Which airline?

[JessNewt]

What airline do you prefer to fly? We are planning our flight to orlando, but there are no direct flights from our airport to orlando. So, I'm weighing the many many cons of each airline. We have 2 little ones and this will be their first flight, so seats together are the number one priority. I like southwest, but I'm concerned we wouldn't find seats together on the second leg of our flight.

Any airline you prefer? Especially when traveling with little ones?

 

[strat68]

With Southwest buy the early boarding check in and you will have seats together. From where are you flying and what airlines are at that airport?
It really does not matter which airline you fly in regards to the kids. IMHO, airlines hate everyone equally.

 

[JessNewt]

Thanks! We are flying from OKC to MCO. I'm looking at a layover at Houston. I'm sure we can get seats together on the first leg, but if the flight from Houston to Orlando is not an originating flight I'm concerned that the plane will be fairly full by the time we get on.

 

[JessM]

I would be more concerned with the airport you have to connect at, flight times and connection times with little ones than the airline.

On SW if you have a flight with two legs you check in for both legs at the same time (the time of your earliest flight). That means you are checking in before people who are just taking that second flight. You will normally end up with a boarding number that is just as good if not better than your first flight (typically, funny things can happen and it may not be the case but you should). There may be people already on your plane but I wouldn't worry about not sitting with your kids if you buy EBCI. I was on a full flight last week and a Mom boarded with 3 little ones last. The flight attendants wouldn't let the plane leave the gate until people moved... they did and we were on our way.

 

[JessNewt]

Thank you JessM! Our layover will probably be in Houston. It seems Southwest schedules short layovers, so we have less than an hour to make it to the gate. We are planning on taking an early morning flight, to help minimize the chance that we'll encounter delays.

 

[monorailsilver]

Jet Blue, my kids love the TVs. We flew delta last year and they actually had to use their iPods/iPhones for the flight!

Plus I like to pick my seats and not have to worry about getting the southwest priority seats.

For the return if you flew JB, I would purchase the upgraded seats (the first 5 or 6 rows) only because security line is pretty long there. I did not purchase it in our flight down because we fly out of Hartford and it isn't as big as Orlando.

Is there another airport you can drive to? Hartford is 45 min from me but I always check the 3 NY airports plus the smaller white plains and providence and Boston all of which would be close to a 90 min drive.

Last year we had a connection because we flew delta with our end destination as ft. Myers. We flew into Tampa and that was a 2 hour drive...yawn!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

What airline do you prefer to fly? We are planning our flight to orlando, but there are no direct flights from our airport to orlando. So, I'm weighing the many many cons of each airline. We have 2 little ones and this will be their first flight, so seats together are the number one priority. I like southwest, but I'm concerned we wouldn't find seats together on the second leg of our flight.

Any airline you prefer? Especially when traveling with little ones?

I'm sure there here are plenty of direct flights (which have stops); I'm guessing you really mean non-stop flights.

If you don't have any particular loyalty to an airline alliance, just go with the cheapest fare and best schedule, excluding Spirit.

Despite what someone else posted, buying EBCI on Southwest does not mean you will find seats together. If I were traveling with young children, I'd fly an airline with assigned seating.

 

[JessNewt]

I've read a lot of good reviews about Jet Blue, but unfortunately they don't service my area :/

I've had a lot of bad experience flying United before having children, so I'm doing what I can to avoid them. Southwest has always been good to me, but again, I was always flying alone, so I didn't require much. It would be preferable to fly an airline that allows us to book seats together. However, I've seen seats rearranged last minute SO many times, and I would hate for that benefit to end up working against us (by my children getting seats "assigned" away from us).

Another option would be for us to drive to Dallas to get a "non stop" flight to Orlando. This isn't economically practical, but it seems it would remove the headache of dealing with a layover.

Why is something so simple such a pain when considering little ones??!!

 

[guilderlandmouse]

We have flown Southwest quite a few times. We are lucky enough to have direct flights but have also done connections. We have never had a problem with getting seating together. Usually one parent with 2 children in a row, with other parent either across isle or directly in front or behind.

Couple of things work in your favor.

Southwest almost always has a family boarding right after the preferred boarding. So families can sit together, bring strollers to end of jetway, and get settled before "main" boarding. Make sure you are at gate before boarding starts and maybe even ask gate personnel if they are going to have a family boarding. Also, they will not seat a child without at least one parent adjacent and will move other passengers to accommodate. Lastly, Southwest only flys 737's. So, the configuration is always 3-3. No surprises when you board.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

SWA out of PIT - MCO has a lot of flights that connect but do no involve a plane change for me. I have flown on many of them and when we stop in the connection city there are usually 4-6 of us that remain on board as a through passenger who does not get off in the connection city. So you should not worry that your connecting flight will have that many passenger already on board.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

We have flown Southwest quite a few times. We are lucky enough to have direct flights but have also done connections. We have never had a problem with getting seating together. Usually one parent with 2 children in a row, with other parent either across isle or directly in front or behind.

Couple of things work in your favor.

Southwest almost always has a family boarding right after the preferred boarding. So families can sit together, bring strollers to end of jetway, and get settled before "main" boarding. Make sure you are at gate before boarding starts and maybe even ask gate personnel if they are going to have a family boarding. Also, they will not seat a child without at least one parent adjacent and will move other passengers to accommodate. Lastly, Southwest only flys 737's. So, the configuration is always 3-3. No surprises when you board.

SWA does not offer family boarding before main boarding. Family boarding is done between the group A & B boarding.

 

[JessNewt]

Thank you both! This helps me calm down. First flight for the kids, big moment!

 

[SmallWorld71]

How little is little?
We flew Southwest from MCO and due to a big issue at security that ended up taking over 2 hours, we were not as early as we should have been and most of the plane had already loaded. Our family of 5 was all over the place. Which was not a big deal as my kids are older.
BUT, a mom with an infant (lap child) and a 6 or 7 year old boarded right after us and they were put in two completely different sections of the plane. The flight attendants were extremely rude to them. The little boy looked scared, but he did as he was told and was well behaved during the flight.

 

[MillauFr]

How little is little?
We flew Southwest from MCO and due to a big issue at security that ended up taking over 2 hours, we were not as early as we should have been and most of the plane had already loaded. Our family of 5 was all over the place. Which was not a big deal as my kids are older.
BUT, a mom with an infant (lap child) and a 6 or 7 year old boarded right after us and they were put in two completely different sections of the plane. The flight attendants were extremely rude to them. The little boy looked scared, but he did as he was told and was well behaved during the flight.

This is why I would be concerned about flying SW with younger kids. Plus anytime you make a connection on SW even if you purchase early boarding if your connecting flight is late you are out of luck.