Anonymous
Post 04/27/2023 13:41     Subject: Sitting with child on Southwest
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The last flight they announced any MINOR could do family boarding. I don’t think you’ll have any problem. Set an alarm to check in right at 24 hours in advance to be absolutely sure.


Call me horrible, but I think it should be limited to small kids. The Southwest policy is seven and under. I would not normally care, but I've had three flights recently where I paid for early check-in and wound up in the B group. I don't think it's fair that people who paid to board earlier should have to defer to those who did not pay and who don't fit the criteria for family boarding.


FYI: the families in your flight did not cause you to be bumped down to B.

in fact, when you are eligible for family boarding, you check in whenever, usually get a C group boarding pass, but just board between the As and Bs.

You were bumped into the B group bc too many people paid for early bird check in


I wasn't complaining about being in the B group. I was complaining about having trouble finding seats with my own kids who are too old for family boarding, despite the fact that we paid for early check-in, when large families with older kids boarded together after the As.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2023 13:32     Subject: Re:Sitting with child on Southwest
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Pay for early check-in or check-in right at the 24 hour mark. With a 10 year old you can not use family boarding.


Yes you can. They do not care at all. They have even told us when we boarded with our boarding group that we should have pre-boarded as a family.


That said if you check in as soon as it opens you will likely get around B50 or so and should easily be able to get 2 seats together.


I posted above that we got B 58 and 59 after we purchased early bird. I wouldn't assume that it's easy to get two seats together using regular check in. But you usually upgrade later.


NP but I have never paid for earlybird and check-in at the 24 hour mark and rarely end up in the B group.


NP
I took Southwest about 2 weeks ago--for my outbound flight I checked in right at the 24 mark and got B 21. For the return I checked in right at the 24 mark and got B57. FWIW, when I was in the B 57 I didn't see any "2 seats together" in the whole plane. The first seat I came upon that wasn't a middle seat was 4 rows from the back.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2023 13:32     Subject: Sitting with child on Southwest
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The last flight they announced any MINOR could do family boarding. I don’t think you’ll have any problem. Set an alarm to check in right at 24 hours in advance to be absolutely sure.


Call me horrible, but I think it should be limited to small kids. The Southwest policy is seven and under. I would not normally care, but I've had three flights recently where I paid for early check-in and wound up in the B group. I don't think it's fair that people who paid to board earlier should have to defer to those who did not pay and who don't fit the criteria for family boarding.


FYI: the families in your flight did not cause you to be bumped down to B.

in fact, when you are eligible for family boarding, you check in whenever, usually get a C group boarding pass, but just board between the As and Bs.

You were bumped into the B group bc too many people paid for early bird check in


More fare categories just get it now too so not just people that pay for it specifically. That is why other people are seeing really high numbers.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2023 13:30     Subject: Sitting with child on Southwest
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The last flight they announced any MINOR could do family boarding. I don’t think you’ll have any problem. Set an alarm to check in right at 24 hours in advance to be absolutely sure.


Call me horrible, but I think it should be limited to small kids. The Southwest policy is seven and under. I would not normally care, but I've had three flights recently where I paid for early check-in and wound up in the B group. I don't think it's fair that people who paid to board earlier should have to defer to those who did not pay and who don't fit the criteria for family boarding.


So my 17 year old 6 foot tall son with a beard should have lines right up with the toddlers...and his parents of course.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2023 13:28     Subject: Sitting with child on Southwest
OP just check in as soon as you can to get a good spot. Then still try to do family boarding. I can bet the gate agents will not care. Worse case. if they do care, they make you board in your original spot.

You can still usually at least get middle seats one row apart. And the flight to Raleigh has got to be insanely short.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2023 13:27     Subject: Sitting with child on Southwest
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The last flight they announced any MINOR could do family boarding. I don’t think you’ll have any problem. Set an alarm to check in right at 24 hours in advance to be absolutely sure.


Call me horrible, but I think it should be limited to small kids. The Southwest policy is seven and under. I would not normally care, but I've had three flights recently where I paid for early check-in and wound up in the B group. I don't think it's fair that people who paid to board earlier should have to defer to those who did not pay and who don't fit the criteria for family boarding.


I understand your point but to correct your reference - the policy is 6 and under (not 7). I think Southwest is rightfully revisiting that policy to possibly increase it to 13 and younger (which aligns with the recent DOT notice). This might be another reason why FAs don't care.

https://simpleflying.com/southwest-airlines-changes-family-boarding/

https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/family-seating/June-2022-notice



Southwest also has very young age thresholds for unaccompanied minors. Compared to other discount airlines like Jetblue
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2023 13:26     Subject: Sitting with child on Southwest
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The last flight they announced any MINOR could do family boarding. I don’t think you’ll have any problem. Set an alarm to check in right at 24 hours in advance to be absolutely sure.


Call me horrible, but I think it should be limited to small kids. The Southwest policy is seven and under. I would not normally care, but I've had three flights recently where I paid for early check-in and wound up in the B group. I don't think it's fair that people who paid to board earlier should have to defer to those who did not pay and who don't fit the criteria for family boarding.


FYI: the families in your flight did not cause you to be bumped down to B.

in fact, when you are eligible for family boarding, you check in whenever, usually get a C group boarding pass, but just board between the As and Bs.

You were bumped into the B group bc too many people paid for early bird check in
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2023 13:24     Subject: Re:Sitting with child on Southwest
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Pay for early check-in or check-in right at the 24 hour mark. With a 10 year old you can not use family boarding.


Yes you can. They do not care at all. They have even told us when we boarded with our boarding group that we should have pre-boarded as a family.


That said if you check in as soon as it opens you will likely get around B50 or so and should easily be able to get 2 seats together.


I posted above that we got B 58 and 59 after we purchased early bird. I wouldn't assume that it's easy to get two seats together using regular check in. But you usually upgrade later.


NP but I have never paid for earlybird and check-in at the 24 hour mark and rarely end up in the B group.


It entirely depends on your itinerary. If you're boarding a flight along with people who are transferring from a different flight that originated in an earlier time zone, those people checked in an hour before you did, so they have higher numbers.

Just pay for early check in if you're seriously worried about it.



Or you can be like us on a flight where we never even got off the plane.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2023 13:20     Subject: Re:Sitting with child on Southwest
Your 10 yr old can't sit without you for a couple of hours??? This shouldn't be an issue.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2023 13:19     Subject: Re:Sitting with child on Southwest
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Pay for early check-in or check-in right at the 24 hour mark. With a 10 year old you can not use family boarding.


Yes you can. They do not care at all. They have even told us when we boarded with our boarding group that we should have pre-boarded as a family.


That said if you check in as soon as it opens you will likely get around B50 or so and should easily be able to get 2 seats together.


I posted above that we got B 58 and 59 after we purchased early bird. I wouldn't assume that it's easy to get two seats together using regular check in. But you usually upgrade later.


NP but I have never paid for earlybird and check-in at the 24 hour mark and rarely end up in the B group.


It entirely depends on your itinerary. If you're boarding a flight along with people who are transferring from a different flight that originated in an earlier time zone, those people checked in an hour before you did, so they have higher numbers.

Just pay for early check in if you're seriously worried about it.



Yep. Flights to MCO are practically full after family boarding (and before B) because of all the families going to the theme parks.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2023 13:14     Subject: Re:Sitting with child on Southwest
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Pay for early check-in or check-in right at the 24 hour mark. With a 10 year old you can not use family boarding.


Yes you can. They do not care at all. They have even told us when we boarded with our boarding group that we should have pre-boarded as a family.


That said if you check in as soon as it opens you will likely get around B50 or so and should easily be able to get 2 seats together.


I posted above that we got B 58 and 59 after we purchased early bird. I wouldn't assume that it's easy to get two seats together using regular check in. But you usually upgrade later.


NP but I have never paid for earlybird and check-in at the 24 hour mark and rarely end up in the B group.


It entirely depends on your itinerary. If you're boarding a flight along with people who are transferring from a different flight that originated in an earlier time zone, those people checked in an hour before you did, so they have higher numbers.

Just pay for early check in if you're seriously worried about it.

Anonymous
Post 04/27/2023 13:11     Subject: Sitting with child on Southwest
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The last flight they announced any MINOR could do family boarding. I don’t think you’ll have any problem. Set an alarm to check in right at 24 hours in advance to be absolutely sure.


Call me horrible, but I think it should be limited to small kids. The Southwest policy is seven and under. I would not normally care, but I've had three flights recently where I paid for early check-in and wound up in the B group. I don't think it's fair that people who paid to board earlier should have to defer to those who did not pay and who don't fit the criteria for family boarding.


I understand your point but to correct your reference - the policy is 6 and under (not 7). I think Southwest is rightfully revisiting that policy to possibly increase it to 13 and younger (which aligns with the recent DOT notice). This might be another reason why FAs don't care.

https://simpleflying.com/southwest-airlines-changes-family-boarding/

https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/family-seating/June-2022-notice

Anonymous
Post 04/27/2023 13:10     Subject: Re:Sitting with child on Southwest
OP here, thanks! It sounds like I can choose to spend money to upgrade boarding if I don't get a good boarding group upon check-in? If so, that's what I'll do.

I know SW has many fans, but to me it's so needlessly inconvenient not to assign seats.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2023 13:05     Subject: Re:Sitting with child on Southwest
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Pay for early check-in or check-in right at the 24 hour mark. With a 10 year old you can not use family boarding.


Yes you can. They do not care at all. They have even told us when we boarded with our boarding group that we should have pre-boarded as a family.


That said if you check in as soon as it opens you will likely get around B50 or so and should easily be able to get 2 seats together.


I posted above that we got B 58 and 59 after we purchased early bird. I wouldn't assume that it's easy to get two seats together using regular check in. But you usually upgrade later.


NP but I have never paid for earlybird and check-in at the 24 hour mark and rarely end up in the B group.


Do you buy it when you purchase the ticket (and purchase the ticket well in advance)? It might depend on how early you pay for earlybird.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2023 13:02     Subject: Re:Sitting with child on Southwest
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Pay for early check-in or check-in right at the 24 hour mark. With a 10 year old you can not use family boarding.


Yes you can. They do not care at all. They have even told us when we boarded with our boarding group that we should have pre-boarded as a family.


That said if you check in as soon as it opens you will likely get around B50 or so and should easily be able to get 2 seats together.


I posted above that we got B 58 and 59 after we purchased early bird. I wouldn't assume that it's easy to get two seats together using regular check in. But you usually upgrade later.


NP but I have never paid for earlybird and check-in at the 24 hour mark and rarely end up in the B group.