Southwest Airlines ??

[Mickey'sIrishPAl]

Should I be concerned with check in for our flight from PIT to MCO? We have never flown Southwest and were able to book pretty early and got a great deal on airfare. Whe I booked, they never asked for preferred seating. Travelling will be myself, wife, and 2 kids (ages 10 and 4). My question is, do I have to worry about being split up from one another on both flights (to and from MCO)? Or does Southwest accomodate families travelling together and will assign seats next to one another? Should I call and request that we be together?

[CuteAsMinnie]

SWA does not assign seats. This being said, we only will fly SWA and have never had problem being able to sit together BUT
-hopefully you are flying non stop
-if you can swing the extra 10 bucks per ticket, SWA will issue your boarding pass 24 hours before departure time and you will be in 'Group A' and the first group to board. Otherwise you will need to be in front of your computer exactly 24 hours before departure time and do this yourself and hope for group A (trust me, $10/ticket very well spent).
- you will bs assigned a number with your boarding pass that you will print at home (saves time) Your family will have consecutive numbers.
- arrive early at the airport and you will line up according to you boarding pass group and number. You all will be together and will board together. As long as you are in Group A or the beginning of B you shouldn't have a problem.


Hope this doesn't sound too confusing (it really isn't ) and I didn't leave anything out.
:cool:

[CuteAsMinnie]

Although, families travelingwith small children (classified as 4 and under OR under 4 years old... someone else will be able to answer that). If you fall into this category, your family will board after Group A but I would still suggest the $10 fee for SWA to handle the check in for you.

[PopPhan]

-if you can swing the extra 10 bucks per ticket, SWA will issue your boarding pass 24 hours before departure time and you will be in 'Group A' and the first group to board. Otherwise you will need to be in front of your computer exactly 24 hours before departure time and do this yourself and hope for group A (trust me, $10/ticket very well spent).

Actually, with the Early Bird ($10) option, boarding group/position is assigned at 36 hours, rather than the 24 hours that you can sign onto the site and reserve your boarding group/position.

With the Early Bird, you don't have to sign in until you actually get in to the airport and check your bags. You will still get the same boarding group/position as you would at the 24 hour mark.

We have used the Early Bird since they first offered it and have always been in the first half of the "A" boarding group. It is well worth it for families!

[TexansInNY]

Go early bird - you do not pay for bags so still a bargain compared and is done for you up front..we got our boarding passes at Disney 3 hours early last trip and had high A's.

[Mickey'sIrishPAl]

Go early bird - you do not pay for bags so still a bargain compared and is done for you up front..we got our boarding passes at Disney 3 hours early last trip and had high A's.

Thanks all for the info. I just reserved the Early Bird option for the flight to MCO. Will get the same deal for the flight back from MCO. Now, if I get the EB option for the flight back, I won't have to check in or call to check in? Will the boarding passes come to our resort room door so that we don't have to check in and get boarding passes at the airport?

[CuteAsMinnie]

They're not going to come to your door. You'll still have to check in at the airport.

Thanks for the correction PopPhan! DH usually (always) handles the checking process and I was afraid I was forgetting something!

:mickey:

[Mickey'sIrishPAl]

They're not going to come to your door. You'll still have to check in at the airport.

Thanks for the correction PopPhan! DH usually (always) handles the checking process and I was afraid I was forgetting something!

:mickey:

Oh, OK. Does PortOrleans have flight check in for Southwest at the resort? My wife just told me that she thinks that you can get the boarding passes at the resort when you drop off your luggage at the airline check-in counter of the resort?

[missouridisney]

Not entirely sure about Port Orleans, but if they have an airline check-in counter I am sure they can print your boarding pass, we stayed at Pop in Feb. and we did our airline check-in, boarding passes were printed and they took our luggage to the airport, never saw it again until we got to St. Louis, it was an awesome, wonderful service. (Wish Disneyland offered something like that).

[Fangorn]

Yes, you can check your luggage at POR. At that time, they will print your boarding passes for you.

If you're planning on doing the Early Bird option, it's in your best interest to do it as soon as possible. Part of the formula for assigning group/number is when you pruchased the EB option. Sooner is better.

Steve

[Mickey'sIrishPAl]

I sincerely appreviate all of the feedback from everyone. This gives me huge peace of mind. :mickey::mickey: