A List and A List Preferred Boarding News!

[PDFelter]

I noticed that my husband (my companion) was the boarding # right before mine over the last 4 flights we have taken and he checked in at least a few hours after me.  Nice to be able to board together! 

[DancingDavidE]

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@gsking wrote:

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But how hard is it to save a middle seat for your spouse? 

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I know it was a rhetorical question, but: EASY!

[bec102896]

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@Bobbyduarte wrote:

This is not true. I have had problems trying to have my wife board with me .  I am a list preferred 4 years in a row. Companion pass for 2.  
the Southwest employee taking boarding passes does not know of this !!!! Twice I had to board with B group , trying to explain this post to the employees!!!! My wife will travel with me again in 2 weeks.   I can only except more issues due to employees not letting her board with me.  I am almost always A-16. By the time the employee looks and reads this post.  We are boarding with B group!!!!

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For you to be able to board together you would need to be on the same confirmation number. For example I'm A List if I traveled with my mom and she is not on the same confirmation number as me she would need to board at her boarding group however if we booked together we would be assigned boarding positions right next to each other. Keep in mind if you book less than 36 hours before the flight you won't be right next to each other as other A Listers and EB check in customers will be assigned. 

[ksaiyo]

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@bec102896 wrote:

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@Bobbyduarte wrote:

This is not true. I have had problems trying to have my wife board with me .  I am a list preferred 4 years in a row. Companion pass for 2.  
the Southwest employee taking boarding passes does not know of this !!!! Twice I had to board with B group , trying to explain this post to the employees!!!! My wife will travel with me again in 2 weeks.   I can only except more issues due to employees not letting her board with me.  I am almost always A-16. By the time the employee looks and reads this post.  We are boarding with B group!!!!

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For you to be able to board together you would need to be on the same confirmation number. For example I'm A List if I traveled with my mom and she is not on the same confirmation number as me she would need to board at her boarding group however if we booked together we would be assigned boarding positions right next to each other. Keep in mind if you book less than 36 hours before the flight you won't be right next to each other as other A Listers and EB check in customers will be assigned. 

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I'm confused here too. You can board at the same time if under the same reservation (same confirmation number), but it's not clear how to do this... I've been told over and over that the boarding should be consecutive, but that has not been my experience. I'm boarding group A, and my companion is group-c. Recently I was told, "we technically don't do this [board your companion at the same time] at this location [MDW]"

Clear as mud.

[NicoleAshley]

@ksaiyo We're so sorry this isn't working for you and your Companion. As a Customer-to-Customer support forum, we aren't equipped to look into your reservations to see what might be going on, but I encourage you to Contact Customer Relations for assistance.

[Rjrichard16]

Exactly. When I first heard about this, I was so excited because my kids could board up with me. Just flew with my companion husband and two small children and we have 3 different confirmation numbers even though we booked together.  None of them could board with me A-16 and we were in all different groups.  I don’t understand the benefit. 

[DET52272]

If my wife has A List and companion pass will the companion still board with her if she adds the companion to her trip?

[chgoflyer · Accepted solution]

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@DET52272 wrote:

If my wife has A List and companion pass will the companion still board with her if she adds the companion to her trip?

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A Companion reservation has it's own, separate confirmation number -- that's just how the system currently works. So for "A-List Boarding," officially the answer is no, since only those on the same confirmation as the A-Lister receive consecutive positions.

BUT... there's potentially good news!

Southwest hasn't announced it officially yet, but has been testing for the past several months a new benefit for Companion Pass holders: "Companion Boarding." This will give a consecutive boarding position to the Companion, even though they're on a different confirmation number. If the CP holder (or even the Companion) is an A-Lister, they'll both receive consecutive "A-List" positions.

The full details aren't yet known, and there will likely be some limitations, such as not applying to Business Select fares, but this new benefit appears to already be working for many CP Holders and their Companions. YMMV.

Please let us know how it works out for your wife!

[DMB2step4136]

I'm A-List Preferred and have a Companion Pass.  

I've traveled 6+ times this year with my wife as my Companion.  Even though she's on a separate itinerary with a different confirmation number, the system has been automatically checking her in with me.

So our boarding numbers are consecutive and we can board together.

This is a very welcomed change!

Thanks SW for improving our boarding experience.

[AustinCompanion]

I am flying with my husband today. He purchased an A-list preferred ticket (and is A2). But they are not letting me board with him. 

They previously let me board with him when he had a points purchased ticket. But because he purchased this type of ticket, they're not letting me board? It does not make any sense