Southwest Airlines Community

Hey all,    I know that this is the community site, not customer service, and have a TL:DR disclaimer at the bottom.   I want to share a recent experience that many may encounter. I am a companion pass holder, not an A List or A List Preferred member. My 5 year old daughter is my designated companion. I often upgrade my tickets to Business Select to get those points and did so on a recent flight with my kiddo. I saw in the community that there were recent changes to travel policies around sequential boarding and called SWA customer service to clarify the policy. Customer service told me that the boarding policy changed in December 2020 and now allowed sequential boarding for A List, A List Preferred and for Companion Passes. Sweet. I specifically said "so my kid can board with me as A2 since I upgraded my seat?" and she emphatically answered yes. She said that as log as she was shown as my companion on this flight, she would board with me without issue.    The previous posts on here were still nagging me so I went to the counter attendant at the gate as clarified that my 5 year old would board with me at A-2 despite her pass saying C-18. The attendant pulled a "I dunno" and walked me to the two gate attendants. I explained the whole thing again, including my call to customer service, and asked for confirmation so there wouldn't be drama in the middle of boarding. They said nope, my kid would have to board at C-18, I would board at A-2 or with her at C-18, or in family boarding. I very politely, although stress sweating, said again that I intentionally upgraded my ticket and called customer service for the policy. They went on about the tickets being linked (which they were as a companion pass) and how we couldn't board together at A2. This went on publicly and frustratingly but they finally conceded and allowed her to board with me while making it obnoxiously clear that they were doing me a favor of sorts. I thanked them profusely, told them I appreciated their help, and we took our seats in row 6 or something.   Parents. I know you feel me when I say that traveling with kids doesn't need to be any more painful than it already is. 😐   This brings me to my next flight next week. Different location but same situation with my ticket being Business Select and my kid being my companion. I called customer service again now armed with my flight experience from last week to see what the actual policy was, what I could expect, and what I would need to do to mitigate any upcoming issues. The customer service rep was wonderful as always and after hearing the situation TOLD ME THE EXACT SAME THING AS THE FIRST CALL. She apologized for the public display that I had at the gate and told me that the policy changed in Dec 2020 and now allowed for sequential boarding etc... I thanked her but pushed back asking for it in writing since I had just been burned. She totally understood and started to pull her version of the internal policy. After literally 20 minutes of looking and reading the fine print, she found the following single line statement following the new A List, A List Preferred, and Companion Pass sequential boarding policy: SEQUENTIAL BOARDING DOES NOT OCCUR IF THE COMPANION PASS HOLDER PURCHASES A BUSINESS SELECT TICKET.    Bless the representative for saying what I was thinking. As soon as she read it, she said' oh you have go to be kidding me. Why?" Not only is this Companion Pass restriction ridiculous but the customer service teams aren't even aware of it. A companion pass is restricted to one individual. Uno. A List and A List preferred can have all traveling party members join them but the Companion Pass holder that hands more cash to SWA to upgrade can't have their single companion board with them? Let alone a child? Children can't be in the coveted exit rows so that isn't an issue. The only remedy for Companion Pass holders with a Business Select ticket, traveling with a child, is to let the kid board alone, board with the kid in whatever assignment they get, or do family boarding.    Why penalize a loyal traveler that is willing to upgrade and pay more with a very specific restriction? If the restriction is really that necessary, and I doubt it is, then modify it. Enact the restriction at whatever age it is to sit in the exit rows. Prevent them from the first 5 rows. Whatever. Either remove the stupid restriction or modify it so it doesn't piss off or stress out people willing to spend the cash and fly the miles to be in Business Select or hold a companion pass. At the very minimum, flag the reservation at time of booking that sequential boarding wouldn't be allowed so it isn't a stressful surprise that nobody knows until trying to board.   Long story that isn't short; the last SWA representative told me that the only way that it would change is by writing to the customer relations group and by sharing this so others can also write in if compelled to do so. I sent my email in today and will update this upon receiving a response.    TL:DR - Obscure policy states Companion Pass holders that book Business Select are the only elite group restricted from sequential boarding even when the companion is a young child. Email SWA if that doesn't make sense to you.          ... View more