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Southwest is terrible for Family Reservations

SteveD89
Explorer C

I love SWA as A single business traveler. It is extremely frustrating to travel with the family. For starters you were not able to add other profiles for other family members into your profile. Especially when the children were young and didn’t even have email addresses I set up all their travel. Every time I would have to book family travel I would have to re-type in their names and their birthdates and they’re known traveler IDs.   

 

 The Southwest website needs a way for me to store other people that I am booking travel for and to be able to search and find their travel as well I paid for it I should be able to access it. As it stands now I can use points and pay for their travel but I have to save and remember their check-in number. I cannot look through my reservations in my account and find it. But again I paid for it. When it comes to boarding it is also difficult to board as a family if you have a list status And your family does not.  

Lastly if you were a status customer and using a mixture of paid, companion, and points to book flights you cannot do it at one time. I need to book 3 different reservations by searching three different times and putting in information three times to book a family of four.  

7 REPLIES 7

Re: Southwest is terrible for Family Reservations

dfwskier
Aviator A

good suggestions and I' suggest that you e-mail thm to the company. To do that click om "contact us" at the bottom of this page and then pick e=mail fom the choices at the top of the ensuing page.

 

I suggest that because this is a customer to customer forum and an appropriate Southwest is more likely to see the e-mail than whatever you post here.

 

 

Re: Southwest is terrible for Family Reservations

elijahbrantley
Aviator A

I totally get your frustration as I live this life every day!  I have learned how to make the most of the system, and when I balance the benefits SW offers for our family, it is worth the trouble.  As has already been said, please share your thoughts directly with SW.

 

Ironically, while the technical part may be troublesome, Southwest truly is great for families!

-A List, Companion Pass holder

Re: Southwest is terrible for Family Reservations

swaoct21
Explorer C

Agree. Should allow saving family members under a profile so at least the RR# and KTN is remember for each traveler.

 

No issues for the individual accounts but usually buy tickets under one account for multiple travelers and since must manually put the RR# and KTN in each trip if you forget there is NO pre check printed on boarding pass .. you find out when they boot you out of the TSA Pre Check line to the normal line.  TSA does not make any exceptions if not PRINTED on boarding pass. So even if you show them you have a KTN that failed to print on the board pass you must go to the regular line.  So the consequence is worse than not having Pre Check you must stand in 2 lines.

 

SWA could minimize this by allowing selection from inside one account of family members that remember the RR# and KTN of each traveler.

Re: Southwest is terrible for Family Reservations

chgoflyer
Aviator A

My understanding is that the ability to save family profiles is coming. It was already in the works, but priorities shifted considerably due to the pandemic.

 

Also: Maybe you're not aware, but anyone on the same reservation as an A-Lister will be assigned boarding positions in sequence with the A-Lister. Full details here.

Re: Southwest is terrible for Family Reservations

jksobonya
Aviator A

@SteveD89 wrote:

I love SWA as A single business traveler. It is extremely frustrating to travel with the family. For starters you were not able to add other profiles for other family members into your profile.


How would "family reservations" work in theory? How does it work at other airlines?  Do they have some sort of family check-in where you check in once and you are all checked in at the same time somehow, and all your boarding passes are generated?

 

--Jessica

Re: Southwest is terrible for Family Reservations

chgoflyer
Aviator A

@jksobonya wrote:

@SteveD89 wrote:

I love SWA as A single business traveler. It is extremely frustrating to travel with the family. For starters you were not able to add other profiles for other family members into your profile.


How would "family reservations" work in theory? How does it work at other airlines?  Do they have some sort of family check-in where you check in once and you are all checked in at the same time somehow, and all your boarding passes are generated?

 

--Jessica


 

What people are requesting is a way for the Southwest system (website and app) to retain more than one person's information (name, birthdate, KTN, etc.). Then, when someone is booking a reservation for themselves, their spouse, and their multiple children, those traveler's details could be added easily, instead of needing to be entered from scratch.

 

My understanding is that this feature is in the works, but was delayed by shifting priorities due to the pandemic.

 

It's not about check-in, as what you describe is already available. All passengers on the same confirmation number are checked in at the same time. In addition, Companion Boarding ensures that a Companion is checked in as well (and receives a sequential position). 

Re: Southwest is terrible for Family Reservations

CupCrusher40
Frequent Flyer B

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