Anyone ever purchased infant fare on SW?

[mickey&missy]

I'm officially confused!!!

Ok, so I'm going to buy DS a seat. SW has infant fares! I'm reading on the SW website all the info on this...

from the sw website
Traveling with the infant in an FAA approved car seat:
Affordable Infant Fares are available that enable a Customer to reserve a seat for an infant and use his/her FAA approved car seat.
A boarding pass is required.
Online checkin is available if the infant is traveling on an Infant Fare and is age verified.
A birth certificate is required to validate age of all infants under age two.



So to check him in online I have to get him age verified, but this is what it says about age verfied. (note, you can't buy an infant fare online, you have to call Southwest)

from SW website
Online Checkin for Youth, Child, or Infant Fares
If your child is traveling on an Infant, Child, or Youth Fare and is age verified, you may request the boarding pass on southwest.com. If your child is traveling on an Infant, Child, or Youth Fare and is not age verified, you MUST provide valid proof of age at the airport when exchanging the confirmation number for a boarding pass. Your child will not be able to check in online.
Age Verification Process:
If your child is traveling on an Infant, Child, or Youth Fare and does not have a Rapid Rewards or MySouthwest® Account, you must create one for him/her in order to check in online.
You must present a valid picture I.D. proving age (Child or Youth) or a birth certificate (Infant) to the Customer Service Agent when you check in for your flight. At that time, the date of birth listed in your child's account will be updated to indicate that age has been verified. The next time your child travels you will be able to request the boarding pass on southwest.com.
If you prefer, you may mail a copy of the valid picture I.D. proving age or the birth certificate to: Southwest Airlines Customer Relations; PO Box 36662; Dallas, TX 75235. Please be sure to indicate your child's account number with your request, and submit your request at least 21 days prior to your flight.
The date of birth field in your child's account will be updated to reflect that he/she is verified. Please allow 2 weeks for processing.
If you submit your request in writing, you will receive a confirmation letter in the mail once the date of birth has been verified.
Once the date of birth has been verified, you may check in online and request a boarding pass as long as your child's account number is present in the reservation for which you are checking in.
Please remember to provide your child's account number when you make future reservations on southwest.com or through our toll-free Reservations number so that you can check in online.
Notes: If you are not traveling on a Youth, Child, Senior, or Infant Fare, you do not need to be age verified to request your boarding pass on southwest.com or at an E-Ticket Check-In kiosk.

So, I have to create an account for a child under 1 year, then I have to mail southwest a copy of his birth certificate so they can age verify him so I can check him in online?! Boy, they surely don't make it easy!! If Southwest didn't just change their boarding procedure I won't worry about it. But, they don't pre-board families with small children anymore. If you don't have a boarding pass you board between A and B. I don't want to have to fight anymore then necessary to get his car seat on the plane and strapped in. Plus, I really don't want to inconvience any other passenger while we drag him, his carseat, ourselves, our 2 other children and carryons onto the plane!

Then I googled Southwest Airlines Infant Fares and found that buying an infant fare might not be any cheaper then some of the internet fares! If I buy him a regular ticket I don't have to do the whole age verfied thing.

Has anyone done this before?

HELP!!!

[LittleRoosMommy]

The last time we flew Southwest, I called and spoke to a customer service person to try to figure everything out. This was last year, so before the new boarding procedures. The infant/child fare was twice as much as the internet fare that my DH and I were going to be charged. I asked if I had to have the special infant/child fare and they told me no. So, we just bought DD a regular internet fare. I brought along her birth certificate just to be on the safe side, but I was never asked for it. It didn't make sense that the infant fare was more expensive than the internet fares. I would just try to get the best possible airfare! Hope you have a great trip!!

[mickey&missy]

The last time we flew Southwest, I called and spoke to a customer service person to try to figure everything out. This was last year, so before the new boarding procedures. The infant/child fare was twice as much as the internet fare that my DH and I were going to be charged. I asked if I had to have the special infant/child fare and they told me no. So, we just bought DD a regular internet fare. I brought along her birth certificate just to be on the safe side, but I was never asked for it. It didn't make sense that the infant fare was more expensive than the internet fares. I would just try to get the best possible airfare! Hope you have a great trip!!

Thank you! I kind of figured that the infant fare would not be a discount. Truthfully, why would they do it? Especially in this day and age with airlines cutting back on flights, etc. Why would they offer me a discount for a seat that my baby is going to occupy when they could easily fill it with someone paying full price?

Thanks so much!!

[BeccaO]

I just phoned Southwest 2 weeks ago about this very question. We are going to Disney in January and are traveling with a 13 month old. It ended up being cheaper for me to buy a regular seat on the internet at the "special" internet price than it would have been for me to purchase the infant rate seat. Hopefully we are able to board the plane fairly early, it will be myself and my husband with our 7 year old daughter and 13 month old son, I am hoping we can be seated all together. We got an awesome deal on the internet, it's gonna cost more for our park passes than it is going to cost to buy 4 round trip tickets from phila to orlando. Glad we got them when we did after I saw tonights news about fuel prices and the prices of oil.

[prprincess]

The last time we flew Southwest, I called and spoke to a customer service person to try to figure everything out. This was last year, so before the new boarding procedures. The infant/child fare was twice as much as the internet fare that my DH and I were going to be charged. I asked if I had to have the special infant/child fare and they told me no. So, we just bought DD a regular internet fare. I brought along her birth certificate just to be on the safe side, but I was never asked for it. It didn't make sense that the infant fare was more expensive than the internet fares. I would just try to get the best possible airfare! Hope you have a great trip!!I had the exact same experience. Because of that, I just ended up buying my son a regular fare ticket on AirTran and it ended up much cheaper.