When flying with Southwest air do you get to sit

[disneyldwjr]

Does SW let those who could benefit from preboarding due to medical issues(assume those w/handicapped parking hang tags would qualify?) board before families w/small children?

The order of preboarding puts families with children AFTER people with medial conditions and children flying alone. The order of boarding is on the SWA website.

 

[disneyldwjr]

Charming.

In all honesty, I have to agree with Anne, perhaps not her style of saying it,but, definitely in the gist of it.
IMHO, if the child can walk, does not need a car seat, then they should board with everyone else.
The scenario described a few times here occured Friday. There were two little ones and their parents. They were late to the gate and came on the plane and looked for seats together.
The flight attendant did literally BEG for people to move, even offered free drinks for the entire flight. I did raise my hand cause the people looked honestly unhappy about being late, not the "I primed my kids to cry" look.
Someone else was spotted before me and did move. She ended up beside me and both of listened to the aisle pax clear his throat and lungs every 15 seconds for the entire flight.
The FA did say that the plane would not have left IF they were not seated, not together, but seated.
What I don't get is the entitlement mentality that some possess. When you buy a ticket for a flight you are entitled to a seat for that flight. You are NOT entitled to seats together. You are not entitled to make others move, you are not entitled to get nasty towards others because they had the foresight to check in early, arrive early, be seated early and refuse to move because you did not have the aforementioned foresight.
The fact that you have children is not anyone else's concern. It is yours.
They are on a 737 jet, they cannot go anywhere, they cannot disappear, they will not be harmed by being away from mommy or daddy for a couple of hours.
I do understand the desire to be seated with the kids,but, not at the expense of someone else's comfort or desire.

 

[scammermom]

So, just for fun, let me play devil's advocate. So a person might have a 5 or so year old who isn't attached with an umbilical cord who may have gotten to the boarding late for whatever reason like maybe taking child to the restroom before the flight or getting something to eat or whatever. So, the child doesn't get to sit with his or her parent and gets stuck next to you and your husband to take up the third seat. Wouldn't you prefer to have that child next to a parent who may have brought things to entertain said child or next to you and your husband since that's the only seat available and it's just too bad?

Sometimes people are late and it's not their fault like the transport was late or broke down.

I think some need to think about a little flexibility for everyone. It's part of the "it's all about me" society that we're breeding.

 

[havencruiser]

Rarely would there be only single seats left. My problem is with people who want their WHOLE family to sit together and feel they have the RIGHT to do so because one child is under the age of 5. IF they feel so strongly about it, I believe they should go to airlines that have assigned seats. SWA has a very liberal policy about this and most often the people who are very late aren't folks with genuine reasons to pre-board such as medical or mobility issues, it's folks you see around the terminal area beforehand who took too long shopping or eating to be in the preboard lane on time. Flexibility is fine for those folks who NEED to preboard but to take for granted to people who were on time would move their seats is unreasonable in my opinion. It takes a certain amount of "work" and planning of time to get to choose your seat and that seems to not be respected by those insisting that other people move for them.

 

[Tammy32]

SW has seating for 135 people, that's 45 sets of 3 seats together. With each "letter" having 45 people. You should be able to find two rows together even if you are "B". And if you can't most people further back in the plane will move a row if you ask them. Personally I will not sit in the first 7 rows on the plane, the seats are just a little smaller. After that it does matter, will all get there at the same time.

There are 137 seats on a SWA 737-300 and 737-700. The other type of aircraft that SWA has is a 737-500 and it has 122 seats which there is a small amount of these left. These are the only aircrafts SWA owns.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I would definately suggest you ask to preboard - don't assume they will see the wheelchair

I can vouch for this! It wasn't Southwest, but a Skycap took me in a wheelchair from the curb to my gate; went to the Gate Agent and told him I was there and needed to preboard; and left me fifteen feet from the counter, straight on to the GA's line of vision. He forgot me, fine, but also didn't SEE me the response given to a very kind passenger. So about a third of the way through boarding, they had to stop everyone for me. I'm thinking it was on Song, and I generally got a seat assignment in row 8, immediately to the left of the door, so it's not like it took long.

I just don,t think they should allow the extende family to preboardwhen there are so many others with young kids too who are just a little over 4. I will definately try for the A pass and get there as early as we can.

A very valid point of view... you do realize that YOU would be considered 'extended family', right? That even if one of your grandchildren was under the typical preboard age, since you're not the mother or the father you could not preboard with them?

Charming.

Honest and realistic. Most of us here fly one to four times a year, or even less frequently. Several regular posters, on the other hand, fly regularly as part of their jobs - in addition to flying for vacation. Their experience and viewpoints are extremely helpful.
Frankly, what I find interesting is the DISers who have this wonderful source of knowledge and information - the DIS boards, not any specific poster - yet still post defensively on various topics. I believe we all have far less reason to panic, or even just complain, than a passenger or family who DOESN'T think to use the Internet to obtain advance information, instead showing up at the airport 45 minutes before the plane takes off and expecting everything to be exactly as they want. We've GOT the knowledge, we CAN plan ahead. English Rose is going online 24 hours in advance to get her Southwest boarding passes. That's the smart process. She's not going to get to the airport and obtain boarding passes there and then be angry or demanding because she expects all five of them to be able to sit together and everyone on the plane should move to accommodate them.

What I don't get is the entitlement mentality that some possess. When you buy a ticket for a flight you are entitled to a seat for that flight. You are NOT entitled to seats together. You are not entitled to make others move, you are not entitled to get nasty towards others because they had the foresight to check in early, arrive early, be seated early and refuse to move because you did not have the aforementioned foresight.

You are also not entitled to teach, coach, coerce, etc. your child/ren to cry, whine, bawl, misbehave, or act in any offensive manner in an attempt to get an already-seated passenger to give up the seat they chose before you boarded (disclaimer: "you" does not refer to any specific person, on or not on this message board).

So a person might have a 5 or so year old who isn't attached with an umbilical cord who may have gotten to the boarding late for whatever reason like maybe taking child to the restroom before the flight or getting something to eat or whatever.

None of those is a valid reason for getting to the gate late. There are restrooms in the gate area; there is generally food available in the gate area; getting food does absolutely NOT take precedence over being in the gate area, waiting to board the plane by the time required by the airline. "Oh, listen, they're starting to board our flight - quick, we'd better go get a hamburger first"???? And there are bathrooms ON the plane, which can be used as soon as you board - you don't need to wait until the plane is in the air and the seatbelt sign is off.

Sometimes people are late and it's not their fault like the transport was late or broke down.

Those scenarios are also not the airline's fault, and they're also not the fault of the other passengers who did manage to get to the airport enough in advance. Most airports advise arriving at least an hour, more often two or more, before your flight - late transportation should still get you there in time, and a breakdown if you leave the house three hours before flight time allows you time to find alternate transportation as well.

 

[Pinnie]

Those scenarios are also not the airline's fault, and they're also not the fault of the other passengers who did manage to get to the airport enough in advance. Most airports advise arriving at least an hour, more often two or more, before your flight - late transportation should still get you there in time, and a breakdown if you leave the house three hours before flight time allows you time to find alternate transportation as well.

The ONLY time I am willing to cut a family some slack is when the family is making a connection. I have been on a SWA flight from MCO - MDW and had to make a connection to DTW. Our flight out of MCO was very late in getting us into MDW and SWA held the plane to DTW for about 15 of us. There were a few families and the pax were understanding about letting a mom and her young child sit with her. However, the dad and the about 11 yr old were scattered in middle seats.

pinnie

 

[english rose 47]

Hi Katyielder Yes I do realise I would not be able to preboard(even though we all live together and basically I am the other parent) I would have no problem with that as long as they were toghether . I'm a Big Girl I acn handle that or if the 5 year old could preboard with Mom I'd happily wait with the girls. God willing we will be at the airport early with our A passes and at the front of the line.

 

[buzz5985]

I just flew SW for the first time from Manchester 8/20. What a refreshing experience. I usually fly out of Logan on Delta and it was so nice not to have my seat reassigned to someone else because they changed the departure by 1 minute and overbooked the flight. I just went online 24 hours in advance and printed out my boarding passes. I was surprised how easily and quickly the boarding went.

On my return trip - I had the conceirge at BCV print out the boarding passes 24 hours in advance. I found that when people arrived late and had young children, that people moved for them. I was surpised at how many people feel the need to preboard in Orlando.

Most people are still kind, loving individuals and can identify with a mother or father wanting to sit with their children. All in all, my experience with SW was the best I have had with an airline in the last 5 years.

 

[TinkerbellMama]

Most people are still kind, loving individuals and can identify with a mother or father wanting to sit with their children. All in all, my experience with SW was the best I have had with an airline in the last 5 years.

Yes, and thank god for that! I do plan ahead and we have NEVER had any problem with seating on Southwest...because we print early, arrive early, and preboard (we have a 1 year old in a car seat). However, if we were ever late(r) due to circumstances outside our control, I would hope some kind person would be able to help us out. Believe me, it just would not happen that I could not sit with my toddler on a plane! Obviously, we'd choose to miss the flight rather than have THAT happen...and hopefully there is some kind of law about it, as well (with a child that young, basically unattended).
This is just like the "giving up seats on buses" argument that recycles every so often on the Dis. Yes, some people might have arrived earlier/have disabilities, but in general not EVERYONE on the bus falls into one of those categories. Is it required that SOMEONE give up a seat for a fellow passenger in need? No, but it sure does make the world a nicer place!

 

[bookgirl2632]

About printing boarding passes at the resort...I realize it can be done starting 24 hours before the flight departs. We will be in one of the parks, most likely, at that 24 hour mark. What to do? Any suggestions?

 

[havencruiser]

I think my basic sense of unfairness is not with parents who understandably want and need to sit with their young children whether they are 5, 7, or 10. It's with the groups of 12 who pre-board when there is one 5 year old in the group. Aunts and uncles and cousins all get in line because they feel they have the right to do so.

 

[goofy4tink]

I think my basic sense of unfairness is not with parents who understandably want and need to sit with their young children whether they are 5, 7, or 10. It's with the groups of 12 who pre-board when there is one 5 year old in the group. Aunts and uncles and cousins all get in line because they feel they have the right to do so.

Bingo!

 

[salmoneous]

About printing boarding passes at the resort...I realize it can be done starting 24 hours before the flight departs. We will be in one of the parks, most likely, at that 24 hour mark. What to do? Any suggestions?

You've got a few choices. First, if you have a web enabled cell phone, you can check in using that from the park. Or, you can give a friend back home your reservation number and they can check you in. If you do either of these, you will have to print your boarding passes later - either from the lobby concierge or just print them at the airport. Your place in A/B/C line will be set when you check in, not when your print the passes.

Finally, some people have reported asking the lobby concierge if they would log them in at a specific time. I surprised the concierge has agreed, and personally wouldn't trust the process, but I've seen at least two reports here saying it worked.

 

[disneyldwjr]

About printing boarding passes at the resort...I realize it can be done starting 24 hours before the flight departs. We will be in one of the parks, most likely, at that 24 hour mark. What to do? Any suggestions?

I just had mine printed at Epcot last Thursday. Guest services.

 

[disneyldwjr]

Yes, and thank god for that! I do plan ahead and we have NEVER had any problem with seating on Southwest...because we print early, arrive early, and preboard (we have a 1 year old in a car seat). However, if we were ever late(r) due to circumstances outside our control, I would hope some kind person would be able to help us out. Believe me, it just would not happen that I could not sit with my toddler on a plane! Obviously, we'd choose to miss the flight rather than have THAT happen...and hopefully there is some kind of law about it, as well (with a child that young, basically unattended).
This is just like the "giving up seats on buses" argument that recycles every so often on the Dis. Yes, some people might have arrived earlier/have disabilities, but in general not EVERYONE on the bus falls into one of those categories. Is it required that SOMEONE give up a seat for a fellow passenger in need? No, but it sure does make the world a nicer place!

There are Fed. regs. about where one can place a car seat on a plane. However, that applies ONLY if you have purchased a seat for the child.
If you have not purchased a seat, the car seat goes below and you have a lap child. If that is the case, ta da, problem solved, you only need one seat.
If you did purchase a seat for the child, then the onus is on you to plan ahead and be there on time, which you appear to do already. Again, the FAs cannot make anyone move, they can only ask, plead, and bargain.
As I said before, I did raise my hand to move this one time because you could read in the eyes of the parents that they were embarrased, concerned and really upset about being late. I have, in the past, looked at parents who had the "you must move cause I am entitled " look and went back to reading. Kindness and compassion do have their limits.

 

[disneyldwjr]

You've got a few choices. First, if you have a web enabled cell phone, you can check in using that from the park. Or, you can give a friend back home your reservation number and they can check you in. If you do either of these, you will have to print your boarding passes later - either from the lobby concierge or just print them at the airport. Your place in A/B/C line will be set when you check in, not when your print the passes.

Finally, some people have reported asking the lobby concierge if they would log them in at a specific time. I surprised the concierge has agreed, and personally wouldn't trust the process, but I've seen at least two reports here saying it worked.

You can get them at the parks also. Guest services.