ssk1127

Interesting that those who have experience on other airlines understand my point - as a DL Medallion for many years, DL extends a number of benefits to include non-elite family members. Being new to A-List, I was a bit surprised to find that not to be the case at WN. I thought I was missing something, but the responses here confirm that actually I'm not.

It seems a number of folks are accusing me of asking for things I don't deserve...on the contrary, I'm just asking how to use something I've already earned. Unfortunately, the consensus is that it's useless for my family. As it's also basically useless for me as a solo business traveler, makes it a pretty easy decision not to go out of my way to make A-List again this year.

justhere

If you have the option of using other airlines then certainly use the one(s) that makes the most sense for your needs.

I'm in a similar situation. I'm A+ and most of my travel is business related and I'm on BS tickets. I also have precheck. So about the only benefit I get is the A1-A15 boarding. The not so obvious benefit and the one that really matters to me the most, are the bonus points earned.

I don't care that I only get pseudo-precheck when traveling with my family. I don't care that I might not board in the ~A16-A30 group if I board with my family when I'm not on a BS fare. I don't care that I might have to use the regular bag check line. In other words I don't care that I don't get to use my A-list benefits when traveling with my family.

I do care that I get lots of points that I can use to pay for my family's tickets so we can go on vacations that we either wouldn't have had the budget to take or we can take more vacations. To me that's the biggest benefit of being A-list.

ursine1

A+ 100% bonus, definitely. A-List 25% bonus, less so.

GregMGB

I have A+ and CP from extensive business travel on WN, and travel with my wife and two young children a small handful of times per year. While they are not officially entitled to any benefits, I've never had any issue using the Fly By line with them (even with long lines around Christmas), both at the check-in counter and at security. For boarding, there's not much that you can do. I typically board with our lap baby around A16 and head to the back of the plane, and my wife will board with our older son during family boarding unless they happen to get A boarding positions. So far this has worked well and we've never had an issue. Of course I'm sure that this may be more difficult with older children.

As with justhere, for my purposes, the benefit of CP and the A+ 100% bonus on top of BS fares far outweighs any downside of the WN system.

Good luck!

azepine00

Ironically you highlighted the present culture on FT - fear that someone is getting something for nothing. Pretty sad indeed.

It's just a common courtesy (and common sense) to have a 7 yo kid to sit with parent.

connor35

This is by far my largest complaint about Southwest. I came to SW via Airtran. As an Elite not only would I frequently get upgraded to business class, but so would my travel companion. Not infrequently both my wife and daughter would (both weren't supposed to, but gate agents were awesome).

Meanwhile, even though I'm A-list preferred /Companion Pass, on Southwest my 7-year-old can't even board with me -- even though I can't take an exit row when I fly with her.

Before I was companion pass, I almost always flew other airlines with family. Now the freebie just means I
Deal with it. But I'm annoyed every time I board lower.

justhere

As frustrating as it may be, WN isn't Airtran so the comparison isn't really relevant. Other than to say other airlines do it differently to WN, which was already noted, but other airlines don't have companion passes (at least not in the form that WN does).

Semantics but she can board with you as long as you board in her spot.

WN could easily say that the CP boards with the holder if they wanted. They could also say that that travelers in the same PNR board together. And they could easily say that the CP is no more. Personally, I'd rather have the CP and deal with the boarding issues than no CP.

connor35

I hear you. And as stated, before I was companion pass I'd actually fly a different airline when traveling with my family so we had reserved seats.

But now that I have companion pass, I fly Southwest as the savings are worth the trouble.

The thing I don't get -- at least for Companion pass -- is I can't sit in an exit row anyway when flying with my daughter. And first row is usually taken by the 'disabled'. (yeah, the quotes are for the 75%, I respect the 25% who are disabled).

So really it's just saying "You spend 20,000+ dollars here a year.... but we don't want to do something that costs us nothing as a good will offering to your 7-year-old daughter."

I'm just annoyed I see pre-boarders saving seats, and my 7-year-old can't board with me in a good spot. I posted a thing last year where I was A1 (San Diego to Orlando) and I watched an older couple pre-board before me, then I waited while they saved 11 seats (they were tossing magazines, hats, scarves everywhere) for the rest of their family heading to Orlando.

I get Southwest can make their own rules, I appreciate the companion pass, I like that Southwest is low key, and way friendlier. I can complain about this one policy -- most airlines go out of their way for frequent fliers. Southwest just doesn't care.

LegalTender

Only "if they wanted" to jeopardize hundreds of millions in boarding order upsales.

dmbolp

What am I missing about the multiple "exit row" mentions?

dmunz

Is this even possible? I'm A+ with CP and I don't fly that much with family but every time we have all had different confirmation numbers. I've never figured out if we are actually on the same PNR (which can be different from the confirmation number??) or I'm doing something wrong or this is just the WN way.

So, to be clear, is is possible to have everyone on one combined PNR?

TIA
DLM

figment7

no its not possible, they were talking hypothetical scenarios of what they would like to see.

justhere

I'm not saying they would or should do it. I was just pointing out that there are a number of options and the one we currently have is the option WN has chosen.
Just that those folks with children wouldn't be able to take the exit row even if allowed to board at the earlier boarding position. Which, of course, just goes to show that we often project our own values on to other people.

dmbolp

But do other airlines allow 7 year old kids in the exit row?

LegalTender

The business model around open seating requires revenue from early-boarding. They're facilitating a lottery and selling positions outright. It's essential to retain spaces at the front to leverage sales. Bestowing companions of elites priority slots would make the odds unwarrantable.