Once onboard, pick any open seat, stow your stuff in the overhead bin or under the seat in front of you, and get ready for takeoff. Southwest allows people who have a specific seating need to accommodate their disability, who need boarding assistance, or who need help stowing an assistive device to board first. Expect to be asked what Southwest calls "fact-finding questions" to determine if you meet the qualifications for pre-boarding. People who are preboarding are not allowed to occupy an exit row seat.
The next set of people to board Southwest flights are people with seats in A1-A15, which is typically filled with Southwest elite flyers and those who paid extra for their tickets or boarding. The rest of the A group follows with A This boarding group also includes active-duty military. Everyone else now gets to board, with the B group going next. Both groups board in numerical order starting with position 1 and moving to position There are a few ways to get an early Southwest boarding group position, but many of them come at an additional cost.
You can check in online at Southwest. Otherwise, you can check in at the airport or with an agent at the airport. Business Select fares come with many perks including Fly By priority lane access, a complimentary premium drink, and yes, guaranteed receipt of an A1-A15 boarding position.
These positions are not assigned to regular ticket customers once the hour check-in window begins, so if the flight is low on elite flyers or Business Select passengers, there may be some available for purchase.
Those boardings can be purchased all at once, or for different flights, so you could opt to upgrade your posse once, or give yourself the VIP treatment a few times throughout the year. Customers with Rapid Rewards A-List Preferred or A-List Member status get their boarding position automatically reserved 36 hours before departure and before normal check-in begins, putting you ahead of everyone else who has to wait for that hour window.
While holding Southwest status is not a guarantee of an A position e. EarlyBird Check-In is an add-on option to your ticket that automatically checks you in 36 hours prior to the flight's scheduled departure time. That puts you in the running for the best boarding position next to the folks with Southwest status or Business Select fares and ahead of everyone else who has to wait for the hour window.
One extra perk you'll notice is that there is almost always ample space for your carry-on bag due to the fact that customers can check bags for free. Southwest is known for its helpful customer service and friendly in-flight experience. Announcements are often made with a comedic flair, and Southwest encourages its employees to be creative rather than sticking to a mundane dialogue. Southwest has a comfortable 31 to inch seat pitch on its standard seats and up to 39 inches in exit rows so you won't feel too cramped in the cabin.
There are no hot meals served on Southwest flights. In my opinion, hot meals on an airplane should never be a deciding factor on which airline you choose. Airplane food just doesn't cut it for me, so I'll gladly eat before my flight and enjoy whatever snacks are offered for free or bring my own. As for entertainment, Southwest doesn't have any seatback screens but does allow free live and on-demand streaming from your own digital device. Stay in touch with family and friends on the ground with free messaging via iMessage and WhatsApp must be downloaded before the flight.
Quite possibly the greatest perk in all of travel, Southwest's companion pass allows unlimited "free" flights for a chosen travel companion as long as you are traveling together on the same plane. In order to get the companion pass, one must fly a total of qualifying one-way flights or earn , qualifying points in a calendar year. Starting January 1, , this will be increased to , qualifying points. Once you obtain one of these metrics, the companion pass is yours through December of the following year.
Qualifying points can be earned in a number of ways including spending on a Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card and earning sign-up bonus points , traveling on Southwest, or shopping and dining with participating restaurants and retailers.
Unfortunately, the companion pass has become more difficult to obtain with a change of policy in As of April , Southwest started limiting the number of personal credit cards one can get in a month span, so most people will only be allowed to receive one large sum of bonus points in a given year.
Unless you travel extensively on Southwest or spend large amounts of money on a Southwest credit card, it will be difficult to obtain the valuable pass. How can I find out how many seats are on a Southwest flight? Can you choose your seat on Southwest Wanna Get Away? What according to you are the best seats on Southwest Airlines? What is the best time that you can choose to select your seat on Southwest Airline? Customer Review Choo Lak Yeow Leave your review Name: Email: Comment: Submit.
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Plus, I hate Midway. I am kinda neutral on the seating policy but it does seem like most people either love or hate it. I agree! Midway is a drag. Way cheaper and with my trip being in January I needed the flexibility to change if the weather was bad cruise and other airlines had little to no nonstop to Houston Hobby. Oh love the not nickel and dining you tho bags,seats etc that other airlines do. Would love a 4 by 2 as well.
Hate the seating policy, love to sit with my wife. I must have an isle sit; I am extreame Claus-tro-pho-bic. Most times the flight booking is done by someone else. When I am in control, I fly with other carriers. My friend checks in to the same flight hours later and gets A Nothing like getting stressed the first day of vacation!
You should be able to sit together as long as you can board early in As or low Bs. I recommend putting an alarm and checking in exactly 24 hours before the flight time OR purchasing EarlyBird check-in. If you want to save money, 3 of you can pay for EarlyBird check-in and save the middle seats. I think seat saving is more an issue when 1 person is saving a lot of seats especially those in the aisle or window.
On a positive note, I find that Southwest has more legroom than other airlines so you should have a more comfortable flight. A-list is for frequent flyers. You need to fly 25 qualifying one-way flights or earn 35, Tier Qualifying Points in a calendar year. In your opinion, how important is the TSA pre-check program for this type of flight?
Hi Freeman, Sorry for the delay in responding. While it is always nice to have TSA Precheck its value depends on how often you fly. I would not sign up for it only to use it on one trip. How often do you think you will be flying in the next 5 years? Do you knave any children under 13?
Thanks for your reply. We have no children under 13 nor any under Probably not worth it to pay for TSA Precheck if will only use it once or twice in 5 years. It is hard to predict the future but I would suggest that each person should divide the cost of TSA by your estimate of how many flights you think you will take in the next 5 years to see how much you would pay for each use.
You might also get TSA Precheck randomly on your boarding pass. In the past, seniors were likely to get TSA Precheck without even signing up. Even if you do not have TSA Precheck, the line might not necessarily be long-it depends on many factors including what time and day you are flying. I would recommend going to the airport early to be on the safe side.
You would have to take off shoes, jackets and belts which some people find annoying. Is it possible that she would get a boarding number not by mine???? Even if your boarding groups were not next to each other you can still board together — but you would have to board with the family member that had the last boarding position.
For example, if two people were traveling together and one had A40 while the other had B12, they would both have to board at B12 to be able to walk on the plane together.
The key to all sit together is to board early A group or early B group. We just had this happen on a full flight to Florida.
I explained that my 10 year old could not sit alone and the crew asked if anyone could make room. No one responded so crew upped their game and offered free movie or drinks if someone would move to allow 2 free seats.
If this happens to anyone speak up. Crew will work with uou. That is great advice. The crew does not want young children sitting alone and will usually help you sit together. This will also be first time for granddaughter to fly.
I think you would be allowed to board during family boarding. Traveing southeest airline with a 88 year old individual, that uses a non electric wheel chair and has difficulty walking. Thanks for your assistance. What I did noticed was: My first B position I paid 64 bucks for that flight. Not how early you checked in. We have flown on many Southwest flights and do find that, in general, the earlier you check in the better boarding position you get. One factor that affects your position is how many other people are also checking in early for that flight.
For example, I have noticed that on weekday flights, I have to check in right at 24 hours because most of the people on those flights are experienced business travelers that also check in at 24 hours. On the other hand, I have checked in later for Sunday morning flights and still got a good boarding position. I have noticed that most people on Sunday flights are traveling for leisure for the weekend, are less experienced and too busy on Saturday to check in at the 24 hour mark.
I wonder if that was a factor on your flights? People may have bought early bird with a reservation. If you sign up for early bird check in, do you still need to check in as well to make sure you have a good boarding position? Or will it automatically show you when you log in what your boarding position is? We signed up for the Early Bird check in. Does anybody know when I will be able to see what boarding position we received? If I log in 24 hours before the flight to check, will it be there already?
Thank you for all of the other great information in this post and in the comments! If you have a connecting flight, and have paid for early bird seating on the first flight, does it also apply to the second flight? We will have to change planes too! This is one of these rules that often can vary. This might already be mentioned by exit rows also have language, age and mobility requirements.
Plus if your on a B series the window exit seat is removed on some of the aircraft. When in doubt check seat guru! My husband and I are traveling with 5 children, the youngest being 5 years old.
Does that mean that we can all board during family boarding? In my experience, you will probably be fine. Just check with the gate agent and be friendly. Are seniors 85 years old permitted to board a flight early, and if so, are there certain restrictions as to where they sit? Bottom line if you are an occasional SW flyer be prepared to be at the back of the bus. Checking in early will do you little good. I just checked in and got B Started hitting the check in button 2 minutes before my phone showed the exact 24 hour before wheels up time.
I will protest to the flight attendant when an early boarder puts his personal items in the seat next to him and claims he is saving a seat. I have talked to the airline and this is against their policy. I feel someone doing this is more rude then my complaint! Southwest needs a better system to identify truly deserving pre-boarders who abuse the system and laugh at the rest of us. As with you, I do prefer an aisle seat if just for the sake of the feeling of extra room on one side of me briefly tucking in when the service carts come thru , though if I intend to nap on a longer flight I prefer having a window to lean up against, which is also good when a very broad passenger takes the center seat.
Despite where you pick to sit, a good seat is ultimately one with overhead storage! I despise when a person puts their stuff in the first open bin spot then goes to the back of the plane. The later groups board and someone filling a hole near the front of the plane has no overhead storage and has to make their way to the back to find room in a bin, then make their way back to their seat.
Paid for business Select, arrived very early this scenario played out identically both inbound and out and wat in rows 7 and 13 respectively. Outbout a group of 5 children preboarded with 1 adult, each kid took a middle seat and held the entire row for others in their group in later boarding groups. Disinterested and unresponsive. The seat saving kid brigade took the bulkheads and wing exit rows…how can a child hold a wing exit seat?
Written complaints email followed the flights with zero SWA response. Oh, almost neglected to include that through the credit card spend bonuses I had achieved my Companion Pass. Paid full fare for both wife and I, still have a never used Companion Pass. Yikes, SWA will never see another thin dime of my hard earned dollars. I was hoping to get the bulkhead seat with her.
What are your recommendations. I have come to the conclusion that Southwest is the least predictable airline there is both from comments and from my own miserable experience with them. That bulkhead seat is highly coveted by a lot of people for a lot of reasons — claustrophobia, long legs, etc.
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