[RanMan]

For the second year in a row I booked a vacaction package thru Southwest Airlines. Last year I found out the hard way about their boarding. Took the family to Vegas and was issued "C" for boarding. Of course now, we know now that means the last to board, but didn't know of that policy prior to booking. All 3 of us had to sit in different sections of the plane for the 4+ hour flight, a very unpleasant situation being my wife & daughter have a fear of flying to begin with. The staff made it clear that we could avoid that problem in the future by checking in on line. With that in mind, we once again booked a vacation package thru Southwest for this summer.

SURPRISE SURPISE, they're screwing us again. When purchasing the package, our flight was ticketless. They then sent us out paper tickets a couple weeks prior to our vacation. Needless to say, we are unable to check in on line with these tickets. So even though I purchased these tickets 2 months before the flight, anyone could go on-line the day before the flight, purchase a ticket, check in on-line and board the plan before us. So for the second straight year I'm faced with the reality that my family will be the last to board the plane and unable to sit together. Talk about getting the royal shaft. There is something wrong with this policy and it should be addressed ASAP.

We are well aware that seating is on the first come first serve basis with Southwest, but despite spending nearing $2,000 on a vacation package, I'm not even given the same opportunity to check in on-line just everyone else. That is total bull-crap. Of course the friendly customer service staff at Southwest has done NOTHING to try and make this situation right.

Why can't I just cancel my flight and re-book it? Give me a reservation number so I can check in on-line and this whole mess would be fixed. This will be without a doubt, my last dealing with Southwest. I rather spend a few more dollars and rest asure that I'll have assigned seats and no boarding nightmares.

Thanks for nothing Southwest!

[i450009]

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fortunately for everyone, paper tickets are soon to be a thing of the past.

[rudybjr]

It sounds like you purchasd the tickets through an online travel agency website. Booking with Southwest.com gives you electronic tickets and the ability to check in online 24hrs in advance. If you used another website, then it is not Southwest's fault. Did the three of you survive not being seated together?

[PHXFlyer]

Nice try rudybjr, but Southwest only sells tickets online through their own website.