There’s one main airline within the U.S. with no assigned seats: Southwest Airways. As an alternative, you line up on the gate in ascending order of boarding project, then step onto the aircraft and declare your most well-liked obtainable seat in a first-come,-first-to-pick association. There are as much as 60 individuals in every boarding group.

The Southwest boarding course of is mostly not as unhealthy as it might sound. Nonetheless, on the very least, it is an uncommon strategy that may provoke nervousness for households and others who cannot verify seats collectively upfront.

For years, Southwest has allowed time for household boarding (for these with youngsters 6 and below) between its A and B boarding teams in an effort to make sure mother and father and little youngsters can sit collectively. This helps stop a scenario the place center seats are the one choices left for kids towards the latter finish of the boarding course of.

Now, Southwest is experimenting with a dramatic shift within the household boarding course of.

Primarily based on a number of reviews — together with my very own boarding expertise at Dallas Love Subject (DAL) in late 2022 — some Southwest flight boarding bulletins are using an expanded household boarding age vary that features youngsters all the best way as much as 13 years outdated.

That wasn’t the one boarding change I noticed on my Southwest Airways flight in late 2022. The youngest flyers as much as age 6 had been invited to board throughout a portion of the preboarding course of, which occurred earlier than the numbered boarding assignments had been referred to as.

Southwest Airways didn’t verify this potential check or any alteration to the household boarding course of to TPG. As an alternative, the corporate states that the boarding coverage stays unchanged to incorporate youngsters 6 and below between the A and B boarding teams, in line with an organization spokesperson.

The present revealed coverage leaves mother and father with youngsters as younger as 7 in a worrying place. With youngsters too outdated for household boarding, these households must hope they will examine in quick sufficient to safe a great boarding place. The options: They may buy the airline’s EarlyBird Examine-In, which begins at $15 per individual, or they may pay for A1-A15 assured early boarding positions which promote for $30-$60 every, when obtainable.

Associated: Greatest bank cards for Southwest flyers

Whereas it didn’t verify trials of any expanded eligible household boarding age vary, the airline has beforehand shared that it’s conducting a focused trial of early boarding for kids 6 and below.

Getting that youngest age vary on first earlier than common boarding is logical as a result of that group possible has automotive seats and strollers; thus, they’re slower to get on board. Within the Atlanta trial, households taking part in that early boarding should choose seats behind the exit row. This might alleviate some considerations about younger households getting early entry to the widely most well-liked first few rows when there are different flyers who paid further to be increased within the boarding order.

Solely time will inform if extra Southwest Airways flights board with the expanded household boarding age ranges. Nonetheless, it is value observing that this might be a simple manner for the airline to maintain households with youngsters ages 13 or youthful seated collectively with out extra charges — one thing a Division of Transportation discover despatched in June 2022 instructed airways to do.

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