Southwest boarding position conundrum

[kiramay]

My sister and I leave tomorrow, and check in was this morning. I got A 49. My sister isn’t feeling good and she’s still asleep (so missed the 24 hour mark). I found her confirmation number and checked her in, and she got B something, so after the families board.

I’m worried that if I wait with her we won’t find two seats together, but I know saving a seat is generally frowned on. I have anxiety attacks on flights and really need to sit by her.

Any suggestions?

Thank you!

 

[FCDub]

Pay to upgrade her position at the gate, if those slots are available. It's usually $40.

 

[AngiTN]

I doubt you'll have a problem. On our last trip I forgot to check in at 24 hours and the 2 of us got mid B's for our boarding position, 40 something. We sat together no problem. As long as you are good heading to the back there will be 2 seats together. I would just move back and board with her

 

[kiramay]

Pay to upgrade her position at the gate, if those slots are available. It's usually $40.

How does that work? Would she board with the A 1-15 and save me a spot or board with me at A 49?

Thank you!

 

[disneyeveryyear]

Southwest has no official policy on seat saving.

I have found that a lot of people save seats and have never seen a confrontation over it. I would head to the back 1/3 of the plane and sit window or aisle, saving the middle seat and you should be fine.

 

[Tigerlulu]

Especially if the seat you are saving is a middle seat, you’ll be fine. I wouldn’t worry. Keep your A position.

 

[supersnoop]

People in the A group and family boarding aren’t typically going to take a middle seat. If it’s just the two of you, find a row with one person in it and take the other two seats.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My sister and I leave tomorrow, and check in was this morning. I got A 49. My sister isn’t feeling good and she’s still asleep (so missed the 24 hour mark). I found her confirmation number and checked her in, and she got B something, so after the families board.

I’m worried that if I wait with her we won’t find two seats together, but I know saving a seat is generally frowned on. I have anxiety attacks on flights and really need to sit by her.

Any suggestions?

Thank you!

You can either save her seat, as mentioned there is no policy on that, if you feel comfortable doing so OR you could board with her with her boarding position (so B whatever she got). As there is no policy on seat saving do know that technically with no body in the seat it is still an open seat. Generally speaking middle seats are the least desirable so you could save that seat for her.

If she does the upgrade to Business Select (boarding positions A1-A15) at the gate then you'll either be back at the saving seat option (but with her doing the saving of the seat) or the board at your position option (which would be her boarding with you at A49).

 

[PSULion]

Seat saving isn’t really “generally frowned upon.” My husband and I just flew Southwest last week and I boarded way before him. I picked the first row that had someone only at the window, sat down on the aisle and set my bag on the middle seat til he boarded. Easy peasy.

 

[a742246]

I wouldn't worry about saving a seat. No one will say anything! Just don't make eye contact with the people boarding.

 

[tobikaye]

OP: When you arrive at the gate, ask the attended if they know how full the plane is. I know anxiety can make things difficult but if they tell you the flight is only 80% full, you should have no problem saving a seat for your sister. If anything sit in the middle seat and put your things on the seat you want to save. If the flight is more than 80% full, then maybe go ahead and pay for the upgrade for peace of mind.

I flew to MCO a few weeks ago and the flight down was about 90% full. I was able to get A23. Most people were able to sit with their party, except for those in the last 5-10 passengers on the plane. I think I saw 2 - 2 people parties that had to separate. One twosome sat in the aisle seats across from each other and the other two sat a row or two apart on the aisle to where they could still pass things easily to each other. I got lucky that trip as I had a empty middle seat between myself and the person on the aisle.

The return trip to Columbus was 100% full. I do not think there was a single seat. I had done early bird and still had B7 so I paid the $40 to get A3 so I could do a window seat. I was glad I did as by the time they started the B group, there were few windows available so I might not have gotten one. I know on that trip the last 20 on the plane were having to fill in seats.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Save her a seat. I've never seen anyone care that a seat was saved. Now when you try to save several rows with just one person its a bit much.
Or you could go up to the counter and explain you have anxiety and need to be seated with your sister and they may give you a pre board boarding pass so that both of you get on the plane prior to general boarding.

 

[writerguyfl]

Especially if the seat you are saving is a middle seat, you’ll be fine. I wouldn’t worry. Keep your A position.

The bolded part here is the key. Assuming you want to sit next to your sister, this won't be a problem.

 

[LadyBeBop]

We're flying Southwest for the first time in a couple of months. I have another SW problem.


1) We're a family of six, covering four generations. Eldest is my 77-year-old mother-in-law and the youngest is my 9-year-old granddaughter. Most of us are seasoned flyers with the only exception being my son-in-law (he has never flown) and my granddaughter (flown once, but as an infant). We weren't going to get EBCI. It does not matter if we're scattered all over the plane; most of us are adults. And I think, if I check in at the 24-hour mark, at least my son-in-law will get to sit with his wife (my daughter) and his daughter (my granddaughter). Is that a good strategy, at least going down?

2) Coming home, we will be in the middle of the ocean at the 24-hour-mark (we'll be on a cruise). How does checking in work? Should we get EBCI for at least my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter?

3) This is more of a rant/PSA than anything. When making the reservations, I put down that my mother-in-law is a senior citizen. However, that did not get her a price cut. All it did was establish a different reservation number for her. So now, we have two separate reservations. Not telling my mother-in-law this...she would insist that I check her in first. However, I think it's more important that I check everyone else in first...make sure they get to sit together. If I have to check two separate reservation parties in, what would be the difference in numbers. Could the first five get reservation numbers in the As, and my mother-in-law get stuck with a number in the Cs?

I'm thinking...maybe the five of us will get on first and find two rows of three toward the back. Three of us sit in one row and two of us take the aisle and window seat and hopefully my mother-in-law will take the middle seat. However, what would probably happen is that my husband will wait and board with my mother-in-law and hope they get two seats together.
Next time, I'll know not to classify my mother-in-law as a senior.

 

[Spunky946]

We're flying Southwest for the first time in a couple of months. I have another SW problem.


1) We're a family of six, covering four generations. Eldest is my 77-year-old mother-in-law and the youngest is my 9-year-old granddaughter. Most of us are seasoned flyers with the only exception being my son-in-law (he has never flown) and my granddaughter (flown once, but as an infant). We weren't going to get EBCI. It does not matter if we're scattered all over the plane; most of us are adults. And I think, if I check in at the 24-hour mark, at least my son-in-law will get to sit with his wife (my daughter) and his daughter (my granddaughter). Is that a good strategy, at least going down?

2) Coming home, we will be in the middle of the ocean at the 24-hour-mark (we'll be on a cruise). How does checking in work? Should we get EBCI for at least my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter?

3) This is more of a rant/PSA than anything. When making the reservations, I put down that my mother-in-law is a senior citizen. However, that did not get her a price cut. All it did was establish a different reservation number for her. So now, we have two separate reservations. Not telling my mother-in-law this...she would insist that I check her in first. However, I think it's more important that I check everyone else in first...make sure they get to sit together. If I have to check two separate reservation parties in, what would be the difference in numbers. Could the first five get reservation numbers in the As, and my mother-in-law get stuck with a number in the Cs?

I'm thinking...maybe the five of us will get on first and find two rows of three toward the back. Three of us sit in one row and two of us take the aisle and window seat and hopefully my mother-in-law will take the middle seat. However, what would probably happen is that my husband will wait and board with my mother-in-law and hope they get two seats together.
Next time, I'll know not to classify my mother-in-law as a senior.

Personally I’d buy early bird for everyone at least coming back and probably for the way there was well. Or if you don’t want to for the way there, then use two different devices to check everyone in at the same time.

 

[keishashadow]

Seat saving isn’t really “generally frowned upon.” My husband and I just flew Southwest last week and I boarded way before him. I picked the first row that had someone only at the window, sat down on the aisle and set my bag on the middle seat til he boarded. Easy peasy.

Usually easier to save a seat on a full flight if you head past the exit row seats & plop yourself in the middle seat unless you need to save two seats.

We're flying Southwest for the first time in a couple of months. I have another SW problem.


1) We're a family of six, covering four generations. Eldest is my 77-year-old mother-in-law and the youngest is my 9-year-old granddaughter. Most of us are seasoned flyers with the only exception being my son-in-law (he has never flown) and my granddaughter (flown once, but as an infant). We weren't going to get EBCI. It does not matter if we're scattered all over the plane; most of us are adults. And I think, if I check in at the 24-hour mark, at least my son-in-law will get to sit with his wife (my daughter) and his daughter (my granddaughter). Is that a good strategy, at least going down?

2) Coming home, we will be in the middle of the ocean at the 24-hour-mark (we'll be on a cruise). How does checking in work? Should we get EBCI for at least my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter?

3) This is more of a rant/PSA than anything. When making the reservations, I put down that my mother-in-law is a senior citizen. However, that did not get her a price cut. All it did was establish a different reservation number for her. So now, we have two separate reservations. Not telling my mother-in-law this...she would insist that I check her in first. However, I think it's more important that I check everyone else in first...make sure they get to sit together. If I have to check two separate reservation parties in, what would be the difference in numbers. Could the first five get reservation numbers in the As, and my mother-in-law get stuck with a number in the Cs?

I'm thinking...maybe the five of us will get on first and find two rows of three toward the back. Three of us sit in one row and two of us take the aisle and window seat and hopefully my mother-in-law will take the middle seat. However, what would probably happen is that my husband will wait and board with my mother-in-law and hope they get two seats together.
Next time, I'll know not to classify my mother-in-law as a senior.

Sounds as thought you purchased your MiL a senior ticket. Their main benefit is being fully refundable (vs credit). My understanding is they typically cost more than the cheapest wanna get away type fare.

If your MiL needs extra time to board due to physical limitations, check out SWA’s accessible policy. If it sounds as though it’s something that would apply to her, you can add it to an existing reservation. She would board in the first group and a support person is welcome to accompany her.

 

[LadyBeBop]

Sounds as thought you purchased your MiL a senior ticket. Their main benefit is being fully refundable (vs credit). My understanding is they typically cost more than the cheapest wanna get away type fare.

I know we paid the same price for everyone's fare. So I probably looked at getting a senior ticket and decided against it when I learned it would cost more. However, we are now on separate reservations.

If your MiL needs extra time to board due to physical limitations, check out SWA’s accessible policy. If it sounds as though it’s something that would apply to her, you can add it to an existing reservation. She would board in the first group and a support person is welcome to accompany her.

She is in pretty good health. Our big concern is her waiting in line for security. Normally, she doesn't need a wheelchair to get from place to place. However, we may request one at the airport to take her from the ticket counter to the gate. She does not need assistance getting on or off the plane.

BTW, we are flying from Cincinnati (CVG) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and back. Both times, we have layovers at Baltimore/Washington (BWI).

 

[AngiTN]

We're flying Southwest for the first time in a couple of months. I have another SW problem.


1) We're a family of six, covering four generations. Eldest is my 77-year-old mother-in-law and the youngest is my 9-year-old granddaughter. Most of us are seasoned flyers with the only exception being my son-in-law (he has never flown) and my granddaughter (flown once, but as an infant). We weren't going to get EBCI. It does not matter if we're scattered all over the plane; most of us are adults. And I think, if I check in at the 24-hour mark, at least my son-in-law will get to sit with his wife (my daughter) and his daughter (my granddaughter). Is that a good strategy, at least going down?

2) Coming home, we will be in the middle of the ocean at the 24-hour-mark (we'll be on a cruise). How does checking in work? Should we get EBCI for at least my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter?

3) This is more of a rant/PSA than anything. When making the reservations, I put down that my mother-in-law is a senior citizen. However, that did not get her a price cut. All it did was establish a different reservation number for her. So now, we have two separate reservations. Not telling my mother-in-law this...she would insist that I check her in first. However, I think it's more important that I check everyone else in first...make sure they get to sit together. If I have to check two separate reservation parties in, what would be the difference in numbers. Could the first five get reservation numbers in the As, and my mother-in-law get stuck with a number in the Cs?

I'm thinking...maybe the five of us will get on first and find two rows of three toward the back. Three of us sit in one row and two of us take the aisle and window seat and hopefully my mother-in-law will take the middle seat. However, what would probably happen is that my husband will wait and board with my mother-in-law and hope they get two seats together.
Next time, I'll know not to classify my mother-in-law as a senior.

1. Yes, I think so. I never get ECBI and have yet to not sit together when checking in on or near 24 hours, be it 3 of us or 2 of us.
2. This is the one time I would get ECBI
3. I've had individual reservations on a few occasions and done all the checking in. We still got numbers right together. I wouldn't worry about one getting A and the other C. You can always do both at the same time, do one on your phone and the other on the computer. So you sign in all but your MIL on the app and then have the screen up and ready to go so you click Check In on the PC the same time. If that makes sense. It's not hard to click both sequentially like that

 

[bumbershoot]

if we're scattered all over the plane; most of us are adults.

If you’re on being scattered there’s no need to worry too much about it.

Coming home, we will be in the middle of the ocean at the 24-hour-mark (we'll be on a cruise). How does checking in work? Should we get EBCI for at least my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter?

Can you buy it for individuals on a several-person reservation? And I’m confused why being scattered is an issue going home when it wasn’t going there.

I put down that my mother-in-law is a senior citizen. However, that did not get her a price cut.

Nope. Rarely does. If you didn’t actually book the Senior fare I don’t know how it ended up as a different reservation though.

But we book things separately and you just get it all ready in different browsers and go go go. And sometimes when we’re on one reservation we’ll get numbers with gaps between them anyway.

However, I think it's more important that I check everyone else in first...make sure they get to sit together.

Checking in at 24 hours doesn’t get you seats next to each other. It should get you earlier boarding numbers than if you waited, but where you sit on the plane has solely to do with what you choose from what's available when you walk onto that plane.


If the only concern about seating is that the granddaughter sit next to or near someone, I wouldn’t bother with earlybird, personally.

 

[AngiTN]

Can you buy it for individuals on a several-person reservation? And I’m confused why being scattered is an issue going home when it wasn’t going there.
.

What happens if you don't check in at all? I have no idea. If they are at sea it's not only that they may not sit together but they won't get checked in at all, until back on land or in range at least. The only reason I'd use ECBI when at sea is so I'm checked in when I can't, more than for boarding position. If it doesn't matter and there's no reason to actually check in then may not be any difference