Flying SouthWest

I LOVE flying SouthWest... My favorite airline! I think their trained to be parttime comedians.....
I second, what Sara F said...

We fly Southwest all the time with our kids. It's actually my preferred airline with children. Here's what you do. If you have a few days before your trip, you can go back to the Southwest website and sign up for "Early Bird Check-in". It costs $10 per person per trip (so $80 total for a family of four roundtrip). You're guaranteed to be in the A boarding group, which means you'll be some of the first people on the plane. Then when you get on, you pick whatever seats you want. We sign up for Early Bird every time and I've always gotten three seats across easily (to sit with my two four year olds), and near the front of the plane too. It makes the check in so easy, no hassles, no worries about where we're sitting. Please note: you can not pay for Early Bird for just one person and have your entire family get on first. They will not let you - I've seen people try.

If you decide not to spend the money, make sure you check in online exactly 24 hours before your flight. Do not miss it by five minutes or an hour. Boarding cards are assigned based on how soon after 24 hours you check in. If you hit it right at 24 hours, you'll probably be in the B group and will have no problems getting two seats together and another two seats together.

Also, one parent travelling with a child four years or younger can board between the A and B groups regardless of what your boarding card says. It's called "Family Boarding". Families kind of huddle off to one side of the boarding gate and wait for the gate person to say that it's time for families after all the A passengers are gone. You'll need to line up for this - no one will be calling your last name or waiting on you. They do Family Boarding to ensure that toddlers aren't split up from their families. Southwest used to let the entire group -- anyone travelling with a little kid -- board together, but people complained about families of ten adults with one little kid getting on first. You may find that they let all four of you on with Family Boarding, or they may just let one parent and the four year old. If your boarding cards are A or early B (maybe 1- 15) I wouldn't bother with Family Boarding.

Whatever you do... remember that you do have to line up for your seats at Southwest. Since there's no assigned seating, Southwest has people line up in their boarding card order. They'll call for people to line up, and then everyone in the A group gets up and arranges themselves numerically. And that's how they'll get on the plane. So if you're running late or you forget to line up, you'll find yourself getting on the plane with the C's and you'll have to ask people to move to let you sit with your kids.

Good luck and don't stress. Flying Southwest is remarkably easy, it just seems weird the first time!

I would sit in front of my computer or pay the extra money to have the auto checkin so you get an "A" slot.

when you check in 24 hours prior to departure - you will be given a check in alpha numeric boarding pass - A means you will be boarding first; B 2nd and so on. When you get to the gate, you will stand "in the zone" that your boarding pass states and board at that time.

most people will do what they can to let a family stay together. However, like I said at the beginning either pay the $10 for the auto check in or be at your computer ready to check in 24 hours prior to your departure time to get an "A" and low boarding number - so you will be first on the plane and first to choose seats.

GOOD LUCK!!

We fly pretty much only Southwest when we fly as a family. We have never been separated. Early bird check-in costs extra, but if you don't want to pay it but want to secure good position in the boarding process, just make sure that you do the online check-in exactly 24 hrs before your flight, when they allow you do to it. This is what we do, and we are always in the first boarding group.

Ditto to Sunnysmom - also, do everything you can to check in online as soon as you are allowed to (24 hours out?). That will hopefully ensure a higher boarding line number (they have everyone stand in line to board based on when you checked in). If you wait too long, you'll be at the end of the boarding line and on SW flights, everyone picks a window or aisle seat, leaving only middle seats available for those who board last.

Southwest boards by group number. Do the "early bird check in". This is what we do when flying on Southwest with our kids. That way you will be in the first few groups of people to board the plane and you will have no problem finding seats together.

I have never had an issue with them and sitting with my son! Make sure you do an ONLINE check in and it could not hurt to call the 800 number to talk to someone about it. Flight attendants WANT to keep families together on flights. Oh and please remember to prep your kids for the flight if this is their first, it can be fun and scary at the same time!

We flew Delta and Northwest the last time we flew as a family in 2009. When we were coming back, we got to the airport just in time. The customer service reps moved other people around to put the 5 of us together on both of our returning flights. Our kids were only 6, 4, and 2...so seperating was not an option for us.

Check in early or do the auto checkin :).

Shouldn't be. The last time I flew with them I was alone, but when you show up, you are assigned A, B or C boarding. Then everybody who came first gets on first and you pick seats yourself. They should tell you guidelines like "kids can't sit in an emergency exit row". I'm sure it will be fine. I LIKED picking my seat. I would make sure that one adult is with one child and get passes as close together (so you can board together) as possible.

Also, since people pick their own seats, you can negotiate with other passengers if you need 2 seats to put a kid and parent together. Better, IMO, than some of the horror stories I have heard about an airline splitting a parent and child with assigned seating.

Edit: Things have changed - online checkin vs showing up. Definitely go with whatever gets you a pass first. When we tried to check in online with our 2 yr old last summer with another airline, we hit a snag that was never fully understood (we think it was either her age or a reservation for a child seat that was unavailable). If you have any problems with online check in, call them and show up early if necessary. Honestly, give yourselves more time than you think - we nearly missed a flight because it took longer to get through everything with a family than my friend predicted it would.

My DD was an awesome flyer. She had her own backpack for carry on and just loved the experience. I hope your kids are as cheerful!

The biggest thing you need to do is make sure all of your boarding passes are printed as close as possible and while you may be a tad split while waiting in line, you shouldn't have an issue with saving seats. So if you and your 6 year old board together, you sit on one side of the aisle and the 6 year old on the other and then save seats. I have never been on SW that wasn't three seats on each side so you may have to go 3-1 or 2-2 across the aisle. Most people are generally pretty understanding and will move around so as not to break up the children.

As Everley said, you must check in online as soon as possible. You can't just show up early at the airport. That's the way it used to be.
But I am sure the flight attendants will do their best to seat you all together.

Do you have a connecting flight? The reason I ask is because if you have a tight connect, and are rushing to the gate, you could miss your boarding time. This is the only time I have seen families having to navigate getting seats together. Most flight attendants will hold the back row of seats if they know you are coming. Just ask the gate agent. But this is not necessary if you make your boarding group in time.

Hello Nina,

Just be on time or early for the flight. They do have early boarding for medical issues and families. However, we were late for our flight and we all got separated-just lucky to be on the plane but my boys were 10 and 9. They weren't thrilled to be separated but my 10 year old was seated to someone who lent him his Ipod touch so he got to play games with that instead of his DSI. He thought that was pretty cool.

I know no one wants to spend extra time in the airport waiting for their flight but it is the only way you can guarantee sitting together on SW.

No probs-I just got back from the airport with my 4 and 7 year old boys. Just board when they ask for families to board with small kids-which is right after the "A" people board- and there should be plenty of room. Many of their planes have 3 seats on each side, so we usually split up (I sit with the kids and hubby across isle from me or however you want to work it). Have fun. It is nice that SWA does not charge to check luggage!!!

Should not be an issue.

You are grouped in A B C groups with A-list (frequent flyers) boarding first. Sometimes they ask about families boarding and if they do, take advantage of that!

My hubby flies SW weekly and he is A-list. I print his boarding pass off at home before he heads to the airport to save some time. He then goes straight to the counter to check bags where all those flyers already have boarding passes and the wait is not nearly as bad as the other lines.

EVEN if you get separated on the seating, most people will be accomodating and allow families to sit together.

Enjoy your travel. SW is a great airline!