LMB01

Seriously - "deserve"?

I dropped elite status with US Airways for the simple fact that they allow families traveling with children under 5 to board before first class and their elite members. If that is where an airline wants to put their emphasis rather than on the folks that fly mulitple times a year then I will take my business elsewhere.

Full disclosure, I only fly WN because they fly direct to Vegas from my location. I do not fly them for business at all.

pinniped

Really? You let something so trivial impact your decision of what airline to fly? Primadonna much?

How many times, as a US Gold, were you forced to check a carry-on bag because the entire plane was full of 5-year-olds who hogged the overhead bins?

I'd bet the answer is zero. And if your bag stays on the plane, who really cares about the order you get on? I've been 1K, EXP, US Gold, NW Gold, and a couple other shiny colors I can't remember. As long as you have basic low-tier status, the boarding order is irrelevant. Boarding order is only relevant when you're Zone 4 (or Southwest Zone C, or whatever).

I don't blame you for dumping US Airways. I did. But at least develop a less whiny reason for doing so.

HookemHorns

Delta dropped their family pre-boarding right around the time I had two kids under 5. I voiced my objections with Delta, as well as these forums. From my perspective, traveling with young kids involves a caravan of diaper bags, car seats, and the such (if you want the kids to be quiet during the flight, this goes with the territory). If you don't want to let the families pre-board, then elites should be prepared to be wearing their PDB when a car seat smacks them in the head.

Bringing this topic back to WN, I specifically avoided them because I had no reasonable assurance that my family could be seated together, and especially in the light of some attitudes expressed on FT, I will not trust that some stranger will ensure that my child correctly places their oxygen mask in the event of depressurization, or that my child will not be trampled en-route to the exit slide in an emergency (both of which I've dealt with).

slider34

I thought families bordered after the A listers, is that not the case now?

Read someone people who said with small kids they might not sit together. I'm traveling in 2 weeks with a 9, 7, 4 and a wife and always thought we would be easily sitting together. Not the case?

While I'm asking, at what age are we no longer allowed to board early? Meaning when the youngest turns....?

texashoser

I believe 'young' in terms of family boarding is age four and under. WN boards families with young children after the entire A group has boarded. Obviously you can board sooner than that if you A-group boarding passes for everyone.

Since you are a family of five, you can't fit in one three-seat row, but will need two, whether one behind the other or across the staggered aisle.

In a full flight with a lot of through passengers, you may very well not be able to obtain the seating configurations above. My advice is to check in at 24 hours before the scheduled departure or buy EBCI.

Lastly, FA's will try and accommodate reasonable requests for family seating and ask willing passengers to move. But I would at least plan for a situation where two of you are several rows behind/in front of the other three, especially if the flight is full.

jamesteroh

Southwest used to allow families to preboard. Now they do family boarding. If you have A-boarding passes you board with your number. If you have a B or C you board with the family boarding after A has boarded. If you board with that group, there shouldn't be an issue of a child sitting with at least 1 of the parents together.

pinniped

You will be fine. Most boarding-order drama is way overblown. Check in at T-24, you'll probably have some A45-55 type boarding cards, and you'll head back to Row 16 or so without any difficulty.

Worst case...you're totally off the grid the day before the flight...your 4 y.o. is basically "A61" insurance. Once the kid turns five, you're technically thrown back in with the masses although I don't know whether it's enforced in practice.

Boraxo

Interesting. I was not aware that WN had switched EBCI priority order from time of purchase to fare basis (as was done for A-list).

I guess I have mixed feelings as I travel on both cheapo WGA tix and full fare anytime tix. On balance it's probably a negative, I tend to buy it to "guarantee" a decent A number when I can't do T-24 nonsense, not to increase my odds when I roll the dice.

However I do think that WN ought to cut off EBCI sales when the supply of A group cards is exhausted. Like OP I'd be pretty upset if I bought EBCI and ended up in the B group.

Most of us who fly WN prefer the current system to advance seat assignment. The latter makes sense only when elite state gives you upgrades to F or access to better seats like E+ and exit row. Most people who don't like the boarding process fly the legacy carriers - you find lots of people over the UA, AA and DL forums that won't go near a WN flight even though it might be a better experience - they don't know what they are missing!

As for RR 2.0, I would not characterize it as "sub-par" for everyone - it works well for some of us who fly on expensive anytime fares and not so well for the $39 bargain hunters. A-list definitely provides more benefits than I had when I flew WN quite frequently a few years ago.

+1 I have sometimes been shut out of aisle seats on UA even booking a month in advance. Fortunately seats usually open up when upgrades are processed for elites at 72-48-24 hour marks.

My biggest complaint with the current WN boarding system is that it severely penalizes those of us who change flights at last minute as well as those who arrive late on connecting flights. With a legacy carrier, I still have a shot at a good seat (not to mention an upgrade) because the inventory is constantly shifting as people standby on earlier flights, cancel and upgrade. At WN you are completely screwed.

rove312

That's hard to do when they don't know how many A-listers, who come first, there will be.

InkUnderNails

Sunday, BNA, OA sends a line breaker back to the proper spot. He tried to board at the end of BS. I had A-17 and there was a woman in front of me with A-16. I thanked to OA for proper enforcement. She said "No problem."

(I also appreciate finally having an opportunity to properly use my new knowledge of GA vs. OA.)

707Flyer

so I'm not clear on the rules when traveling with a 6-17 year old - is it family boarding after the A's or take your chances?

normalone

The term "family boarding" applies only to people traveling with children four or younger. After all the people with "A" have boarded, then family boarding occurs.

Here is a link to the relevant FAQ.

The advice you will generally see here is to go ahead and try to secure A passes for all members of your family - if you can do that then board in your numerical position. If you draw B or C passes then take advantage of the family boarding time.

If all your children are over the age of 4, then you don't have that option and just have to go in your numerical order, be that A, B, or C.

jamesteroh

Family boarding is only up until age 4. I would try to check in at exactly t-24 to get an A past.

With a 6 year old the GA might let it slide and allow you to family board, but with a 17 year old they wouldn't. If you want to be assured of sitting with at least one family member, I would pay for EBCI for just yourself and try to check in the other two as close to t-24 as possible. I am sure if your 6 year old has a higher number with you having an EBCI pass, it wouldn't be an issue for the 6 year old to still board with you. I would recomend taking a row towards the back and having one of you sit in the window and one in the aisle and "saving" the middle seat for the 17 year old when he boards. Passengers aren't going to be likely to have a problem with a middle seat in the back of the plane being saved as they are are an aisle or window or a middle seat towards the front.

HookemHorns

I think this is good advice. The OAs at my local airport indicated they would overlook the fact that a young child with a high boarding number boarded with a parent with a lower number, but YMMV. To avoid an unpleasant situation, I've simply purchased EBCI for all my reservations, and I've always boarded mid-A. The only time I've had an issue was a forced rebooking, where I boarded a flight that had completed boarding already. Only middle seats were left, and letting my 6 year old fly next to strangers wasn't going to work. A few kind words to the FAs, and they convinced some PAX to move to middle seats to accommodate us (plus, I think they bribed the folks with free drinks).

awayIgo

I can understand that a parent doesn't want their 6 year old next to strangers. But the WHOLE family to EXPECT and say it is their right to sit together. Hey--you DO let your 12 year old walk the streets alone and for sure your 17 year old goes out alone. You are on a plane, they are not running away, you are nearby. Let's keep this in perspective folks.