Southwest boarding position - I hope we can still together

[JeninTexas]

I logged on early this morning to check in for our flight tomorrow am. I kept hitting refresh until it let me in at the earliest possible moment and I immediately checked in for my two children and me. I do this routinely and always manage to get in the A boarding group for our entire family. But this morning, as soon I could check us all in, we got boarding positions in the high B's.

I guess I can try to do family boarding between the A and B group so we can sit together, but it seems like the rules for this are different for different flights. I don't think anyone would want to sit next to my youngest if he is by himself though!

I guess you have to purchase early bird check in now if you want your family to be able to sit together.

 

[kenny]

With a B boarding pass you should be able to get three seats together. We r a family of 4 and with a B have never had an issue getting three seats and the aisle seat across

As for family boarding if your youngest is 4 or younger than do that

I agree in the past we always got A passes. Now with early bird we typically get a B

On flight back I broken down and paid for early bird. I know I won't check in from the park the night before so I will end up with a C otherwise. Then u of run the risk of not sitting together. Although most times some one will move so your child isn't by themselves

 

[JeninTexas]

Thanks for that information, Kenny. I also broke down and paid for early bird check in for the flight back for the same reason you did.

I was just really surprised to not get an A boarding pass when I checked in so early. Oh well, I guess I should just be glad to be on the flight at all

 

[LSchrow]

we rarely get A boarding anymore (except when we are split between A & B), despite refreshing repeatedly at the 24 hour mark. if ever we really want/need to sit together, we'll pay for EB.

definitely do family boarding if you qualify, else just head toward the back of the plane if boarding in B - there are usually quite a few empty rows there.
have fun

 

[DebbieB]

I rarely get A anymore either at exactly 24 hours. On my trip last month I got B17 and B3. I went to the back and there were plenty of empty seats.

 

[JeninTexas]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I guess I am living in the past with my expectation that I can still get the A group at 24 hours out. Those must all be taken by business select, A-listers, and early bird check in. We will be heading to the back for sure.

 

[richmo]

I'm in agreement with most here.

I assume by high B's you mean B's with low numbers. In that case, you won't have any problem. Worst case, as someone mentioned, you might have to sit a few rows back. Seating doesn't seem to be much of a problem unless you have poor B numbers or any C's. And they're not going to allow a small child to sit by themselves with any number.

 

[mb187143]

I fly SW often for work, and when I'm on business travel I don't buy EBCI because I don't need to - I've never gotten any lower than B10 (for my flight last week i got a55, my flight on Wednesday of this week I got a46, and for my flight this evening, a51. I fly into different markets back and forth through PHL. One thing I never do is refresh the screen. I put in my confirmation number and name and leave that screen up as is and wait for the clock on my cell phone (which is more accurate than my computer) to turn to the exact minute, and then click to check in. That method has yet to fail me. If you're hitting refresh and getting the message that you're not within your 24 hour window you could be wasting precious seconds without realizing it. I dont think those seconds mean the difference between A16 and B55, but they could be the difference between later A and B, which puts you behind family boarding.

Anyways that's just a suggestion that may help you in the future.

 

[CarolMN]

I logged on early this morning to check in for our flight tomorrow am. I kept hitting refresh until it let me in at the earliest possible moment and I immediately checked in for my two children and me. I do this routinely and always manage to get in the A boarding group for our entire family. But this morning, as soon I could check us all in, we got boarding positions in the high B's.

I guess I can try to do family boarding between the A and B group so we can sit together, but it seems like the rules for this are different for different flights. I don't think anyone would want to sit next to my youngest if he is by himself though!

I guess you have to purchase early bird check in now if you want your family to be able to sit together.

You're probably already at or on your way to the airport by now, but for anyone else who may be reading -

Based on the time of your post, it looks like you have an early flight out, which means your plane is going to start out empty. Unless there are hordes of families with young children using family boarding, you will NOT have a problem sitting together. Just walk towards the middle or back of the plane. You'll have several empty rows to choose from.

If you were boarding a plane that started elsewhere with lots of continuing passengers, it be would be more difficult.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

on Southwest depends on if your flight has many people staying on the flight. have been on flights that were half full when group A started. the group A people were complaining as seats together were hard to find even at back of plane and some of them had bought the early boarding

 

[DebbieB]

on Southwest depends on if your flight has many people staying on the flight. have been on flights that were half full when group A started. the group A people were complaining as seats together were hard to find even at back of plane and some of them had bought the early boarding

I flew PIT-BWI-MCO last year. There were over 40 of us who were continuing at BWI. We were allowed to move after the head count, almost everyone moved to front in scattered seats. So when the first people got on at BWI, there were not many seats together in the front.

 

[hsmamato2]

yes, but OP said 'seats together'....not 'seats together near the front'.... I would think in most cases a b seating means they can be togther, but possibly more towards the back.... (FWIW, the last flight I took they were allowing families with kids around 6-10 yo board between A&B,pretty annoying considering how many of them there were -now you all know my pet peeve lol) regardless, the only problem I ever saw was a family getting on in the late c's.... they asked for someone to move for the kids sake.... and someone did (free drinks!)

 

[DebbieB]

yes, but OP said 'seats together'....not 'seats together near the front'.... I would think in most cases a b seating means they can be togther, but possibly more towards the back.... (FWIW, the last flight I took they were allowing families with kids around 6-10 yo board between A&B,pretty annoying considering how many of them there were -now you all know my pet peeve lol) regardless, the only problem I ever saw was a family getting on in the late c's.... they asked for someone to move for the kids sake.... and someone did (free drinks!)

I was replying to the post I quoted. Many people think if they have a low A they will be first on and be able to sit in the front.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

to pp A group did not make it to sit together on one of our flights. plane was over half full and most window seats were taken when they started medical preboards. they did ask a few families to move because of medical needs. we were one of preboards and we were over half way back. looked like one person in just about every row. heard a number of people complaining because they had paid for the early check in and all these people got on before them

 

[Bektasmic]

Really hoping to not pay the EBCI, as our budget keeps stretching and stretching. We are a family of 4, with a 5 year-old girl. I know family boarding is technically 4 and under. We don't mind splitting 2and 2...and even the 12 year-old would be fine alone as long as he had his iPod and knows where we are. But someone for sure needs to sit with the 5 year-old.

If I do the 24 hour check in, how are our chances of getting two sets of two seats together? One flight is 5:20pm on a Fri and the return flight is 9pm on a Sat if that makes a difference.

Alternatively could I pay for early bird for just my daughter and mom or dad?

 

[Michblue]

I have been on Southwest several times when families bording late received help from flight attendants who asked alreaded seated people to rearrange so families or parent/child, could sit together. I don't think Southwest wants kids sitting alone, regardless of parents paying for EB or not.

 

[FreeTime]

Agree with the pp that sw doesn't necessarily want young kids alone, but they can only do so much to free up seats. We were on a flight where a mom and two young kids were the very last to get on and she started yelling that she needed seats together. They pointed out to her, I was in the front row, that she should have boarded with Her group A to have tried to get a seat together. The flight attendant pointed out available seats to her. She wasn't happy. The FA asked for volunteers to move. No one would. This was a flight of many couples from Vegas and many commented that they wanted to sit together. The FA announced, "will someone please give up their seats, three together so we can take off?" Of course, there were no threes together and others weren't willing to shift. They finally told her if she wasn't satisifed with the seats found for her, she could exit and take a future flight. She sat her kids down in a huff and told them to be sure and yell if they needed her. She fell asleep, her kids needed her, and everyone appeared to be ignoring her kids. So lesson is, sw won't always be able to get you together, other guests won't take care of your kids. Be prepared even with ebci to not sit together.

 

[bumbershoot]

Agree with the pp that sw doesn't necessarily want young kids alone, but they can only do so much to free up seats. We were on a flight where a mom and two young kids were the very last to get on and she started yelling that she needed seats together. They pointed out to her, I was in the front row, that she should have boarded with Her group A to have tried to get a seat together. The flight attendant pointed out available seats to her. She wasn't happy. The FA asked for volunteers to move. No one would. This was a flight of many couples from Vegas and many commented that they wanted to sit together. The FA announced, "will someone please give up their seats, three together so we can take off?" Of course, there were no threes together and others weren't willing to shift. They finally told her if she wasn't satisifed with the seats found for her, she could exit and take a future flight. She sat her kids down in a huff and told them to be sure and yell if they needed her. She fell asleep, her kids needed her, and everyone appeared to be ignoring her kids. So lesson is, sw won't always be able to get you together, other guests won't take care of your kids. Be prepared even with ebci to not sit together.

If she hadn't started yelling, people might well have responded differently to her.

 

[tjmw2727]

As indicated up thread you can't really tell what your BP numbers will be any more with just 24 hour check in. You could be on a continuing flight and have passengers already on board or a connecting flight with passengers already checked in and connecting via your airport.

If you really want your 5 yo seated with an adult then I would suggest purchasing EBCI at least for her and one other adult.

Honestly I now consider EBCI as part of the cost of flying SWA and compared to what I just went through with US air it is much more reasonable.

(Yesterday, US Air switched aircrafts for our Dec flight, separated us into scattered seats throughout and the only seats together were choice seats at much more than 12.50 per seat!)

Really hoping to not pay the EBCI, as our budget keeps stretching and stretching. We are a family of 4, with a 5 year-old girl. I know family boarding is technically 4 and under. We don't mind splitting 2and 2...and even the 12 year-old would be fine alone as long as he had his iPod and knows where we are. But someone for sure needs to sit with the 5 year-old.

If I do the 24 hour check in, how are our chances of getting two sets of two seats together? One flight is 5:20pm on a Fri and the return flight is 9pm on a Sat if that makes a difference.

Alternatively could I pay for early bird for just my daughter and mom or dad?

 

[FreeTime]

If she hadn't started yelling, people might well have responded differently to her.

Agreed. I certainly would of if I could. I was flying solo and the two people in my row said they weren't moving, so I couldn't help.