Southwest Preboarding Age?

[Tigger&Belle]

My DS and I flew SW in February and were able to preboard since he was 4yo. We may fly down again this fall and he would still be 4yo. When I was at the airport picking up my other two boys last night I heard the SW person asking for preboarding people and I thought that he said that anyone with a child under 4yo (or did he say under 3yo? ) could preboard. Regardless if it was under 3yo or under 4yo, it wouldn't apply to us if we flew since he is already 4yo.

My question, is there a uniform age to preboard? Obviously a 4yo is too young to sit by himself and he would be very upset if he wasn't next to me (a real momma's boy right now). For all practical purposes I'm assuming that as long as I got to the airport early enough I'd get A boarding passes and it wouldn't be an issue (which is what happened last time), but I still don't like the stress of not knowing for sure.

Anyone know the age, if there is one standard age?

Thanks, T&B

 

[safetymom]

I think it depends on how many families and children they have on a flight.

I have heard announcements where it was for 2 and under, several times I have heard it was only for those needing extra time like handicapped, etc. NO families was stressed.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Thanks, Safetymom. When Jake and I flew last time they did two preboardings, one for people in wheelchairs, etc, who needed extra time and then one for families with young children. I did (finally) find the official policy on their website and they did say that families with children under 5yo can preboard. Of course for a flight to Orlando, that could be half of the plane. For some reason, though, whenever we've flown to Orlando there haven't been a lot of families, more business-looking people. Maybe because we live in the Wash DC area, so besides people going to Orlando for conferences, etc, there are probably lots of people returning from conferences in the DC area.

Guess we'll just play it by ear if we do end up flying SW.

T&B

 

[maraakl]

The official age is under 5, but, they can and do suspend this from time to time.
You can check in online after 12:01 am for your flight if the parameters apply to your fares.

http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/retrieveCheckinDoc.html

Also, Southwest will do everything they can to make sure you and your little one are seated together. But, they cannot make someone move.

 

[Sammy]

I've been on SWA flights where they haven't even had pre-boarding outside of handicapped and elderly-needing-assistance. I think this occurs when they have a great deal of very young children on any given flight.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Of course if someone WANTS to sit next to my 4yo they are more than welcome!

T&B

 

[beccasmom]

On my recent flight from Orlando to Philly on SW, the preboarding was for children 4 and under.

 

[maryliz]

Originally posted by Tigger&Belle
Of course if someone WANTS to sit next to my 4yo they are more than welcome!

T&B

You just quoted my exact strategy. We are booked on SW for January, and I figure if we somehow end up with lousy boarding passes and no pre-boarding for us, I'll just seat my 4 yr old ds next to the grumpiest-looking person on the plane. They'll be changing seats pretty darned quick

We are flying out of Buffalo at 7:30 AM. What time do you think we should get to the airport in hopes of getting "A" passes? We are a family of 4, travelling with another couple. Ressies were made under 2 confirmation numbers on-line so right now, the on-line check-in doesn't apply to us.

TIA for your help!

Mary-Liz

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Ugh, 7:30AM flight! The last time I flew SW I got to the airport at least 1 1/2 hours before the flight. I did curbside check-in and got my boarding pass at that time. We did get A passes I think.

T&B

 

[maraakl]

Mary-Liz,
should that occur why not take the nice way and ask the FA to ask if someone is willing to move?
Also, so this won't be an issue for you, call sw and have the reservation split into separate confirmations. That way you can checkin online and won't have to place your innocent child near some grumpy person.
Not to be disrepectful, but it is pretty darn selfish to not plan ahead and then try to intimidate someone who has planned ahead to move to accomodate you. I tend to doubt I would react very nicely to that ploy and I promise you, I would not leave my travel partner to accomodate you, since I do plan ahead and am there at least two hours before my flight. Sorry if I sould impolite, that is not the intent, but, that ploy just rubs me the wrong way.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I think that Mary-Liz was probably joking, as I was...

I know that I got to the airport plenty early and secured the A passes. That way I would be set if we didn't get to preboard.

Besides, it wouldn't be an issue if, when you are sitting in your seat, you look happy.

T&B

 

[maraakl]

Then I do apologise, if it was a joke. I am probably very sensative to it because it has happened a couple of times. Personally, I don't mind having a child next to me, often they are way more fun than adults. You can get them going on an "imagination story" and have a wonderful time for the entire trip. And, of course, I always look happy, I love to travel.

 

[maryliz]

Ummmm ... I was joking. I thought it was pretty obvious ... given that I was asking what time to be at the airport to try and secure "A" boarding passes ... thought I was definitely indicating my ability to "pre-plan". I cannot imagine a parent putting a 4 yr old by themself and saying "see ya later", but certainly there are lots of things that parents out there do that make you shake your head.

This was my first visit to the Transportation board ... never needed it because we always drive from Ontario to WDW. Guess I'll take my humour back to the Canadian board.

TiggerandBelle - thanks for the info. We will be staying about an hour outside of Buffalo the night before so were planning on getting to the airport at least 2 1/2 hours early by leaving very, very early. No point in trying to sleep that night 'cause I never sleep the night before we leave for WDW Thanks for the advice.

Mary-Liz

 

[maraakl]

Mary Liz,
I did apologise and explain why I am sensative to remarks like that. I am truly sorry that I did not see the humor in your remarks.
Some one recently posted that she informs people that her child gets sick on the airplane and that makes people move (paraphrased).
I am truly delighted that you are not one of those "dump and run" parents. However, if you were, trust me, your child would have a blast. I like children and have a lot of fun listening to them and their thoughts. Again, I am sorry. This medium does not show smiles or body language very well.

 

[lawgs]

if a person has issues with the way some customers use the "policy/ploy game" on SWA, they should take it up with the airline or the person who "wronged" them.... not throw out a "blanket statement" to make a new poster to this forum and thread feel uncomfortable enough to not want to come back or to stay away from the forum

there seemed to be a SMILEY icon at the end of the statement maryliz made in response to a post by tigerbelle...they seemed to be joking between themselves ( that is the way it was observed here )

the question she was asking did not deserve the "blanket flame" she got ( whether or not it was intentional / generic ) since she took the comment to heart and felt unwelcome here .....

by her questions, she was "pre-planning" her upcoming trip to disney not trying to figure out how she could put one over on other SW passengers

we were all newbie posters at one time and appreciated being respected by other more experienced veterans not being "flamed"

words are like small feathers, once they are dispersed, it is hard to gather them all up again no matter how hard we try .........

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Of course my son really does tend to get sick so you might not want to sit near him. Lets just say that at home and in the van, the bucket is our friends.

My middle two kids (boys 13 and 10yo) just flew R/T to California to visit with grandparents. They commented that the trip returning was good because someone sat in the seat next to them, but didn't talk at all. She just slept and ate. My definition of fun would be entertaining conversations with other people, but they obviously don't take after me in that department. lol

Even though I can't begin to imagine my 4 1/2 yo sitting by himself, even with me nearby, I can't believe how young my firstborn (DD) was when she first flew by herself. She flew from Wash DC to California when she was 6 1/2yo! Hard to believe now that I actually put a child that young on an airplance by herself. Well, my DH brought her to the airport--I probably would have started crying or something as she got on the plane.

T&B

 

[maryliz]

Too funny ... we have "the bucket" (AKA a large Becel container) in the van as well especially if we're driving to WDW. We don't use it often, but I like it to be handy just in case !

Mary Liz

 

[mobetsy]

Just flew SWA Monday and yesterday with my kids. Both ways, they announced "families with children 4 and under." On Monday, the pre-boards were literally 25% of the flight, because they let all family members get on with the designated pre-boarder, and two of those groups were 8 or more, plus a lot of families of 5 or 6 people.

I discovered the hard way that if you have more than one name under a given reservation number, you can't check in on-line; it never occurred to me that would be a problem. It is clearly stated in the "print your boarding pass" area of the website, but I wasn't looking there when I was making the reservation. Out of Burbank, we got to the check-in kiosk (self serve) 1-1/4 hours before and got group B; out of Oakland, 1-1/2 hours and got group A. The self-check kiosks are very easy to use, and if you can avoid checking luggage, they are a great way to skip the long lines at the counter.

 

[Wiggle]

Sharing an experience from January with you. We flew from Balto to Phoenix on a packed SW flight. Got to BWI very early and still got C boarding. C boarding consisted of exactly our family of four. (How does a full plane constitute A and B groups, with a family of four as the only C group?? I won't say any more.) Me, DH, DS10, DS8. No preboarding for us. Well, we each got a middle seat spread way thoughout the plane - not even within shouting distance of each other. FAs asked people to trade seats, only one taker, and it didn't get any of the 4 of us together.

So off we flew. For five hours.

During the flight, the FAs talked to me quite a bit (I was basically sitting in the galley, as I was in the last row), and the two of them were outraged that SWA would not help us out (at the gate's counter, when we checked in). One told me that she always tells the agent that her kids have never flown before and are scared, so they are allowed to preboard.

It's a strategy. Take it for what you will, I'm just glad that my boys are a little bit older and that they've flown quite a bit, so they knew what to expect (and what was expected of them.) Probably the people sitting next to them were glad that little guys were in the middle (because it's not so squishy that way.)

 

[lawgs]

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