Southwest Question

[Suestolar]

Flying Bradley to MCO in September.
Only Delta and Southwest fly non stop. Still waiting for a good deal. Delta is at $340/person.
Have never flow Southwest. I heard they don't assign seats. I'll be traveling with husband and 8 year old. Of course we'd like to sit together. Do they let parents with children board first at all??

 

[bdtracey]

I'm from Canada so non-stop flights are not options for me but I have been watching air fares for a while now and it looks like the best time to be booking is about 3 months out. I booked our flights for our May trip back in September (8 months prior to the trip) and since then the price has gone from $600 CDN/person to $400 CDN/person. Also, since you're in the U.S. you can probably leave it even more last minute than us. If it were me I'd be leaving it until the end of May (at the earliest) but still watch the rates and try to get your hands on some historical data.

Hope this helps!

 

[Jestocost]

Southwest does preboard families with small children, but eight is above the cut off. General boarding is done in three groups—A, B & C—of roughly 45 people each, with the A group boarding first. A, B & C boarding cards are distributed first-come, first-served based on when you check in. You can check in online starting 24 hours in advance of your flight and if you do it at that time, you almost certainly will get an A group pass. You can print it out then or reprint it at the airport. With an A boarding pass you will have no trouble getting three seats together and can pretty much pick your spot.

Even with a B boarding pass three together is usually not a problem. The Cs get a little dicier and if you get a C you should try to arrive at the airport and get in the C line ASAP.

Still, the thing to do is to check in 24 hours in advance. Then all is well.

 

[Suestolar]

Thanks for the info.

 

[pooh2001]

Yes - do the 24 hour advance A-B-C pre-barding passes.
To pre- baord you must have a child under age 4, be in a wheel chair or disabled, ALSO - only a parent or one other person can pre-board with a person in need. Thw WHOLE family can not - as in Grandparents, cousins, Aunt, Uncles... no pre-boarding of a pack of 10 people.

We once got all B's - I was able to sit with my then 6 year old with me (DW).
We all boarded as B's.
My DH sat in a seat behind my DS, then aged 9. My DS sat with baseball players, There was a baseball team flying from MCO to ALB to play a baseball game. My DS talked baseball the whole way back to ALB from MCO. My DS had a great time and flight.

People are very amibale - some will move one seat so 2 people can sit together.

Also - this past June we got 3 A's and my DS could not get one when I did the 24 hour on-line baording pass thing. I called SW and they said he would get an A when we got to the airport. We were all able to sit close to one another. My DS was 14 this past June.

 

[kmjmom]

If you check in on line at the 24 hour mark you should get an A or B boarding pass. I have had good luck each time at getting an A pass. Then you have plenty of seats available when you board. I agree with the previous poster..people are very kind about moving to accommodate a family. Yopu can't beat the Ding rates either!

 

[Suestolar]

If I check in on line and get A do we still have to stand in line at the gate or just wait for A boarders to be called?

 

[simzac]

If I check in on line and get A do we still have to stand in line at the gate or just wait for A boarders to be called?

We are a family of 4, and anytime we get an A, we just stay in our seats until the A line starts to board. Then we just file in at the end of the A line; there are always plenty of seats for us to sit together. JMO

 

[Vivianne]

I also fly out of Bradley. My experiences flying with Southwest to-date have been positive. I always try to fly non-stop if I can. Just try to get the 24 hour "A" boarding if you want that added security of a choice. Even "B" can be good as mentioned already.