Longtime Southwester with question about USAir

Hi,
We are doing a big family trip to Orlando in April. 10 of us leaving from
ALB. I have been a big Southwest fan for a long time, however I realized
quick, that travel with a bunch of kids without reserved seats will be a
nightmare. Unable to check everyone in online gives us a slim chance of
being able to sit together and then having to switch planes and trying to
sit together again would be impossible.

So I used USAir's group sales and came real close to Southwest's price. But
its been so long since I used an airline other than Southwest I'm not sure
how they assign seats. When I booked the flight they told me that when I
paid the deposit they will block the ten seats. When I did pay the deposit
they told me they didn't reserve the seats until final payment. My question
is when they blocked my seats did they gives us ten together all ready? Is
there still a chance we won't be sitting together?

Thanks,
Jeff

On Jan 22, 8:18*am, "Jdguay" wrote:
Hi,
We are doing a big family trip to Orlando in April. *10 of us leaving from
ALB. *I have been a big Southwest fan for a long time, however I realized
quick, that travel with a bunch of kids without reserved seats will be a
nightmare. *Unable to check everyone in online gives us a slim chance of
being able to sit together and then having to switch planes and trying to
sit together again would be impossible.

So I used USAir's group sales and came real close to Southwest's price. *But
its been so long since I used an airline other than Southwest I'm not sure
how they assign seats. *When I booked the flight they told me that when I
paid the deposit they will block the ten seats. *When I did pay the deposit
they told me they didn't reserve the seats until final payment. *My question
is when they blocked my seats did they gives us ten together all ready? *Is
there still a chance we won't be sitting together?


I can virtually guarantee you won't be sitting "together". I
don't know what
you consider "together" for 10 people on a plane that probably has a 3
x 3
seating. I can think of no arrangement that would have you "isolated"
to
rows without "strangers" in them. You can be relatively sure that
they will
attempt to place you in "clusters" of 3 to 5. But really, as long as
you're all
within "hollerin'" distance of each other and no really youngin's are
far from
an adult, you'll be fine.

I watched a father (well, male adult anyway) attempt to configure
(and reconfigure) such a brood one time. It took a bit of silliness
before
he realized that no, there was no way to divide 10 by 9 "evenly" and
that
he wasn't going to get to "occupy" 12 seats with 10 people. In the
end
he accepted that he would sit with two of the youngest, the female
adult
would sit with 2 more, and the oldest 4 would be "paired" in rows
either
ahead or behind them, seated with the random business traveler of the
day.
They weren't all "contiguous" nor "adjacent", but they were within a
row or
so of each other. No one was lost.

Yeah, I don't assume we will all be in a group, I just want to make sure the
young ones have a familiar adult sitting next to them. The closer we are to
each other the better but I want parents with their kids.


"me" wrote in message
...
On Jan 22, 8:18 am, "Jdguay" wrote:
Hi,
We are doing a big family trip to Orlando in April. 10 of us leaving from
ALB. I have been a big Southwest fan for a long time, however I realized
quick, that travel with a bunch of kids without reserved seats will be a
nightmare. Unable to check everyone in online gives us a slim chance of
being able to sit together and then having to switch planes and trying to
sit together again would be impossible.

So I used USAir's group sales and came real close to Southwest's price.
But
its been so long since I used an airline other than Southwest I'm not sure
how they assign seats. When I booked the flight they told me that when I
paid the deposit they will block the ten seats. When I did pay the deposit
they told me they didn't reserve the seats until final payment. My
question
is when they blocked my seats did they gives us ten together all ready? Is
there still a chance we won't be sitting together?


I can virtually guarantee you won't be sitting "together". I
don't know what
you consider "together" for 10 people on a plane that probably has a 3
x 3
seating. I can think of no arrangement that would have you "isolated"
to
rows without "strangers" in them. You can be relatively sure that
they will
attempt to place you in "clusters" of 3 to 5. But really, as long as
you're all
within "hollerin'" distance of each other and no really youngin's are
far from
an adult, you'll be fine.

I watched a father (well, male adult anyway) attempt to configure
(and reconfigure) such a brood one time. It took a bit of silliness
before
he realized that no, there was no way to divide 10 by 9 "evenly" and
that
he wasn't going to get to "occupy" 12 seats with 10 people. In the
end
he accepted that he would sit with two of the youngest, the female
adult
would sit with 2 more, and the oldest 4 would be "paired" in rows
either
ahead or behind them, seated with the random business traveler of the
day.
They weren't all "contiguous" nor "adjacent", but they were within a
row or
so of each other. No one was lost.

"Jdguay" wrote:

We are doing a big family trip to Orlando in April. 10 of us leaving from
ALB. I have been a big Southwest fan for a long time, however I realized
quick, that travel with a bunch of kids without reserved seats will be a
nightmare. Unable to check everyone in online gives us a slim chance of
being able to sit together and then having to switch planes and trying to
sit together again would be impossible.


Umm, I think you may not understand how the new SWA boarding system works. All
you need to check in is the PNR number and name of each traveller. Surely the
leader of the group will have that info and can check the entire party in?

Once checked in, each person is assigned a sequential boarding number. At the
gate the group lines up together by their boarding position, so the group can
essentially board together if they all checked in together. Assuming you checked
in close to the start of checkin time, there should be pletty of seats near each
other to choose from.

Connections are handled the same way. You no longer need to approach the deck at
the connection city and get a boarding card.

"Jdguay" wrote in message
news:s2mlj.27736$8A4.22998@trnddc02...
Hi,
We are doing a big family trip to Orlando in April. 10 of us leaving from
ALB. I have been a big Southwest fan for a long time, however I realized
quick, that travel with a bunch of kids without reserved seats will be a
nightmare. Unable to check everyone in online gives us a slim chance of
being able to sit together and then having to switch planes and trying to
sit together again would be impossible.

So I used USAir's group sales and came real close to Southwest's price.
But its been so long since I used an airline other than Southwest I'm not
sure how they assign seats. When I booked the flight they told me that
when I paid the deposit they will block the ten seats. When I did pay the
deposit they told me they didn't reserve the seats until final payment.
My question is when they blocked my seats did they gives us ten together
all ready? Is there still a chance we won't be sitting together?

Thanks,
Jeff

All they will have done is block out 10(?) seats from the inventory. They
will not have allocated seats 10ABC etc. I believe that only happens when
you pay the whole fare. However, I stongly suggest you ask the airline not
people like me who don't actually have any control over the airline.

You just need to go in and webcheckin and get an A Boarding pass and
then board the plane and save some seats with strategically placed
items on the seats,(Bags coats sweaters etc.) yeah the fellow
passengers may look at you funny, but they will understand once the
kids come in and sit down.
What you can do as a "warning" of sorts is tell the people that a
GROUP of Kids will be sitting there and give them the option of moving
further away from your rows.
I know I would appreciate that!.
Just dont try that with the exit rows.
They are for people 15 and over .
I would stick with SouthWest......

"Jdguay" wrote in message
news:s2mlj.27736$8A4.22998@trnddc02...
Hi,
We are doing a big family trip to Orlando in April. 10 of us leaving from
ALB. I have been a big Southwest fan for a long time, however I realized
quick, that travel with a bunch of kids without reserved seats will be a
nightmare. Unable to check everyone in online gives us a slim chance of
being able to sit together and then having to switch planes and trying to
sit together again would be impossible.

So I used USAir's group sales and came real close to Southwest's price.
But its been so long since I used an airline other than Southwest I'm not
sure how they assign seats. When I booked the flight they told me that
when I paid the deposit they will block the ten seats. When I did pay the
deposit they told me they didn't reserve the seats until final payment.
My question is when they blocked my seats did they gives us ten together
all ready? Is there still a chance we won't be sitting together?

Thanks,
Jeff
When you confirm the reservations, they'll block seats. Today, however,
that may mean paying for the tickets. And remember, it is probably cheaper
to book online than over the phone.

Jdguay wrote:

Hi,
We are doing a big family trip to Orlando in April. 10 of us leaving
from ALB. I have been a big Southwest fan for a long time, however I
realized quick, that travel with a bunch of kids without reserved seats
will be a nightmare. Unable to check everyone in online gives us a slim
chance of being able to sit together and then having to switch planes
and trying to sit together again would be impossible.

You can't find someone to check you in the day before?
You don't need to print the BPs, just check in.



So I used USAir's group sales and came real close to Southwest's price.

Group sales for 10 people? It can't have been much of a discount.
It's not that difficult, in a lot of cases, to get similar fares,
without a group, compared to WN, when booked in advance. WN's biggest
discounts generally come when there isn't long between booking and your
departure time.

But its been so long since I used an airline other than Southwest I'm
not sure how they assign seats. When I booked the flight they told me
that when I paid the deposit they will block the ten seats. When I did
pay the deposit they told me they didn't reserve the seats until final
payment. My question is when they blocked my seats did they gives us
ten together all ready? Is there still a chance we won't be sitting
together?

Yes, there is a chance, with 10 people that you won't all be together.
After all, there are many people who already have seat assignments.
I think WN would have been the best choice for seats together, unless
you saw seats together when you looked at a seat map on US Air.