.

There would be several options including:
-- purchasing EBCI or checking in at 24 hours in the hopes of getting an A-group boarding pass. A boarding pass holders board before the "family boarding" anyway.
-- having the whole family board together with their regular boarding passes (just because family boarding is offered for your littlest doesn't mean you *have* to use it if it doesn't work for the rest of your family.)
-- choose an "off" flight time that's unlikely to be full so you have your choice of seats no matter when you board
-- choose an airline that offers assigned seating

No policy is going to work for everyone.

 

[agnes!]

Write to SWA and complain, and tell them what flight number it was and what route. This is NOT how people who try to save multiple seats are supposed to be handled -- policy is that if another passenger wants the seat and there is "stuff" on it, the FA is to remove it (they can give a warning if they want, but they don't have to.) The only exception is a paid-for extra seat that has a "Reserved" placard in it. The flight attendants should have picked the stuff up and removed it the first time someone said anything, and that they did not merits a complaint letter. (Real snail mail, that is. SWA doesn't take email complaints. However, you can go out on blogsouthwest.com and post a comment.)

SWA tolerates seat-saving, but only when it does not inconvenience other passengers. There is no RIGHT to claim an empty seat unless you have paid for it. In practice, that means that you can normally manage to save up to two seats in the BACK, and unattended "stuff" of any kind is not supposed to be tolerated for security reasons. I've more than once seen annoyed FA's put the "stuff" out on the jetway to be taken away even if someone was trying to belatedly claim it.

My understanding of SW's policy (and from others posting here on the DIS about their experience with SW) is that they *do* tolerate the saving of multiple seats and that they do nothing to discourage it. I mean, I believe you, that FA's will do all this, but I'd like to see a quote from their website/policy manual/official snail mail or e-mail to back it up. I agree that the FA's *should* strongly discourage one or two people getting on early with Early Bird or just an A Boarding Pass or two and then proceeding to save multiple seats, multiple rows for their entire party.

agnes!

 

[Luv2Scrap]

Could someone please clarify for me what happens with the boarding/grouping order when you transfer to another flight halfway through your trip?

Example:

We'll be flying from Minneapolis to Orlando with a stop and plane change in St Louis.

If I am lucky enough to be in the A group in Minneapolis, (either because I paid the extra $10 for early check in, or because I checked in 24 hours in advance and got lucky) will I also keep the same position when I board the next plane in St Louis?

Thanks!

 

[HelenePA]

in your case it would make most sense to allow one parent to board with the 2 younger kids, the other parent wait in line with the older 2 kids

Yes but the person I quoted wanted to make it one young child per adult.. like I said we wont have this problem. If we were to fly it would not be another 6am flight, the kids would NOT know where we were going til we got to the airport, and they would sleep the night before.. btdt with 3 dont want to even try it with 4 young kids.. maybe we'll fly again when they are older but flying right now would just be a disaster. Happy flying y'all! See ya in a few years!

 

[agnes!]

Could someone please clarify for me what happens with the boarding/grouping order when you transfer to another flight halfway through your trip?

Example:

We'll be flying from Minneapolis to Orlando with a stop and plane change in St Louis.

If I am lucky enough to be in the A group in Minneapolis, (either because I paid the extra $10 for early check in, or because I checked in 24 hours in advance and got lucky) will I also keep the same position when I board the next plane in St Louis?

Thanks!

My understanding is that people who have a continuing flight, like in your situation (Minn/St. Paul-->St. Louis-->Orlando), get first dibs at boarding passes for their entire trip *before* any EBCI/A-List/Business Select passengers who board in the connecting city.

Also, if a passenger has a Business Select fare or has A-list status they get checked in before anyone else, even if the other passengers have Early Bird Check-In. The order of Boarding Passes at the 36-hour mark are: Business Select, A-List, Early Bird Check-In. Everyone else checks in 24 hours before the flight.

If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will come along and correct me .
agnes!

 

[PatsMom]

Could someone please clarify for me what happens with the boarding/grouping order when you transfer to another flight halfway through your trip?

Example:

We'll be flying from Minneapolis to Orlando with a stop and plane change in St Louis.

If I am lucky enough to be in the A group in Minneapolis, (either because I paid the extra $10 for early check in, or because I checked in 24 hours in advance and got lucky) will I also keep the same position when I board the next plane in St Louis?

Thanks!

When you check in you will get your boarding passes for both legs of the trip. They most likely will not have the same position, depending on whether one is a continuing flight, etc. At least mine never were. But if I checked in at 24 hours, I usually had fairly low numbers for both legs of the trip.

Of course EBCI has changed things - if lots of people pay for the EBCI, then even at 24 hours you will get higher numbers.

Most of the time I don't worry about where we sit - my daughter is 19 and has been travelling since she was a baby. By the time she was 7 or 8 we would have been fine with her sitting by herself. She would read and amuse herself pretty well. But if it is important to have at least part of the group sit together, then I would pay for early check in. That is what I am doing in September when we take my niece and sister in law to WDW with us. Sister in law is a nervous nellie who has never flown and has panic attacks so she has obtained a prescription from her doctor which could make her sleepy. So it is important that at least three of us sit together so someone can watch my niece and sister in law.

 

[NotUrsula]

All right, I stand corrected, apparently it isn't official policy, but you can read this for yourself. This letter from SWA was put up by another poster on the Transportation Board a few weeks ago after she wrote to clarify the policy when a ticket agent told her over the phone that it was all right to buy only one EBCI spot and save for the rest of the family:

Thank you for your inquiry regarding our new Customer offering, EarlyBird Check-In. We appreciate the opportunity to respond.

As you probably know, all flights on Southwest are "open-seating," and Customers are free to take any available seat onboard the aircraft. In light of this, it is not uncommon for a Customer to want to reserve a seat (or seats) for a friend, family member, or associate who will be boarding behind them.

Truthfully, we don’t have a policy either way--for or against--saving seats. In fact, we share our perspective on this issue on southwest.com as follows: "because Southwest Airlines maintains an open-seating policy, general-boarding Customers may sit in any open or unclaimed seat." With this in mind, as long as there is no Safety concern, it would be acceptable for a Customer to "claim" a seat for one of their family members or traveling companion who may be in a later boarding group. We are aware that the saving of seats is a by-product of our policy, and as long as the boarding process is not delayed and other Customers aren't inconvenienced, it usually isn’t a significant issue.

Again, we appreciate your contacting us. We look forward to welcoming you onboard a Southwest flight soon!

Sincerely,

Cynthia, Southwest Airlines

I posted at the time that the key points in this are "a seat for one of their family members" and "as long as the boarding process is not delayed and other Customers aren't inconvenienced".

The business about the "stuff" is flight attendants broadly interpreting a security directive that tells them to remove unattended belongings from the aircraft. FA's hate the whole "stuff" circus, and most of them absolutely relish busting passengers who do that. If I encounter it, I personally just sit my butt down, take whatever the object is and call the FA to take it for the lost and found, telling them that I found it in the seat. The person can try to get it back from the FA if they want it, but they had better act fast if they don't want to have to chase it out onto the jetway.

You don't have to tolerate seat piggies; and if it comes down to a challenge, the FA's are supposed to back you, because there IS a policy mandating open seating, which means that no one has true dibs on a particular one unless they are actually sitting in it or have paid for two seats in order to keep the second one empty. It's the abdication of duty by the FA that deserves the letter -- they were turning a blind eye to passengers who were deliberately impeding the boarding process. SWA takes THAT very seriously, because a big part of their profit margin comes from their short turn times. FA's are supposed to be getting people into seats ASAP, and that crew wasn't doing it.

 

[goofy4tink]

My dd and I have paid for EBCI. I will save him a seat when we get on. BUT...that's just one seat, next to two already filled seats. Who in their right mind is going to battle me over a middle seat?? But I would never save a seat that wasn't in my particular row...that's just rude.

I was on a SW flight, from Providence to MCO. There was a large family group that was on our flight..had to be about 30 people. Anyway....when it came time to board, they got up and got into the lineup. My dd and I were about 10 or so spots behind them. When we got on the plane, we had to head to behind the wing, in order to find two seats together. Now, we were only about the 20th or so to board, so this shouldn't have been an issue. But it was. Why? Because that large family group, took up about about 15 or so rows, straight across the aisles. They had two people sit in a row, with the middle seat empty. Then they would put a piece of clothing over the unfilled seats!!! So, now...all the A's have boarded, along come the B's..they all board. People are finding it difficult to find seats. This is about where the rest of the family group boarded. But, still, there were empty seats in each of their rows.
It's time for the C group to board. The FA finally see what is going on and make an announcement...'This is a 100% full flight. There are no empty seats. Please find any unoccupied seats and fill them in.' Well, you should have seen the shuffling that happened at that point. Evidently, this large family group was hoping for an empty middle seat to stretch out into. It was hysterical to see them all rushing to resituate themselves so as to not have a stranger seated in between them. And that FA was right...there was not one empty seat when the door closed.

Saving one seat is acceptable, but more than that? I don't think so.

 

[NotUrsula]

... And I'll be they got their drinks last, too.

Seriously, if there's anything that the FA's hate more than saving with "stuff", it's saving for phantom passengers. Guaranteed to get you an evil eye curse.