SW boarding numbers

[bumbershoot]

Actually, I didn't ask for advice. I asked if anyone had seen that before. It seemed unusual to me. It was simply a comment. I am certainly not taking life advice from a message board. Thank you all for being so helpful. I'm glad you were able to offer your opinions. You know what they say about opinions... here's my opinion. Step away from the computer and enjoy life a bit.

So if you said "has anyone seen this before" and I had replied "yes", that would have been a perfect response?

Somehow I feel that that reply would have been read as sarcastic and snarky and woefully inadequate, not as simply an answer to the question. (Which is why I never make that response (not do I write "no" if that's my experience) to the "has anyone ever done/seen THIS?" questions even though I desperately want to)

Yes I've seen it and this (to board with the later boarding person) is how we were told to deal with it. Better?

 

[maxiesmom]

Actually, I didn't ask for advice. I asked if anyone had seen that before. It seemed unusual to me. It was simply a comment. I am certainly not taking life advice from a message board.
Thank you all for being so helpful. I'm glad you were able to offer your opinions. You know what they say about opinions... here's my opinion. Step away from the computer and enjoy life a bit.

Yes, I have seen that before. It happens all of the time. Is that honestly better?

 

[sam_gordon]

Actually, I didn't ask for advice. I asked if anyone had seen that before. It seemed unusual to me. It was simply a comment. I am certainly not taking life advice from a message board.
Thank you all for being so helpful. I'm glad you were able to offer your opinions. You know what they say about opinions... here's my opinion. Step away from the computer and enjoy life a bit.

Actually, you didn't ask if "anyone has seen that before." You asked if anyone had any "insight". We gave you our insight (on how you could/should manage this on your own), you didn't like it.

As far as YOUR opinion... aren't you on vacation? I would suggest you take your own advice instead of not only extending this thread, but editing the OP.

Have a good trip!

 

[Gracie09]

Actually, you didn't ask if "anyone has seen that before." You asked if anyone had any "insight". We gave you our insight (on how you could/should manage this on your own), you didn't like it.

As far as YOUR opinion... aren't you on vacation? I would suggest you take your own advice instead of not only extending this thread, but editing the OP.

Have a good trip!

Pretty much this. By her own post she must not be enjoying life much if she had a chance to not only reply but then several hours later edit the op.

 

[firegurl]

Pretty much this. By her own post she must not be enjoying life much if she had a chance to not only reply but then several hours later edit the op.

Just fyi- I edited because it was typed was on my phone and I noticed a spelling typo but I'm glad to know you are tracking me. I have been checking in with a few people on the boards after my son goes to sleep. Don't worry, I am in no danger of spending all of my time on a message board.
Based on the way so many on here are rude and insulting, its no wonder all of the post counts are so high. Do you have nothing better to do than try to insult someone on a message board?

 

[jayhawk74]

Do you have nothing better to do than try to insult someone on a message board?

To me the only poster who seems to be insulting people is you, especially if they don't agree with you and tell you that you planned on doing is somewhat inappropriate.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Just fyi- I edited because it was typed was on my phone and I noticed a spelling typo but I'm glad to know you are tracking me. I have been checking in with a few people on the boards after my son goes to sleep. Don't worry, I am in no danger of spending all of my time on a message board.
Based on the way so many on here are rude and insulting, its no wonder all of the post counts are so high. Do you have nothing better to do than try to insult someone on a message board?

Tracking? Interesting interpretation of the automatic "last edited by..." notation at the end of any edited post.

 

[Gracie09]

Just fyi- I edited because it was typed was on my phone and I noticed a spelling typo but I'm glad to know you are tracking me. I have been checking in with a few people on the boards after my son goes to sleep. Don't worry, I am in no danger of spending all of my time on a message board.
Based on the way so many on here are rude and insulting, its no wonder all of the post counts are so high. Do you have nothing better to do than try to insult someone on a message board?

Darn that education of mine that included the ability to read! And tell time! It really is inconvenient at times.
You seem to not understand how a message board works. People post questions, thoughts, inquiries etc and other people answer them. People with more experience may have more posts. And yeah sitting drinking my coffee posting while waiting for my husband to get out of the shower really indicates how neglectful I am of my life. Toodles

 

[carmelhp]

Not to kick the hornet's nest, but on both legs (IND and MCO) of our recent trip, 12/3-12/12, Southwest did family pre-boarding for families with small children prior to the A group boarding. I think I may the only one paying for early check-in as on both legs my party of 3 had positions A-16,17, and 18 (A-1 through A-15 is reserved for business class).

 

[goofy4tink]

Not to kick the hornet's nest, but on both legs (IND and MCO) of our recent trip, 12/3-12/12, Southwest did family pre-boarding for families with small children prior to the A group boarding. I think I may the only one paying for early check-in as on both legs my party of 3 had positions A-16,17, and 18 (A-1 through A-15 is reserved for business class).

Are you sure those families were allowed to board before the A group? Usually....it's unaccompanied minors and those with medical needs that go prior to the A group. Then those that paid business or refundable fares in A1-15. Then the rest of the A group. Then, families with children under 4 board, followed by the B, and then C groups.
If families with children were allowed to board before everyone else, it would have been quite unusual. If that happened when I was in line, I wouldn't be happy!

 

[mommyrosa2]

Are you sure those families were allowed to board before the A group? Usually....it's unaccompanied minors and those with medical needs that go prior to the A group. Then those that paid business or refundable fares in A1-15. Then the rest of the A group. Then, families with children under 4 board, followed by the B, and then C groups. If families with children were allowed to board before everyone else, it would have been quite unusual. If that happened when I was in line, I wouldn't be happy!

This has also been our experience with boarding on Southwest in every city we've traveled...can't imagine they would vary.

As far as being split up with kids...this has happened twice to us. Once when my youngest was 7 and again just last year when she was 15. Three of us had A boarding and my youngest ended up with B. I called SW first about it and they told me that she was not allowed to board in the A group with us but that I was welcome to stay behind with her and board at the same time as she. I wasn't crazy about that answer so when we arrived, I went to the ticket counter, asked the same question and was given the same answer so DH boarded with the older child and saved us a seat and I stayed behind and boarded with her. When it happened again, last year, we just did the same thing...I stayed behind and we were able to still sit together...it really wasn't a big deal!

 

[carmelhp]

Are you sure those families were allowed to board before the A group? Usually....it's unaccompanied minors and those with medical needs that go prior to the A group. Then those that paid business or refundable fares in A1-15. Then the rest of the A group. Then, families with children under 4 board, followed by the B, and then C groups.
If families with children were allowed to board before everyone else, it would have been quite unusual. If that happened when I was in line, I wouldn't be happy!

Yep, I'm sure, I was a little surprised because of what was said on here. I'm sure because I was in line and had A-15 and there was only 1 business select person ahead of me at IND. At MCO, I was A-15 again and there were 4 or 5 business select ahead of me and families with small children were pre-boarded first. Each time there were only 1 or 2 families with young kids, if there were more it might have been a big deal.

 

[bumbershoot]

Yep, I'm sure, I was a little surprised because of what was said on here. I'm sure because I was in line and had A-15 and there was only 1 business select person ahead of me at IND. At MCO, I was A-15 again and there were 4 or 5 business select ahead of me and families with small children were pre-boarded first. Each time there were only 1 or 2 families with young kids, if there were more it might have been a big deal.

And they announced it as family boarding? Since the group was so small I would guess those were families with special needs. And since you would be onboard when proper family boarding would be you might not notice. Many times people with peanut allergies will get medical preboard to clean their seating area for instance.

Or maybe because there were only a few families with littles they made an exception.

 

[carmelhp]

And they announced it as family boarding? Since the group was so small I would guess those were families with special needs. And since you would be onboard when proper family boarding would be you might not notice. Many times people with peanut allergies will get medical preboard to clean their seating area for instance.

Or maybe because there were only a few families with littles they made an exception.

Yes, and they announced using the same verbiage each time as family boarding for families traveling with small children, which I had not noticed before, but I had been traveling AirTran to MCO in prior years and this is the first actual Southwest flight I had been on for several years.

 

[kamik86]

From a practical standpoint I could see the gate agent just letting the B01 child go with the parents becasue:

1) This makes the family in front of you happy and avoids conflict
2) Unless someone is either counting people (and this would only work if EVERYONE showed up on time) or saw the B01 pass no one would notice to complain and make a conflict. (Heck we have seen people push up like 10 positions and hide their pass until they hand it to the agent and they don't make them go back for being out of order).
3) Even if someone DID notice who would really be inconvenienced? The two adults in A are going to take a full row since at the time A boards there would be full rows. With only family boarding in between who would want the random third seat in that group anyway? They would all be looking for seats together too... The only others are the A listers that board in family as well. But again wouldn't be looking for the middle seat in a random row.

 

[supersnoop]

From a practical standpoint I could see the gate agent just letting the B01 child go with the parents becasue:...

I didn't think the B01 was the child. I thought the B01 was one parent, while the other parent and the child were in the A group.

 

[Minnesota!]

I would give A60 my A58 slot, then you guys would be A59, A60, and B1.

We have been split like that and it's not a big deal. B is released as soon as A is done, so my kid just caught up to me on the jetway. Everyone bottle necks there, anyway.

ETA - FWIW, I have never had family boarding offered on any SW flight I have been on. It's only been medical preboards, A, B, C. So, B1 always has gone directly after A60. Which is where my above advice came in.

 

[DebbieB]

I flew them twice this year and twice last year, family boarding was always between A and B. The only ones before A were medical preboards and unaccompanied minors.

 

[delilah]

I was traveling alone this past fall on SW between IND and MCO. I had a low B pass. Families with children were allowed on the plane first. I ended up almost in the last row of the plane to find a window seat. I think nearly every party after me was split up, because there weren't any open window or aisle seats before my row at the time I boarded. The plane was completely full, because the flight attendants were asking people to indicate if there were any open seats in their row. I am not sure how I got B16 or so when I checked in at the 24 hour mark. Checking in with SW is just a circus, and will get worse, I'm sure.

 

[Oodalally13]

My 2 cents may not be popular, but I'm going to voice it because it was the biggest downfall of our trip that we just got back from. We paid for business select because of the A1-A15 boarding....NOT for the fly by check in, drink tickets, etc. then I set all kinds of alarms and sat like a hunter prepared for the 24 hour check-in. We were rewarded with A2&A3 on the flight to and A1&A2 on the return flight. It was all a waste because after the preboard of old people, families with small children, and customers of size, we ended up being at least A25-A30. It wasn't just one person either, the whole clan boarded at once. When we were A1 & A2 we actually had a family behind us with kids that were A3-A8 that were trying to cut and ask attendants to go ahead because they had children. I stood my ground and said no and finally the gate people agreed because we WERE slotted ahead of them. Just because it's christmas does not mean the RULES are different! Then when you get on the plane (3 seats on each side of the row) they have all spread out down the first rows with a person on the aisle and one at the window. I'm sorry but either you pay the upgrade and wait and checkin and then deal with what seats you are given. I do not believe in this whole "oh but I'm old, have a baby, am obese, I need special treatment for free". I did not make you old, obese or pregnant, so why should I be forced,to deal with it.