Poor change by Southwest

[sethschroeder]

Always liked the airline but they are now saying all kids basically regardless of age have to carry their own boarding pass.

Makes little sense to have a 3 or 4 year old responsible for their boarding pass.

They likely think it will speed things up when honestly it only slows down the whole process from what I can see.

 

[Disnydad]

Been that way for quite a while. My now 5 yo grandson has been showing his boarding pass for two years now. He thinks it's "kwell". He even has his own Rapid Rewards account.

 

[dfisher9]

You can hold on to the boarding pass until there are about 3 people in front of you, hand it to your kid to scan, then take it back.

 

[jo-jo]

I remember at least 5 years ago, boarding agents saying this. He said if they can hold a lollipop, they can hold a boarding pass.

But I don’t understand the reasoning behind it.

 

[focusondisney]

But I don’t understand the reasoning behind it.

You would if you saw the group of 5 or 6 clustered around while 1 person is trying to flip thru & scan multiple BPs & point out who they’re scanning for.

 

[jo-jo]

You would if you saw the group of 5 or 6 clustered around while 1 person is trying to flip thru & scan multiple BPs & point out who they’re scanning for.

In that case I would have thought 3 or 4 of those people are older than 7 ish and can hold their own BPs.

I'm not saying one parent has to hold everyone's passes. Just the ones who might tear it in three seconds or less.

 

[RoseGold]

Better than the stupid app that makes me flip through three eco-friendly, digital boarding passes. I'd rather hand it to a kid and be done.

 

[RedHead0186]

Always liked the airline but they are now saying all kids basically regardless of age have to carry their own boarding pass.

Makes little sense to have a 3 or 4 year old responsible for their boarding pass.

They likely think it will speed things up when honestly it only slows down the whole process from what I can see.

This is not new. They've said this at the gate when boarding for years now. Things typically go faster when each person can walk by the gate agent holding their own boarding pass to be scanned.

No one is saying the child has to be 'responsible' for the boarding pass, just that they have to hold it for the few seconds it needs to be scanned by the gate agent. Yes, kids can slow things down but probably faster than one person holding all 5/6/7/etc. of them and shuffling through them, trying to match each person with their pass. Also makes it easier for the gate agent to account for each person on a flight. One boarding pass --> one person is easier than a group and one person saying "oh, yeah, this one is for that person, this one is for this person, etc."

 

[focusondisney]

In that case I would have thought 3 or 4 of those people are older than 7 ish and can hold their own BPs.

I'm not saying one parent has to hold everyone's passes. Just the ones who might tear it in three seconds or less.

True, the groups I’ve seen aren’t all little kids. No idea why sometimes the agent is strict & sometimes not so much.

 

[BeckyEsq]

I don't even print boarding passes, I just use my phone. How would this work if a young kid doesn't have a phone?

 

[RedHead0186]

I don't even print boarding passes, I just use my phone. How would this work if a young kid doesn't have a phone?

Then the adult would just swipe to the kid's boarding pass. They're only asking kids to hold their own boarding pass if they have a physical piece of paper to hold.

 

[brockash]

Always liked the airline but they are now saying all kids basically regardless of age have to carry their own boarding pass.

Makes little sense to have a 3 or 4 year old responsible for their boarding pass.

They likely think it will speed things up when honestly it only slows down the whole process from what I can see.

Hmmmm...we just flew SW on Sunday and I held my dd's boarding pass with no issue. I would not worry about this at all. Continue to travel how you do and if the agent wants to stop you and take up time to have your child scan it, so be it.

 

[sethschroeder]

This is not new.

Have flown on SW a ton with the kids. Never once has this been a thing out of MCO or any other airport we have been to.

They havent been in the North East but various other places.

They aggressively were announcing it at the gate when leaving MCO this week as well.

So maybe not new but it was never enforced in the plethora of flights we have been on. Also the flights I have taken for work (not as often as precovid) I have never heard the announcement a single time.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I don't even print boarding passes, I just use my phone. How would this work if a young kid doesn't have a phone?

Just go to one of the many Southwest kiosks at the check in area and print the boarding pass, its not like they charge for that.

 

[sethschroeder]

Yes, kids can slow things down but probably faster than one person holding all 5/6/7/etc. of them and shuffling through them, trying to match each person with their pass.

Cant say I ever saw anyone with 5+ kids under 10 for a single family but never paid close attention.

Supposedly only 76k families like that existed in the US as a whole in 2019 and that's of all ages.

Having all under 10 seemingly would be a much smaller group (especially since out of that group many likely can't afford to fly as well).

Your primary group is going to be a family with 1 or 2 kids a large percentage of the time.

 

[sethschroeder]

Just go to one of the many Southwest kiosks at the check in area and print the boarding pass, its not like they charge for that.

So normally with kids we do check bags but if we weren't I wouldn't even go by the ticketing area in certain airports.

You could still get it from the desks by the gates.

I will say even more outrageous was a mom and child in A1-15 turned away and told to go to the desk to get a paper ticket for the child.

Like in what world does that make sense.

Like I said never saw this until this month in our various flights over the years.

 

[honeymo78]

I've heard this announcement on nearly every SW flight between PHL and MCO over the last 2 years (3 trips per year).

 

[RedHead0186]

Cant say I ever saw anyone with 5+ kids under 10 for a single family but never paid close attention.

Supposedly only 76k families like that existed in the US as a whole in 2019 and that's of all ages.

Having all under 10 seemingly would be a much smaller group (especially since out of that group many likely can't afford to fly as well).

Your primary group is going to be a family with 1 or 2 kids a large percentage of the time.

I never said it was 5+ kids under 10. I just meant large groups in general where one person is holding the boarding passes for several people (5, 6, pick a number whatever).

 

[sam_gordon]

On a flight last week (non SW), there was an elderly couple boarding my flight. The wife (assuming) was using her phone for both of their BP. She scanned one, tried to swipe to the next, tried to scan and the computer said "already boarded". She got confused on which one she had scanned. The gate agent finally told them both to just board.

I can see why it's beneficial for each person boarding to hold their own BP. A child who's what, 18 months or so should be able to hold a piece of paper for a couple minutes.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

I like when they say if they can hold an iPad they can hold a boarding pass.