Southwest

[lovintigger]

There will be 5 of us in our group, the youngest is 4. Will it be hard getting seats together. We're planning on arriving 2 hrs early just to be safe.

 

[Jenn]

Well, they usually allow preboarding for families with children under 5. If so, you are one of the first on the plan (after people in wheelchairs) and you would have no problem at all getting seats together. In fact, in the very front and very back of SW's planes they have 6 seats that face each other (3 on one side and 3 on the other) that would be perfect for you.

 

[Disnydad]

I've never seen a Southwest plane that had the facing seating you mentioned. What type of aircraft?

 

[TravelSheryl]

Only Southwest's older planes have what they refer to as lounge seating. They are the first two rows of the aircraft and the first two rows after the mid-cabin bulkhead.

Getting to the airport two hours in advance of your flight, you will have no problem seating your group of 5 together. Just be the first in line at the gate where they distribute the boarding passes. That's what counts, not when you check in at the terminal.

At some airports, Southwest does not have pre-boarding on flights to Orlando (except for the handicapped) because there are so many families with small children that over half the passenger would pre-board.

 

[DJT]

". . .because there are so many families with small children that over half the passengers would pre-board."

That's exactly what happened to us when we flew Southwest to Orlando in March. There were four of us (adults) and we were the first at the counter. However, many people came later with children. The plane came in from Chicago and already had lots of people on board. After the people who arrived much later than we did (with children) boarded, the adults were allowed to board. My son and his wife did not get seats together.

That's when I realized I liked Delta better. Plus, we've usually been able to get tickets cheaper with Delta. The reason we flew Southwest in March was because of the time of the flight.

 

[UrsulaFan]

We are flying SW from St. Louis to Orlando in October only because of the price we got. $173 RT per person all "charges" included. I hate flying SW because of the lack of seating assignments but will tolorate it because it adds an extra day to our trip!
When we went to DisneyLand on SW 2 years ago they let us preboard on the first plane but on the connecting flight they didn't. My DS was 4 1/2 yo at the time. So our family of 4 was split up big time.
have a plan for which of you will sit with which child if you are split up. Seperate the airplane "goodies " for keeping the kids occuppied.

 

[nhrenee]

You said you have 5 in your party. Are they all immediate family? If pre-boarding is allowed, it's only for mom, dad and the kiddies, in my experiences anyway.

 

[lovintigger]

nhrenee, yes it is mom, dad and 3 kids.