SW family boarding - group split end of A and beginning of B?

[Meeko5]

I checked in this morning for our flight tomorrow, and got A58, A60, and B1 for our positions. The B1 is my 6 year old though...so that leaves family boarding between my husband, myself (with our lap kid), and our son. I've never flown SW before, and never flown at all with kids.

Is it possible for DH and DS6 to trade boarding numbers, so I can board with the 6 year old and the baby? Or can one of us wait and board in B group with him? Not sdure how best to plan for this, since I don't intend to leave my 6 year old waiting in a line to board after us.

Help!

 

[Disneylover99]

One of you can board with your six year old. No problem.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

I would plan on husband and 6 year old boarding with the A spots then you and baby board as part of family boarding joining them faster than waiting for the B spot

 

[Meeko5]

I would plan on husband and 6 year old boarding with the A spots then you and baby board as part of family boarding joining them faster than waiting for the B spot

So anyone in our party can trade boarding positions? I wasn't sure if they were strictly assigned to the person on the boarding pass (seriously clueless haha). Maybe I will give DH the lap kiddo to board along with the 6 year old in the A positions, then I'm pretty much guaranteed a seat with them...no sane person chooses a row with a toddler and a 6 year old right?

 

[msmama]

They do have your name on them so you won't be able to just switch but not everyone HAS to board in their boarding position.

My guess is that if you all went up to the gate, including your 6 year old with his B boarding pass they would let you all on. Either that, just all wait and board at the beginning of B.

Often at my small airport they tell anyone with children of any age to board with family boarding (I've seen them send groups with no one younger than mid teens to board with family boarding). With last A and B1 you'll have no problems sitting together.

Basically, don't sweat it!

 

[scrapquitler]

I checked in this morning for our flight tomorrow, and got A58, A60, and B1 for our positions. The B1 is my 6 year old though...so that leaves family boarding between my husband, myself (with our lap kid), and our son. I've never flown SW before, and never flown at all with kids.

Is it possible for DH and DS6 to trade boarding numbers, so I can board with the 6 year old and the baby? Or can one of us wait and board in B group with him? Not sdure how best to plan for this, since I don't intend to leave my 6 year old waiting in a line to board after us.

Help!

We had a59, 60 b1 and b2 last month...since we were all togther, they let us all board together. (and my kids are 18 and 12).

I wouldn't think twice about it. And it might help you to know that sometimes they don't do family boarding at all. On several of our flights between Hartford and Orlando, they skipped family boarding completely because almost every party had young children.

 

[DisneyOma]

We flew SW once (never again!) and our DD15 was in the group behind us. I asked if she could board with us, and the whole group, plus the attendents, said "of course!"

The only reason I will not fly with them again is because of the loose seating plan and the massive group let in between A and B, and how you have to pay for perks.

 

[tjmw2727]

Your name will be on the boarding pass but they don't check ID.
First ask the gate agent if your son can board with you at the end of A, there is a very good chance they will allow this due to his age.

If not -

I would switch your husbands pass with your sons- male to male (although they don't look at the name at all). Have DH board with the baby during family boarding instead of during B. He will be shortly behind you and you should have no issues saving just the one middle seat for you. The further to the back of the aircraft you head the better your chances of saving that middle seat.

I really like SWA and find them very reasonable to fly and have never been separated from my kids (I have been on the legacys!).

Not sure what the PP was referencing as SWA doesn't have additional fees - in fact they are the only airline that gives you 2 free checked bags, no change fees and no onboard snack charges (except for alcohol).

 

[Baklava]

You and the baby board in A, DH and the 6 year old board in B. Nobody cares if you board in a *later* group than you're entitled to.

 

[DopeyDame]

I would plan on husband and 6 year old boarding with the A spots then you and baby board as part of family boarding joining them faster than waiting for the B spot

Odds are that they won't have any problem at all with your B1 family member boarding with the rest at the end of A, especially since you have the little kids. But if, for some weird reason, they don't let you do that, then I'd do exactly what Betty Rohrer suggested. There are names on the boarding passes, but no ID check so as long as you have a boarding pass it doesn't matter at all who has which ticket. I have, on many occasions, just blindly handed out the 4 boarding passes to the family.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

We flew SW once (never again!) and our DD15 was in the group behind us. I asked if she could board with us, and the whole group, plus the attendents, said "of course!"

The only reason I will not fly with them again is because of the loose seating plan and the massive group let in between A and B, and how you have to pay for perks.

We're talking about Southwest. What perks?

 

[DisneyOma]

Early Bird Check-in, upgraded boarding, etc.

 

[tabrizia]

Early Bird Check-in, upgraded boarding, etc.

For us the $12.50 which isn't required is the same price or cheaper then the cost to check bags which all legacy airlines that I know of charge. I think it depends on what is more important to you.

 

[cmorris303]

This happened to us last time we flew SW. Since we booked with points we were considered 4 different reservations and ended up with 4 different boarding positions. Some A some B. My son (6) and I boarded with the first position we had, which was mine. My husband and daughter (8) boarded with the next position we had. We did this both ways and had no issues.

 

[ElsasFan]

I would not risk it. We flew Southwest last year and I checked in exactly 24 hours in advance, but we were still in group B (we were at the beginning of the group). We had a four year old with us, though, so we didn't worry too much because we knew about family boarding. They let us all get on, between group A and B, but there were several other families who also got to board early, and we were behind them. Still, we got seats together, toward the back.

Leaving Orlando, we again had group B (I checked in exactly 24 hours prior). When we got to the gate, we discovered that Group A was not 30 people, like our first flight, but 60 people. So we were behind them, plus whatever other families managed to get in line before us. If we hadn't been able to board early, I doubt we would have all been able to sit together. My kids are young and hadn't flown before, so that would have been a problem.

We decided to bite the bullet and pay the higher fare to fly American next time. I just booked our tickets for our next trip and they were actually lower on American than Southwest! We will probably come out even when the baggage charge is included.