Southwest adds charge to board sooner

[twinmom06]

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/consumer&id=6995701

We fly out on sunday morning and are a family of 5. I can't afford to pay an additional $100 to make sure we all get to sit together

 

[jboysen]

I'm thinking people may get a little peeved in the long run. Especially for a person paying, then a family wanting you to move so they can be together. Who wants to pay to board earlier to be stuck next to some one elses kid the whole trip. I have 2 DDs and I can't imagine letting them sit by a stranger for a 3 hour flight. Families will not like this, and SW has been a family favorite.

 

[honugirl]

So, I wonder if they'll make people with a disability pre-board pay the fee?

 

[CLR4321]

I am not worried about this. On Southwest you pick your own seats. If someone sees that you have children with you, they will offer you the seat if the happen to notice that you do not have a space where you can sit together. If no one offers, look around for a spot that would fit your family and explain that you need to sit with your children. Someone will give you their spot to accommodate you. The flight attendants also will help you find a spot where you can sit together. Don't worry. Also, you can check in online up to 24 hrs before the flight. Check in right at that mark, and you will be closer to the beginning of the boarding list.

 

[woodkins]

They cannot allow young children to sit without a parent, so I wouldn't worry to much about it. This happened to me on a Southwest flight about 2 years ago when my dd was 5. We were traveling alone and there were not 2 seats together. No one was offering up a seat, so I found the first open one, sat my dd down and loudly annouced (in a lighthearted tone)..well Gianna you will be sitting here with these two strangers, let them know what movie you want, that you like apple juice and remember to let them know when you need to go to the bathroom. I will be way in the back of the plane where the next available seat is. Hope you ALL have a good flight ;-) You have never seen so many people offer up their seats NOT to have to sit with the 5 year old!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I usually fly SW when we go to WDW because it's the only airline that offers non-stop flights to MCO. (Well, I think AirTran is now offering one non-stop per day, but it isn't at a convenient time.) I probably won't bother paying the fee for the flight down because I can check in 24 hours in advance and get our boarding passes, but it might be worth it for the return flight so I don't have to worry about being at Guest Services or the concierge desk at the resort right at the 24 hour mark of the return flight.

 

[seashoreCM]

... We were traveling alone and there were not 2 seats together. No one was offering up a seat, so I found the first open one, sat my dd down and loudly annouced (in a lighthearted tone)..well Gianna you will be sitting here with these two strangers, let them know what movie you want, that you like apple juice and remember to let them know when you need to go to the bathroom. I will be way in the back of the plane where the next available seat is. ...

You should have been more discreet. Said nothing at first but after the seat belt sign went off in flight, got up to escort DD to the bathroom, handed her the apple juice, DVD movie, etc. Maybe even chatted with her a little.

Betch'a someone would'a offered to trade seats with'ya just'a same.

 

[woodkins]

You should have been more discreet. Said nothing at first but after the seat belt sign went off in flight, got up to escort DD to the bathroom, handed her the apple juice, DVD movie, etc. Maybe even chatted with her a little.

Betch'a someone would'a offered to trade seats with'ya just'a same.

I would have loved to but there was no way I was letting my 5 year old little girl sit with two strangers during take off....

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Whatever happened to politely asking several people before (lightheartedly) threatening passengers with the charge of your 5 yr old?

This is a great example of where you would want to locate the 2 empty seats closest to one another and ask the individual in the seat further to the back of the plane of the two if he or she wouldn't mind moving up a row or two to accommodate you and your daughter.

I understand no one offered but it doesn't appear you asked anyone first.

They cannot allow young children to sit without a parent, so I wouldn't worry to much about it. This happened to me on a Southwest flight about 2 years ago when my dd was 5. We were traveling alone and there were not 2 seats together. No one was offering up a seat, so I found the first open one, sat my dd down and loudly annouced (in a lighthearted tone)..well Gianna you will be sitting here with these two strangers, let them know what movie you want, that you like apple juice and remember to let them know when you need to go to the bathroom. I will be way in the back of the plane where the next available seat is. Hope you ALL have a good flight ;-) You have never seen so many people offer up their seats NOT to have to sit with the 5 year old!

 

[PaddingtonBear]

They cannot allow young children to sit without a parent, so I wouldn't worry to much about it.

They can and will. There's no reason another party should have to break up just becuase you chose not to pay for the advanced boarding. I haven't personally had this experience but a friend of mine was forced to be seated apart from her 6 year old on a flight last month becuase she had not paid for a reserved seat. The flight attendants asked if there were volunteers to move, but the flight was full of mostly families and nobody offered, so my friend's child ended up about three rows away. Luckily the kid is pretty friendly and it worked out. If it had been me I'd have offered to buy a drink for anyone who'd volunteer to trade so I could sit with the kid.

In any case, don't fool yourself into thinking they "can't" seperate you, they certianly can. Breathe a word of this on the transportation board and watch them hand you your butt. They hate families that feel entitled over there.

 

[cassandrap83]

I would not be concerned at all.

I just flew Southwest to Orlando (& back) about 4 days ago. They have open seating, which means that you can pick your seats. They are very efficient about the way they do it.

FIRST: Group A (passengers 1 - 60) board (your boarding pass is numbered, and you must line up accordingly.)

SECOND: Any family with kids under 4, & those with disabilities board

THIRD: Group B (passengers 61-120) board
FOURTH: Group C boards

You'll be fine, don't sweat it, or even THINK about paying the extra fee.

 

[DISNEYFOS]

They can and will. There's no reason another party should have to break up just becuase you chose not to pay for the advanced boarding. I haven't personally had this experience but a friend of mine was forced to be seated apart from her 6 year old on a flight last month becuase she had not paid for a reserved seat. The flight attendants asked if there were volunteers to move, but the flight was full of mostly families and nobody offered, so my friend's child ended up about three rows away. Luckily the kid is pretty friendly and it worked out. If it had been me I'd have offered to buy a drink for anyone who'd volunteer to trade so I could sit with the kid.

In any case, don't fool yourself into thinking they "can't" seperate you, they certianly can. Breathe a word of this on the transportation board and watch them hand you your butt. They hate families that feel entitled over there.

It wasn't southwest, but I just spoke with a reservation rep on Air Tran and she actually did tell me that they would not allow me to be separate from my child. AirTran requires you to pay if you want your seat assignment in advance and our return flight had no seats available next to each other. She repeated in no uncertain terms we would not be required to be separated. Entitlement or not, if they don't want to assign seats they can't require my 2 year old to sit by herself...think about it.

 

[vallamen]

My dh and I will be traveling with our 2 year old and 4 year old (and their car seats!!!! ARGH!). I am a at the 24 hour mark check in person too....always have had an "A" spot - never used the family preboard between A and B. So I was concerned if the early bird thing would impact family preboarding. If not then it doesn't really seem worth it for me the pay the extra $80 ($40 each way) if they can't guarantee an "A" spot anyway. Obviously I don't want to be separated from the kids at their young ages or have to worry about installing carseats in a row of strangers. I called SW and she told me it would be a waste of $ for us. Family preboarding between A and B is not going away and it is very possible that I would pay the $ and still have to use the family preboarding because I may end up with B or C spots with the early check in. She said it is meant for people who are only general boarders not for disabled or family preboarders. Thought I'd share incase anyone else was in a similar situation.

Val.

 

[woodkins]

Whatever happened to politely asking several people before (lightheartedly) threatening passengers with the charge of your 5 yr old?

This is a great example of where you would want to locate the 2 empty seats closest to one another and ask the individual in the seat further to the back of the plane of the two if he or she wouldn't mind moving up a row or two to accommodate you and your daughter.

I understand no one offered but it doesn't appear you asked anyone first.

I didn't think that it had to be said , but we HAD walked the length of the plane and back, nicely asking if people would be willing to move over. I may be from NY but I'm not completely rude The problem was that most people had taken the window and aisle so only single middle seats were open & none of them were wanting to give up an aisle or window to have to sit in the middle seat. It was very crowded as the Orlando Predators arena league football team was on the flight.

They can and will. There's no reason another party should have to break up just becuase you chose not to pay for the advanced boarding. I haven't personally had this experience but a friend of mine was forced to be seated apart from her 6 year old on a flight last month becuase she had not paid for a reserved seat. The flight attendants asked if there were volunteers to move, but the flight was full of mostly families and nobody offered, so my friend's child ended up about three rows away. Luckily the kid is pretty friendly and it worked out. If it had been me I'd have offered to buy a drink for anyone who'd volunteer to trade so I could sit with the kid.

In any case, don't fool yourself into thinking they "can't" seperate you, they certianly can. Breathe a word of this on the transportation board and watch them hand you your butt. They hate families that feel entitled over there.

I was told on our last Southwest flight that we would not be separated because any child under 12 had to be seated with an accompanying adult for safety reasons, in the event of an emergency the accompanying adult would be responsible for caring for them (oxygen etc).

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I would not be concerned at all.

I just flew Southwest to Orlando (& back) about 4 days ago. They have open seating, which means that you can pick your seats. They are very efficient about the way they do it.

FIRST: Group A (passengers 1 - 60) board (your boarding pass is numbered, and you must line up accordingly.)

SECOND: Any family with kids under 4, & those with disabilities board

THIRD: Group B (passengers 61-120) board
FOURTH: Group C boards

You'll be fine, don't sweat it, or even THINK about paying the extra fee.

People with disabilities needing assistance board before anyone else. Then the first 15 spaces (I think it's 15) in the A group go to the "business select" people who paid a higher fare. After that comes the rest of the A group. Then family boarding for those with children 4 and under, then B and finally C.

If you are a family without a child under age 5, then boarding can be a problem if you end up in the C group. Most families would rather not have to walk up and down the aisle asking people to give up their seats.

 

[bavaria]

In any case, don't fool yourself into thinking they "can't" seperate you, they certianly can. Breathe a word of this on the transportation board and watch them hand you your butt. They hate families that feel entitled over there.

To be fair, I think that most of us are just tired of being bullied and threatened (which does happen regularly here and in real life) because some people feel that they don't want to pay for a seat but the fact that they have children trumps every other situation.

Just imagine how uncomfortable a situation it would make for someone like honugirl - she has a definite and definable need, chooses the seat which meets her need, but someone assumes by her appearance that she can (and should) move. It happens all the time. She shouldn't have to explain herself or her needs, and nor should anyone else. (Sorry to single you out honugirl, but it really irks me to see people make assumptions or think that their need trumps someone else's needs. You have a need, and hopefully you won't ever find yourself in such a situation when you fly)

There are tactics which one can use to ask passengers to move to another seat, including what others have listed. Threatening and bullying won't work as effectively as asking or offering some form of incentive, be it a better seat, a beverage, or just a polite request.

But I agree - there is no law requiring airlines in America to force passengers to move to seat families together. The best option is to be proactive and pay the seat selection fee, or early boarding fee. If you don't want to do that, assume that there is a risk that you won't have seats together, and prepare a strategy to request assistance from others.

Happy flying!

 

[Hannathy]

I didn't think that it had to be said , but we HAD walked the length of the plane and back, nicely asking if people would be willing to move over. I may be from NY but I'm not completely rude The problem was that most people had taken the window and aisle so only single middle seats were open & none of them were wanting to give up an aisle or window to have to sit in the middle seat. It was very crowded as the Orlando Predators arena league football team was on the flight.



I was told on our last Southwest flight that we would not be separated because any child under 12 had to be seated with an accompanying adult for safety reasons, in the event of an emergency the accompanying adult would be responsible for caring for them (oxygen etc).

Well then you better always fly Southwest because that isn't true on other airlines!

First of all they take unaccompanied kids and they don't have an adult and the FA isn't sitting with the kid at any point in the flight.
Second I have many times been separated from my kids on flights BUT I really don't understand the big deal. Especially for any kid 5 and older. Any child that can go to kind. can take care of them selves for a bit. It isn't like you aren't on the same airplane!
Actually the last time we flew to Disney my kids chose to sit in different rows because they all wanted windows!

 

[bavaria]

I would not be concerned at all.

I just flew Southwest to Orlando (& back) about 4 days ago. They have open seating, which means that you can pick your seats. They are very efficient about the way they do it.

FIRST: Group A (passengers 1 - 60) board (your boarding pass is numbered, and you must line up accordingly.)

SECOND: Any family with kids under 4, & those with disabilities board

THIRD: Group B (passengers 61-120) board
FOURTH: Group C boards

You'll be fine, don't sweat it, or even THINK about paying the extra fee.

But this is no longer the current situation - SW has changed the game.

What if 50 passengers on a given flight choose to pay for early boarding? (And I can see many doing so on a flight to/from MCO)

There is no way to know how many passengers have paid/will pay on a given flight, so even checking in at the 24 hour mark gives no assurance of getting a decent boarding assignment anymore.

Other airlines have a seat map which gives some indication of the seating pattern and the number of passengers already assigned a seat. SW doesn't have any such device, so passengers run the risk of not paying and finding out that a large number of people DID pay and WILL board first.

Bottom line, if you are concerned about your seat assignment and don't qualify for pre-boarding, pay the fee.

I suspect that SW suddenly lost the allure it held for many of the readers here with this change.

 

[woodkins]

Well then you better always fly Southwest because that isn't true on other airlines!

First of all they take unaccompanied kids and they don't have an adult and the FA isn't sitting with the kid at any point in the flight.
Second I have many times been separated from my kids on flights BUT I really don't understand the big deal. Especially for any kid 5 and older. Any child that can go to kind. can take care of them selves for a bit. It isn't like you aren't on the same airplane!
Actually the last time we flew to Disney my kids chose to sit in different rows because they all wanted windows!

If a child is unaccompanied the parent/guardian must pay a $25 fee each way and according to Southwest's policy the flight attendant is responsible for their care on the flight.

 

[Hannathy]

If a child is unaccompanied the parent/guardian must pay a $25 fee each way and according to Southwest's policy the flight attendant is responsible for their care on the flight.

but they aren't sitting with them! so an adult doesn't have to be with them. so your statement that an adult has to be with them doesn't hold up. All they actually are responsible for is getting them on and off safely and to the next leg or to the gate personnel to keep them till picked up.

Believe me you can be separated from your child and then you choose to stay on or get off.