Questions about flying SW

quote:

---

I booked the basic level but added the earlybird for $25 each way. Do you think I will be able to get a decent isle seat with plenty of overhead space?

---

Yes, depending on the location, I'd bet youll be late A or early B boarding group. Should have a good number of aisles left at that point.

ETA: Honestly, if you want to be sure from now on, don't do early bird and right after checkin in via app, pay the 40 bucks to upgrade boarding postion to 1-15

Early bird has turned into such a scam

Should be fine unless you get a flight with a lot of black passengers. In Chicago about 50 rushed the gate and took all aisle and window seats in front of plane, putting stuff in center seats. Claimed they were all family of an elderly woman in a wheelchair. Night before bears played saints in dome last year.

Had paid for early bird and ended up barely getting seats in third to last row.

Southwest going to assigned seats Jan. 1 and told this is one reason.

Flying SW next month with vouchers from that incident.

We had earlybird in July and between round trip and connecting flights we were anywhere from A20 to B5 was the lowest.

If you pre-board you will still get a boarding group and number assignment when you check in. A boarding assignment of C-25 doesn't impact pre-boarding whatsoever and a mid A group will still allow for a window or aisle seat.

Recently flew SW to Houston in July. Boarding group was late B (49 & 50). Flight out was early morning and had plenty of aisle & window seats to chose from. Flight home from Houston was in the afternoon, and I boarded at the back of B (running behind and just went last), missed the last few aisle seats that were available.

With early bird, you should be fine as you get to check in 36 hours before your flight, as opposed to the standard 24 hours. Just make sure you check-in on time. Also, the costs for the upgrading is typically $40-50 each way. But often times, if you pay the $25 early bird, I have seen them reduce that to $15-25 each way.

Pre-boarding is not just appropriate for the elderly or "handicapped".There are plenty of disabilities you can't see that make pre-boarding make sense.

I get people take advantage of it but if you've got an A or early to mid B boarding group and have a group of three or less you'll be fine on 99% of the flights. Enough window and aisle options and enough overhead space.

Since people are not required to show proof you really have two options and they exist on all airlines, eliminate pre-boarding or just allow it knowing some will take advantage and I think allowing it for the people who need it is a better option.

Look at it like this. Southwest and JetBlue don't charge for checked bags and usually fly affordable routes that are popular destinations. People check a ton of bags with SWA.

I flew AA last weekend and noticed most people bring a ton of carry on bags to the point where they saidnpeople would be forced to check bags but free of charge. Probably because most people flying AA don't pack to the point where they need to pay for that checked bag on top of their already high prices.

I've exclusively flown SWA for 10+ years to go visit family and travel, and I've never see the an issue with carry on bags.

quote:

---

I fly a decent amount, but have never flown SW

---

How can this be?

The family boarding between A and B is the bigger problem to me. There are families all the time with kids obviously older than 6 taking advantage of it and the gate agents never turn them away and even let extended family board with them. Good luck if you are traveling to a kid location like Orlando. Assigned seats can’t come soon enough