Southwest...What's The Worst Boarding Position You've Gotten With EBCI?

[CT Disney]

Hi Everyone!

We just booked flights very last minute for a Disney trip next week. This is the latest I've ever booked our airfare as we were being indecisive about driving or flying. But, some good flight prices came up with Southwest so we grabbed them. We did purchase EBCI. My kids are older so if we don't sit together it's OK...but not ideal.

Anyway, I was just wondering: What's the worst boarding position you've ever gotten with EBCI? I'm not stressing over it, just curious and wondering if we'll end up in middle seats like this haha:

 

[cmarsh31]

B30 something... out of MCO of course, so most of the plane was doing family boarding between A & B it seemed, except us with our 8 & 11 year olds. Best we've gotten is A21... on a flight that was then delayed 3+ hours and we had to be rebooked and lost our A21.

 

[AngiTN]

Mid B
Never had to sit in a middle seat

 

[Cinderumbrella]

B20 or so

 

[CT Disney]

B30 something... out of MCO of course, so most of the plane was doing family boarding between A & B it seemed, except us with our 8 & 11 year olds. Best we've gotten is A21... on a flight that was then delayed 3+ hours and we had to be rebooked and lost our A21.

Haha and yes...nothing gets me revved up like Southwest Family Boarding at MCO. I seem to transform into a hyper-sensitive crazy person as I watch all the families line up. I whisper to my husband things like, "That kid looks way older than 6 years old!" and "Why are there two adults with that little girl..she should only get one adult with her!"

I swear that I am sane and reasonable in my everyday life.

But, Southwest Family Boarding...especially when I'm holding a "B" boarding pass...not so much

 

[pd1138]

Haha and yes...nothing gets me revved up like Southwest Family Boarding at MCO. I seem to transform into a hyper-sensitive crazy person as I watch all the families line up. I whisper to my husband things like, "That kid looks way older than 6 years old!" and "Why are there two adults with that little girl..she should only get one adult with her!"

I swear that I am sane and reasonable in my everyday life.

But, Southwest Family Boarding...especially when I'm holding a "B" boarding pass...not so much

And this is the reason I get upset when my husband has us lined up for family boarding with four kids....last year we boarded with a 2 year old and 5.5 year old where the 5.5 year old is way tall for her age (90%). I feel like people are judging and talking about us, this year we have a 6.5 year old even taller and a three year old. Guess we better not use family boarding since someone will assume the kid Is 8 or say the rule is under 6 not six years old. oh and then there was the one year when the four of us got the last of the A group and my two year old got B1. I freaked wondering if we should all family board ( all three kids at the time we’re under 6) or all wait to board with the B1 kid. We asked two different gate agents and they said to just take the kid with us in the A 57-60 group.
Reading these boards have opened my eyes to what others are thinking so much that I never sit on a Disney bus and make my family stand if seats are needed so no one rolls their eyes we have seats while they are standing and I Won’t use the handicap bathroom even if there is a line I will let someone go ahead and they always do so I won’t have anyone roll their eyes since I’m not handicap.

 

[Disneylover99]

Haha and yes...nothing gets me revved up like Southwest Family Boarding at MCO. I seem to transform into a hyper-sensitive crazy person as I watch all the families line up. I whisper to my husband things like, "That kid looks way older than 6 years old!" and "Why are there two adults with that little girl..she should only get one adult with her!"

I swear that I am sane and reasonable in my everyday life.

But, Southwest Family Boarding...especially when I'm holding a "B" boarding pass...not so much

I know I’d feel the same way if I paid for EBCI and was in B boarding. Luckily A59 was my highest boarding position. We’ve always bought EBCI, even when my kids were young enough for family boarding.

 

[pd1138]

I know I’d feel the same way if I paid for EBCI and was in B boarding. Luckily A59 was my highest boarding position. We’ve always bought EBCI, even when my kids were young enough for family boarding.

Thanks! I’ve decided not to use family boarding on our upcoming trip. We will just board as assigned. Just too much stress for me knowing what everyone else is thinking.

 

[Disneylover99]

Thanks! I’ve decided not to use family boarding on our upcoming trip. We will just board as assigned. Just too much stress for me knowing what everyone else is thinking.

Honestly, I wouldn’t worry about what anyone thinks. You’re not doing anything wrong. If you qualify for family boarding, use it!

 

[pd1138]

Honestly, I wouldn’t worry about what anyone thinks. You’re not doing anything wrong. If you qualify for family boarding, use it!

I’m a worrier by nature and just never want to do anything to step on anyone’s toes, just spoke with my DH about it and he reminded me when we used to fly down before Kids we never noticed what anyone was doing during family boarding, we didn’t buy EBCI either as we logged in at 24 hours and always had A or B group. My plan is to check in at 24 hours and more then half the time we get A group anyway. We are the 6 am flight. If we get early Bs which is the less than half time we will just board with Bs since there is plenty of space in back of plane. The 6 am flights we have taken do not have many families anyway. Or I’ll just board with the two younger ones and he can follow with the two elem age kids.

 

[Allison]

Honestly, I wouldn’t worry about what anyone thinks. You’re not doing anything wrong. If you qualify for family boarding, use it!

Right. Who cares what someone thinks who doesn't know the situation? That's like not using fastpass+ because someone in the standby line don't know what it is and make comments. That doesn't affect my life. Why would I let that bother me?

 

[justafigment27]

Low B’s. Something like B6-9. It was leaving MCO over spring break, so I was sweating buckets watching the huge crowd at family boarding. We wound up finding seats together (the sole reason I book early bird) in the back of the plane, so it worked out. But the high B’s were definitely not getting seats together on that flight.

We booked as soon as dates opened, but then prices went down and we re-booked a couple months out, so I am guessing that is why we wound up in B group.

 

[pd1138]

Does southwest cap EBCI? I always thought you could buy into the A group, but it looks like people have had B assignments as well.

 

[Allison]

No cap.

 

[CT Disney]

And this is the reason I get upset when my husband has us lined up for family boarding with four kids....last year we boarded with a 2 year old and 5.5 year old where the 5.5 year old is way tall for her age (90%). I feel like people are judging and talking about us, this year we have a 6.5 year old even taller and a three year old. Guess we better not use family boarding since someone will assume the kid Is 8 or say the rule is under 6 not six years old. oh and then there was the one year when the four of us got the last of the A group and my two year old got B1. I freaked wondering if we should all family board ( all three kids at the time we’re under 6) or all wait to board with the B1 kid. We asked two different gate agents and they said to just take the kid with us in the A 57-60 group.
Reading these boards have opened my eyes to what others are thinking so much that I never sit on a Disney bus and make my family stand if seats are needed so no one rolls their eyes we have seats while they are standing and I Won’t use the handicap bathroom even if there is a line I will let someone go ahead and they always do so I won’t have anyone roll their eyes since I’m not handicap.

Hi @pd1138

First, if you qualify for family boarding, definitely do it! They have family boarding for a reason. I know that when my kids were little I wanted to get them settled into seats near us. As long as you are within Southwest's rules for family boarding, go for it and ignore judgements from others

Second, I am not proud of my feelings during family boarding. I have paid EBCI in the past and have gotten B boarding passes. I'm sure my feelings stem from a few things: wanting to sit with my kids, a respect for rules and fairness, and a tendency to be as prepared as possible...we always buy EBCI for all four of us as soon as we purchase tickets. It is difficult to sit and wait while families line up who are obviously disregarding the rules (i.e. taking more than one adult per kid)

Third, I throw a lot of the blame on Southwest. Why can't they just stick to their written policy? We've heard it a lot on these boards. How Family Boarding is conducted often depends on the Southwest gate agent. Sometimes they are very strict with the rules and sometimes they let each kid board with 8 members of their extended family. Southwest has created the anxiety for those holding the B boarding passes because you just don't know how many people will be allowed on as the family boarding line swells with loads of people. Southwest family boarding is a good policy...if they would just stick to it.

 

[pd1138]

Really me worrying is just a fault I have.....I like to follow rules and not step on anyone’s toes! Short of waving my kid’s passport around saying she’s six I’m not sure what else to do. I think southwest should maybe cap the EBCI because really if 75% of people eventually start purchasing it what will be the value for half of them if the boarding moves well into the B group? Also, EBCI should go before family if they cap it. I was wrong in thinking EBCI just bought you a seat in the A group.
Until I read this thread I had no idea there were people who paid for EBCI while family boarded.

 

[CT Disney]

Really me worrying is just a fault I have.....I like to follow rules and not step on anyone’s toes! Short of waving my kid’s passport around saying she’s six I’m not sure what else to do. I think southwest should maybe cap the EBCI because really if 75% of people eventually start purchasing it what will be the value for half of them if the boarding moves well into the B group? Also, EBCI should go before family if they cap it. I was wrong in thinking EBCI just bought you a seat in the A group.
Until I read this thread I had no idea there were people who paid for EBCI while family boarded.

I agree with everything you said! It's not fun to pay extra up front and still have difficulty finding seats together. It used to feel like paying for EBCI got you an extra "perk". Now, because so many people buy it, it feels like buying it is a preventative necessity.

 

[Elle23]

Flying to/ from MCO, we were A-40-50’s.

Recently flying to/ from LA, I was A-22 and A-27. When I was A-22, there was no one in the first 15 spots, and I was the 7th to board! It was so nice!

 

[FreeTime]

Last week we were in the C’s from Vegas to Columbus. Purchased EBCI when the tickets were purchased at six months out. Made me consider buying business select going forward.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/sw-moving-from-wanna-getaway-to-business-select.3693534/

 

[Candlelady]

I agree with everything you said! It's not fun to pay extra up front and still have difficulty finding seats together. It used to feel like paying for EBCI got you an extra "perk". Now, because so many people buy it, it feels like buying it is a preventative necessity.

Which is why we now fly JB almost exclusively. After our end of B flight I need to know where I'm sitting and with who without all the needless worrying. I worry about everything! The TV in the seats is also a bonus. Plus the price is pretty much the same for our flights.