UGGG Southwest Check-in HELP!

[vacationclub]

I love how people call it 'cattle call'.. cattle call is what other airlines use where you just go on the plane in no order at all..

Name one airline that does this. Every airline I've ever been on boards people based where they already know they will be seated. Zones or rows.

SW you go in a very specific order.... ..

That very specific order actually has nothing to do with where people will, or want to sit, it's only a very specific order based on who checks in first (or how early they bought their ticket), or for a very few, who bought biz class. Once they leave the stalls and head down the jetway, that very specific order is completely meaningless, it's every man and women for themselves. And that very specific order often separates people in the same party....the subject of many SW threads....including this one.

From what I can tell people tend to show up at the gate early with SW since you want to board in the position you have so you have a better chance of getting a seat you want..

This is a myth long used by SW lovers. It's is no different on other airlines, they get ready for their position (zones, rows) as well. People want overhead space too.

I hear people getting paged to show up for boarding on assigned seats many times, but hardly ever for SW.. I figure other people figure they can just show up when the take off time is supposed to be since they have assigned seats and just dont worry about getting there on time.. Many SW flights I've been on have left the gate and taken off either on time and a number of times early... So for that reason alone I'll take the 'cattle call' as you like to call it.....

SW isn't the only airline that takes off on-time or even early. Another SW fan myth.

They can page all they want, but the door shuts when the door shuts. And you're assuming that those pages were for people just sitting around at a bar, and not running through the terminal somewhere coming from another flight, security, etc. And just FYI, I sat on a SW plane for over 30 minutes waiting for other passengers coming in from another flight. Poor suckers all had to sit in between strangers for the entire 4 hour flight....even if they bought biz class. Oh, well.

 

[Kae]

Good luck with that. If you're saving "just one seat" that happens to be located next to another open seat, and two people are looking around for two seats together......guess what? If they don't see anything else they sit down in that "saved" seat and the one next to it. I know I would do that if travelling with someone. There is no saving seats on cattle-call airways, only on other airlines (referred to as a seat assignment).

I flew to Vegas on SW in Jan, full flight & my friends DH saves a row for me, her & my DH no problems.

 

[vacationclub]

I flew to Vegas on SW in Jan, full flight & my friends DH saves a row for me, her & my DH no problems.

Great!

Disclaimer: The results mentioned here in no way guarantee others will see that same result and don't take into account other factors such as boarding position, arrangement, attitude and disposition of the various parties and passengers booked on the flight, crew enforcement, etc. Your mileage may vary. Entertainment purposes only. Trained driver on closed track, do not attempt. Member FDIC.

 

[pooh4evr]

YOu can try to save but many times the flight attendants who are in the middle and back of the plane will not let you. I have 3 kids and always do the EBCI to help assure that we will have a greater chance of being seated together.

 

[goofy4tink]

Good luck with that. If you're saving "just one seat" that happens to be located next to another open seat, and two people are looking around for two seats together......guess what? If they don't see anything else they sit down in that "saved" seat and the one next to it. I know I would do that if travelling with someone. There is no saving seats on cattle-call airways, only on other airlines (referred to as a seat assignment).

Well, your experience is different than mine. And besides...I do believe I suggested someone taking the middle seat, which would mean there won't be two open seats next to each other..unless we are talking about the two aisle seats. SW allows you to save seats...I see it all the time. Here's my prime example. A few years ago, there was a large family group on the same flight as me. I was lucky and got A18. Only about 5 people boarded before me. So, I was in the window seat in the second row. Well....part of that larger group boarded shortly after me. There were maybe 10 of them...they plopped themselves down in the window and aisle seats of about 5 rows. Now, we all know how travelers just love that middle seat...so, everyone now boarding passed those rows by. If I remember correctly, those were the rows behind me, on both sides. Well...the C group is now boarding. And people are looking for seats. Those seat savers have now put their coats and such on those empty middle seats. Well...you should have seen the complete chaos when the FA announced that this was a full flight and there were no empty seats!!!! I have never seen a family more discombobulated!!! They now frantically tried to move all over again so that they didn't have strangers sitting between them. Imagine the surprise of some C boarders when they found they could get two seats together in Row 3!!!!
I haven't heard a FA make any announcement that seat saving isn't okay..unless the flight is full, or close to full.

In all reality....it isn't going to be an issue. And I think that the OP has felt a bit put upon here...hence the deletion of most of her posts. And that, my friends, is very uncool.
So, in short.......here's the deal...
If you just have to have seats next to each other, and you can't deal with the stress of not knowing until you board, then don't book SW. You may want to book with an airline that allows you to choose your particular seats. BUT...be advised....airlines sometimes change equip or cancel flights..so those with assigned seats may end up with different seats, and they may not meet your needs. Doesn't happen often, but it does happen. For crying out loud...my dd and I were both flying on Delta...same itinerary. But, they cancelled the flight and combined those passengers with two other flights. Dd and I ended up on two different flights....departing about 5 hrs apart!! Yeah, that call to Delta was fun..but we got on the same flight in the end.


When you book with SW, you will most likely be able to find seats together. If you are in the early group, up to mid-B group, you shouldn't have much trouble accommodating those in your group. After that, you are going to find some seats together, but not all of them.
As far as putting your child next to someone else and saying 'have fun with him, he's a chatterbox' in the hopes that they will change seats with you??? That is not so cool either. Plan accordingly and you should be fine. Do not expect others to accommodate your needs....not their responsibility.

 

[vacationclub]

it looks like you did mention potentially taking middle seats in an earlier post that I didn't notice.

SW allows you to save seats...I see it all the time.

That doesn't mean they condone or that their policy allows it, they may just turn a blind eye to it if it isn't causing any major issues. I have actually heard gate agents say, when asked about it, that passengers can't "save" a seat, that anyone can take a seat if it's open. What that means is, we don't care, we are hands off, it's every man for themselves. So, if you want to attempt to save a seat and it works, great, but we will not help you do it, and anyone can, according to our policy, take any seat that doesn't have a body in it.

So you can attempt to save a seat, but if others need that seat because it's getting thin on seating....you lose. There's nothing stopping them from taking that seat except the intimidation factor you impose on the person you're trying to get away from that seat.

 

[Jestocost]

it looks like you did mention potentially taking middle seats in an earlier post that I didn't notice.


That doesn't mean they condone or that their policy allows it, they may just turn a blind eye to it if it isn't causing any major issues. I have actually heard gate agents say, when asked about it, that passengers can't "save" a seat, that anyone can take a seat if it's open. What that means is, we don't care, we are hands off, it's every man for themselves. So, if you want to attempt to save a seat and it works, great, but we will not help you do it, and anyone can, according to our policy, take any seat that doesn't have a body in it.

So you can attempt to save a seat, but if others need that seat because it's getting thin on seating....you lose. There's nothing stopping them from taking that seat except the intimidation factor you impose on the person you're trying to get away from that seat.

The confusion is that SWA doesn't explicitly allow or prohibit saving seats. Their official policy is that after boarding you are able to select any open seat.

In practice, it is up to the individual FAs to determine how they want to handle seat saving. I have seen FAs call out a passenger for putting stuff down on one seat when there is no one to occupy it and I have seen FAs allow four passengers to save four complete blocks of three (the entire first two rows of the flight after boarding in the medical pre-board group, as a matter of fact).

For the most part, IME the majority of FAs will not confront anyone who boards and attempts to save seats. They may or may not weigh in on behalf of someone who boards later and wants to sit in those seats; but generally you won't see later boarders even attempt to challenge a seat saver. As the plane gets close to full, however, the FAs usually will start to be pretty forceful about allowing anyone boarding to take any seat without a passenger in it and they stop even a tacit tolerance of seat saving.

 

[Lisa71]

We fly SWA all the time and if they see you with a child it is usually not an issue. You can even say "I am waiting for my daughter and she is really young"...the idea to be in the back is the best. Most people on airlines like the front to get on and off, and the emergency exit rows. Don't stress too much, it will be OK!! Also, I have never had an assigned seat on SWA, but you can pre-pay $10 per person for an A spot when available now, and I have done that.

 

[vacationclub]

We fly SWA all the time and if they see you with a child it is usually not an issue. You can even say "I am waiting for my daughter and she is really young"...the idea to be in the back is the best. Most people on airlines like the front to get on and off, and the emergency exit rows. Don't stress too much, it will be OK!! Also, I have never had an assigned seat on SWA, but you can pre-pay $10 per person for an A spot when available now, and I have done that.

I'd highly recommend EBCI, but as more and more people start to use it it becomes less and less powerful. Also, EBCI and even Business Class mean nothing if you're late to your connecting flight...that's the dirty little secret of SW that they don't talk about. Keep that in mind when booking a SW flight with a party of 2 or more.