SWA does a better job of keeping families together, and keeping elderly or disabled people with caregivers than any other airline.

I once had a connecting flight on SW, flying with a young child. I was worried that we wouldn’t get there in time to sit together, and asked the flight attendant on my first plane the fastest route to my gate. When I got to the second plane, everyone had boarded, and at the back of the plane were seats blocked off because the flight attendant had called from the other plane and described us.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I stopped paying for early boarding on southwest because they, like every airline in 2024, have hoards of not actually disabled being wheeled down in a wheelchair so they board first. I used to get a bulk head almost guaranteed with early boarding and I don’t remember the last time it was even close to available even in A1.

Yes. WTF is up with this. I was on a flight in the Fall where we had 18 wheel chair people. Only 2 of these people needed wheelchairs to get off the plane. I just can't with these older boomers and silent gen folks.

Jetway Jesus saves them! Haven't you seen the miracles??! They miraculously can walk just fine after getting away from the jetway.

My parents are in their 90s and have needed wheelchairs for travel for about a decade even though they can walk short distance. My mom has intersititial lung disease so can’t walk very far and my dad has a bum hip plus neuropathy in his feet. I’ve only ever seen those long wheelchair lines when flying into/out of Arizona or Florida or maybe Nevada.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve only done it for ourselves and child. So one of us will pay for group A then save 2 seats in our row for spouse and child.
I don’t have an objection to other people doing the same to sit with family.

You should be paying.for 3 early boardings if that is what you want/need.

Why would I do that when I don’t need to?
I’m not sitting in the front few rows. We’re just sitting together.

If you just want to sit together then you should set your alarm for the day before like the rest of us, or at least pay for automatic checkin.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I stopped paying for early boarding on southwest because they, like every airline in 2024, have hoards of not actually disabled being wheeled down in a wheelchair so they board first. I used to get a bulk head almost guaranteed with early boarding and I don’t remember the last time it was even close to available even in A1.

Yes. WTF is up with this. I was on a flight in the Fall where we had 18 wheel chair people. Only 2 of these people needed wheelchairs to get off the plane. I just can't with these older boomers and silent gen folks.

Yes, this my issue and will never fly with them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve only done it for ourselves and child. So one of us will pay for group A then save 2 seats in our row for spouse and child.
I don’t have an objection to other people doing the same to sit with family.

You should be paying.for 3 early boardings if that is what you want/need.

Why would I do that when I don’t need to?
I’m not sitting in the front few rows. We’re just sitting together.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have small kids and don't fly with SWA. It would be way too stressful to ensure we get seats together. And the price to pay to get guaranteed #1-20 is way too expensive on a per ticket basis.

Flying UA or AA and just paying for Econ+ ends up being a significantly cheaper proposition.

If you have small kids you can board during family boarding (which I think is basically after the first 60 people have boarded) and I think you would have no problems finding seats together.

Southwest is very lax on family boarding, even if kids are older. You won’t have a problem. I have been more stressed with other carriers reassigning seats and splitting us up from young children. It got fixed eventually but was extremely stressful.

+1 Southwest is easier than other airlines for families because they don't have assigned seating so it's very easy to just make sure a family is seated together. We only have one kid and stopped using family boarding once she aged out but have never once had an issue with finding seats together even without paying for early boarding -- if you are ever worried about it you can just let a flight crew member know and they will work their magic to make it work -- they have great customer service and the flexiblity of boarding means they can accommodate a group like that without having to force anyone to give up the seat the paid for.

I've also traveled on SWA with my elderly mother and it was the same thing -- they were super accommodating and ensured I could sit with her even though we were not booked together. They let me preboard with her so she didn't have to be alone. Because they are not selling certain seats at a premium it's easier for them to accommodate special circumstances without having to force anyone to move.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have small kids and don't fly with SWA. It would be way too stressful to ensure we get seats together. And the price to pay to get guaranteed #1-20 is way too expensive on a per ticket basis.

Flying UA or AA and just paying for Econ+ ends up being a significantly cheaper proposition.

If you have small kids you can board during family boarding (which I think is basically after the first 60 people have boarded) and I think you would have no problems finding seats together.

Southwest is very lax on family boarding, even if kids are older. You won’t have a problem. I have been more stressed with other carriers reassigning seats and splitting us up from young children. It got fixed eventually but was extremely stressful.

SW is actually great—i never pay for early boarding and just set an alarm to check in 24 hrs before the flight. Only when I have forgotten have I ended up in the C group. It’s generally not stressful to find a seat and I like the choice.

It will be fine.

This is why I fly legacy carrier or chartered only. Ugh.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve only done it for ourselves and child. So one of us will pay for group A then save 2 seats in our row for spouse and child.
I don’t have an objection to other people doing the same to sit with family.

You should be paying.for 3 early boardings if that is what you want/need.

If I fly by myself I intentionally sit in one of those seats. Eff people like this.

Anonymous wrote:We have small kids and don't fly with SWA. It would be way too stressful to ensure we get seats together. And the price to pay to get guaranteed #1-20 is way too expensive on a per ticket basis.

Flying UA or AA and just paying for Econ+ ends up being a significantly cheaper proposition.

If you have small kids you can board during family boarding (which I think is basically after the first 60 people have boarded) and I think you would have no problems finding seats together.

We have small kids and don't fly with SWA. It would be way too stressful to ensure we get seats together. And the price to pay to get guaranteed #1-20 is way too expensive on a per ticket basis.

Flying UA or AA and just paying for Econ+ ends up being a significantly cheaper proposition.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I stopped paying for early boarding on southwest because they, like every airline in 2024, have hoards of not actually disabled being wheeled down in a wheelchair so they board first. I used to get a bulk head almost guaranteed with early boarding and I don’t remember the last time it was even close to available even in A1.

Yes. WTF is up with this. I was on a flight in the Fall where we had 18 wheel chair people. Only 2 of these people needed wheelchairs to get off the plane. I just can't with these older boomers and silent gen folks.

WTF is up with someone not knowing that many elderly people and people with health issues are able to walk short distances, but not long distances, and that standing in line, like at security, is particularly hard? You actually didn't know this was a thing? Do you not have elderly relatives?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I stopped paying for early boarding on southwest because they, like every airline in 2024, have hoards of not actually disabled being wheeled down in a wheelchair so they board first. I used to get a bulk head almost guaranteed with early boarding and I don’t remember the last time it was even close to available even in A1.

Yes. WTF is up with this. I was on a flight in the Fall where we had 18 wheel chair people. Only 2 of these people needed wheelchairs to get off the plane. I just can't with these older boomers and silent gen folks.

Jetway Jesus saves them! Haven't you seen the miracles??! They miraculously can walk just fine after getting away from the jetway.

I am traveling right now. Flew Delta, as I boarded the plane agent said 'oh you were reseated' and gave me a new random seat. I really like SW. I usually have many more choices then other airlines where non status people are very limited with high charges.