southwest boarding

[wages1234]

leaving for Florida tomorrow. Went on right at 24 hr prior to take off and printed off boarding passes. Problem is my 12 yr old son got in group B and the rest of us got group A. Will the airline let him board with us? He has never flown before and is already scared. Also my husband and son and I got A58 -60. Are these good #s Will there be a good choice of seats? None of us have ever flown before so this is all new for us.

Thanks for any info.

 

[LorieDisneyLover]

You should be able to board with your son with the A passes ... and your husband could board with the B pass ... I think A 59 and 60 are the last two places for the A ... is your son B-1? If so, you'll all be boarding together then

 

[Huff]

leaving for Florida tomorrow. Went on right at 24 hr prior to take off and printed off boarding passes. Problem is my 12 yr old son got in group B and the rest of us got group A. Will the airline let him board with us? He has never flown before and is already scared. Also my husband and son and I got A58 -60. Are these good #s Will there be a good choice of seats? None of us have ever flown before so this is all new for us.

Thanks for any info.

Just tell the gate attendent. They will let kids board with you. There are about 130 seats on the plane. SW blocks out 20 seats in case business select customers show up (usually only a few are there to board before group A). They and those holding A21-A57 would be in front of you. Disabled and families with small kids board between groups A and B. You should easily be able to get seats together.

 

[seashoreCM]

With just one of you in the B group (there may be some B group and C group parents with small children between) the rest of you can save him a seat by sitting aisle-window.

If you wish to, one of the older family members can swap boarding passes with him if he is afraid of being alone.

 

[packofjedis]

We've had this happen to us before. We went up to the desk at the gate and told the attendants, who let us all go together with the better numbers.

There's no way they'd make a 12 yr old stand out there by himself while they pre-board families. They'll work it out for you. Enjoy your flight!!!

 

[wages1234]

thanks for your help. I just called SW and asked about switching passes and was told I can't do that because they have our names on them. I'll ask the gate person and hopefully they will let us board together.

 

[DebbieB]

thanks for your help. I just called SW and asked about switching passes and was told I can't do that because they have our names on them. I'll ask the gate person and hopefully they will let us board together.

They just collect the boarding passes, they don't check ID. They would not know if your son and husband switched passes.

 

[ccgirl]

thanks for your help. I just called SW and asked about switching passes and was told I can't do that because they have our names on them. I'll ask the gate person and hopefully they will let us board together.

I had this happen to me. My DD7 got a B and we all got A. We were told by the gate attendant to all board with the lower number (B). We boarded with B and had no problem getting seats together. I have even received C passes and had no problem finding seats together.

 

[tjmw2727]

This has happened to us a few times, the first two on the reservation, my oldest dd and I, got A and my youngest got the first B.

You can either all board with B or one adult and your son can board at the end of A and the other can board with the B pass. Since its rows of three it will be easy for the first two boarding to save a middle seat.

They don't look at the boarding pass at all just scan them so you will have no problem with an adult using the 12yo boarding pass.

Since family boarding is between A and B they could very well deny the person holding the B boarding pass if you decided to all try boarding with the A group. So if your going to try this be prepared and make sure an adult is holding the B boarding pass in case they reject it. This way an adult is sent back to the B and not your son.

 

[SDSorority]

What B number did your son get? You should be absolutely fine. If you want, you can let the other B's go ahead of you (if he's far down the list) so you can for sure all be together, but I'm PRETTY sure that A-60 is the last number of the A's.

 

[SDSorority]

OR what you could do is have your ticket scanned and then lag behind on the ramp to wait for your son so you can all get on the plane together. I have NEVER ever had a SW person check my number. I have let a few numbers go ahead of me and really have never had a problem. Southwest is the BEST airline ever. I ONLY fly southwest.

 

[Jestocost]

This shouldn't be a huge issue either way. The gate attendants may or may not let your DS board with the lower numbers. Several posters have reported being allowed to do that in similar circumstances, but it really is up to the discretion of the gate attendant and there have been plenty of reports of passengers not being allowed to do the same thing. There's no harm in asking, but don't throw a fit or panic if they don't allow it; just go to one of the alternate plans below.

As PPs have noted, you would be able to have your DS and DH swap boarding cards (wait to do it until the gate as you can't do it before security, however) as the gate attendants do not check IDs. I suppose if you tried to board with a pass that had a male name on it someone might notice, but otherwise the chances are slim and none that it would be an issue. If you ask about doing that, however, they probably will say you can't do it.

The absolute worst case scenario is that all of you--or your DS and one of the other two--board at B12. Since your other numbers are at the very end of the A group, there are only the family boarders and B1-B11 between the two. There's almost no chance that you will not be able to find three seats together--maybe a bit farther back in the plane than you want--boarding at B12.