Which airlines let families board first?

The current U.S. airline family boarding policies are: Alaska Airlines: Families with children younger than 2 can board at the beginning of the process, before first-class and elite customers. American Airlines: Families with children board before first-class and elite members upon request only.



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To keep flights orderly and boarding smooth, airlines calculate that it makes sense for small children to board early with a parent and get settled before the anxious masses wanting an on-time or early departure.

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The age is at the discretion of the gate agent. Delta Air Lines: Families with car seats or strollers can board before first-class and elite members.

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For one thing, most airlines determine boarding groups based on ticketing class (first, business, economy or basic economy). Most airlines also base boarding class on passengers with disabilities, families with children under a certain age, active military members or other similar situations.

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To allow enough time, review our recommended arrival and check-in times before planning your travel day. Customers who need special assistance and families with children under 2 years old can ask to board early at the gate.

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A parent who purchases airline tickets for a family should receive a guarantee from the airline that it will seat the parent and child together without fees or a last-minute scramble at the gate or having to ask other passengers to give up their seat to allow the parent and child to sit together.

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Simply check in from home or en route With online check-in, you and your whole family can check in conveniently from home from as early as 23 hours before departure. You can choose adjacent seats and print out your boarding passes or have them sent to your mobile phone.

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And yes, you may feel a bit like cattle. Southwest offers Family Boarding after the A group but before the B group, for up to two adults traveling with children 6 and younger. This essentially allows families to skip the line if they were otherwise assigned a B or C boarding position.

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You're more likely to be caught if you try to board with the first group or two. Unless the gate agent is a real jerk, or you are, the worst that can happen is that you'll be told to wait for your own group.

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You can add Priority Boarding to your trip to get an earlier boarding group. If you add Premier Access to your trip you get Priority Boarding automatically and you get access to faster check-in and security lines.

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Speak with an agent If you don't heed our advice and find yourself at the airport with a less-than-desirable boarding group, Southwest advises that you speak with a gate agent or flight attendant. They will see if any passengers are willing to move to accommodate your family if you aren't able to get seats together.

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Family Seating Policy Delta strives to seat family members together upon request. If you are unable to obtain seat assignments together for your family using delta.com or the Fly Delta mobile app, please contact Reservations to review available seating options.

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If you're traveling with children under 15 on any fare type, American's system will detect that you are a family traveling together and automatically search for seats together if you don't choose them yourself.

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American Airlines CCO, Vasu Raja stated the demand for first-class has diminished on international flights and business-class seats are more in demand. Therefore there was no point to continue to offer first-class seats that no one wants to buy. “The quality of the business class seat has improved so much.

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