have a question on Southwest airlines

[maestramommy]

Not sure if this is the right forum for this question:

DH and I are flying for the first time with DD in July. We just reserved a seat for her on Southwest buying an infant fare. DH just called again and found out that the fare was subject to change so if we wanted to lock in the fare we have to pay for it now. So far so good. My question is, if the flight fills up will DD's seat get booted because it was reduced fare? Also, how can we get preboarding privileges? Anyone fly southwest with an infant and have any suggestions? This is going to be a 5-6 hour flight (direct, thank goodness!) and she will be 9 months by then. Thanks!

[mama2galpals]

i've flown southwest several times with and without kids. i don't think your dd's seat would get booted but you should ask them when you call back. as for preboarding, southwest has a system where when you check in (can do it on computer too day of flight) you get an A B or C. however, those with small children preboard. i think you just go to counter at gate and they give you a pass. i'd suggest sitting toward the front with an infant. hth




rita
mommy to
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stella '00
emma '03

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[shilo]

i will assume by 'infant fare' you mean you are paying for a seat for her. if you pay for a seat, it's your seat same as any other passenger. they can't boot her. i've never actually gone this route when we fly with sam, since usually, the early bird booking rates online are better than the 'infant fare', so we just buy him a regular seat at the cheapest online rate (so just double check that the 'infant fare' is really cheaper than what you can get online).

as far as the actual flight goes:
1) i usually just go up to the desk and let them know i am traveling with an infant, with a seat and very politely request if i can preboard to have a little extra time to get his seat all set up. i do this regardless of airline, so i don't totally remember which have a real 'pre-board' and which just do a 'courtesy board.' (i think swa and jet blue do a real pre-board, whereas aa and ua do a 'courtesy board' - but again, my memory is fuzzy).

2) the only bummer about swa is that none of their planes i've been on have chaning tables in the lavatory. so be prepared to change her on your seat or the floor. the first flight we ever took with sam (at about 2 mos) was on swa cross country. they were very nice, flight attendant on the way there set up a thick stack of blankets for me on the galley floor to put his changing pad down on. on the way back, i asked the flight attendant to do the same and she was horrified and said 'i am a mother and i would never change my baby back there - i know what's on those floors - change him on the seat, dear." so just be prepared to be flexible - unless you have a preference.

3) southwest has a great little "baby's first flight" certificate they'll fill out with the date/time/destination/captian, etc. and give you for her baby book if you are into that kind of thing - be sure to ask for one if you are.

only other tip is to echo what PP said about going online for a boarding pass early. you can get your boarding passes online starting at midnight the night before your flight so you can get an 'A' boarding group as a backup in case something goes wrong with pre-boarding. as long as you do it 3-4 hours before your flight, i've never not gotten an 'A' boarding group.

i know flying with a baby can be nerve racking - especially the first time. she'll do great! (and if not, repeat the mantra i learned on this board three times before you board the plane... "i will never see these people again, i will never see these people again, i will never see these people again." :)

lori

Sam 5/19/05 How lucky I am that you chose me.

[californiagirl]

Southwest is great with babies, and will pre-board. There's usually a designated pre-boarding area and you just go there. We have never had an issue, and they always tell us all the right rules for the carseat, too, and usually congratulate us for bringing one.

[mudder17]

If you're planning on buying the seat anyway, I would actually go online and hunt for fares from time to time. When you see a good one, just go ahead and get it. It turns out that those fares you can get online are actually cheaper than a half-price infant fare (which are half of the regular priced fares). Anyway, since this is a long flight, I would suggest that since you're guaranteed a seat this way and it's the best way to get a good price. And no, once you've paid for a ticket, you can't be booted from the flight. They can only ask for volunteers. IME, though, the only time we've been on a SW flight when they asked for volunteers was during Christmas. :)


Eileen

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[CecilysMom]

>3) southwest has a great little "baby's first flight"
>certificate they'll fill out with the
>date/time/destination/captian, etc. and give you for her baby
>book if you are into that kind of thing - be sure to ask for
>one if you are.
>
>lori


I had never heard this! Too bad since I would have loved to get one.

[nicoleandjackson]

Melinda--

We fly SW frequently out of Chicago/Midway, and my DS's first flight was at 22 months. We have had good luck every time! If you have purchased a seat for your DD, it is yours. The only way your DD would get "bumped" is if you had not purchased a seat for her and planned to hold her on your lap, but instead tried to put her in an empty seat by you (this happened on our most recent flight to San Diego where truly every seat was taken, so the lap child really had to sit in her mama's lap!) SW does have a pre-boarding time before the A-B-C seating. Any child four years old and under is eligible--you don't even have to check in with the desk. You can print out your boarding passes online as a PP mentioned as a backup (or for anyone else who might be traveling with you) and they changed their policy that now you can print them anytime up to 24 hours before your departure time. We have preboarded before as a large group (DH, me, DS with car seat, my sister, my BIL, etc.) and they haven't batted an eye--although I have heard at other airports that they are more stringent with who can pre-board with the child.

Good luck!

Nicole
Mommy of Jackson 4/30/02


Who's the Biggest Boy? It's Jackson!
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[aliceinwonderland]

If I remember correctly (my husband or I travelled with them every two weeks last summer), they have a sort of "graduated" pricing, depending how early you buy your ticket/how many seats there are left). I think there's three different levels. I really liked it in that even of you bought day-of or day-before, if they had a seat they'd give the most $$ price in their range, and not try to screw you like many other airlines would do.

I generally found flying with them a much more pleasant experience than other domestic airlines.

[maestramommy]

Thanks everybody for your advice! It looks like we chose the right airline. The only other airlines with lower prices do not have infant fares. As it happened. The infant fare (at this time) is cheaper than the cheapest online fare we got. But I will continue to check back since as you say, they do keep changing, and DD's ticket is fully refundable. DH is also saying that when we check in if the flight has empty seats maybe we can still get her ticket refunded and have her fly for free. Anyone done that before?

[maurenemm]

I just got back from flying SW. Ditto what everyone else said. We had no problems pre-boarding. Also, there were changing tables on our plane (in the lavatories). The stewardess did say it was one of the newer planes. I expected it to be really hard to change the baby in there but it wasn't at all.