Now (Not Yet) Boarding

I promised some of you a recap of our flights yesterday since Southwest is not pre-boarding families any more. Well, they are boarding them after "A" group and before "B" group if you call that pre-boarding. You can still board with "A" if you get an "A" boarding pass online and wait in line with everyone else. Which is what we did yesterday. We did get quite a few comments from others while we stood in the "A" line for about 30 minutes. A lot of people were not aware of the change and looked at us like we were crazy. The people who were aware of the change offered their sympathies.

The only reason we were in the "A" line yesterday is because we had to make a 25 minute connection to our 2nd flight (which turned out to be more like 5 minutes). Otherwise we would have followed the new boarding policy, because I don't think it will be that bad. Families who did board between "A" and "B" did find seats together, they just needed to go about 1/2 way back on the plane. If you are traveling with a lap infant, technically you are not allowed to check in online but I did anyway in hopes they would honor my "A" pass even though they had to cancel it to add Wesley to the ticket. Since Dave had an "A", they let us all get on together.

I completely understand Southwest's rationale that families with kids do tend to hold up their best customers (business people) when it comes time to depart the plane. And we don't take carseats on planes, but those who do will be severely inconvienced by dragging it down the aisle. When we leave, now my stroller will be waiting for us when we get to the jetway instead of me waiting on it. And I think it's funny that lady with a crying baby can now choose to sit by someone who would have been able to avoid her before under the old boarding system. It's not going to stop me from flying Southwest, although it is a painful adjustment if you are used to being first on the plane or you suffer anxiety over whether or not you might have to sit apart from your toddler on the plane (most people will move to create seats for you rather then have to babysit your toddler).

The other thing- last trip I got in "trouble" at security for not "declaring" my baby food as it went through the x-ray machine so this time I announced items rather loudly - "This bag contains applesauce and other baby food!!" and the guy looked at me like I was NUTS. It is kind of funny. I did manage to sneak through a small plastic knife to cut Wesley's cheese and banana. What else am I supposed to do, cut it with my teeth?

We'll see how it goes on the trip home.... and so far we only have one more airline trip planned for this year. Then maybe we'll take another long break from the air and stick to the road which presents different yet more simple challenges....