Southwest boarding question

[brios86]

So I checked in today from my iphone bc I was driving to work at my 24 hr mark. Now I see that I have A36, DH has A47 and DS3 has A56. Obviously my son cannot board a lone so he has to board with one of us, but will they let him board with me? Or will the make someone wait and board late with him? In the end I guess its not that big of a deal I'm just curious if anyone has encountered this before. I am sure it will work it self out tomorrow.

 

[Candy30]

It shouldn't be a big deal! He can board with you or your husband. They were not sticklers about that. I think the numbers are like A1-A35 and then A36-A60. So either way I am sure they will not make a big deal about it. We traveled with my elderly Mom and Her number was a few behind us and she boarded with us. I think your only concern might have been if he was in B1 or so and even then I don't think it would be a problem. If your nervous about it I would just let them know at the boarding gate and you should be fine. I love SW!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

They do board in order from 1-60 for both A and B groups. However, as a minor, your son will be able to board with you or your DH out of order.

 

[Jestocost]

They do board in order from 1-60 for both A and B groups. However, as a minor, your son will be able to board with you or your DH out of order.

Well, maybe or maybe not. It's entirely up to the discretion of the gate agent and it would not be unheard of for them to say the parent should board later with the child, not vice versa. In fact, I personally wouldn't expect them to allow me to board early with my child and would just line up with them in the later position.

To set reasonable expectations, I would prepare for the worst and hope for the best. And in this case the worst is not even a little bit bad, as anyone boarding in the As should have no problem sitting together.

 

[gchockeymom]

You shouldn't have a problem. We had the same thing happen to us a few months ago and I boarded first with my son and then my hubby and other son boarded at thier correct numbers and we all sat together. Southwest is really good about making sure they can put families together if it's at all possible.

 

[PoohBear]

We have had this situation on a couple of trips and they told us that everyone in the family should board with the family member with the lowest number. Hope this helps.

 

[rgf207]

Well, maybe or maybe not. It's entirely up to the discretion of the gate agent and it would not be unheard of for them to say the parent should board later with the child, not vice versa. In fact, I personally wouldn't expect them to allow me to board early with my child and would just line up with them in the later position.

To set reasonable expectations, I would prepare for the worst and hope for the best. And in this case the worst is not even a little bit bad, as anyone boarding in the As should have no problem sitting together.

This would be true if the OP's son was 10 or 11 but he's 3. There won't be a problem with him boarding with the OP or the OP's DH

 

[bumbershoot]

One time DS and I were separated by one number. Pretend it was 22 and 24.

I chose to get in line at 24, but when #23 realized that one of us was #22, she insisted that we both get in front of her.

It was lovely of her and I took her up on it, but I would have been quite happy going back to the further away number; felt it was the polite thing to do.

 

[Jestocost]

This would be true if the OP's son was 10 or 11 but he's 3. There won't be a problem with him boarding with the OP or the OP's DH

OK. Just want to make sure the OP doesn't get mad at me if they get the grumpy gate agent or the crazy passenger in spot A37 or A48 throws a fit. I expect it all will work out, but I hate to give any advice in these situations that promises there will be no problems.

 

[PoohBear]

OK. Just want to make sure the OP doesn't get mad at me if they get the grumpy gate agent or the crazy passenger in spot A37 or A48 throws a fit. I expect it all will work out, but I hate to give any advice in these situations that promises there will be no problems.

And this does happen. Once we had pre-boarding because our one year old was handicapped. Because my husband needed to put his car seat in place while I took care of our son. The whole family (me, DH and 3 sons) had to line up to pre-board. Actually we checked with the agent at the gate and she understood completely until.....B26 and B27 started freaking out. They started screaming that our older kids could hold the baby and the bags. And I should go to the back of the line. They created such a scene the gate agent was unable to control them. She asked if I'd mind taking my place in line. No problem, I was A4. They got worse. They wanted me in back of the line. I did just for the sake of peace (I was not worried about where I was going to sit). Unfortunately, the baby had a fit when he got on the plane without me and broke out of his brace. The older kids were scared because they could not control him. Take off was delayed by a couple of minutes because we had to get his brace back on and it took time to get him situated in the seat (hence the pre-boarding) and he cried in pain the whole flight home. I hope B26 and B27 were satisfied. So, yes I guess OP should be prepared for B26 and B27.

 

[Bernini98]

If all else fails..does it really matter, first one claims the seats for all three...at least you're in "A"

 

[Candy30]

And this does happen. Once we had pre-boarding because our one year old was handicapped. Because my husband needed to put his car seat in place while I took care of our son. The whole family (me, DH and 3 sons) had to line up to pre-board. Actually we checked with the agent at the gate and she understood completely until.....B26 and B27 started freaking out. They started screaming that our older kids could hold the baby and the bags. And I should go to the back of the line. They created such a scene the gate agent was unable to control them. She asked if I'd mind taking my place in line. No problem, I was A4. They got worse. They wanted me in back of the line. I did just for the sake of peace (I was not worried about where I was going to sit). Unfortunately, the baby had a fit when he got on the plane without me and broke out of his brace. The older kids were scared because they could not control him. Take off was delayed by a couple of minutes because we had to get his brace back on and it took time to get him situated in the seat (hence the pre-boarding) and he cried in pain the whole flight home. I hope B26 and B27 were satisfied. So, yes I guess OP should be prepared for B26 and B27.

On our way back to Pittsburgh a woman was about to make a big deal about her number. She kept asking my Mom what number was she. I finally told her none of your business. I asked her what was her number and she was behind all of us. I then told her that and she was just livid. It doesn't matter we were in A for goodness sake. Poohbear you were very sweet and accomodating. I would have gone off! But that's just me.

 

[seashoreCM]

[QUOTEdeleted

 

[seashoreCM]

we had to get his brace back on ... and he cried in pain the whole flight home..

You might not have been careful enough. Walking to the back of the line for ballyhoo is no excuse for compromising on this.

On our way back to Pittsburgh a woman was about to make a big deal about her number. She kept asking my Mom what number was she. I finally told her none of your business. .

You must show your number to anyone who asks but the one who wishes to move ahead or who asks first must show his first.

I have A36, DH has A47 and DS3 has A56. Obviously my son cannot board a lone so he has to board with one of us.

The farmer takes the wife, the wife takes the child, hi ho the derry oh, start off by having the kid stand quietly beside you at A36, although if DH is stronger he can put the kid on his shoulders at A47.

 

[dburg30]

Either have your husband line up in your sons position with him (A57) or being that close to A60, wait for family boarding between A and B (it's only 3 spots after A57 anyway) and board then. No reason to give anyone a reason to get their panties in a bunch by 'sneaking' him up to your husbands position, just drop back to his. A's still wont have an issue getting seated together. And IF for some reason you have someone that wants to sit in a row you picked, your DH and son will still be together. Or you can all just give up the A's and board between A and B..

 

[goofy4tink]

You might not have been careful enough. Walking to the back of the line for ballyhoo (show) is no excuse for compromising on this.

You must show your number to anyone who asks but the one who wishes to move ahead or who asks first must show his first.

Ah, no...I don't have to show my number to anyone other than a SW gate attendant! I don't care if the person in back of me is nosey and wants to know what my number is. I can count, I can tell A21 from B45..no need to check it out with other passengers.

But....to the OP...I would be very tempted to board in your position A36. Have your dh board with your ds at the A56 spot. Not going to be an issue simply because you will be sitting there, in the row you want, with coats on the other two seats. I have no problem with saving seats in that case.
You may not run into any of those nasty people who are going to gripe over two seats going a wee bit faster than they should have, but on the other hand, you just might. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Cmbar]

I personally think this is a ridiculous post with some of the answers I have seen. Anyone who has a problem with a 3 year old boarding with their mom NO MATTER what her number is nuts. That kid is going on my hip and I am walking to the agent with both passes!

And those people who put up a fuss about the preboarding for the child with a special need should have been thrown off the plane in my opinion. Who the hell do they think they are? I would have switched passes with the children and left your older children standing next to the idiots in B26 &B27 crying their eyes out and wailing.

Preboarding is for special needs. You should not have caved (nor should the agent). People like that make it harder on everyone else. My only wish is that you would have put your screaming and unhappy son right behind their sorry butts!.

And for that matter. Shame on Southwest for not making sure that families booked on the same reservation receive boarding all in a row. We have had it happen that we click on our one reservation and the numbers dont line up. Whats with that? Fix it and you won't have families panicking that they can't sit together.

Personally this is the one drawback of Southwest, but it really isn't the airline its the idiot people who think it is ok to split up children from their parents so they mighthave a better seat. That takes an enourmous amount of selfishness to do that.

 

[bavaria]

Originally Posted by PoohBear
we had to get his brace back on ... and he cried in pain the whole flight home..

You might not have been careful enough. Walking to the back of the line for ballyhoo is no excuse for compromising on this.

I have reread this several times, and even using ESL as an excuse I cannot fathom any way that someone could have told a parent this. I am well over one years old and there are times when I have cried in pain on a flight. I cannot believe that someone would tell a parent that they 'were not careful enough' and thus caused their child such pain.

Poohbear, I'm sorry that you encountered such people on your flight, and that you received such a response.

The reality is that for whatever reason many people no longer respect the privacy of others. We read about that all the time here; posters insist that they 'need' to know other peoples' situations, and they simply don't.

There are SW flyers on here and on flyertalk.com who do take note of other boarding passes, and who do confront other flyers. So I would be prepared for that situation, and do as our esteemed moderator suggested.

Best of luck.

 

[ironz]

Ah, no...I don't have to show my number to anyone other than a SW gate attendant! I don't care if the person in back of me is nosey and wants to know what my number is. I can count, I can tell A21 from B45..no need to check it out with other passengers.

But....to the OP...I would be very tempted to board in your position A36. Have your dh board with your ds at the A56 spot. Not going to be an issue simply because you will be sitting there, in the row you want, with coats on the other two seats. I have no problem with saving seats in that case.
You may not run into any of those nasty people who are going to gripe over two seats going a wee bit faster than they should have, but on the other hand, you just might. Better to be safe than sorry.

agreeing here. And...personally, I would put the young kid with the parent who has the "better" boarding pass...Who's to say that the first parent and the child aren't the only ones in the travel party? Then, they can take 2 seats out of the row they choose...and the 2nd parent will join them at his/her turn. They're all in A...this is NOT going to be a big deal.

And truthfully, I have never seen such crazy antics at the gate as people describe, and I went to MCO on SW about 15 times in the last 3 years. Not saying it can't or won't happen, but it's the exception, not the rule, in my experience. There is so much worry and angst on this board that is not necessary.

 

[brymolmom]

Maybe it's just me as I haven't seen this said yet. But, IMO, if I check in myself, dh and my kids and I don't want my kids to stand in line and walk-on alone, I will have dh and/or I go to their position - or, more accurately, to the least common denominator. I would never assume it's proper or fair for me to bring a person ahead in line with me. I would, instead - go back in line with him/her to a position AFTER my boarding number.

It isn't fair to A25 if you now have two A24's....Now, I agree - no big deal if it is just one child. But what if everyone from A1 to A23 wanted to do the same thing?? I know, extreme case, but what gives me the right to take up two spots in line?

Anyway, to be fair - I would just board at the position with your child. Or, as a pp suggested, you board first and have dh with the child at the later position so that you can get in and get a row and then LIKELY no one else will sit in that row with you since they will be boarding shortly after.

Also, on my SW flight - the SW gate agents INSTRUCTED US to show each other our boarding number as to get in the proper order. I'm not sure what I would have done if the people around me didn't?? Maybe just step in front of them assuming they had a higher number than me since they didn't want to share. I think that's pretty rude not to show anyone. If my dd's kindergarten class was instructed to get in order after having been given out numbers 1 - 20 I would expect them to do so by asking/showing each other their numbers - not much of a difference here, IMO.