First time this has happened with EBCI

[Dznypal]

We always do the EBCI. But this is the first time that DH is in the A (40) and I’m in B (6)
The only reason I could think of is we booked his going on points and cash coming home
So we have different confirmation numbers so technically we’re not on the same reservation.
I just hope there’s not a lot of families boarding with all the aunts uncles cousins first removed
I know he could board with me but why give up an A position.

 

[disny_luvr]

I often book myself, my DH, and my sons on different reservations and we are always consecutive boarding numbers. If booking on different reservations I do them immediately so I’m literally booking the next reservation like two or three minutes after the first. Did you book one after the other?

 

[BellaBaby]

We have been split up between A and B several times in the last few years, even tho on the same reservation. It's been DH at the end of A and me and my DD at the start of B, or 2 at the end of A and 2 at the start of B, that time, we just went with the A line and asked if we could stay with our family at the end of A and they said ok. Sometimes other scenarios. I was actually surprised just recently when we were all in A (5 of us) both going down to FL and back!

 

[mom2rtk]

We always do the EBCI. But this is the first time that DH is in the A (40) and I’m in B (6)
The only reason I could think of is we booked his going on points and cash coming home
So we have different confirmation numbers so technically we’re not on the same reservation.
I just hope there’s not a lot of families boarding with all the aunts uncles cousins first removed
I know he could board with me but why give up an A position.

Why give up an A position? So you can board together.

 

[Dznypal]

Yes I did book us one after the other. There’s really not a reason not to book one after another
I know a Pp asked if they could move up to board with the rest of the family which was very nice of those in front but it sounds like they were closer then we are
The only thing that has me slightly worried is the family boarding
I think they need to rethink the policy and stick to their own rules
Basically the family are taking seats that should go the B maybe they should have FB between B and C instead of A and B
Sorry just over thinking
We’ll see how this goes

 

[Lewisc]

Basically the family are taking seats that should go the B maybe they should have FB between B and C instead of A and B

The purpose of family boarding to seat famlies together. FB between B and C might not accomplish it.

SW was experimenting with boarding famlies even earlier in the boarding process, but limiting to the back of the plane

 

[SirDuff]

Yes I did book us one after the other. There’s really not a reason not to book one after another
I know a Pp asked if they could move up to board with the rest of the family which was very nice of those in front but it sounds like they were closer then we are
The only thing that has me slightly worried is the family boarding
I think they need to rethink the policy and stick to their own rules
Basically the family are taking seats that should go the B maybe they should have FB between B and C instead of A and B
Sorry just over thinking
We’ll see how this goes

What rules are they not sticking to?

 

[Lewisc]

What rules are they not sticking to?

age of child and number of family members allowed to board with kids

Some parents have problems remembering the ages of their kids

 

[Dznypal]

Mostly bits letting everyone traveling with the kids board with them it used to be one parent with one kid now it seems to be grandparents aunts uncles cousins
Also and this is on SW raised the age. Used to be 6 and under now it’s like under 12 for FB which seems uncalled for
If parents need to sit with there kids they need to buy the EBCI which in most cases gets yiu a better boarding spot
So now all the Bs gets pushed back
So all these families gets to board before the B group without the extra cost.
For sure psrents accidentally on purpose forget the kids age but only when it benefits them. Good point PP

 

[Lewisc]

under now it’s like under 12 for FB which seems uncalled for

DOT proposed regulations said airlines should parents with kids under 12 with no extra charge.
Even Frontier will guarantee adjacent seating, no charge, subject to a few restrictions, kids 13 and younger.

The policy is buried on the website.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I suspect if "family boarding" was restricted to the back of the plane, then the number of families who all needed to "family board" together would shrink dramatically...

 

[Lewisc]

I suspect if "family boarding" was restricted to the back of the plane, then the number of families who all needed to "family board" together would shrink dramatically...

I don't know the answer but SW has the answer, they ran tests.

 

[hrhdhd]

I don't need to sit with my husband on an airplane, really. Just board as your BPs allow, and if you can sit together, great. If you can't, you'll find him again at your destination.

 

[mom2rtk]

I don't need to sit with my husband on an airplane, really. Just board as your BPs allow, and if you can sit together, great. If you can't, you'll find him again at your destination.

And honestly, with a late A and early B, it won't be a problem.

 

[focusondisney]

Mostly bits letting everyone traveling with the kids board with them it used to be one parent with one kid now it seems to be grandparents aunts uncles cousins
Also and this is on SW raised the age. Used to be 6 and under now it’s like under 12 for FB which seems uncalled for
If parents need to sit with there kids they need to buy the EBCI which in most cases gets yiu a better boarding spot
So now all the Bs gets pushed back
So all these families gets to board before the B group without the extra cost.
For sure psrents accidentally on purpose forget the kids age but only when it benefits them. Good point PP

SW did not officially change the age for family boarding. That was a random test. We still hear them announce as 6 & under on all our flights. Also, in our airport & at MCO, we clearly hear them say “2 adults & children 6 & under”. I haven’t seen these all the extended family members that are randomly talked about. In fact, when my niece & her family flew last year, their 12 & 14 YO daughters weren’t even allowed with their parents & 5 YO brother. So the dad stayed back to board with them.

Also, EBCI spots getting pushed back into B group has nothing to do with family boarding. If you got a B group, you’ve been going after family boarding all along. Your boarding spots with EBCI were assigned 36 hours before family boarding happened. The issue is, more people are now getting EBCI. EBCI is now included with Anytime fares & is offered with some SW credit cards. A lot more people are buying EBCI. Check in with EB is assigned pin a specific order..Business Select (automatically get A 1-15), Anytime, WGA + then WGA & all in order of when they booked their fare & when they bought EBCI. If someone bought an Anytime fare 2 days before the flight, they will get checked in before someone who booked WGA on release day. If you booked WGA, you’re in the last group that gets checked in, no matter when you bought your ticket.

 

[EACarlson]

SW did not officially change the age for family boarding. That was a random test. We still hear them announce as 6 & under on all our flights. Also, in our airport & at MCO, we clearly hear them say “2 adults & children 6 & under”. I haven’t seen these all the extended family members that are randomly talked about. In fact, when my niece & her family flew last year, their 12 & 14 YO daughters weren’t even allowed with their parents & 5 YO brother. So the dad stayed back to board with them.

I haven't seen it at MCO, but have seen it at MCI and MKE. At MCO they are pretty good about enforcing the rule as written, although they do sometimes take the parents' word for the kids ages rather than looking at it on the computer where they have that information.

With A40 and B6, you have your husband take an aisle or window at A40 somewhere behind the wing and I'd be shocked if someone in between took that middle.

 

[Dznypal]

actually it all went real smooth
DH did take an aisle set with person already by the window
and as usual the middle seats dont get taken until theres no other choice
we were only around 6 rows back which was good
so all went just fine

 

[focusondisney]

actually it all went real smooth
DH did take an aisle set with person already by the window
and as usual the middle seats dont get taken until theres no other choice
we were only around 6 rows back which was good
so all went just fine

And so, was family boarding to age 6 or 12? And did you actually see all these rumored grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins in family boarding???

 

[Dznypal]

Actually to my surprise there wasn’t that many in family boarding this trip which from Orlando is odd
I did see a couple with 2 kids around maybe 8 and 10. But I hate to say it but it was hard to tell if they were the parents or grandparents

 

[Onceler]

We had a similar situation this past Christmas heading to Orlando. My wife and I were traveling with our 11-year-old daughter. We booked the tickets the day the flights opened up and bought the EBCI at the same time. I ended up receiving A60 while my wife and daughter received B1 and B2. We asked the gate agent about this and our only options were to board separately or wait to board at the beginning of the B group. Family boarding was not an option due to the age of our daughter.

I waited until the start of the B group so I could board with them. There was a very large number of families doing the family boarding. By the time we boarded there were no rows with 3 seats together and only the very last row had 2 seats together. They took the last row while I was a few rows ahead of them.

So despite paying for EBCI we came very close to having our 11-year-old daughter sit by herself. We were lucky though since someone who boarded after us had a 7-year-old child and the flight attendants were desperately trying to get someone to switch so they could sit together.

On future trips to Orlando, especially around the holidays, we are probably going to go with an airline that will allow us to pre-book our seats. Southwest boarding has become way too stressful at times.