Yesterday we covered Southwest Airline’s decision to discontinue their pre-boarding service for families, and our readers are reacting.
“Traveling with a family on SW is (or was) really great, you got the low fares and were able to preboard, in essences cutting the line and sit where you wanted. Now that they take that away if you are bringing the family you have to get there really early (sitting in an airport for hours with small kids is no fun), run the risk of being separated on board, or hope a stranger is kind enough to switch with you so you can sit together. So for someone with a family flying southwest it is actually much less attractive than paying a little more for assigned seats.” writes Jennifer.
Another reader says, “Interesting…actually everyone boarding a plane will be affected…. so, even if I did not have any kids, I would still prefer families with children to board ahead, so they would not be in the way! Dumb move on Southwest’s part!”
“I am a new father, and having flown with and without children, this does not seem to be a very good policy. Without children, I’d rather not be inconvienced while i’m trying to board as families wrestled with their kids and various devices to keep them occupied during the trip. With children, I appreciate the room and time to sit and get settled without feeling rushed by the line of people behind me. On an airline with assigned seats, i can board last, as i did last weekend. However, this is not an option with SWA, and now flying with them is not an option either,” says another Gadling reader, Doug.
Not looking good so far, Southwest. Still no word about the issue on the blog…
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