For trip to WDW on Southwest do you buy EB?

We didn't get EBCI this trip because we're flying Jet Blue.

In comparing prices I added the cost of EB to the sw price, and subtracted the military discount from the jet blue price.

The results were fairly close so we went with jet blue, mostly because they have reserved seats.
 
We get it to make things easier. We don’t have to sit together now that my daughter is a teen but we prefer it. I am a nurse and there is definitely no guarantee I can check in at exactly 24 hr. In fact the odds are great that I couldn’t do it. It is just one thing I don’t have to think about. We always get low to mid A (best A 16 worst A 34)
 
Our kids are too old for family boarding, so we buy it when we fly with them. (We buy for 3 of us. 1 of the kids qualifies for pre-boarding with 1 parent.) Flying adults only we wouldn't bother; as long as there's a seat for each of us somewhere, we're good!
 
We get it to make things easier. We don’t have to sit together now that my daughter is a teen but we prefer it. I am a nurse and there is definitely no guarantee I can check in at exactly 24 hr. In fact the odds are great that I couldn’t do it. It is just one thing I don’t have to think about. We always get low to mid A (best A 16 worst A 34)
A16 is the best you can get with an Anytime or Wanna Get Away fare. A1-A15 are reserved for Business Select, A-list Preferred and those that pay for upgraded boarding at the gate.
 


When my daughter was seven, we were only able to sit together because a stranger was kind enough to offer to trade seats. I had put her in a middle seat and me in a middle seat across the aisle, which was not ideal, but the best we could do. This mommy was too deep in a pineapple drink at Kona Cafe to remember the 24 hour mark. I remembered about four hours later and we ended up with C boarding.
 
Our kids are too old for family boarding, so we buy it when we fly with them. (We buy for 3 of us. 1 of the kids qualifies for pre-boarding with 1 parent.) Flying adults only we wouldn't bother; as long as there's a seat for each of us somewhere, we're good!

Just FYI - SWA has recently changed the family boarding policy to children under 6 accompanied by 2 adults.
 
A16 is the best you can get with an Anytime or Wanna Get Away fare. A1-A15 are reserved for Business Select, A-list Preferred and those that pay for upgraded boarding at the gate.

Yep we felt like we won the lottery. Only a couple people in the 1-15 seats and some preboards ahead of us! When we were A 30&31 they put us on with preboards even though I didn’t need it. I had my walker. I think they saw us at the front of that line and just had us come through. I told the attendant I didn’t need to but he motioned me ahead. Maybe wanted to throw the walker under the plane a little sooner or were just being nice. It felt weird. I obviously was happy with our A 30 position
 


Just FYI - SWA has recently changed the family boarding policy to children under 6 accompanied by 2 adults.


Woah when did this happen? When I tell you half the plane did "family boarding" when we flew in March I am not exaggerating.
 
Recently, I saw it on the news last week and the wording on the website reflects the change.
 
That's a big change. I know people saw this as a gate agent decision where they didn't always care if it was just 1 adult or the whole family but when SWA actually changes policies it's way bigger.

FYI I did check and here is the updated wording:

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My son purchased it for his recent trip. On the way to MCO they were in B’s, but on the way home, ended up in C’s. They were only able to get seats together in the very last row. That was very disappointing.
 
My son purchased it for his recent trip. On the way to MCO they were in B’s, but on the way home, ended up in C’s. They were only able to get seats together in the very last row. That was very disappointing.

Why be disappointed? He received exactly what he paid for. The ability to not have to worry about checking in. I don’t like C boarding either and have gotten it with EBCI, I knew what I was paying for.
 
Does family boarding include a sibling that is over 6?

We've always purchased Early Bird with Southwest in the past. However, this summer we're flying Southwest to Salt Lake City and since EBCI was so much more expensive with the price increase I thought we would try Family Boarding. We have two adults, a 3 year old, and a 9 year old. Will all 4 of us be able to board together with Family Boarding?
 
Does family boarding include a sibling that is over 6?

We've always purchased Early Bird with Southwest in the past. However, this summer we're flying Southwest to Salt Lake City and since EBCI was so much more expensive with the price increase I thought we would try Family Boarding. We have two adults, a 3 year old, and a 9 year old. Will all 4 of us be able to board together with Family Boarding?
Depends on the gate agent. IMO, they're justified in saying "one adult and child under 6".

However, if you approach the gate agent with the two kids and let DH board in his assigned spot, I'm pretty confident they'd let the three of you board together.
 
Depends on the gate agent. IMO, they're justified in saying "one adult and child under 6".

However, if you approach the gate agent with the two kids and let DH board in his assigned spot, I'm pretty confident they'd let the three of you board together.

Not anymore - its now 2 adults that are allowed to accompany a child 6 and under. I think the family of 4 would all be allowed now under the new rules, as they won't make the 9yo board alone.

" Two adults traveling with a child six years old or younger may board during Family Boarding, which occurs after the “A” group has boarded and before the “B” group begins boarding. If the child and the adult are both holding an “A” boarding pass, they should board in their assigned boarding position. "
 
We always purchase it but it I always want to sit with my family in an aisle seat as close to the front as possible.
 
Does family boarding include a sibling that is over 6?

We've always purchased Early Bird with Southwest in the past. However, this summer we're flying Southwest to Salt Lake City and since EBCI was so much more expensive with the price increase I thought we would try Family Boarding. We have two adults, a 3 year old, and a 9 year old. Will all 4 of us be able to board together with Family Boarding?
It's gate agent dependent. The policy is child 6 years of age and under. After that it's up to the gate agent's discretion to allow the 9 year old to Board with you during Family Boarding or if they need to board in their own Boarding position. If you want to you can discuss this with the gate agent. I would do this prior to the Boarding process being started.

Alternatively what you can do is have the 9 year old and the other adult board together in the furthest Boarding position. For example the other adult had B5 and the 9 year old has B1. The 9 year old AND the other adult can board together in position B5.
 
Not anymore - its now 2 adults that are allowed to accompany a child 6 and under. I think the family of 4 would all be allowed now under the new rules, as they won't make the 9yo board alone.

" Two adults traveling with a child six years old or younger may board during Family Boarding, which occurs after the “A” group has boarded and before the “B” group begins boarding. If the child and the adult are both holding an “A” boarding pass, they should board in their assigned boarding position. "
It gets dicey though because the other child is over the age allowed under the policy. This is a situation where it's completely dependent on the gate agent, regardless of SWA's policy being updated to 2 adults. I'm thinking they updated that for the situations in which traveling parties have more than one child 6 and under to help out otherwise IMO they would have updated the age for the Family Boarding too if the intention was to always allow all minors to board during Family Boarding with their traveling party.
 

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