Families first – with a caveat. Corresponds to DOT request. Important for future Southwest Hawaii Flights.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
128 thoughts on “Family Boarding Trial a Big Boon For Southwest Hawaii Flights”
Comments are closed.
Families first – with a caveat. Corresponds to DOT request. Important for future Southwest Hawaii Flights.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Comments are closed.
Disagree with that, they are well aware when choosing this cheaper airline for a better price that this is how Southwest has always worked. I have been A List Preferred for years and earned it with all my flight. Families rarely fly unlike me, why should they get perks that they didn’t pay for by choosing a cheaper airline or not being a frequent flyer? Choose another airline or deal with what’s made Southwest what they are today, a successful airline! Then they offer 2 free checked bags! Now families should board first?! Are these millennials who are complaining? Pay for early bird check-in or buy Business Select tickets. How about I go in front of you at Disneyland because most rides sit 2 by each other and my party has only 2 people?
Stupid, just have assigned seating already.
If you can’t sit without your spouse next to you and your child, then dint bring the kid. Kids on planes are annoying these days because of the passive parenting. Ugh! I never would have lived if I acted like dune of these kids do these days.
That’s preferably not right for us travelers that are preferred travelers the family that need to sit together should just board the plane like normal people we are all going to the same place. Preferred seating should be kept first 15 rolls is for preferred customers. Thanks my family loves southwest airlines.
Good grief, just assign seats.
Sure, they could do this. But I pay a premium for A 1-15, an others have earned – Plus or Preferred. If they start this new boarding process, taking away the perks of these services, then we will simply not fly Southwest to Hawaii any longer. Hopefully they don’t expand the concept – it disadvantages those who pay a premium or have been loyal to this airline for a very long time. Some will say that’s harsh – but 20 to 30 folks traveling in family groups wipes out the premium areas to sit. Now if you want to make it the last 15 rows in the plane, no issue. They can still sit together without compromising the frequent-flier rights.
I luv the idea of families with children under six to board prior to those in group A. However, to expedite the boarding process, they should be required to sit behind the over wing emergency hatches. Most of SWA aircraft operate planes with two lav’s in the back of the plane and one in the front which if sitting in the rear of the aircraft would give families easier to the lav’s.
As usual southwest is always improving. Watching people bring their entire worldly possessions and try to stuff huge oversize suitcases into the over head bins slows down the boarding process. Please do away with or reduce overhead bins size or crack down on the scofflaws. Luv you guys.
As an A List Preferred member, I have zero issues with the families boarding first. Especially since they will be in rows 16 and up. This will still allow frequent travelers such as myself the opportunity to sit near the front of the plane which is my preferred location.
How many families has this really affected? As long as a small child (under 12) can sit with a related adult, even if they can’t All sit together, I don’t see what the big deal is. Still I’m glad Southwest is making an effort to address this. The last thing we need is the government getting involved.
I am All for families sitting together but it Must be after row 20! We have so many passengers who Fly more, or pay more for the privilege of early boarding. They would be Very frustrated with us to the point of choosing to fly with us at all
Let them board but they should have to take the Farthest row to the Back of the plane that is available. That way they can clog the aisles as they get everything setup for the kids, car seats, ipads, coloring books etc. and it won’t affect boarding adversely. Conversely when the deplane, they will have more time to unbuckle the car seat, put away the ipads, and books without affecting others who are getting off. Honestly all planes should be loaded from the back row forward. It would be more efficient.
I’ve flown SW a lot over the years, & they have a reputation for being able to be able to turn a plane around (disembark and board), faster than most airlines. As the mom of 3, I disagree with letting families board Before Group A, unless they have paid for the Early Bird option. I do not think it fair to the other passengers. And having over 100 seats still available after boarding “A”, allows more than adequate seats for families to sit together. I have observed occasional shenanigans from parents in the seats they place themselves and their kids in, as PP mentioned. I got stuck with someone’s ill behaved little darling sitting next to me while the parents were in another row. Felt like I should have received nanny fees. 🙄
Leave them between a and b. If I pay extra to get group a than so should the families boarding before a. While I sympathize with them on this issue, I was once a product of a messed up boarding on a trip to Orlando when they boarded all families who claimed they needed assistance before folks who paid for a spot. The entire plane filled up before those who paid more.
Although I empathize with families with small children, people who use early check-in to get better seating are getting locked out by first, those with disabilities and their traveling companion (which I totally support), and now families with small children as well. What about senior citizens such as my wife and I who might require an aisle seat to more easily access the restroom? It seems to me that it renders early check-in pretty much useless.
It’s fine as long as the family sits together in the same row in adjacent seats. Not a minor child in different rows to get window seats. Or only the window and aisle forcing an unrelated adult into the dreaded middle seat. Southwest is going to to have to post a flight attendant back there enforcing the seating behavior. People can be so inconsiderate especially when they think there will be no consequences.
Poor decision for those on Southwest Airlines who pay $30 for upgraded boarding A1-A15 only to be bumped by non upgraded passengers with young children? I say let those who paid $30 extra to board first!
Recently flew from San Fran to Hartford. I help boarding position A1. They boarded 40 people in a group before me. The first rows all the way past the wings were taken with the isle and window seats. I ended up in a window seat behind the wings. I’ll never pay business class again.
We just returned from Hawaii. We paid for earlybird boarding and got B boarding. I feel that if you get a B position after payment it should be refunded since family boarding takes place after A boarding especially with the large number of families traveling to destinations. I feel a bit discriminated against since I payed for early boarding and got put another 40 positions back.
Amen
Agree with other posters that this is ripe for some bad outcomes. Row 20 is a good spot for them to sit, but I don’t want a parent to take an exit row seat, while the other parent sits with the one kid in row 20. This is just another hassle that the FA’s have to deal with. I do agree that it will speed up boarding if they push them towards the back.
Hopefully this is just a Hawaii thing…
No. the rest of us have to pay for the opportunity to board early in the process. If they want the privilege’s they also should hav3 to pay like the rest of us. SW has a process. make they follow it.
NO, No. No.
They can pay the fee to get early boarding like I do..I can say I’m handicapped but not..maybe they can sit in the back of the plane. Jus saying
Maybe for Family Boarding (between A and B boarding groups) we could expand the age range? So instead of the cutoff being 6 years old, maybe we push it up to 12?
Also I’m okay with letting families board first if they sit in the back of the plane (beyond the exit row)(so that folks who paid to be closer to the front get that privilege). My main concern is getting an Emergency exit row seat for the extra legroom as I’m a big guy.
No! If they want to board early, pay the fee. Otherwise board after anyone else that paid for early access. To Hawaii, that means many people that got a B assignment paid 25 or 30 extra $ for priority boarding. And I resent sitting next to, or in front of or behind, a child that kicks the seat. Or, needing to listen to a crying infant for the entire 6 hour flight. Perhaps southwest should fly family only planes and adult only planes.
Just like the rest of us, they can Choose to get Early Bird Check In….just because they travel in a group doesn’t give them more right to board ahead of the rest of us….doesn’t give them more of a right than I would have a right to board. Why should they have preference over the rest of us paying the same for a ticket, or more if I chose to purchase Early Bird Check In. They chose to have kids, it’s their responsibility to do what is needed for the family travel.
I don’t mind if families get their seats together and the first 15 rows are left to those who paid extra to sit nearer to the front of the aircraft.
What is always been a pain in the neck is people paying extra for one seat in Group A and saving the seats on both sides of them for their spouse and/or a child who have not paid the extra charge. My wife and I pay extra for seats nearer to the front.
We fly Southwest from Washington, DC to Orlando frequently. Boarding in Orlando is fine. However, From Reagan National is it terrible – Southwest flies out the original terminal. Services are awful, very crowded gate area, cannot hear announcements. On a recent flight, my husband was had Boarding group A, place 60. I was in Group B place 1. I had to wait for all the special boarders. It was just annoying. It feels like they are herding cattle. If they are going to board families together and early, do it before general boarding. I think it would speed up the process rather than doing it between groups.
No, I pay extra for business class and am to board with the first 15. I can also purchase a sooner boarding number.
Allowing families to board first, negates my ability to sit in the first 15 rows.
On other airlines you are given a specific seat, early boarding would not impact my seat selection.
Allow families to board between A B groups or prohibit them from the first 15 rows
Define “family”. 2 parents and the child under 6, okay. However, I’ve seen “family’s” board with 2 parents, small child (often over 6), grandparents and older teenage children. I do not agree with that. If they are boarding before the A group then Southwest needs to tighten and Enforce the family boarding rules. This whole thing of letting the entire family board at once is not ok. We all work hard to get those better boarding positions and to be pushed out be families that have more than small children is not okay. Southwest needs to do better with this process.
SWA started out first come, first seated; then it was “but you can buy a fare with a priority to stand in line”; oh, and after those with disabilities (like other airlines); and now the family preferences.
How about they just assign seats like a real airline – no seat savers, no hassles.
I have seen entire articles written on how to deal with SWA seating strategies. While I could put up with most anything inter-island, for flights to the mainland it is no thanks!
Frankly, I think the age should be higher. I would not want my 14 year old granddaughter sitting somewhere besides with me. And, yes, they should go first but limit it to 1 or 2 guardians with the child/children.
Families should board after Group A. In the vast majority of cases, Group A passengers have paid SW’s Early Bird fee in order to get into Group A and should retain their paid-for privilege of boarding first.
Family Boarding should be first, but they should have to go farther back than 15…then pre-orders, then A Group. This will greatly streamline boarding for all routes, not just family friendly ones like Hawaii and Orlando
No. Group A pays for the early boarding and still boards after handicapped and military travelers. The families boarding early without paying is not fair to those who pay- they have several people and lots of carryons. They should board between A and B.
There is something so deflating to pay extra to board first only to watch so many people board ahead of me. If families can’t sit together between the A and B boarding groups, then Business Class should at least board before them. That’s only 15 people ahead of your brood.
I would have them board first bc it is challenging for families to fly with children and it’s a long flight. The sooner they get in and seated the less stressed we all are. It’s easy traveling as a single person or even a couple.
So a couple of caveats to your story. First, the comment “Editor Jeff recently got A59, for example (first boarding group and 59th to be seated)” is incorrect. Southwest reserves approximately the first 15-20 A spots for people that are willing to pay to upgrade, often at the gate. Most of the time there are only a few people who are willing to pay the upgrade charge so often spots A5-A15 are not assigned. So if in fact Jeff got A59 and if there were 10 A spots in A5-A15 the didn’t get sold, Jeff would have been the 49th to be seated, not the 59th.
Secondly, families cannot choose to sit in an emergency exit row when they board early (for obvious reasons about age requirements for the exit rows).
The early bird seats and Business class fares are in A 1-15. Those have been full most of the time lately. Then the A list preferred and A list and then everyone else. BOH explained it great. Mahalo guys!
Regular Southwest passenger here and I have no small children. I’m fine with the proposal since it does leave the front of the plane and the exit rows free for those of us with A-List status. Under 16 can’t sit in exit rows in any event and row 1 is frequently full with pre-boarders.
From a parent’s perspective, I usually factor in the cost to upgrade seating into any Southwest fare…and for a family, that’s usually more expensive than checking a couple of bags on the other airlines. It’s one of the reasons I dislike Southwest. Southwest’s “age 6” restriction is ludicrous. The idea that you are potentially making seven year olds sit by themselves is ridiculous; families of pre-teens should be able to board sooner.
I think that the first 25 or so selections in group A are for frequent flyers and those who have paid for early boarding.
I think boarding families with children under 6 after that point is fine.
Absolutely board them first. Then I can sit as far away as possible. The kids are a huge annoyance on any flight, but especially a flight that long. We never traveled anywhere by plane with the kids until they were old enough to behave. I won’t say any more, but most frequent travelers know what I mean.
This seems OK. I am A List and usually sit in row 9, so keeping the first 15 rows open is a good compromise.
Only for rows 20 and back. If the goal is to be together being towards the back should’nt matter.
I agree with Jeff. Southwest Boeing 737-300s with seats in rows 20 through 24 provide 30 seats (five rows of six seats across). By first loading up to 30 people to the back of the plane it will make boarding the front and middle of the plane even faster. On flights that are lightly loaded, the flight attendants will still need to move passengers to distribute the weight, so the plane is not tail-heavy. On my recent lightly-loaded flight there were small blue lights visible below the overhead storage bins, dividing the cabin into zones, so the attendants were able to relocate passengers equally into each zone.
I beleive that if you have young children you should be able to sit together (young being under 10), but they shouldn’t be allowed to board prior to group A. These people are you frequint flyers and have earned that positioning. Allowing them to board after group A is good enough.