Flying with kids? Southwest ranked best airline for families

[RNCollins]

Flying with kids? Southwest ranked best airline for families
https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/Southwest-ranked-best-airline-for-families

By Robert Silk / Travel Weekly / Aviation / July 25, 2018

Credit: Olga1818 / Shutterstock

“Southwest is the most family-friendly of the 10 main U.S. airlines. That's the conclusion of loyalty travel website The Points Guy, which weighed the policies and offerings of airlines in 10 areas that are of particular concern to families traveling together.

"Some of the features most important to families when they fly fall into the categories of securing seats together, the ability to pack without blowing the budget on bag fees, getting to your destination on time, knowing what to expect from onboard meals and kid-friendly entertainment, and the ability to make use of airline miles to keep out-of-pocket travel costs as low as possible," The Points Guy said.

The company released its "The Best Airlines for Families in 2018" report Wednesday in conjunction with its acquisition of the family award travel blog "Mommy Points," the content of which will now be incorporated into The Points Guy website.

JetBlue came in second, one notch behind Southwest. In third place was Delta, followed by Hawaiian, Alaska, United and American. The three primary U.S. ultra-low-cost carriers were at the bottom of the ranking, with Frontier topping Spirit and Allegiant.

Southwest grabbed the top ranking on the strength of no bag fees and no change fees, its extensive domestic route network and a boarding policy that virtually assures that families traveling with a child age 6 or younger will be able to sit together for no extra fee. Southwest also scored for the straightforward redemption value of points in its Rapid Rewards loyalty program and for its buy-one-get-one-free Companion Pass program.

JetBlue came in second based on the strength of its onboard experience, which includes free streaming entertainment at every seat, including Animal Planet, the Disney Channel and the Cartoon Network; an unlimited snack basket available to all customers; and the most space in economy class of any U.S. carrier. JetBlue also offers early boarding for families....”

 

[Passepartout]

Oh sure! You just march the little buggers down the jetway and as you pass through the cabin, just sit a kid in a seat and say, "This nice man will watch you for the next (X) hours, do what he says." Repeat as necessary. : )

Jim

 

[Luanne]

Oh sure! You just march the little buggers down the jetway and as you pass through the cabin, just sit a kid in a seat and say, "This nice man will watch you for the next (X) hours, do what he says." Repeat as necessary. : )

Jim

Really? Families with children can board between groups A and B (unless of course they are in the A group). At that point there are usually still plenty of seats together.

The only time I've sat next to a child was on an Alaskan flight, with assigned seats. Her parents were right behind us (with a younger child). She was about 7 or 8, and perfectly delightful, except she kept asking me when we'd get there, and she kept dropping her iPad, or whatever, on the floor and I'd need to retrieve it for her. But, she was better than the adult male who sat next to me on the way over (again Alaska), hadn't eaten anything that morning, availed himself of the free mai tais, then had an incident where he almost passed out, and appeared as though he was going to get sick. His wife was behind us (they had split up to be nice to another couple) and she said this had happened to him before. I must say the airline handled it very well. Had oxygen for him and called ahead to make sure there was a doctor if he needed one. He appeared to be okay by the end of the flight.

 

[PigsDad]

Oh sure! You just march the little buggers down the jetway and as you pass through the cabin, just sit a kid in a seat and say, "This nice man will watch you for the next (X) hours, do what he says." Repeat as necessary. : )

We have had to split up our seating much more often on United than on Southwest (the two airlines we use for 90+% of our travel). I can only remember one time we had to split up on SWA in the last 17 years.

And besides, most children behave better than many so-called "adults" on airlines these days...

Kurt

 

[rickandcindy23]

We have had to split up our seating much more often on United than on Southwest (the two airlines we use for 90+% of our travel). I can only remember one time we had to split up on SWA in the last 17 years.

And besides, most children behave better than many so-called "adults" on airlines these days...

Kurt

Flying out of Denver, there aren't enough choices. I know all about it! Considering Denver is a huge airport, you'd think there would be quite a few more choices for flying nonstop. Delta and American have a small presence at DEN. SW has grown considerably.

Families get a little perturbed that they cannot board before the A group. We fly into SNA (Orange County, CA) and MCO (Orlando) with our grandkids and kids a lot, and there are always families waiting in the pre-board area. They definitely get upset, and some are quite nasty, when the crew tells them they board after the A group. So I am a bit surprised SW is a favorite of families.

I love it for us, and flying in a Frontier seat, where your knees are right up to the seat of the poor guy in front of you, that is no fun for 3.5 hours to Orlando.