While I do not have all of the parameters of the situation and agree that children and parents should sit together; I can offer some thoughts on how to prevent this from happening again. Southwest seating- seats are first come, first serve. When booking, there are options to get Early Bird services and/or to log in to your booking 24 hours in advance to check in. Both options provide a lower seating assignment (A boards before B and C) to get seats you want. If your daughter would have opted in for a lower seating assignment, she might have had better seat selections, thus preventing separate seating. Ask for a fair and equal swap – people are inherently good and particularly on Southwest, most are traveling for business and wouldn't mind swapping seats. In an effort to accommodate a parent/child seating arrangement, I would do it. Don't expect an “A List” business traveler to swap a row 1-4 with you in row 26, but it is possible they would. Join the rewards program – Southwest has a really good rewards system. You can get an “A List” status pretty quickly if you travel. This status pre-selects an “A” boarding placement for you allowing you to grab a better seat and then nicely “save” (no guarantees) the seat next to you. I hope this helps.
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