Southwest Airlines Community

The solution is to put both names on the ticket.  For example, if you son is named Joe Grant, and your nephew is name Francis Smith, then buy the ticket for Joe Francis Grant Smith.   If they check names, they just want to see the name on the ID match some of the names on the ticket.  If there are more names on the ticket, they will just ignore the extras.   If they ask you, just say, "he has a very long name, we keep it short on his ID." ... View more

Airline seats are not very comfortable for children.  I would suggest that for your five year old that you actually install the car seat into their airline seat.  Your child will have a much more comfortable trip.   When my two boys were very young, we did travel by plane and I had their car seats strapped in to their two seats.  They were very comfortable and did not fuss at all.   In fact an elderly lady passed by at the end and commented on how "well behaved" they were.  The reason is that they were just comfortable. ... View more