SW If you want to sit with your kids

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think it’s ridiculous to have to pay extra for something called EBCI in order to be able to sit together with my loved ones.

EBCI isn't required to sit next to your loved ones. It can increase your odds of getting on the plane sooner which can increase your odds of having more seat selections available. People purchase EBCI for all sorts of reasons though.

We don't presently pay for EBCI when my husband and I travel together. We get seats next to each other. I freely admit because I sit in the middle and the middle is the least desirable it helps our case out immensely. If I was flying with children I may need to reevaluate our plan depending on the child's age. I have sat alone when I was a kid with another member of my party sat elsewhere. As an adult I can sit apart from my husband even if I would prefer to sit next to him.

Ironically the only airline that I've had to sit away from my husband was Delta..which has assigned seats. When we booked our honeymoon the only seats left were apart for the first leg of the trip. As everyone else was on their honeymoons too no one wanted to switch lol. That's not to say in the future that I won't run into that issue on SWA.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I don't like SW's free for all seating, so I fly Delta whenever I can. I'd rather know exactly on the plane where we are going to sit ESPECIALLY when flying with family. With Delta I can sit in the airport lounge until minutes before last boarding call, where with SW you either have to pay more or line up early. Dont care for it.

Unfortunately I have had Delta change our seats on us. Carefully selected seats I might add. An aircraft change a few weeks before our flight. No notification at all. I only knew because I had been randomly checking documents (being excited for our Hawaii trip made me do it lol).

We were lucky because the aircraft still had 2 seats on the side and we were kept together just our rows were changed because the aircraft was smaller. I actually didn't even know it was something that could happen so you could imagine my surprise (call me naive I guess lol). They also changed the flight times a bunch. Minimal changes but changes still. I don't really worry about that with SWA because they don't change the flight from 12:05 to 12:12 or from 12:12 to 12:05 lol.

But it's still the difference between an assigned seat and a race to get in line.

Now my experience is only with Delta in terms of recent enough times. I don't have the recollection TBH of my flights with United or other airlines of the past.

The worst at the gate behavior between Southwest and Delta hands down no contest not even in the same galaxy is Delta. You may have a seat on the plane already determined but so many people want to be on that plane as soon as possible and ensure they have enough overhead bin space. There's crowding, the ever so slyly move around people in order to get in front of them, there's the push as far as I can to the beginning spot, etc. In short there's no order. I don't know that I would call it always chaos but there sure wasn't a line period. The race to get in line was Delta. There's no race with SWA because you know where you stand. When they call As you go up and stand in your boarding position slot. When they call Bs you do the same. People don't crowd the gate because there's no need to. When A1-30 has gone then B1-30 is free to line up. When A31-60 has gone then B31-60 is free to line up. No pushing no shoving, polite "I'm so and so what are you", etc has been my experience.

But of course experiences vary.

 

[Lisa F]

EBCI isn't required to sit next to your loved ones. It can increase your odds of getting on the plane sooner which can increase your odds of having more seat selections available. People purchase EBCI for all sorts of reasons though.

We don't presently pay for EBCI when my husband and I travel together. We get seats next to each other. I freely admit because I sit in the middle and the middle is the least desirable it helps our case out immensely. If I was flying with children I may need to reevaluate our plan depending on the child's age. I have sat alone when I was a kid with another member of my party sat elsewhere. As an adult I can sit apart from my husband even if I would prefer to sit next to him.

Ironically the only airline that I've had to sit away from my husband was Delta..which has assigned seats. When we booked our honeymoon the only seats left were apart for the first leg of the trip. As everyone else was on their honeymoons too no one wanted to switch lol. That's not to say in the future that I won't run into that issue on SWA.

I have a kid and always take the middle and let him have the window and I'm like the first person on the whole plane a single flier goes to sit next to, because I leave the aisle open.

I'd book the same way on a plane with assigned seating though, I'm not going to make a stranger endure the seat between me and my kid. I lost 145 lbs, the middle seat is kind of like a badge of pride for me now!

 

[Lisa F]

Love that we’ve reached the “anyone who disagrees with me is rude” part of the thread. Always a favorite of mine.

That usually coincides with "people are being logical and now I look silly" portion of the thread.

I don't care who does or doesn't want to fly southwest but some of the arguments just make no sense... especially the "it's ridiculous to pay more for early boarding to get to choose your seat" argument but it's NOT ridiculous to pay even MORE overall to fly a different airline to get to choose your seat. I don't mind boarding the plane and choosing my seat and I have found that I get very early in A (teens) if I book opening day (which I tend to do) and add EBCI right away... if I wait to add EBCI because I'm already choking at how much I just dropped on plane tickets, it will be a higher number, so I've learned to just bit the bullet and add it in when I book.

I will say though that delta DID have better in seat entertainment than SW. But for a 3 hour flight, the kid can endure having to use his phone and limited channels. I will even splurge for the $8 wifi for him because I am so relaxed flying out of a smaller airport rather than having to endure the stress of a big one.

 

[goofy4tink]

Guys....everyone is entitled to their opinion. Many are making decisions based on incorrect info though. There is no longer a 'cattle call' for SW boarding. It's very organized with no gate lice!!! If you're in the A group, when they announce boarding, you get up, go to the appropriate spot for your boarding number. Then board. I find it almost relaxing!! I do wish they would limit family boarding though. Some airports will allow the entire family to board together in family boarding. Others allow just the parent with the properly aged child. If there is just one parent with several kids, then they allow them to board together. But this whole family of 7 boarding together (mom, dad, a 6 y/o, and 2 teens and grandparents) is nuts!!!!

I pay for EBCI when I'm by myself many times. I can't be bothered worrying about being online at the 24 hr window to check myself in. I figure that SW doesn't charge me for checked bags...paying for EBCI is cheaper than paying for checked bags!!! As for not being able to sit with your family, well, I guess it depends on how big your family is, and how many seats together you're going to need! I have seldom seen families split up on SW. Now, Delta?? Yeah. They put my 11 y/o dd on an entirely different flight than me. Talk about 'splitting' us up!!!!

 

[Lisa F]

I do wish they would limit family boarding though. Some airports will allow the entire family to board together in family boarding. Others allow just the parent with the properly aged child. If there is just one parent with several kids, then they allow them to board together. But this whole family of 7 boarding together (mom, dad, a 6 y/o, and 2 teens and grandparents) is nuts!!!!

I wish they would too. I had no idea there were people paying for EBCI who were boarding after families and not finding good seats.

It would be nice if they allowed one adult per under 6 child and if you want to raise your chances of sitting together, you have to buy EBCI like everyone else.

Also I kind of wish if the point was to allow young kids to not have to sit alone with a stranger that they would march all of the families straight to the rear of the plane and fill in all available seating from the back rather than letting them all have the prime seating that they did NOT pay for in the front. It only seems fair to me... I can see accommodating them to sit together but not also in the best seating ahead of people who paid extra for it.

 

[Traveling on cc points]

I wish they would too. I had no idea there were people paying for EBCI who were boarding after families and not finding good seats.

It would be nice if they allowed one adult per under 6 child and if you want to raise your chances of sitting together, you have to buy EBCI like everyone else.

Also I kind of wish if the point was to allow young kids to not have to sit alone with a stranger that they would march all of the families straight to the rear of the plane and fill in all available seating from the back rather than letting them all have the prime seating that they did NOT pay for in the front. It only seems fair to me... I can see accommodating them to sit together but not also in the best seating ahead of people who paid extra for it.

Awesome points!! What a great idea to make the family boarding people go all the way to the back of the plane.

We always fly sw, we currently have a companion pass. I stopped buying early bird a few years ago because we kept getting early B group after family boarding. It was infuriating to pay extra money to board early only to have to go to the back of the plane to get seats together.
We fly out a smallish airport and the gate attendants never enforce the 1 or 2 adults per child rule. It is not uncommon to see a family of 10 board with the one 6 year old.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I have a kid and always take the middle and let him have the window and I'm like the first person on the whole plane a single flier goes to sit next to, because I leave the aisle open.

I'd book the same way on a plane with assigned seating though, I'm not going to make a stranger endure the seat between me and my kid. I lost 145 lbs, the middle seat is kind of like a badge of pride for me now!

Congrats on the weight loss!

My husband is tall (over 6'5") and almost always sits on the aisle. If we're near an exit row with the more leg room he'd probably sit by the window.

We're the same with assigned seats in that the middle is what I'll be selected to sit in.

You're like that coveted row though with that aisle seat open and the child not in the middle

 

[GrnMtnMan]

I was asked and politely said no. I bought EBCI so I could choose my aisle seat. I'm not moving to a middle seat due to your failure to plan.

stop expecting other people to accommodate you.

I understand the instinct to take a stand against rudeness and entitlement, but I don't think this is the right place to do so. Otherwise you're just contributing to an increase of rudeness and entitlement in the world.

 

[Lisa F]

I understand the instinct to take a stand against rudeness and entitlement, but I don't think this is the right place to do so. Otherwise you're just contributing to an increase of rudeness and entitlement in the world.

I don't see how expecting to get what you paid for contributes at all to rudeness and entitlement.

If there was a middle seat next to me and I was the OP and they asked me to move to a different aisle seat so that a parent and child could sit next to each other in my row, that's one thing

But to be asked to move to the dregs of the seating when you've paid for better to accommodate someone else... I don't think it makes you an awful person. You don't have to be a jerk about it, but it's absolutely within your rights to refuse.

Entitlement implies feeling entitled to something that you are not really entitled to. By virtue of paying for something, you ARE actually entitled to it and holding your ground on it is not rude or entitled. It is called "having healthy boundaries."

 

[Magical2017]

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I don't see how expecting to get what you paid for contributes at all to rudeness and entitlement.

If there was a middle seat next to me and I was the OP and they asked me to move to a different aisle seat so that a parent and child could sit next to each other in my row, that's one thing

But to be asked to move to the dregs of the seating when you've paid for better to accommodate someone else... I don't think it makes you an awful person. You don't have to be a jerk about it, but it's absolutely within your rights to refuse.

Entitlement implies feeling entitled to something that you are not really entitled to. By virtue of paying for something, you ARE actually entitled to it and holding your ground on it is not rude or entitled. It is called "having healthy boundaries."

Yep. Entitlement is not paying for early boarding and then expecting others who have paid to move to accommodate you. This is coming from someone who does not pay for early boarding any longer and who sits wherever there are seats available without expecting others to move for me.

 

[georgina]

My DD just texted me her flight was cancelled this morning and she had to take an earlier one. Went from boarding position A39 on her first flight to C18 on the new one. Sometimes is it not a family's fault they are last on the plane!

 

[FCDub]

My DD just texted me her flight was cancelled this morning and she had to take an earlier one. Went from boarding position A39 on her first flight to C18 on the new one. Sometimes is it not a family's fault they are last on the plane!

Yep. This is a hot-button issue, and there are no real stone-cold absolutes.

Sometimes I'll give up my seat, sometimes I won't. It depends on a lot of things, including my mood, the vibe I get from the late arriving passengers, and so on. One time I moved so two friends could sit next to each other and ended up next to someone who literally would not shut up, even after I put headphones on and made it clear I didn't want to talk. Always a risk you run, but I felt good about letting the other people be happy.

It's all fluid.

 

[Searc]

My DD just texted me her flight was cancelled this morning and she had to take an earlier one. Went from boarding position A39 on her first flight to C18 on the new one. Sometimes is it not a family's fault they are last on the plane!

If it is your child's first time flying (as this mother said repeatedly), then she should have made sure they could sit together. Lack of planning on her part does not constitute an emergency on mine. I'm sick and tired of bending for those who can't be bothered to follow the same rules.

 

[FCDub]

If it is your child's first time flying (as this mother said repeatedly), then she should have made sure they could sit together. Lack of planning on her part does not constitute an emergency on mine. I'm sick and tired of bending for those who can't be bothered to follow the same rules.

HOW do you know WHY they were last on? Unless you literally asked, you don't. You're just assuming she was rude and didn't care about others. Maybe they had A or B passes and the kid had a meltdown on the way to the airport?

Regardless, it doesn't matter. A little compassion goes a long way.

 

[Searc]

HOW do you know WHY they were last on? Unless you literally asked, you don't. You're just assuming she was rude and didn't care about others. Maybe they had A or B passes and the kid had a meltdown on the way to the airport?

Regardless, it doesn't matter. A little compassion goes a long way.

IME, scolding someone for not having compassion means they didn't roll over and do what you wanted/thought they should. I'm beyond the age of caring about others opinion of me.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

I'm beyond the age of caring about others opinion of me.

And there we have it...now I understand.

 

[Searc]

And there we have it...now I understand.

I've spent almost my entire life bending over backwards to accomodate other people's wants. At 44 years old, I'm done doing that. If that somehow offends you, not my problem.

 

[FCDub]

IME, scolding someone for not having compassion means they didn't roll over and do what you wanted/thought they should. I'm beyond the age of caring about others opinion of me.

Nope, not at all. But painting people as clueless/inconsiderate/whatever other words you want to use without knowing their circumstances is pretty cold. I even said in my original post that whatever situation they're in doesn't entitle them to seats together – just that they're not unworthy of compassion from people. Again, anything could have made them last on. I choose not to immediately think they're stupid/obtuse/rude.

You do you, though. Hope you're never in a circumstance where you're forced to ask someone for the smallest amount of compassion.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

SW has "family boarding" between the A and B group if you have kids 6 and under, and we are always able to easily get seats together with this. However, a family that was counting on this but had a late connection and missed family boarding could really be caught off guard. So, while it was certainly fine for you to keep the seat you paid for, the predicament may not be entirely due to the family's lack of planning.

More than once when flying out of Orlando, with so many families at the gates, I have had SW not do family boarding and you had to board with your group. Especially leaving MCO (or direct flights to MCO) the plane can be dominated by families with kids under 6 years old.