southwest - open seating has anyone experienced this?

[disneystar65]

Hi All,
Going to FLA this summer on a shoestring and I need to find the cheapest transportation possible. Was considering the auto train, but prices have gone up alot since I checked 2 days ago. Finally found a rental car off the airport in Tampa, for half the price of renting at the airport! So, now we can fly!

Cheapest flights I can find are on Southwest, and we have never flown Southwest, we are die hard jet blue fans. I was planning to book today but just found out they have open seating. Never heard of this before. I am flying with my 2 teens who hate to fly and are very nervous, I couldn't imagine what they would be like if they couldn't sit next to me.

So, what do we do? Would love to hear your experience with this.
Thank you

 

[mrsklamc]

MANY of us here on the budget board have experienced SWA. If you are concerned, you can pay extra for early bird checkin and will get to board earlier- you can use the money you save by not having to pay for bags!

 

[stacielee]

Love SW! Not paying for checked bags is a big draw for them!! The open seating has never been a problem for us. You check in 24 hours before your flight and you'll get a letter-number combination which is a place in line to board the plane. Group A is the best, then B, then C. The numbers go 1-60. If you check in right at 24 hours before, you'll usually get in the A group, which boards first. People will usually start sitting at the front of the plane, you should have no problem getting seats together if you do this.

 

[TiggerTails57]

SW rocks!

 

[vacation_junkie]

MANY of us here on the budget board have experienced SWA. If you are concerned, you can pay extra for early bird checkin and will get to board earlier- you can use the money you save by not having to pay for bags!

We used Early Bird Check-in this past week...on the way there A28-29-30
On the way home A16,17,18!
because of this we will always pay for EB'ng!!

 

[Redwitch]

We usually check in 24 hours in advance and get a "B" Anymore "A" seem to be business class. We call home and have someone do our return trip. However, we once were unable to check-in in advance and got a "C." We still found two seats together.

 

[lanand3]

I fly SW with my fam of 5.We have been in the A and B group and have always been able to sit together.as long as you don't mind the back of the plane(some people do,although I don't uderstand why)it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[disneystar65]

Love SW! Not paying for checked bags is a big draw for them!! The open seating has never been a problem for us. You check in 24 hours before your flight and you'll get a letter-number combination which is a place in line to board the plane. Group A is the best, then B, then C. The numbers go 1-60. If you check in right at 24 hours before, you'll usually get in the A group, which boards first. People will usually start sitting at the front of the plane, you should have no problem getting seats together if you do this.

I would definitely check in right at 24 hours, but I read on their website that the letter assigned as to do not only with what time you check in but what you paid, and I plan to pay the cheapest wanna travel rate. Paying $80 for early check in negates the discount we are looking for because Jet blue is just $100 more. We really need to spend every penny!

 

[a1tinkfans]

Hi All,
Going to FLA this summer on a shoestring and I need to find the cheapest transportation possible. Was considering the auto train, but prices have gone up alot since I checked 2 days ago. Finally found a rental car off the airport in Tampa, for half the price of renting at the airport! So, now we can fly!

Cheapest flights I can find are on Southwest, and we have never flown Southwest, we are die hard jet blue fans. I was planning to book today but just found out they have open seating. Never heard of this before. I am flying with my 2 teens who hate to fly and are very nervous, I couldn't imagine what they would be like if they couldn't sit next to me.

So, what do we do? Would love to hear your experience with this.
Thank you

LOVE SW! Pay the $10. to get checked in automatically and don't stress it. They are a great airline and we use them exclusively!

 

[amamax2]

We fly SW almost exclusively domestically and love it.

I'm pretty sure the website is not referring to the price of your ticket, but the fact that those who pay the extra early bird fee pretty much get the "A" check in as they are paying for priority , but that doesn't mean you couldn't also get A if you checked in right at the 24 hour mark - it will depend on how many paid the extra fee.

We have always gotten A or B and all been able to sit together.

When you get to the airport, where you line up is marked with poles that have the letters/numbers for boarding order. Then when you get on the plane, you can choose any seat you want.

 

[disneystar65]

LOVE SW! Pay the $10. to get checked in automatically and don't stress it. They are a great airline and we use them exclusively!

So, is it $10 per person per route?

 

[tinkmom2]

I am afraid I am too fat to fly Southwest lol! But I have had some pretty good success with Airtran. I switched to them after Midwest airlines started to go under. They still offer pretty good rates and if you sign up on most airlines pages they will send you a notice of their low airfares.

 

[BBGraph]

i have flown both airlines and sw is definitly bigger seats

 

[TxRabbit]

I believe that it is $10 pp per route. You can select to do it for only one way (i.e. the return flight.) My family and I usually end up flying SW. I check my parents in all the time. The key is to literally check in at EXACTLY the 24 hour mark. Like clear your schedule, be home, have your check-in information typed into the fields and when the clock changes, hit the button.

In this method, we have ALWAYS gotten A seating. One time, flying from Phoenix (SW hub), I got the very LAST A boarding. LOL. I checked my parents in today, as a matter of fact, and they got A22 and A23.

SW used to reserve A1-15 for business class passengers. It used to be that there would be a big gap in the seating lines, because so few passengers paid for the business class. Now they offer early bird check-in. I don't know if this is in addition to, or replaces, the business class. If you pay for early-bird check in, then SW will automatically check you in, and they will do it BEFORE everyone else can at the 24 mark.

Generally, when you consider the capacity of a typical SW plane, 149 seats, usually 6 seats across, with one third of the seats being aisles, windows, and middles. This means that there are roughly 47 aisle seats and 47 window seats and 47 middle seats. There are 60 people in each boarding group. You know the size of your group and what seating arrangement would work out best, but odds are, if you make checking in a priority, you should be able to find seats together no problem.

 

[tinkmom2]

i have flown both airlines and sw is definitly bigger seats

Then I should be ok because I don't need an extender on Airtran. That being said I would be mortified if I got there and was singled out and had to buy 2 seats. Every airline is different I am finding. But since Midwest is now a different airline I have chosen Airtran as my new airline. Southwest has just started flying out of here this year.

 

[videogal1]

You'll be ok as long as you're not traveling the same date/time as the Men on Wheels wheelchair basketball team, who pre-board.

 

[TxRabbit]

You'll be ok as long as you're not traveling the same date/time as the Men on Wheels wheelchair basketball team, who pre-board.

The last time I flew (March 2010), SW preboarded based on boarding group. There was the A preboarding, then the B preboarding... I saw that when I had that B group. If you get the A group, you can miss some preboarders...

 

[LittleBlackRaincloud]

I have flown SWA several times and have never paid for early check in. I have always ended up at the end of the 'A's or an early 'B' when checking in 24 hours prior.

Call home and have someone check you in on your way home at the 24 hour mark. When you get to the airport, you just reprint your boarding pass since you are already checked in.

You will be fine, you will get to sit together. Enjoy the savings!

 

[pyrxtc]

the open seating is not bad but I won't fly SW anymore. I refuse. I'll pay a little more for the comforts of Jetblue and fly out of Boston instead of Manchester (which Man is closer to me but I dislike SW that much)

 

[andrews_dad]

As long as you can access a computer 24 hours before fligh time, NEVER pay that $10 per person. If there is 4 of you that would be $40 per way. Are you kidding me?? NEVER. I am a family of 3. We never pay for early, and we ALWAYS sit together. We fly SW 4-6 times per year, so 8-12 flights. One time we were in the bathroom with our son and almost missed the flight (it was close) and was boarding last (we were getting paged over head and everything, so we had to seperate on that flight. But even if we paid for A boarding passes that time it would have been the same. We just did not board on time due to an accident in the pants!! That $10 per person can kill a flight budget and is really not needed, unless your hotel has no wifi or something.