Southwest seating ?

[Vivianne]

Just flew SW BDL-MCO and back. The numbers do not mean anything. They preboarded medical, A's, families, B's then C's. I don't see why families would be concerned at all about sitting together. They're guaranteed to sit together even if they don't heed the 24 hour check-in. Numbers were never even mentioned.

 

[tjmw2727]

Just flew SW BDL-MCO and back. The numbers do not mean anything. They preboarded medical, A's, families, B's then C's. I don't see why families would be concerned at all about sitting together. They're guaranteed to sit together even if they don't heed the 24 hour check-in. Numbers were never even mentioned.

The new policy is being implimented in stages. The first change was early October moving families between the A and B group. So right now it is medical preboards, A, Family, B, then C/ They plan to start using the numbers within the boarding groups in November.

TJ

 

[jtdl]

When you say "families" are boarded between A and B does that refer to any family or just families with kids 4 years and under? My kids are both over 4 so would we be boarded at that time or would we be part of A, B or C boardings?

 

[lawgs]

When you say "families" are boarded between A and B does that refer to any family or just families with kids 4 years and under? My kids are both over 4 so would we be boarded at that time or would we be part of A, B or C boardings?

any family with an A boarding pass can go with the "A group" if they wish

so the between A and B group families will now concern those who have a child under 4 and who do not have an A boarding pass

 

[squirrlygirl]

Conversely, that is the risk YOU took when booking a flight with unassigned seats: that there may not be two, or enough, seats together when you board to accommodate your entire party.

I'm not the person concerned about the risk. Assume the plane holds 180 and the groups are evenly divided and families get to board after A, then families will have 120 empty seats to figure it out with if they board between A and B. I'm not a math major but I don't see how 60 people can boad a plane that seats 180 (yes I'm guessing on numbers) and take up so many spots that I can't find 2 together. 120 people would have to board AND only sit 2 per row per side before that would happen. So if I boarded in C, then it could happen. If I board B or sooner, it can't.

 

[Hannathy]

Just flew SW BDL-MCO and back. The numbers do not mean anything. They preboarded medical, A's, families, B's then C's. I don't see why families would be concerned at all about sitting together. They're guaranteed to sit together even if they don't heed the 24 hour check-in. Numbers were never even mentioned.

I'm not sure where you got that info but it isn't true. For a 2 year old they would do something to get 1 parent with the child but not for a family.

 

[disneyholic family]

We'd be crossing at Sarnia and staying in Detroit the night before because I know all too well the problems/delays that can occur at the border not to mention the unpredictable weather in mid January.

going a day early is definitely the way to go....
and sarnia should be much better than crossing at windsor/detroit...
you can stay right near the airport, or in the airport itself (there's an airport hotel)....but for cheaper rates, there are hotels within a mile or two of the airport (right near the big cheap long term lots - i think the area is called Romulus)...

you're right about the weather in january - who knows...

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

DS7 and I flew SW in June. No problem getting the A tickets outbound, but wound up with C tix flying home. I was sort of antsy about that because I really wanted us to sit together. As it turns out we did get two seats together even though the flight was full. They were probably 3/4 of the way back, but that was fine by me. Sooooo... you CAN get lucky with C passes.

 

[disneyholic family]

DS7 and I flew SW in June. No problem getting the A tickets outbound, but wound up with C tix flying home. I was sort of antsy about that because I really wanted us to sit together. As it turns out we did get two seats together even though the flight was full. They were probably 3/4 of the way back, but that was fine by me. Sooooo... you CAN get lucky with C passes.

how many hours before the flight was it that you ended up with C passes?

 

[TDC Nala]

Just flew SW BDL-MCO and back. The numbers do not mean anything. They preboarded medical, A's, families, B's then C's. I don't see why families would be concerned at all about sitting together. They're guaranteed to sit together even if they don't heed the 24 hour check-in. Numbers were never even mentioned.

There are no guarantees. If your group is there on time, checked in early enough to avoid getting a "C" pass, and/or has a child under the age of 5, there isn't any reason why they won't have a parent sitting with a child.

However, if you get there late as they're closing the door to the plane, some shuffling will have to be done in order to get parents seated with kids. And sometimes it's done voluntarily. You'll most likely have a parent seated somewhere with kids, but the rest of the family may not be in the same row or even section of the airplane if that happens.

And many families are not simply concerned with whether a parent sits with a kid, they want the whole family close to each other. That is probably not likely with a C pass.

When you say "families" are boarded between A and B does that refer to any family or just families with kids 4 years and under? My kids are both over 4 so would we be boarded at that time or would we be part of A, B or C boardings?

"Family boarding" refers only to families traveling with one or more children under the age of 5 (who don't already have "A" boarding passes). One of the new rules they're using is that for families boarding between the A and B group, boarding is limited to parents and siblings of the child. Anyone else is asked to board with their own boarding group.

 

[tjmw2727]

dup

 

[TDC Nala]

Just wanted to point out that family boarding is for those traveling with a child 4 and under - not 5 and under. The wording on swa.com also indicates that it could be limited to one adult and a child 4 and under.

TJ

Of course, "under the age of 5" means the same thing as "age 4 and under"

 

[tjmw2727]

Of course, "under the age of 5" means the same thing as "age 4 and under"

Yes of course - sorry!

It's come up quite a few times before as age 5 and under but I should have read more slowly.

 

[tjmw2727]

another duplicate my computer is wacky

 

[gw_lit]

Northwest does not offer preboarding for families. Their order is:

1st class
Anyone with a disability needing extra time to board
Elite frequent flyers
Everyone else.

I hate the "everyone else" part, you get a mad rush for the doors then. Many other domestic US airlines board everyone else by row or group number.

The other factor to consider with assigned seats is that if there is an equipment change at the last minute, all seats will be re-assigned and not necessarily where you were before or next to the person you were with before.