Comments on: Think Southwest’s new boarding policy sucks? Try Ryanair

By: Raines

Raines — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:36:00 +0000

I don’t care where we end up sitting as long as we can stay together. If we have to go to the back of the plane, fine with me. But I’ll be standing there staring down the rude people that want to try to avoid anyone sitting next to them. I’ll tell my 5 year old to sit next to them and be as annoying as he can.

By: balmsed

balmsed — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 03:27:46 +0000

Okay, I really think all the people bashing kids need to stop and think for a minute – THINK!!!! You are complaining that parents don’t control their kids on flights….okay, how much controlling do you think a parent can do when they are sitting 10 rows back from their 5 or 6 year old?????? Is it in your best interest to have them sit next to you unattended??? Or, would you rather have a parent nearby to control them??? – USE YOUR BRAINS!! You greatest argument is that us parents don’t limit our kids behavior on flights…..so let’s move the parents as far away from them as possible. Okay – yeah, makes total sense to me!
Not all of us show up late because we have some sense of entitlement. Broaden your horizons a little….Some of us are joining your flight from a late-arriving connection. So, unless I parachute out the door, I have no control over when I arrive on “your” plane. That’s not my fault. Yes, whenever possible I pay the $10 upgrade FOR EACH SEGMENT….but it doesn’t exactly do me a bit of good if my connection gets me there after everyone has boarded!
Also, these kids are PAYING customers – like most everyone else. Last time I looked, I was paying top dollar for not one, but two, three or even four seats. They deserve a pleasant flying experience just like the rest of you. “Stick to the minivans???” Wow, how ’bout dragging yourself out of “gumdrop land” for a moment and thinking about how idiotic that statement really is. Why not hitch up the team and take the wagon cross country. Lord knows we all have weeks and weeks to get somewhere…
AND, only one other person here had the compassion enough to address just how scared a 5 or 6 year old may be sitting all by themselves – what the he11 is wrong with you people?!?!? Are you that heartless??? Some of these kids have never flown before in their lives! And keep in mind, you don’t know why they are flying – not every family is on a plane to go on holiday and make your lives miserable along the way. Sometimes they are flying because of family emergencies or family deaths. Did you ever think of that??? No, because you’re all too busy yapping on your cell phones after the attendants tell you to turn them off – putting everyone else at risk. But, you know what??? One thing’s for certain – I’ll be sure and remember this forum the next time one of you self-centered, fat, fowl smelling, kid-hating twits reclines your seat into my lap – you can bet, it won’t be my kid kicking you!

By: Tanya

Tanya — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 17:30:57 +0000

I have been flying most of my life. And as a child, knew to behave, with or without a parent sitting by me. I was never traumatized by not getting to sit with a parent.
Now as an adult, I applaud SW’s decision on the new boarding. It is wonderful. I cannot tell you how many times I was at the airport early to get a good boarding pass and not 10 minutes before the flight was to leave, multiple families would stroll up to the gate and all 16 of the family members and one child would still get to board before the rest of us. Parents with children still get somewhat of priority boarding, they board after the business select, now priority, and A board. I also see the SW agent’s adhering to the rule that 1 parent gets to board with the child/children.
To those who say that a lawsuit will eventually occur, maybe you are right. I have a much simpler suggestion. Either print out your ticket early, pay for priorty, or if there really are no seats together and you have to sit with your child, then get off the plane and take a later flight. It is always the parent’s choice whether to sit with the child or not. You know the rules, follow them.
Also, to all the parents out there, yes things happen. Traffic (the rest of us plan for this btw), kids make things go slower (again, the whole planning thing . . .), things do happen, I realize this. But please realize this, I will not, ever, under any circumstances on a full flight give up my window or aisle seat (I am almost 6 feet tall, leg room imperative), for a middle seat, yes I was asked this before and one of the adults (there were 3) had an aisle seat that they were unwilling to give up. I will at all other times gladly switch seats with you so that you may sit by your child.
To the person who deliberately let their children run amok. Shame on you for being a horrible, yes horrible parent. Your children should know better, as should you.
To those that think children should not be allowed to fly at all, I am against this. Families live far apart from each other and it is nice to see them.
Children can behave and will when they are taught properly. Yes, kids will be kids. They are not robots and should not be expected to act like robots, so unless you are in one of the (less so nowadays) rare occurances where the parent is glaring at you for daring to suggest their little darling stop kicking the seat, and the flight attendant will do nothing as well, get over it. You too were once a child and did not always behave perfectly.
To the parents who think they should get to sit back and relax while little jr annoys others. Think again. It is your responsibility to control your child. It was your choice to have the child, not mine, or the flight attendant’s or anyone else on board that plane. It was also your choice to fly. There are other means of transportation available. If your child is misbehaving, say something, or else I will and no, it is not always just a kid being a kid. Then, I will and have gotten the flight attendant involved (this normally results in free drinks as I have been more than patient up to this point). Generally, the FA is extremely happy that another customer finally complained so that they can do something about it. Yes, sometimes adults are just as bad (I have sat next to a few, Las Vegas bound or returning anyone?) I always try to say thank you to the child and the parent when they are well behaved. I always try to say thank you to the mom/dad who tirelessly tries to get the screaming baby to stop crying. I always find that the child and parents appreciate the acknowledgment that they were good!
Maybe we shoule all try to be a bit more patient and understanding as a whole. There are good and bad adults and there are kids that will behave and kids that won’t. But please do not think that your rights should in any way infringe on mine and I will give you the same courtesey.

By: James

James — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:32:32 +0000

The common theme in all of this is that the plane was already to full to accomodate your brood! Meaning that you, as the RESPONSIBLE ADULT that you should be, did not follow advice ALREADY provided to you by the airline, that you should show up 90 minutes to 2 hours PRIOR to you flight like every other traveler!

What makes it even less excusable is that you can now check in ONLINE 24 hours in advance!.

What makes it even LESS excusable than THAT is that SWA now offers EARLY BIRD check in which they will check you in themselves. YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIFT A FINGER!! It cost 10 bucks ahead, , but I can guarantee that your fare will still be less than the alternative, and you don’t have to do a damn thing to check in early. yet this issue still keeps happening on my flights.

People say than chivalry is dead should maybe try to hold themselves accountable for something, for a change.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:18:30 +0000

I LOVE that Southwest no longer pre-boards families. Being a woman who has experienced heart-wrenching infertility, there’s no reason at all that I should be penalized for not being able to have children and people who squeeze out a few kids get to board before me. Of course, you selfish parents would never even THINK about a person in a situation like mine, right? You should be ashamed of yourselves–There are a lot of other people in the world who follow the rules and by no fault of their own are childless and shouldn’t have to wait for YOU.

By: casualsuede

casualsuede — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:03:26 +0000

What a bunch of whiners.

I have no kids and I fly 40K miles a year and once in a long while take SouthWest.

I have NO problems with parents and kids under 5 boarding. I find those whiners who moan and complain that toddlers getting better service than me to be the most immature people in the world. Imagine yourself comparing yourself to a little kid.

Shame on you people!

By: AC

AC — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:27:24 +0000

If you have kids and want to sit with them, buy priority boarding. There – that wasn’t hard, was it?

By: Z Smith

Z Smith — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:31:47 +0000

I had a similar experience with Ryanair, even though I was told at check-in that we were entiled to priority boarding with my three-year-old. We did manage to get on the transfer bus amongst the first passengers, but then we had to wait what seemed like half an hour to get going and we were still the last ones to get on the plane. When I say last I mean LAST. Of course, by then all the seats had been taken, so they had to rearrange some of the other passengers. What did they expect? I can’t possibly leave a three-year-old all by himself! By the way, there were two other families with babies just in front of us, who were in the same situation. Wouldn’t it have been easier for everybody to just let the young families get on the plane first??? I won’t fly with Ryanair again if I can help it!

By: louise

louise — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:50:02 +0000

SWA family boarding policy rarely separates parents from small children. If there are a lot of thru passengers when the plane arrives at the gate, the agent taking your boarding pass will let the flight attendants know approximately how many families. Do they guarantee ALL family members can sit together? No, just that at least one parent can be seated with the children. Sure sometimes, families arrive late and a request is made for someone to change seats. Usually a free drink is offered. Sometimes the families are late because of their poor planning or maybe they are standby passengers or their connecting flight arrived late. However, those cases are few…but generage the most complaints. We do see a lot of preboards who try to take advantage such as one wheelchair but 6 adult or teenage family members wanting to board with. The policy – if all would adhere – is one preboard qualified may take one companion to assist with carryons. Same with families…Just the parents after the A group is on. That doesn’t include the grandparents, cousins, and neighbors. Because the policy was abused so much (and believe me….those extra unqualified people do the most and loudest complaining!) which is why the new boarding went into affect. Plus selling the Business Select was a way to generage new revenue which all airlines need! So families, arrive on time. Let unqualified family members and friends board in their own group. When families preboarded, the front rows were taken, they took longer to collapse strollers, they clogged up the front of the plane so boarding would come to a stop while Mom and Dad would discuss who would hold which baby and who would strap in the car seats. Plus there really isn’t any under seat storage up front so all the front bin spaces would be taken which actually were behind the front seats…another slow down. Then they would be the first off the plane..again after holding up the other passengers who were in a hurry. Because they were gathering all the bottles, sippy cups, diaper bags, etc. Then the families would be on the jetbridge saying “Where’s my stroller and carseat?” Just because the passenger aircraft door is open, doesn’t mean the bins under the plane are open. The plane is still being connected to ground power, ground air, tow bar connected, belt loaders being moved into position with limited personnel below. Then the jetway was crowded with families and children getting knocked over by passengers anxious to get out of there. Now with family boarding and families being seated toward the rear of the plane, boarding goes faster because the stack-up with families is in the back so other passengers just fill in the front seats rather than waiting to get by all the families. AND strollers are more likely to be set up or least waiting for the families when they get out. Consideration works both ways. Families need to be more considerate to other passengers and airline workers, rather than demanding front seats and preboarding. SWA will work with the families to ensure a parent is sitting with the children. Best yet, check in online as soon as possible with 24 hours and get an A boarding pass.

By: liz

liz — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:46:44 +0000

One of the reasons for this policy (I’m guessing) is some overly aggressive parents with kids, trying to push their way on during pre-boarding I’ve seen families try to board between wheelchairs (when told to wait by the Gate agent) I’ve seen hyper active kids running down the gateway knocking into disabled old ladies. For a lot of kids it seems like the goal is to get to the plane first, and the parents, struggling with the weight of their bags, the kids bags, car seats, etc. don’t have a lot of control over them.

As a disabled person who needs time getting to my seat and my things stowed, I don’t use a wheel chair but I also can’t stand up for more than 15 minutes a day, pre-boarding is a must. When I heard SW was going to do this, I was incredibly grateful, let the families board first with the A group or whatever, but mixing poorly controlled children with the disabled is not a good idea.

And, yes, if you have well behaved children and control them, I am sorry you have to suffer for the actions of a few, but frankly, like the time I was flying home 3 weeks after back surgery, very easily injured people like the elderly with frail bones and rambunctious out of control children DON’T mix.

(A special thanks to the mother on my home from surgery flight, who not only made sure she, not her kids, sat behind me when I told her that I’d had surgery and asked her to make sure her kids didn’t kick the seat, BUT actually DID manage to keep them from kicking any seats in my row, despite the fact that she had to warn them repeatedly throughout the flight.

And a second thanks to the parents who, when they went to sit down, and I told them of my surgery and the no kicking request realized the limits to the amount of control over their children and chose to sit elsewhere.)

By: jennifer

jennifer — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:42:57 +0000

Southwest bent over backwards on the last flight I was on. It was truly the flight from hell. I was on a business trip. I missed half hour of a business reception so I could be online precisely at 7:20 to get my “A” boarding pass. I got to the airport at least 2 hours early. I got on the plane and was delighted to get the window seat I wanted. Even better the middle seat on my row was empty. The plane was boarded and it was now 7:18 (I checked my watch because I thought I just entered Wonderland).

A flight attendant came down and stated that a family of five was boarding and we all had to change seats to accommodate these people. These people who should have been denied boarding for being late. It was now past departure time. The man in my row moved to a middle seat in the aisle in front leaving a couple of empty seats. A woman “of size” (read two seats passenger) came down with three kids under 8 and a man, again of size. The 8 year old was carrying the 3 1/2 foot tall lap child. If this child was under 2, I’ll eat my hat. I said absolutely no way was this kid sitting next to me. I am still fuming that I did not get my seating choice. I moved to another aisle on the other side of the plane. Then the smell started. The woman rips off the “lap child’s” pants and diaper right at the seat with the kid standing up for all to see with the dirty diaper. I thought for the first time, I would need to use the air sickness bag. Every 15 minutes, a flight attendant sprayed Lysol because of the smell.

There is much worse to this story, I kid you not. I want my 8 hours back.

By: trav

trav — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:07:40 +0000

What’s Southwest going to do if some weirdo pervs on the 8 year old little girl sitting by herself while mom is 10 isles up.

By: Ms M

Ms M — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 07:21:05 +0000

Why should families get priority? Especially those with screaming children. When I was a kid (i’m 35 now), we traveled by car until we were old enough to control ourselves to travel by air. I hate all of the families taking young, unbehaved kids to places that they shouldn’t. I’m glad WN is making fat people by 2 seats and making families board in the middle of the process. Now if they’ll do something about all of the wheelchairs…

By: Ellen

Ellen — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 23:45:58 +0000

My children are grown now but my older one has always been a very, very good traveler. One time, approximately 17 years ago, I was flying to St. Louis alone with a six month old and a three year old. We had assigned seats but the plane changed and the three year old and I were separated. I settled her into her seat between two businessmen. I handed her her backpack, reminded her where her crayons, books and snacks were, and told her that I was sure one of the two nice men (neither of which had been willing to move) would be happy to help her if she had any problems and she should just ask them. They looked horrified and asked if I really was leaving her there. “I have no choice,” I told them sadly. “But I’m sure she’ll be very little trouble.” I started walking to my seat in the back and loudly asked the flight attendant to keep an eye on her. “She’s really not much trouble but her fine motor skills are poor and she may spill her drink if someone does not help her put it in her cup,” I explained.

One of the men suddenly decided to move…..

By: mel

mel — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 21:57:01 +0000

I recently flew on a flight with my wife and 2 children aged 3 and 5. We couldn’t really have checked in on-line as we were flying back from our holiday. We were however first in the check-in line but we were all separated.
My wife luckily had a seat open next to her – the only free seat on the entire plan – so the 5 year old who was the closest moved over and sat next to her. The woman next to the window wasn’t prepared to move. Nobody else would either. My 3 year old was scared and very close to crying. I (being somewhat mischievous) asked my wife to change seats with the 3 year old – which put the 2 boys together. I knew that the boys would be happy being close to each other. I gave them sweets, a kit-kat each and a sugary drink. They spent the flight fighting, shouting, jumping up and down on the seats and generally raising havoc. The woman next to the window really wanted to sleet – fat chance. She spent most of the time avoiding the sugary drinks spilling on her. I, however, sat drinking a beer and was actually able to enjoy reading my magazine – occasionally looking over at the boys and giggling.