SW wheelchair boarding with family questions

[INDIE]

We plan on flying southwest and adult son is in a wheelchair, non-ambulatory. I understand that he will board at a certain time (with or before A group) with one family member (me) accompanying him. I was told by my travel agent that my husband, adult daughter, and youngest son(8) , will board at a different time and that I can save seats for them since I will already be on the plane. Is this true? I've looked through SW boarding policies on disability boarding and not finding anything about this. Should I pay for an earlier boarding time for them ? I want my 8 year old sitting close to or beside me, it will be his first time flying. Also, how many seats are there on each side of plane......3 in a row or 2???

 

[sam_gordon]

SW planes are 3x3 (3 seats on both sides of an aisle)

I would ASSUME your son (and you) would pre-board. You can ask the gate agents if the rest of your family should wait until their boarding positions or board with you.
Officially there is no seat saving on SW. That means unless there is a butt in the seat, anyone can sit there.

What I would do in your situation is approach the gate agent with both of your sons and ask if the 8yo can preboard with you and the older son. More than likely the answer is going to be "yes". Worst case scenario he boards with your husband and daughter and can sit with them.

If you don't get EBCI for them, make sure they check in at T-24.

 

[focusondisney]

Seat saving on SW flights is a hot topic here. SW has no official policy, they say they have “open seating”. They really leave it up to each flight crew to deal with the issue individually. Medical preboards are allowed 1 person to accompany the, for assistance. They might let your other son come to, but don’t count on the family members being allowed to. I don’t think you would have any issue with saving the 1 seat with you & your adult son, especially if you leave the middle seat open. However, saving more than that really is pushing it, IMO. On our flight last month, a medical preboard family saved 3 rows, for 8 other people & of course right in the front of the plane. My DH is very non confrontational, so I would not say anything. But if I was on my own & wanted one of those seats, there might have been an issue.

Your 8 yo should be with his dad & sister, so will it really be an issue to not be with you??? Or, you preboard with your 1st son, then switch seats with your husband after boarding so you can be with your younger son.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

We plan on flying southwest and adult son is in a wheelchair, non-ambulatory. I understand that he will board at a certain time (with or before A group) with one family member (me) accompanying him. I was told by my travel agent that my husband, adult daughter, and youngest son(8) , will board at a different time and that I can save seats for them since I will already be on the plane. Is this true? I've looked through SW boarding policies on disability boarding and not finding anything about this. Should I pay for an earlier boarding time for them ? I want my 8 year old sitting close to or beside me, it will be his first time flying. Also, how many seats are there on each side of plane......3 in a row or 2???

a lot will depend on how many preboards are on your flight. there may not be seats enough near you to save for rest of family. one dumb question but have you flown with the chair that you son used? or will he have to switch to a special chair that will fit the aisle? there are 3 to a row. one way you might get the 8 year old with you is bring him and your wheelchair son with you to desk to get your preboard. do not mention rest of party and have them wit somewhere else. SW may then let him board with the 2 of you. what time is you flight? one problem with whole plan could be people already on plane as they will be allowed to stay on plane in their seats. the flight crew would know how many preboards so they save enough seats at front of plane but there could already be people in many of the rows right near preboards

 

[INDIE]

Thank you everyone. I dont think I'll save seats, I dont like it when people do that in other situations when I'm trying to find a seat , so I shouldn't do it either. My youngest son can sit with dad and sister no biggie, as long as we all get on the plane. I was only questioning cause my travel agent said I could save.

 

[tobikaye]

OP, I think it really depends on the situation, but I could see the airlines allowing a 2nd person with a WC user. If the first row is not available, will your adult son be able to scoot to the window or middle seat or will he need an aisle seat? Most WC users I know, are able to move to the window seat, but on the off chance your adult son cannot, you might check if your younger son can board with you so that all three seats are filled.

I was on a flight last year where the couple that preboarded when my sister and I did both took an aisle seat across from each other. When someone would ask for the two seats next to the husband, he informed them that without his rollator, he could not stand to let them through. As we got to the end of the boarding. A woman ended up having to climb over him to get a seat since by then, there were only a few seats left and two of them were by this man that could not move.

 

[INDIE]

OP, I think it really depends on the situation, but I could see the airlines allowing a 2nd person with a WC user. If the first row is not available, will your adult son be able to scoot to the window or middle seat or will he need an aisle seat? Most WC users I know, are able to move to the window seat, but on the off chance your adult son cannot, you might check if your younger son can board with you so that all three seats are filled.

I was on a flight last year where the couple that preboarded when my sister and I did both took an aisle seat across from each other. When someone would ask for the two seats next to the husband, he informed them that without his rollator, he could not stand to let them through. As we got to the end of the boarding. A woman ended up having to climb over him to get a seat since by then, there were only a few seats left and two of them were by this man that could not move.

Yes it's going to be a just wait and see situation. I want my youngest sitting with me its more of a sentimental thing, being his first flight and all. The adult son cannot stand but yes he can scoot over to another seat.

 

[keishashadow]

We plan on flying southwest and adult son is in a wheelchair, non-ambulatory. I understand that he will board at a certain time (with or before A group) with one family member (me) accompanying him. I was told by my travel agent that my husband, adult daughter, and youngest son(8) , will board at a different time and that I can save seats for them since I will already be on the plane. Is this true? I've looked through SW boarding policies on disability boarding and not finding anything about this. Should I pay for an earlier boarding time for them ? I want my 8 year old sitting close to or beside me, it will be his first time flying. Also, how many seats are there on each side of plane......3 in a row or 2???

You may want to visit the disability board here for solid, first-hand & RL advice.

Have you already booked the tix? If not, consider booking just you, the 8 y.o. & adult DS on one confirmation. DH & DD on another. Likely will get better fares on SWA booking that way anyway as a bonus. they only have so many seats to go around in the lower fare groups.

I’ve often seen a child standing in line waiting to preboard along with the early board’s support person, it’s common. Don’t worry about it

https://www.southwest.com/html/cust...ers-with-disabilities-pol.html?CLK=SITESEARCH

As to whether you will be able to hold down a seat in one row along with 2 seats in another row...possibly not, it’s pushing it IMO. I’d pay for EBIC for at least one adult & let them hold down a seat for the other adult.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Likely will get better fares on SWA booking that way anyway as a bonus. they only have so many seats to go around in the lower fare groups.

To be clear about this: search for three seats in one purchase. Open another browser window (maybe private/incognito) and search for two tickets. One quote could absolutely be lower than the other, exactly as @keishashadow stated. But be advised there could be no difference; you still want to book this way for the reasons she describes.

 

[maxiesmom]

Thank you everyone. I dont think I'll save seats, I dont like it when people do that in other situations when I'm trying to find a seat , so I shouldn't do it either. My youngest son can sit with dad and sister no biggie, as long as we all get on the plane. I was only questioning cause my travel agent said I could save.

You may not be able to save seats anyway. One Southwest flights sticks in my mind as there were a lot of medical pre-boards. And they had placed them all in the first 4 rows of the aircraft.