Hi all, the last time we went to WDW my son was only 10 months and we flew with him on my lap. For our next trip (unfortunately not to WDW) he will be closer to 18 months and too big and squirmy for my lap. I just went through the (kind of a hassle) process of buying him his own ticket but now I am confused about how to check in for him. He needs to be “age verified” and needs a Rapid Rewards account. Do I need to create a whole new account just for him? He obviously doesn’t have an email address. Or is there some way for him to get added to mine? Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!
1 Like
I thought that you only had to age verify under 2 if you were not buying them their own seat. My son is 5 now so maybe I am remembering wrong and someone can verify for you.
This is what I received from Southwest:
Does my infant need a boarding pass?
If you choose to purchase a seat so that your infant may travel in his/her CRS you will need to obtain a boarding pass for the infant. If you purchase an Infant Fare, you may use online checkin if your infant has been age verified. If your infant has not been age verified, you will not be able to use online checkin, unless you purchase a fare that that does not have age restrictions. See below for more information on the age verification process.
So reading it again, I actually did not purchase an “infant fare” since it was $700! He’s flying on a normal fare so perhaps he doesn’t need to be age verified. But I still would like to do online checkin. My husband will be meeting me in Chicago and is flying with him solo (!) so the fewer things he actually needs to do at the airport the better!
Does your son have his own Rapid Rewards account with a separate login and everything?
No, none of my kids have their own rapid rewards. We fly SW again in March (haven’t in a couple of years as we moved farther from the closest SW airport) but I should probably check this out (my kids are 15, 12, 7, and 5)–it would be awesome if they could be linked to my Rapid Rewards as 5 tickets would yield much more rapid rewards 
, but I was told they could not be linked to mine.
You do not need to age verify if you didn’t receive a discounted ticket. Get to the gate early or you’ll be stuck not flying together. You get there early and you’ll board between Boarding Group A and B and you’ll have no problem finding seating together.
Thanks! Fortunately not too worried about sitting together since he will be in a car seat. I am mostly wondering how I can do online check in for him. Have you done it for your son before? Does he have his own Rapid Rewards with a separate login?
We get our kids their own account - but you don’t need it from our experience - but it is good to get the points. If you bought a regular fare I would not think you need any type of age verification.
You can check your entire party in once you log in to check yourself in. It’ll give you that option assuming all the tickets were purchased together and use the same confirm number. They don’t need their own account.
If you do have separate account numbers, that’s also fine you just need the confirm number and last name to check in
Ok thanks everyone. I think the confusion lies in that he has his own separate reservation because I bought it on the phone thinking I needed to book an “infant fare” which was kind of a scam!
I’ll plan to check him in separately but I might as well go ahead and get him his own account too! These darn kids. Nothing but trouble! 
If they don’t cause trouble with flying they are causing other trouble
Feed me feed me!!! Didn’t I feed you yesterday
Then they want to do this and do that.
I swear the only thing they are good for is when you loose the tv remote
HA.
So the good thing is - you get to pre-board with kiddies on SW. I’ll send you some of my drink coupons!!!
So you little one is still a little too little for this. But one thing that we have done with our kids (so they are confident travelers) is we have them guide us through things.
Now they are older - but ever since our son was about 7 or so - whenever we are dropped off at the airport - we have them guide us.
1 - Where do you go next (check bags)
2 - Where do you go next (security)
3 - Where do you go next (gate) etc
We basically ask them to get us to the plane on time and what do we need to have and everything. It makes them feel “grown up” and it also makes them confident when we travel. What happens if we miss a connecting flight, what happens if there is a delay what if what if what if. We make them tell us what to do not just in a question - but just get us there or just do it. Same with dining reservations, getting to the parks, getting the car etc.
3 Likes