Southwest Boarding

[pooh4evr]

Family boarding is done between groups A and B, and for families, with a child 4 and under. Often when leaving Orlando they don't do family boarding because that would be the majority of the plane. Also they can limit it to just the young child and a family member, so it isn't grandma grandpa, aunt, sister, etc and 1 kid.

We have always flown Southwest - I guess 10 + flights with our kids and have never had a problem before or after EBCI. Either pay the $10 per ticket, or make sure you check in at exactly 24 hours. And be at the gate on time! it is rare for families to be split up but if you don't take the necessary steps it can and does happen. Just follow the rules and it will be easy as pie!

 

[PatMcDuck]

That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!! Do they seriously expect families to split up?

I suppose for those that don't mind flying it would probably be easier but when you have members of your family that are anxious flyers it's more comforting when mom/dad are beside you. Guess I'll be paying extra and flying with a carrier that allows seating assignments. Just not worth the stress.

I just want to re-assure you that flying on SW is wonderful. Great fares, 2 free bags, friendly (even almost goofy at times) employees, re-booking for lower fares, and the ability to change flights with no penalty fees....

As for the no seat assignments, it is NOT a big deal, if you check in at the 24 hour mark, as close to exactly 24 hours. If YOU can't do it, ask a friend, anyone can check you in if they have your name and reservation number. If you are a larger group, just head for the middle-back of the plane. What is amazing, is how much FASTER the boarding is on SW. I would think it would be slower, but it is not.

The people who have the biggest problem, are those who do not check in until they get to the airport, the C group. Also, some of these people asking for others to move so they can sit together, were standbys just trying to get on the flight. They they GET on, and want to sit together...... Check in "on-time", or as early as you can, and you will be fine.

 

[goofy4tink]

what about family boarding? Someone mentioned that and I hadn't heard of it...actually didn't realize ANY airlines did that anymore.

Although really, our kids aren't little. We probably don't need it, and will just take our chances with 24 hour advance check in. The flight is at 6:45 in the morning on the Monday after Thanksgiving, don't think it will be that full?

You've gotten good advice about the family boarding system.
So, as far as the plane being crowded??? There's really no way to tell. We are finding fewer and fewer less than full flights these days. A flight at your time of departure, on that particular date, should be okay. Be online right at that 24 hr mark...be sure to check off each passengers name before hitting submit...I forgot to do that, thinking that once I clicked one time, everyone would be included!! Nope, had to go back and do the others. So, we got somewhat set apart boarding spots. Wasn't a huge issue though.

 

[RainbowsMist]

I just want to re-assure you that flying on SW is wonderful. Great fares, 2 free bags, friendly (even almost goofy at times) employees, re-booking for lower fares, and the ability to change flights with no penalty fees....

As for the no seat assignments, it is NOT a big deal, if you check in at the 24 hour mark, as close to exactly 24 hours. If YOU can't do it, ask a friend, anyone can check you in if they have your name and reservation number. If you are a larger group, just head for the middle-back of the plane. What is amazing, is how much FASTER the boarding is on SW. I would think it would be slower, but it is not.

The people who have the biggest problem, are those who do not check in until they get to the airport, the C group. Also, some of these people asking for others to move so they can sit together, were standbys just trying to get on the flight. They they GET on, and want to sit together...... Check in "on-time", or as early as you can, and you will be fine.

Thank you so much I think we'll give it a whirl and see how it goes! I've heard nothing but great things about SW I guess panic set in as we've always been able to select our seats when flying...change can be a good thing right?

 

[esk]

OK, one more question.....

we'll be at the parks the day before our return trip...how do we check in from an IPhone? (I am obviously not the tech whiz in the family....DH has the IPhone). Do we go to the website and do it that way or is their some app or some other special way to do it? Otherwise, at the 24 hour point, we'll be on ToT or maybe, JUST MAYBE, eating lunch in the new Be Our Guest restaurant, if it is open for soft preview!!!!

 

[Paging Tom Morrow]

Have your husband download the Southwest App for his iPhone. You can check in with that.

 

[jdb in AZ]

OK, one more question.....

we'll be at the parks the day before our return trip...how do we check in from an IPhone? (I am obviously not the tech whiz in the family....DH has the IPhone). Do we go to the website and do it that way or is their some app or some other special way to do it? Otherwise, at the 24 hour point, we'll be on ToT or maybe, JUST MAYBE, eating lunch in the new Be Our Guest restaurant, if it is open for soft preview!!!!

I'm not the tech whiz either, but DH says he used the SWA website to check us in from his Iphone a few weeks ago. You will need to have your reservation number handy, such as from an e-mail file on your phone. After we checked in we still needed to print boarding passes from a kiosk when we got to the airport, but we had great boarding numbers, compared to what they would have been if we had waited to check in at the airport.

The SWA boarding system is rather strange, but as a PP has stated, it's really much faster than other airlines, probably twice as fast as the Delta flights we recently took. One of the reasons for the speed -- since your bags fly free, more people check their luggage, so there isn't as much carry-on luggage to try to squeeze into the overhead bins.

 

[dsneprincess]

I know a lot about jetBlue; PM me your dates, starting airport, and flight numbers, and I'll let you know what I know about likely available seats.

I don't work for the company, so I can't do anything except maybe appease your fears.

I don't post enough to be able to pm.

We are flying out of Syracuse August 19, flight 663. I have seats 21A&B for me & the youngest. Oldest son has seat 20E, so close, but he is worried. Husband has no seat assignment at this point. Only seats showing are more leg room for $35 extra each. I am actually thinking about paying them the $70 for 2 seats for son's piece of mind.....do they open these up at some point? Any information you have is GREATLY appreciated!!
Thanks, Missy

Can send me email dsneprincess at yahoo dot com.
Thanks again for any info

 

[kaytieeldr]

Okay, first, there are Extra Legroom sears available on that flight - but you knew that.

Get to the airport EARLY. Three hours prior to flight time isn't unreasonable. Check in with either the skycaps ($2 surcharge per bag, goes to the airline, isn't the tip) or at the counter. Ask about seats in row 25!!!!

I know they're showing as assigned - but if you look at any distant jetBlue flight, even the day new fares open up, these six seats always display as assigned. That's impossible... even without considering they're not especially popular (non-reclining, near the restroom). I know I'm not making much of a case for the seats, but they're probably not actually taken.

Barring that, ask about any three seats together that don't require you to pay extra. Barring that, yes, go for the Extra Legroom seats. Be advised the Flight Attendants monitor who sits there. If you don't pay for the upgrade, you'll be sent back to your original seats.






ETA: I just finished talking to a jetBlue agent about my own flight, and then asked about this situation. She assured me they hold back seats for assignment at the airport - and reminded me that they don't overbook. She, too, said to get there early .

 

[vacationclub]

The SWA boarding system is rather strange, but as a PP has stated, it's really much faster than other airlines

Not really. I've actually timed many airlines including SW from first passenger scanned to the door closing, and most are similar. People must still scan a pass, walk down a jetway, squeeze down the isle, put their bag in a bin, and sit down and buckle their belt. Knowing exactly what seat you are headed to as you enter the aircraft doesn't logically make it slower for you to get to your seat than if you must make that decision as you walk down the plane's isle. Not to mention the negotiations that happen when the last few SW passengers that are separated are tryng to get together. SW's only logic for not having any seating assignments is to save money...like discount stores that don't have shopping bags. SW simply doesn't offer that area of customer service...at all. It saves them having to do some work on your behalf. They are completely hands off once you walk down the jetway.

If a non-SW airline needs to board quickly due to a late arriving aircraft, you'd be surprised how fast it can be done. SW has to do this all the time...their schedule demands it....so they do. They're fast because they are rushing, not because their passengers have no idea where they will sit as they enter the aircraft.

FYI, you don't need a SW app...their web site has a mobile version (basically the same thing as an app)

Even on an airline that assigns seats, it is possible that you could be reassigned.

-steve

While possible, it's unlikely, and even more unlikely that it results in a separation of people in the same party, and even more unlikely that you won't be able to do something about it before you enter the aircraft.

It's only the people boarding in the C group that will have an issue finding larger numbers of seats together. .

Unless, of course, you have a connecting flight and your first flight is late. Doesn't matter if you checked in at 24 hours, doesn't matter if you paid for EBCI, doesn't even matter if you paid double or triple for Business Select. If your plane is late for the connection, and they start boarding before you and your party gets there...they may wait for you, but you'll find a plane with nothing but empty middle seats spread around the aircraft. Flying SW is like running around a golf course during a lighting storm...you're always playing the odds.

 

[DVC Daisy]

I'm not the tech whiz either, but DH says he used the SWA website to check us in from his Iphone a few weeks ago. You will need to have your reservation number handy, such as from an e-mail file on your phone. After we checked in we still needed to print boarding passes from a kiosk when we got to the airport, but we had great boarding numbers, compared to what they would have been if we had waited to check in at the airport

Does anyone know if your boarding pass number will be exactly the same if you check in using your iPhone and print your boarding pass later vs. checking in and printing all at the same time?

I would love to be able to check in at the parks & then just print my boarding pass later, but not if that means my number will be any higher than if I was sitting at a computer & did it all in one step.

Thanks

(VERY NERVOUS FLYER HERE - starting to freak out a bit )

 

[brenda1966]

Does anyone know if your boarding pass number will be exactly the same if you check in using your iPhone and print your boarding pass later vs. checking in and printing all at the same time?


(VERY NERVOUS FLYER HERE - starting to freak out a bit )

::

Yes, you get the same number. Don't fret about printing later. It works out just fine. I always have a friend check me in for my flight home as I'm in the parks. She texts me the boarding #. When I print my pass at the airport, it is the same #.

 

[deadhedjen]

Just checked in for a totally sold out flight. Had the computer and the iphone app both refreshing at 30 seconds to the 24 hr mark.

Got A boarding positions for the 6 of us. The iphone app was quickest BTW.

 

[DebbieB]

We used our I-Phones to check in at the beginning of May at WDW. We got B1 & B2. We still ended up with exit row seats.

 

[esk]

This is all good to know....again, we haven't flown SW before, so I'm not sure what to expect. We have flown Ryanair in Europe (the people who wanted to charge for the toilet, and have stand- up seats) and that is a TOTAL disaster...we paid the extra $10 per person for priority boarding but then they just boarded "first to the door" first and we ended up split up, it was awful.

Friends flying out of St Louis (here) paid for Early Bird and they got like B20 or something, they said, so I guess it all depend on the flight and how full it is. But we'll be checking in at EXACTLY the 24 hour mark!

 

[mkoerner]

I haven't flown SW in years. When I printed boarding passes this morning, they have numbers under the boarding group A. What do the numbers mean? Last time, we just got in the group letter line.

 

[kaytieeldr]

See Boarding School at Southwest's site.

 

[mmtwinmama]

Just giving info on people wondering what their boarding position may be with EBCI. The first day that our travel dates opened up, I booked 8 tickets with only getting EBCI for 2 seats. Then months later (about 2 months prior to now... We leave tomorrow) I added EBCI for the other 6.
Checked in this morning. The 2 that I booked first are A51 and A52. The other 6 are A33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38. . I'm glad the bulk of us get on early for sure, but I was expecting the opposite.
I also checked in a family of 3 without EBCI right at the 24 hour mark and they are B6,7,8. Not bad. We should all sit together no problem!

 

[DVC Daisy]

All of this info is helpful - thanks!

Another question, when you check in and get your boarding pass number, will it also do the same, give you a boarding pass number for your connecting flight?

 

[vacationclub]

All of this info is helpful - thanks!

Another question, when you check in and get your boarding pass number, will it also do the same, give you a boarding pass number for your connecting flight?

Yes