Southwest Family Boarding--Did Age Change?

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I agree. In my opinion, this is a safety problem which I wish be addressed by the FAA. How old does a child need to be to sit by himself/herself on an airline without an adult responsible for the child sitting next to or nearby? In the event of an emergency, I doubt a 5 or 6 year old has the ability to put on an oxygen mask and know how to exit the plane! I am not sure what the correct minimum age should be, but I agree a young child should be required to sit next to or near an adult responsible for the child. Not necessarily the entire family, but at least one parent/adult able to assist the child in the event of an emergency. Just my 2 cents.

The airlines allow 5 year olds to fly unaccompanied.

 

[trainingupmy4princes]

You're absolutely right, I could have avoided what happened with a little bit of research. But as I tried to explain in my first response, I had very little experience with air travel at the time, and the little experience that I did have was with airlines that had assigned seating. I was only 26 at the time and not very travel-savvy. I had no idea that there was anything to research, because I didn't understand at that point in my life that anything else was possible--I thought that you bought a seat on an airplane, then sat in that seat for your flight. As I said, I had only been on 5 trips before our Disney trip in 2010, and all those trips were business trips--all the arrangements were made for me and none of the flights were on Southwest.

Another problem was that we booked our trip through a travel agent. Maybe if I had spent time on travel sites I would have had an inkling about the policy, that didn't happen though. And my MIL printed our boarding passes for the trip, I never even saw that paperwork from the travel agent. It was a family trip and we all took responsibility for planning certain aspects of the trip. Really, it was a cluster-fudge of circumstances and naivete that contributed to what happened.

I can absolutely blame the Southwest personnel for their part in handling the situation. I didn't go into details, but lets just say my inner mama bear was triggered by one very rude flight attendant who got pushy with my frightened child. My son is on the autism spectrum and is a worrier, he was terrified of his first aiplane ride and I was stressed out with worry that he would lose it. Yes, I did him a disservice by not finding out about the policy and that's on me, but I am perfectly entitled to hold a grudge against a company for poor customer service, and there are plenty of other carriers--I don't need to give Southwest my business. Maybe our flight attendant was having a bad day, we all have those, the way my family was treated was wrong and I won't fly the carrier again. It was a bad experience all around. My in-laws have managed to never fly southwest again as well--we're leaving plenty of seats for you if you like southwest.

That is unfortunate. It is amazing how a bad experience with a FA can make such a lasting impression about an entire airline. Maybe airlines should train their FA's better. I know how you feel about a bad FA as I had one with United. I was flying with my first 2 (2.5 and 1.5 DS's) while pregnant with our third to see my family for Thanksgiving. DH couldn't make it due to work. Portland was fine they let me preboard so I could install the seats and strap the kids in and helped me carry the seats. But, flying back Chicago they wouldn't let me preboard and were rather rude about it. So there I was the little one strapped to my back, holding my toddler, diaper bag and 1 car seat while trying to nudge the other seat down the aisle with my foot. I was really sticking out as well so I kept bumping people walking down the aisle, I kept apologizing. Well then I still had to install the seats and strap them in and stuff the bag in the bin before I could sit down. So wouldn't you know the same FA who wouldn't let me preboard was telling everyone I was going to cause a delay. I wanted to crawl under the seat I felt so humiliated. I just wanted to see my family as I hadn't seen them for over a year and with the next one due in 3 months it would have been another year.

As far as your son Southwest has a policy for spectrum kids and have been great with our 2 special boys. They do let us board with family boarding so we can get them situated and prepared. We pay for ECBI as well but if we get a B we use the earlier boarding. This is beneficial to those on the plane as well so there are no meltdowns as they are ready before the plane moves.

 

[goofy4tink]

After we purchased our tickets, we were considering options for boarding with a 5 year old and almost purchased Early Bird for 2 of us (parent ,5 yr) but then I read about Southwest testing and possibly changing family boarding ages, so I held off. Then I completely forgot about it. We leave in a few days. We are a family of 8. DH,me, six kids age 16,15,12,9,5,3. I am NOT worried about the 16,15,12 or 9 year old. They will sit by themselves if need be. I am assuming the 3 year old can board during family boarding with my husband.
I am worried about my 5 yr old. She could sit by herself but it would not be ideal. This is what I am debating doing.
1. Purchase Early Bird for the 5 yr old- but from everything I read probably won't get her much considering it is so close to our flight date.
2. If she gets A boarding, have her board with my husband and 3 yr old during family boarding.
3. If her Early Bird gets her B seating, can we try to have her board with her Dad and 3 yr. old sister?
4. If her Early Bird gets her B seating, have my husband sit my 3 year old in the window, him in the aisle and "save" the middle for my 5 yr old. She would then have to board with the rest of us.
I know I should have just booked the Early Bird when we booked but I didn't.

I just want to get a feel if this "plan" is doable......

I would just have the 5 y/o board with a parent and the 3 y/o. That shouldn't be an issue. Then, when everyone else boards, seats can be switched if need be.

I agree. In my opinion, this is a safety problem which I wish be addressed by the FAA. How old does a child need to be to sit by himself/herself on an airline without an adult responsible for the child sitting next to or nearby? In the event of an emergency, I doubt a 5 or 6 year old has the ability to put on an oxygen mask and know how to exit the plane! I am not sure what the correct minimum age should be, but I agree a young child should be required to sit next to or near an adult responsible for the child. Not necessarily the entire family, but at least one parent/adult able to assist the child in the event of an emergency. Just my 2 cents.

I flew by myself when I was 6. I knew how to get the oxygen mask and how to exit the plane. It's not rocket science.[/QUOTE]
If you book with SW, you should fully realize that you may not be automatically seated with your group...child or not. If you want to be more assured that you will be seated next to your child, then book with an airline that has assigned seating. As noted already, children can fly alone, as minors. BUT...they will be tended to by FAs, so that's not really the same situation.
Realistically, it's only those groups boarding in the C group, middle of that group even, that have any issue finding two seats together. Usually, someone can be found that will change seats in order to facilitate a parent/child seating arrangement. It's just not that big a deal. If I'm flying, I want to fly with the people I am traveling with....plain and simple. Am I 'afraid' to fly by myself? Absolutely not...I do it all the time. But, I find pleasure in being able to chat with my traveling companions.....so, I either book an airline that allows me to choose our seats when booking, or I book SW and pay for EBCI. I take responsibility for my travel.

 

[Hrhpd]

We are a party of ten. 7 of those are kids. I'm hoping they will let my oldest son board with me, so that he can help me with the carseats, and that my husband can stay with our special needs daughter to board. We've already prepped our kids to be in groups of two when they board, and board with your buddy. I cant imagine adults not moving, but I guess there are those that wont. I cant imagine sitting next to someone elses kids for hours and hours. Id rather a parent babysit them, and not me.

I shell out the premium $$ for EBCI for our large family so that we can sit together. I am not moving and basically just throwing away that money.

 

[Hrhpd]

You're absolutely right, I could have avoided what happened with a little bit of research. But as I tried to explain in my first response, I had very little experience with air travel at the time, and the little experience that I did have was with airlines that had assigned seating. I was only 26 at the time and not very travel-savvy. I had no idea that there was anything to research, because I didn't understand at that point in my life that anything else was possible--I thought that you bought a seat on an airplane, then sat in that seat for your flight. As I said, I had only been on 5 trips before our Disney trip in 2010, and all those trips were business trips--all the arrangements were made for me and none of the flights were on Southwest.

Another problem was that we booked our trip through a travel agent. Maybe if I had spent time on travel sites I would have had an inkling about the policy, that didn't happen though. And my MIL printed our boarding passes for the trip, I never even saw that paperwork from the travel agent. It was a family trip and we all took responsibility for planning certain aspects of the trip. Really, it was a cluster-fudge of circumstances and naivete that contributed to what happened.

I can absolutely blame the Southwest personnel for their part in handling the situation. I didn't go into details, but lets just say my inner mama bear was triggered by one very rude flight attendant who got pushy with my frightened child. My son is on the autism spectrum and is a worrier, he was terrified of his first aiplane ride and I was stressed out with worry that he would lose it. Yes, I did him a disservice by not finding out about the policy and that's on me, but I am perfectly entitled to hold a grudge against a company for poor customer service, and there are plenty of other carriers--I don't need to give Southwest my business. Maybe our flight attendant was having a bad day, we all have those, the way my family was treated was wrong and I won't fly the carrier again. It was a bad experience all around. My in-laws have managed to never fly southwest again as well--we're leaving plenty of seats for you if you like southwest.

I would be mad at your travel agent. That is who to blame. Shame on that company for not mentioning that they booked you on an airline with non-standard boarding procedures so you could look into it. Hopefully you never used this travel agency again.

 

[Hrhpd]

Here people tend to go with worst case scenarios. I'd say you have a chance of boarding the whole family with your husband and DD in medical preboards. I've never seen groups that big in medical pre-boards, but if there are lots of small children I could see them letting that go.

The most likely scenerio is your husband and daughter board with pre-boards, and you and the rest of your family will be allowed on with family boarding. This is especially likely if the other 4 children are not teens, as they really don't like leaving kids under 12 or 13 on their own.

If there are a ton of families, they might only let two adults and the pre-schoolers on, or they may cancel family boarding altogether. I think this happens once in a blue moon, and when it does happen you can assume everyone is trying to get families together since they are going with this type of boarding because everyone is a family.

If I were you, I'd try to get Dad and DD in one row, saving the middle seat for another child when they get there. Putting the carseats next to each other, with mom on the aisle, and three children across the aisle, and let the other adult (your eldest son?) sit alone and have the flight off. This way there are no children sitting next to strangers.

I saw it for the first time on our trip to Orlando earlier this year. There was one child in a wheelchair and 21 of all ages in the group with him (I counted) as we were medical pre-boarding too. I wasn't worried, but was curious. Come to find out the child was on a wish trip and they allowed the entire wish group to preboard. You can't get mad at that

 

[Hrhpd]

never mind. already covered

 

[FlightlessDuck]

The way airlines board is stupid. This has been talked about on Mythbusters.

http://flightclub.jalopnik.com/mythbusters-proves-most-airlines-board-planes-all-wrong-1636981904

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

..... But, flying back Chicago they wouldn't let me preboard and were rather rude about it. So there I was the little one strapped to my back, holding my toddler, diaper bag and 1 car seat while trying to nudge the other seat down the aisle with my foot. I was really sticking out as well so I kept bumping people walking down the aisle, I kept apologizing. Well then I still had to install the seats and strap them in and stuff the bag in the bin before I could sit down. So wouldn't you know the same FA who wouldn't let me preboard was telling everyone I was going to cause a delay. I wanted to crawl under the seat I felt so humiliated. I just wanted to see my family as I hadn't seen them for over a year and with the next one due in 3 months it would have been another year.

United's policy is that families with children do not get pre-boarding, so you were very lucky it was allowed on the outbound trip. Most US airlines don't allow pre-boarding of families.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

The way airlines board is stupid. This has been talked about on Mythbusters.

http://flightclub.jalopnik.com/mythbusters-proves-most-airlines-board-planes-all-wrong-1636981904

One test by Mythbusters doesn't mean all that much. I assume the airlines have done a lot more testing and have chosen what works best for them.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I saw it for the first time on our trip to Orlando earlier this year. There was one child in a wheelchair and 21 of all ages in the group with him (I counted) as we were medical pre-boarding too. I wasn't worried, but was curious. Come to find out the child was on a wish trip and they allowed the entire wish group to preboard. You can't get mad at that

I'm not mad, but it was ridiculous to let 21 people pre-board with the wish child.

 

[stitchlovestink]

medical assists board first.

EXACTLY!

Yes, some do.

No not some...ALL

It is nice to use family boarding on Southwest, but every airline I've flown has allowed families with infants and toddlers to board after first class and business. It's good for our kids to find their seats, get belted and situated to "airplane" mode. I guess the trade off is that other people don't have to struggle to keep a squirmy toddler quiet and calm for a 3 hour flight. I do everything possible so my "snowflakes" don't bother anyone.

Sw doesn't have first class. And if you feel that it is so important to board after first class and business class, then SW probably isn't a good fit for you.
With open seating, if they allowed things to happen the way you suggest, there would be babies/toddlers/preschoolers ALL over the plane!! Why should the get priority? They shouldn't. If you want to board earlier in the process than they currently allow, then buy EBCI.

I know....I usually don't book EBCI for my flight down...just figured I would do it to see where I ended up. Actually, getting any A slot, and booking as late as I did, is surprising to me. I fully expected to get a mid B slot, at best.


I wish those that are medical preboards were held in their seats until everyone was off the plane....only seems fair. There should be some kind of identifying something to allow FAs to know who was a medical preboard and needs that extra time. If they need extra time getting onto the plane, then they need extra time getting off. But, that will never happen.
There was the one time I was on a SW flight....had an A16 slot...lucky me. There were about 8 medical preboards. I followed immediately after them. Well.....the FA was telling one of those med preboards that they couldn't sit in the exit row...that they needed to be able to help in an emergency. That older gentleman informed the FA that he, and his wife, were more than capable of helping out in any emergency situation. She sweetly told them that in that case, they shouldn't have had to board with medical preboards, and that they had to move, immediately. The gentleman started to argue, the FA followed with a 'if you don't move sir, I will be forced to call security and have you removed from the plane'. They moved. But by the time they got up to move? They ended up about 6 rows behind the wing...when they could have taken seats in front of the exit rows if they had boarded properly!!!

Well until you have walked in someone's MEDICAL shoes maybe you shouldn't be so quick to judge all of them. I NEED to get up!!! I am in pain and need to change positions. But don't worry, I won't be running. you will be walking by me, because I will be at the bottom of the jet way waiting for my gate checked medical equipment.

You also have to remember that EBCI reservations that close to the actual flight will be further back in the line. If you booked EBCI the day the flight opened for reservations, a position under A20 would not be unheard of.

Actually not always true. If someone who bought EBCI cancels or changes flights, their EBCI go back into the pool. So if someone with an early number cancels right before you buy and you buy even at the last minute, you can end up with a higher number than someone who bought their tickets months before you. Fair? Not really..but that is how the system is set up.

Assigned seats on other airlines are not guaranteed either. Plane models change, flights change and seats are reassigned, sometimes not together.

Yep!!! But people think it is a guarantee. And actually if a pilot or such tells you to move, you had better. They are the supreme authority of that plane, like it or not!

I agree. In my opinion, this is a safety problem which I wish be addressed by the FAA. How old does a child need to be to sit by himself/herself on an airline without an adult responsible for the child sitting next to or nearby? In the event of an emergency, I doubt a 5 or 6 year old has the ability to put on an oxygen mask and know how to exit the plane! I am not sure what the correct minimum age should be, but I agree a young child should be required to sit next to or near an adult responsible for the child. Not necessarily the entire family, but at least one parent/adult able to assist the child in the event of an emergency. Just my 2 cents.

Really??? how on earth did your child ever manage to go to school on their own???

No wonder our society is such a mess. We aren't promoting raising independent self sufficient individuals! SMH

 

[turtle27]

The way airlines board is stupid. This has been talked about on Mythbusters.

http://flightclub.jalopnik.com/mythbusters-proves-most-airlines-board-planes-all-wrong-1636981904

In Europe, there were many flights that boarded at all 3 exits/entrances. I was so enthralled at the time, that I purposefully used all of the entrances/exits on different flights. Not sure it went all that much quicker, but it did eliminate people who were sitting in the back of the plane taking up overhead bin space in the front of the plane, since you were directed where to board depending on where your seat was. Of course, there were some flights that you would only board at the front entrance and then you could deplane at all exits. That was funny when certain individuals had left their overhead luggage way at the front of the plane, not so easy to swim upstream when most are heading towards closest exit.

 

[turtle27]

The way airlines board is stupid. This has been talked about on Mythbusters.

http://flightclub.jalopnik.com/mythbusters-proves-most-airlines-board-planes-all-wrong-1636981904

In Europe, there were many flights that boarded at all 3 exits/entrances. I was so enthralled at the time, that I purposefully used all of the entrances/exits on different flights. Not sure it went all that much quicker, but it did eliminate people who were sitting in the back of the plane taking up overhead bin space in the front of the plane, since you were directed where to board depending on where your seat was. Of course, there were some flights that you would only board at the front entrance and then you could deplane at all exits. That was funny when certain individuals had left their overhead luggage way at the front of the plane, not so easy to swim upstream when most are heading towards closest exit.

 

[kamik86]

I'd guess she either gave up her seat on an overbooked flight earlier, or missed her connection due to a SW snafu. People seldom end up with C30 even if they checked in when they arrive at the airport an hour before the flight, which makes me think she just got that boarding pass. The agent stopped, looked up, realized it was the person he just rebooked onto the flight, and let her on.

One other option... she could have been A list if her boarding pass said A list that is where she normally would have boarded and they may have let her board there (even though officially if you get a late boarding pass and are A list you board just before family boarding)

I have used the above to my advantage in the past, when a work meeting goes over and I have to move my flight when I'm already in the 24 hour window.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

It is nice to use family boarding on Southwest, but every airline I've flown has allowed families with infants and toddlers to board after first class and business. It's good for our kids to find their seats, get belted and situated to "airplane" mode. I guess the trade off is that other people don't have to struggle to keep a squirmy toddler quiet and calm for a 3 hour flight. I do everything possible so my "snowflakes" don't bother anyone.

I know this was posted a month ago, but again, almost no US airlines allow families to pre-board anymore and I have never seen any airline which lets families board after the first boarding group.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

FWIW, I flew on Southwest (not to MCO) on Wednesday. We had two medical preboards (very elderly people very much in need of wheelchairs). Southwest allowed one person to board with each person, and they were held on board until everyone else was off the plane.

I have no idea whether they did family boarding, but I'm assuming not. We had EBCI and were in the A group, and the plan was full of adults that looked mostly to be business travelers. Besides my kids, there were only two other children on the plane, and they appeared to be around age 10.

 

[Judique]

EXACTLY!


No not some...ALL


Sw doesn't have first class. And if you feel that it is so important to board after first class and business class, then SW probably isn't a good fit for you.
With open seating, if they allowed things to happen the way you suggest, there would be babies/toddlers/preschoolers ALL over the plane!! Why should the get priority? They shouldn't. If you want to board earlier in the process than they currently allow, then buy EBCI.


Well until you have walked in someone's MEDICAL shoes maybe you shouldn't be so quick to judge all of them. I NEED to get up!!! I am in pain and need to change positions. But don't worry, I won't be running. you will be walking by me, because I will be at the bottom of the jet way waiting for my gate checked medical equipment.


Actually not always true. If someone who bought EBCI cancels or changes flights, their EBCI go back into the pool. So if someone with an early number cancels right before you buy and you buy even at the last minute, you can end up with a higher number than someone who bought their tickets months before you. Fair? Not really..but that is how the system is set up.


Yep!!! But people think it is a guarantee. And actually if a pilot or such tells you to move, you had better. They are the supreme authority of that plane, like it or not!


Really??? how on earth did your child ever manage to go to school on their own???

No wonder our society is such a mess. We aren't promoting raising independent self sufficient individuals! SMH

You seem pretty upset about this.

It might be a good idea to stand back and take a breath of fresh air.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

I would be mad at your travel agent. That is who to blame. Shame on that company for not mentioning that they booked you on an airline with non-standard boarding procedures so you could look into it. Hopefully you never used this travel agency again.

It was AAA and no, we've never used them again. I never really thought to blame the TA, she gave us excellent customer service and I should have done more research. This was our first family trip and nothing could have prepared me for my son's reactions to things, except experience. The FA was a witch with a b and I sincerely hope she didn't last long as an employee of SW.

 

[stitchlovestink]

Thank you for your concern but I am fine. But my point is... just because someone may look healthy to *you* doesn't mean they don't have legitimate medical issues and are scamming the system. And not everyone's medical needs are met identically....so telling someone with particular medical needs to stay seated potentially another 15+ minutes can be a problem. So I will say again, until you have walked in a person's shoes who are covered by ACAA don't judge! Most people aren't intelligent enough to know that disabilities are not protected by ADA on airlines. Those with TRUE disabilities know the actual laws and are aware of what laws protect them when flying because it is not ADA.