Southwest has 207 Boeing 737-800 planes in its fleet. Each Southwest 737-700 has 143 seats in the configuration below: (Image courtesy of Seat Guru) Boeing 737-800 Southwest has 476 Boeing 737-700 aircraft, accounting for more than two-thirds of its currently operating fleet. As you’ll see in the diagrams below, Southwest currently has three different versions of the Boeing 737. It really helps to know a little something about Southwest’s plane configurations when deciding which seat is best. But since it’s a lot of pressure to decide on the fly where you’ll spend your entire flight, you’ll want to read on so you know what seats to plan for ahead of time.
As a general rule, nobody particularly enjoys sitting in the middle seat, so those tend to be left over to the end of the boarding process, for stragglers in Group C.Īs soon as you walk onto the plane, you’re free to select any seat you want. Since there are no assigned seats on Southwest flights, whoever walks onto the plane first gets his or her pick of seats. Once you board, what next? (Photo by Summer Hull/The Points Guy) Older children with the family are also able to board at this time, but other family members, such as grandparents or aunts and uncles, are asked to board according to the assignment on their boarding passes.Īctive military personnel are also permitted to board at this time.Ī-List and A-List Preferred members are said to receive the “best available boarding pass number,” but occasionally end up with a Group B or C boarding designation, but as a nod to their elite status, they are allowed to “cut the line” anytime after Group A boarding is complete. Family boarding takes place immediately after Group A boarding is complete and qualifying family groups include up to two adults per child age 6 and under. Young families are also given special boarding privileges, but not until a little later in the process. Passengers who are given preboarding priority are allowed to board with one travel companion for assistance and cannot sit in an exit row. Preboarding is based on need and is determined by the gate agent before boarding begins. These are travelers who have a specific seating need to accommodate a disability or who need assistance getting to their seats or stowing an assistive device. Passengers authorized to preboard go before everyone else, including Group A. However, three categories of passengers supersede the standard Group A–C boarding process: preboarding travelers, families and A-List members. Instead, you’ll need to listen carefully for your boarding group and start boarding when your position range is called. This allows more distance between passengers and means you don’t need to camp out next to the gray metal columns designating your number within the A, B or C group. Now, due to COVID-19, Southwest is only boarding in groups of 10 people at a time. Boarding was called in groups of 30 (A1–A30, followed by A31–A60 and so on). In normal years, you’d line up at the gate in single file based on your boarding position. The unique boarding code, such as A45 or B52, is printed directly on the boarding pass and represents your place in line at the gate. Southwest assigns each passenger a boarding group letter - A, B or C - and a position from 1–60 when that traveler checks in for their flight. Family boarding, active military and A-List/A-List Preferred.If you can pick any available seat you want, then who gets to board the plane first? The boarding order goes as follows: Related: What to expect when flying Southwest during COVID-19 (Photo by Andrea Bacle Photography for The Points Guy) If there’s already someone else in the seat you want, you’ll have to pick a new spot. And this should go without saying, but you can’t sit in someone else’s lap unless you’re under the age of 2. There are a few exceptions, of course: If you want to sit in an exit row, you still have to meet the Federal Aviation Administration’s age and physical requirements. There are no assigned seats, not even at the very front of the plane. The airline has an “open boarding” policy, which means that you can sit just about anywhere you want: up front, way in the back or right in the middle. But the similarities largely end there because Southwest’s boarding process is truly unlike that of any other airline. Like many other airlines, Southwest begins boarding about 30 minutes before a flight is scheduled to depart.