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Boarding together

Heather372
Explorer C

I have never flown Southwest and I am not familiar with the boarding. I have read up on it and from what I gather, because my finace and I are on the same confirmation number, we will get to board at the same time. I don't know where we are in the order, but if we are towards the last to board, are we going to be able to sit together?

13 REPLIES 13

Re: Boarding together

chgoflyer
Aviator A
Solution

You'll each be assigned a boarding position, and they should be relatively close to each other.* Southwest boards in groups, A, B and C, 1-30 and 31-60 in each. Your best bet is to try and check in online right at 24 hours prior to departure. With A or B positions you should have no trouble sitting together, since one of you will be in a middle seat, and those are the last to fill. If you're anxious about it, you could spend extra money and pay the Early Bird Check In fee ($15 one way per person) which should get you a better position than t-24, but to me it's a waste of money. Good luck -- hope this helps!

 

*There's a small possibility your positions could be far apart. Southwest reissues the positions of passengers who have been checked in but then cancel, so one of you could receive a very good A position while the other receives the normal later one. If that happens, you can board separately and the earlier person can save a seat for the later boarding one.

Re: Boarding together

mattcollins35
Explorer C

Buy the early check in package. They will check you in automatically right after their premium members. You are guaranteed a A boarding position. You will get seats together. C group usually only single seats left.

Re: Boarding together

mattcollins35
Explorer C

Buy the early check in package. They will check you in automatically right after their premium members. You are guaranteed a A boarding position. You will get seats together. C group usually only single seats left.

Re: Boarding together

chgoflyer
Aviator A

The recent influx of many new members here is great -- but has also lead to a great deal of misinformation being posted.

 


@mattcollins35 wrote:

Buy the early check in package. They will check you in automatically right after their premium members. You are guaranteed a A boarding position. You will get seats together. C group usually only single seats left.


EarlyBird Check-In does not guarantee an A boarding position. Many people get B, and sometimes even C positions, even after paying the extra fee. Multiple passengers on a single itinerary are not guaranteed consecutive boarding numbers, much less seats together. While EBCI increases your odds of this, there is no guarantee.

Re: Boarding together

Krn2221980
Explorer C
I'm traveling with my underage children does this mean we may not sit together? 

Re: Boarding together

btregoning
Explorer C

How young are your underage children?  There is family boarding which is betwee the A & B groups, but it is only for families with children 4 and under (or is it 6 and under). 

 

I have found very different ways this is handled by gate agents.  Some allow only the underage child and one adult, some allow immediate family.  Long gone are the days of the child, parents, grandparents, aunt, uncle, etc.

 

I find it easiest to purchase EBCI (Early Bird Check In) and get the earliest boarding position possible.

Re: Boarding together

Haipham2017
Adventurer B

@btregoning wrote:

How young are your underage children?  There is family boarding which is betwee the A & B groups, but it is only for families with children 4 and under (or is it 6 and under). 

 

I have found very different ways this is handled by gate agents.  Some allow only the underage child and one adult, some allow immediate family.  Long gone are the days of the child, parents, grandparents, aunt, uncle, etc.

 

I find it easiest to purchase EBCI (Early Bird Check In) and get the earliest boarding position possible.


It is not true. I saw a man (may be father) and 3 kids who the youngest one is at least 8 years old got boarding together before B group at SNA last Wednesday.

Re: Boarding together

LindseyD
Retired Community Manager

Great conversation in this thread. Just a point of clarification - EarlyBird Check-In does not guarantee a boarding position in the "A" Boarding Group. It guarantees that you will automatically be checked in to your flight 36 hours prior to departure. Without EarlyBird Check-In, you must wait until 24 hours before departure to check in for your flight. 

 

Re: Boarding together

cew478
Explorer C

If I have multiple passengers flying with me under the same confirmation number, will we each need to check in individually or can I check in for everyone?  I plan to check in right at the 24-hour mark, but was not sure if I needed to tell the others they would have to do the same thing or I could check all of us in together.  Of the 4 of us, currently I am the only rewards member.