Monday, September 08, 2008

Southwest Airlines and Children

This is a good thing to remember. While I was waiting to board my flight to Oklahoma City, a family was preparing to board for family boarding and they were in a discussion with the person at the gate about their carry on luggage. It seems that the younger children were not allowed to carry on two bags, even though they all had tickets. I could see that if the child was under two and didn’t have a ticket, but not for ticketed children.

Amy and I have never flown with our children, but traveling by car, we do our best to make sure that they have plenty of things to do and snacks to eat. We would probably so the same thing if we were to fly somewhere as a family, and this would add to the carry on luggage. Since checking bags is a pain, I try not to check any bags, but this has been more difficult after September 11, 2001, but even then, I think we could manage for all of us to take a short trip with two bags each. I guess if we do, I’ll want to be sure to check with the airline about their carry on policy.

2 comments:

Paula Berg - Southwest Airlines said...

Good morning, Joseph. Paula Berg here from Southwest Airlines. I have never heard of such a policy, so I do apologize if one of our Customers received misinformation as the the number of carryons a ticketed child could bring onboard. I will double check and get back to you if I hear differently, but, in the meantime, I think you and your kids are safe with two.

Paula Berg
Southwest Airlines

Joseph Durnal said...

That is good news. When I travel, I often think about what it would be like to take the children. I wouldn't want to worry about how the airline counts children's carry on bags vs. adults. With 4 children, there is enough to worry about!