Something else to worry and fret over.

When I booked my flight at Southwest I looked into most of their policies.  I checked into luggage rules and limitations, I checked into their children under two policy,  and I read about their stroller policy.  Basically, I thought I looked into everything.  I went ahead and purchased tickets.

For any of you who have flown Southwest, you will already be familiar with their A-B-C approach to boarding.  You are not given a seat number at the time of purchase but instead recieve a letter at check-in that amounts to what order you board.  I have almost always gotten an A and I have almost always been content with Southwest but the reason this didn't bother me is simpler than that.

We have children under two, I thought we would be pre-boarding.  Every flight I have ever been on, including those with Southwest, have boarded families and people with small children first.  I haven't flown anywhere since December 2005 however so I didn't check,  I thought it was a given. 

Turns out in October 2007 Southwest, after 36 years doing otherwise, decided to change it's pre-boarding rule.  Now families and individuals with small children board what is commonly referred to as A and a half.  Between A and B boarders.

This may turn out to be no big deal but I would be lying if I said this sudden discovery of information has me more than a little peeved.  If I had looked into this policy before booking I would have probably gone elsewhere.  Especially after reading this.  Now on top of everything else I am worried that my family won't even be able to sit together.  So now I have to be sitting at my computer at exactly 24 hours before our flight to print our boarding pass in hopes of getting an A.   If that doesn't work and we have to be seperated on the plane I will make a point to sit next to the man in the best suit I can find and weep uncontrollably with whomever is in my lap for the entire four and a half hours.  Not really, but I will not share my peanuts, that's for sure. 

So depending on this flight Southwest may lose our business for good and they should be really worried because that will amount to about $140 of lost revenue every year at the rate we fly.  So there Southwest.