SW If you want to sit with your kids

[Searc]

If you are flying with your children and want to sit with them, buy EBCI! On both my flights to WDW last week, clueless (or obtuse, take your pick) mothers were the last ones on and then expected people to move seats so they could sit together.

I was asked and politely said no. I bought EBCI so I could choose my aisle seat. I'm not moving to a middle seat due to your failure to plan.

If you want to sit with your kids on SW, BUY EBCI and stop expecting other people to accommodate you.

 

[sponica]

@Searc I really don't get that. I mean pretty much EVERYONE knows it's first come first served on Southwest, and even without EBCI you should get decent boarding position checking in at 24 hours.

 

[FCDub]

The message of this thread is good, yes, but any number of reasons could have delayed the family getting on board. Late connection, a meltdown, etc. It doesn't mean they deserve seats together –nor do I fault you one iota for not giving up your EBCI – but also try to have a little compassion for people who might be in a tough spot by no fault of their own.

 

[ILuvDisney78]

I agree that you shouldn't expect people to accommodate you. But sometimes there is more than meets the eye-- We always arrive 2 hours before our flight; even doing that on one occasion we were delayed at the baggage check-in and made it to the gate as the last few people were boarding. My son was close to pre-teen age and we had never sat separately, but we knew we had no other option. He wound up sitting in an aisle seat next to a mother & son (his same age) who were going to WDW as well; she helped him buckle in and they talked to entire 1 1/2 hour plane ride (we even planned to meet in the parks later that week). Another passenger was nice enough to offer to give up their aisle seat so I could be diagonal to him so I could be around for any issues (he has food allergies). I didn't ask this person to exchange seats with me, they offered and I was grateful. Again, I don't think you should expect folks to accommodate you. Since SWA offers free early boarding for those with young children I can think of only two reasons that there would be seat issues: a unexpected, uncontrollable delay (like my situation above) or poor planning on the parent's part.

 

[cinderalli]

This is why I won’t fly SW at all. I’ll pay more on another airline for guaranteed seats with my kids. Not worth the stress IMHO, no way. SW, the cattle call airline, is what my travel agent called it once LOL! If you are solo I guess it might be a good idea but as a party of 5 I don’t think so.

 

[FCDub]

This is why I won’t fly SW at all. I’ll pay more on another airline for guaranteed seats with my kids. Not worth the stress IMHO, no way. SW, the cattle call airline, is what my travel agent called it once LOL! If you are solo I guess it might be a good idea but as a party of 5 I don’t think so.

Have you ever flown Southwest? It's FAR from a "cattle call."

 

[TreeFalls]

The message of this thread is good, yes, but any number of reasons could have delayed the family getting on board. Late connection, a meltdown, etc. It doesn't mean they deserve seats together –nor do I fault you one iota for not giving up your EBCI – but also try to have a little compassion for people who might be in a tough spot by no fault of their own.

SW has "family boarding" between the A and B group if you have kids 6 and under, and we are always able to easily get seats together with this. However, a family that was counting on this but had a late connection and missed family boarding could really be caught off guard. So, while it was certainly fine for you to keep the seat you paid for, the predicament may not be entirely due to the family's lack of planning.

 

[cruisin5]

This is why I won’t fly SW at all. I’ll pay more on another airline for guaranteed seats with my kids. Not worth the stress IMHO, no way. SW, the cattle call airline, is what my travel agent called it once LOL! If you are solo I guess it might be a good idea but as a party of 5 I don’t think so.

The legacy airlines are notorious for swapping out planes at the last minute and scattering families all over the plane. Boarding is more orderly than with a traditional boarding system where everyone hovers around waiting for their boarding group to be called. SW changed their boarding procedure years ago (maybe 8 or so) to eliminate the corals.

I would argue that the best way to guarantee your family sits together is ONLY on SW with EBCI.

 

[sam_gordon]

@Searc I really don't get that. I mean pretty much EVERYONE knows it's first come first served on Southwest, and even without EBCI you should get decent boarding position checking in at 24 hours.

I would not count on the bolded, especially when going to a family destination, especially during a school break time.

 

[Allison]

the cattle call airline

Your travel agent must not have much experience with Southwest. There is no reason for it to be called that. The boarding is quite orderly with everyone lining up by number. My experience is it is more organized that zone boarding used by other airlines.

 

[MaleficentRN]

My experience is it is more organized that zone boarding used by other airlines.

Gate lice!

 

[natfrac]

Agree with OP, which is why when we've flown SW we buy EBCI plus allow extra time to get to the airport. I've flown SW a lot and find it to be a cattle car, which is why we now fly legacy airlines. Yes, they change planes and seat assignments may change, but I'm very diligent on checking our seat assignments. Once a change happened last minute and the gate agent was able to reassign us.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

EBCI does not guarantee that you all can sit together. Being at the gate on time is pretty much the only way to do that. I've flown SWA probably 100 times and never bought EBCI for my family of 4. I simply check in on the app at the 24 hour mark and usually get the last of the A boarding or the first of the B. Even coming from a cruise. I check in as soon as we get to port of Miami and still get awesome boarding position.

 

[ZoeBell]

I recently flew SW by myself to and from MCO. I didn’t purchase EB, checked in at 24 hrs and received an “A” boarding both trips.
Also I found it interesting at my home airport(Buffalo) it was announced that family boarding was for child and 2 adults. All other adults would need to board with their assigned boarding places. No such announcement was made at MCO.

 

[SinCityMMAFan]

I've encountered a similar incident a few times when flying out of MCO on SW. I remember one time flight attendants were offering free adult beverage coupons to anyone who was willing to move.

 

[chicagoshannon]

ECBI on Southwest won't even guarantee you sit together especially if you get a B boarding. When we flew to Orlando in Feb there were SO many preboards(elderly in wheelchairs) AND families with kids "under 6" (there is NO WAY half of them actually had kids under 6) that we barely got seats together in early B group. I don't think there was anyone boarding the plane past B 36 that trip. It was very stressful since we were trying to be rule followers and there was no way I was my 8 year old would sit by a stranger. Luckily it worked out.

I always roll my eyes at 2 people traveling together and taking a window and aisle seat. The flight attendants announce repeatedly that the plane is full, yet they don't move. I guess they really like having a stranger sit between them.

 

[chicagoshannon]

I recently flew SW by myself to and from MCO. I didn’t purchase EB, checked in at 24 hrs and received an “A” boarding both trips.
Also I found it interesting at my home airport(Buffalo) it was announced that family boarding was for child and 2 adults. All other adults would need to board with their assigned boarding places. No such announcement was made at MCO.

At Midway they announced repeatedly that grandparents would have to board during their assigned boarding group. They announced it like 10 times yet the grandparents till boarded with the rest of the family.

For us at MCO they did announce 6 and under and only parents. Probably just depends on the flight attendant.

 

[pixiedustedme]

I always roll my eyes at 2 people traveling together and taking a window and aisle seat. The flight attendants announce repeatedly that the plane is full, yet they don't move. I guess they really like having a stranger sit between them.

I now do this when traveling with my son, who always really wants a window seat. This way I get an aisle seat, and my son gets his window, so we both enjoy the flight. I'm a lot less squished with that stranger when I sit in the aisle than when I fly in the middle seat with the stranger on the aisle.

First come, first served as far as seating is concerned.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

ECBI on Southwest won't even guarantee you sit together especially if you get a B boarding. When we flew to Orlando in Feb there were SO many preboards(elderly in wheelchairs) AND families with kids "under 6" (there is NO WAY half of them actually had kids under 6) that we barely got seats together in early B group. I don't think there was anyone boarding the plane past B 36 that trip. It was very stressful since we were trying to be rule followers and there was no way I was my 8 year old would sit by a stranger. Luckily it worked out.

I always roll my eyes at 2 people traveling together and taking a window and aisle seat. The flight attendants announce repeatedly that the plane is full, yet they don't move. I guess they really like having a stranger sit between them.

Why should we move? The middle is the crappy seat. I check in 24 hours prior to my flight like a grown up does, and I'm supposed to give the last person on the plane a window or an aisle? Heck no! Not on my watch. Nope. Not happening.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

I agree with OP post. We always purchase EBCI and as a family of 4 always take aisles. We have not been asked to move but I would not move.

I used to say I’d never fly SW because of the way the board. It is our favorite airline. My “kids” are 22 and 23 and we always pay for seats or do EBCI so we can be near each other (we all have reasons for our aisle seats).

Once I purchased EBCI months out for our cruise. When we were docking I looked and we had C positions —- long story short there was a glitch and it didn’t check us in at 36 hours ( SW remedied by giving us A 1 and A 2.

I understand there are issues where people have late connections and child issues BUT reading these boards there are many who feel they don’t have to purchase seats or EBCI and expect others to move for them because they have kids. You see people threatening someone will have to entertain their child if they don’t move,etc.

Parents need to be proactive and not cheap out on not paying for seats and expecting people to move. There is no law that says children can’t be separated from their parents. No airline guarantees seats together if you don’t pay for them- even then you have to watch for plane changes