Southwest on 24hr mark??

[Disneyof3]

Okay just booked first flight with SW for our upcoming trip. A little nervous, never flown with SW and not sure what the kids will think with no TV's. Will bring mp3 players and ipod and other things to keep them busy. I also will bring lots of snacks for the flight due to it is a direct flight which is 5hrs and 20 min. Questions:
1.Can I be signed in already and have confirmation entered and then press process or do I have to have add all information at the 24hr mark on the page?
2. We are a family of 5 and everyone is under one confirmation #. Do I have to sign everyone individually in or do I just do mine and everyone lines up with my number?
3. So lets say I sign in and we get B? I don't really care where we sit, even at the back is fine for us as long as were together back to back rows and one of us needs a window seat. What is the chance of this happening?

Thanks again inadvance

 

[vicki_c]

1. Yes, you can have it already to go at T-24 and just hit enter.
2. Yes, you can check everyone in at once (I messed that up once and only did myself, then everyone else a few minutes later).
3. You will most likely get a "B" seating, I think, if you didn't purchase ECBI. Checking in at T-24 though I would think would enable you to sit together - relatively speaking - based on what you posted - not caring about a window, willing to sit in the back, etc.

My kids have never been in a plane with individual TVs, we manage - I'm sure yours will do fine!

Are you flying from TO direct or from Buffalo direct? It's not that long of a flight from Buffalo.

 

[Zerosinthecloset]

Just for reference, direct and nonstop are not the same thing. A direct flight makes one or more stops, but you stay on the same plane. Nonstop is leaving from one city and landing in another with no stops in between.

 

[vicki_c]

Just for reference, direct and nonstop are not the same thing. A direct flight makes one or more stops, but you stay on the same plane. Nonstop is leaving from one city and landing in another with no stops in between.

Yes sorry - bad word usage - I meant non-stop! or at least direct w/o changing planes. So I guess what I meant was not having a layover. Or something! LOL!

 

[suedaisy]

I have always been able to get an A pass if I check-in at the 24 hour mark, but in case you get B (and I am not sure about the ages of your children)-

According to Southwest- An adult traveling with a child four years old or younger will board between the “A” and “B” boarding groups. If you have an “A” boarding pass, please feel free to board with that boarding group. With an all-jet fleet outfitted with comfortable, leather seats, our families with small children are easily accommodated together.

By the way, I love flying Southwest... JetBlue is my favorite, but they no longer fly out of Nashville.

 

[goofy4tink]

When you get to the 'page' that lists each passenger, be sure to click on each person. I tend to forget to do that and then have to go back and do it again....then each person gets a way different boarding group number!!
You can do it quickly...so you should be able to get numbers close to each other.

 

[Disneyof3]

Thank you all for the great advise. The kids ages are 14, 11, 9. We are flying direct non stop to vegas, so they are saying the flight is 5 hrs and 20 minutes. I know from flying before it usually takes about a hour to get up in the air and about a hour to land. So it won't seem that long. The more positive things I hear about SW the more we get excited for our trip. Thanks again everyone for the great help.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Thank you all for the great advise. The kids ages are 14, 11, 9. We are flying direct non stop to vegas, so they are saying the flight is 5 hrs and 20 minutes. I know from flying before it usually takes about a hour to get up in the air and about a hour to land. So it won't seem that long. The more positive things I hear about SW the more we get excited for our trip. Thanks again everyone for the great help.

I can tell you from over 15 flights to Vegas that it is NOT a 5hr and 20min flight. It is usually at most 4.5hrs....and coming home about 4hrs. If they have given you that timing then you might be making a stop somewhere.

 

[Disneyof3]

Yes that is what it is written down?? We leave Buffalo at 8:05 am and arrive non stop to Vegas at 10:35am? With the time difference they are saying the duration of the flight is 5hrs and 20 minutes?? I don't know, I guess I'll find out when we land.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I know from flying before it usually takes about a hour to get up in the air and about a hour to land.

?? What does this mean? That after you leave the gate it takes an hour to take off? Only in very rare circumstances. Or you circle an hour after arriving at an airport and landing? Again, not usually.

You will most likely get a "B" seating, I think, if you didn't purchase ECBI.

I don't believe this is true at all. You are very likely to get A seating if you check in at 24 hours.

I can tell you from over 15 flights to Vegas that it is NOT a 5hr and 20min flight. It is usually at most 4.5hrs....and coming home about 4hrs. If they have given you that timing then you might be making a stop somewhere.

SWA has a non-stop from Buffalo to Las Vegas showing a 5 hour 15 minute flight time (Flt #1200). The non-stop return flight appears to be faster, with a flight time of 4 hours, 25 minutes (Flt #1100).

 

[1tufgt]

I can tell you from over 15 flights to Vegas that it is NOT a 5hr and 20min flight. It is usually at most 4.5hrs....and coming home about 4hrs. If they have given you that timing then you might be making a stop somewhere.

I agree, you are making a stop somewhere.

I don't believe this is true at all. You are very likely to get A seating if you check in at 24 hours.



SWA has a non-stop from Buffalo to Las Vegas showing a 5 hour 15 minute flight time (Flt #1200). The non-stop return flight appears to be faster, with a flight time of 4 hours, 25 minutes (Flt #1100).

Not true, about getting the A boarding pass. It really depends on how many people have booked that flight and didn't do EBC. If there are a lot of people and you didn't do EBC you will most likely get a B.

Yes flights from West to East are usually a little faster since your going with the jet stream instead of against it so less drag.

 

[crashbb]

Are you flying from TO direct or from Buffalo direct? It's not that long of a flight from Buffalo.

Just an FYI - SW doesn't fly out of Toronto (or anywhere in Canada). Many people in Toronto will drive to Buffalo because the airfare is often MUCH cheaper.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I agree, you are making a stop somewhere.

No, as I already posted, if you do some dummy bookings on SWA, the NON-stop flights from Buffalo to Las Vegas run over five hours.

 

[solfan68]

First time flying Southwest. Didn't know what to expect this morning at T-24. I had put my login info and confirmation number into a word doc. It was very easy, signed in. Chose check-in. Entered my confirmation, clicked my party members and I was done. I did get "B" boarding. Not sure if that was due to lots of Early Bird Check-ins, or if experts really are that quick on the draw.

 

[dester]

If you get either an a or b boarding you should be able to sit together

 

[dudspizza]

No, as I already posted, if you do some dummy bookings on SWA, the NON-stop flights from Buffalo to Las Vegas run over five hours.

Some times people forget to figure in "ground time" when it comes to flights... they figure the time in the air..... airlines include everything starting when the door closes to when the door opens when they give you a flight time...... so a 4.5 hour flight in the air could very easily be listed at over 5 hours total flight time....

My MSP-ORD flights always list at 1hr 15m. Guaranteed the flight is less than an hour.... I also have a SFO-RNO flight in June... it says 1hr... guaranteed it will be about 30-40 minutes in the air....

Duds

 

[Disneyof3]

Ok we are flying out of Buffalo, not TO because they don't fly out of Ontario. If you take a look at SWA on March 6 2011. Flight leaving Buf at 8:05am and arriving in LAS 10:35am. Duration time says 5hrs 20 minutes and under the section where it tells you if you change planes it says non-stop. I would take that as a non stop flight which is direct. I'm just going by what they are saying because I have never flown SW before??? What I meant by 1 hour to get up in the air is from sitting in your seats to actually able to take your seatbelt off and roam the plane, sorry for the confusion. I really don't care what section of the plane that we sit in, just as we are altogether and one has a window seat. Front or middle or back doesn't bother us at all. Sat in all 3 sections before.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I've usually gotten A boarding passes if I check in at the 24 hr mark..sometimes B but it sounds like you really want to make sure you are all seated together...so i'd recommend purchasing the early bird check in

 

[traveljunkie]

On my first SWA trip ever last month, I checked in at T-24. I had 5 pp and we were givenB 8, 11,13, 16, 17. It wasn't an issue at all for us to get seats together. However, I was quite deflated by the people ahead of me and that my numbers weren't sequential since I did it all at once. I asked the FA about it and she actually told me that she recommends we pay the $10 extra for me or DH and get in first and hold the seats. She said saving seats is not an issue (at least in their minds). I don't think it's needed for the age of my kids but if I had really little ones I might want to do it. I was surprised she recommended it! :


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