Southwest Early Bird Checkin

[Bobo912]

I just printed my boarding pass for tomorrow. I purchased EBCI and I got A25. Couldn't print DS's boarding pass. After being on hold with SWA for awhile, they finally told me that it was held up by the new TSA rules, which is what I figured. There is no middle name on his reservation, but there was no place to enter it when I booked the flight - oh, well. They assured me (without me asking, so I'm sure they get asked this alot) that his boarding number assignment has already been made and he will be able to print his boarding pass at the airport.

 

[mickeyluv]

Thanks twinklebug for your explicit explanation...I understand now. A?? will be your boarding number not seat assignment. So when I print the boarding pass it'll show me on that what boarding number we have, correct? We are booked for the flight down and the flight home for all 3 of us! Thanks again!

 

[ljcrochet]

I just got home from Disney. We did not do Early bird check in. Going down from ISP to MCO, checked in 24 hours before and got A49-52. Coming home today checked in 24 hours while DH was at the pool with my girls. Two seprate confirmation numbers got A 30-32.

We will be using early bird when we go on a cruise so we don't have to think about checking in while on the ship.

 

[momma2kiddos]

I always get an A seat when I do my check in so I'm not worried about that at all. Plus I'm one of "those" families travelling with a little one under 4 so it makes no difference either way!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Just got back from spending a week in Baltimore. We flew SWA to BWI from PHX. I purchased EBCI the day it became available and got A17, A18 and A19. At least 6 people behind me purchased EBCI as well. I was glad I did as the flight was full and they were offering deals for people to give up their seats for that flight.

On the way home I also purchased EBCI so I wouldn't have to worry about where I was at T-24 hours to check in. I got A16, A17 and A18. We were the first ones on the plane after the preboards.

On both flights we saw a instance where only one or 2 people in a party purchased the EBCI and then saved seats for the rest of the family. At one time the guy in front of me complained that the person in front of him had a A20 pass and obviously was not in the correct order and he told her as much. Then when he got on board, he proceeded to save 4 seats for his family. Go figure!

I would definitely use the service again. I thought it was well worth the $10 per person and peace of mind.

 

[tscrapper]

Also purchasing EB for the flight home because who knows where we will be 24 hours before the flight home, thanks to this thread we're saved any hassle.

 

[kydisneymom]

I haven't read everyone's post, so forgive me if this has already been covered:

Because I didn't know where I would be 24hrs. before I went and 24hrs. before I came home I paid the $ for the Early Bird.
So, I read Southwest's disclosure that you are NOT guaranteed an A Boarding Pass by merely purchasing this service and thought nothing else about it until I got ready to print my passes. To my surprise, my husband, daughter, and I got B Boarding Passes! I called Southwest just to verify that the service worked properly and they had no way of telling me if it did or didn't but tried to reassure me it would.
We got to board right after the A group merely because we were traveling with a small child. We don't travel by plane very often so we didn't realize Southwest's policy.
On our return flight home it was a different story. We got the A Boarding Group. It does save the hassle of having to be at a computer 24 hrs. in advance. Its just a crap shoot as to the group you will get. I am OCD so I wanted everything taken care of in advance. Would I be a cheerleader for this service? Probably not, but it served our needs. You just have to decide if its worth the extra $.

 

[beachbaby]

Checked in for flight this morning PHL to LAS got A18 and A19

 

[jaydoe]

well....I purchased the EB thing with southwest. We went from Albuquerque to Orlando on the 15th and I got B 35, 36, and 37. I still am not sure what happened there.

However, on the way home today, I got A 19, 20, and 21.

I sent an emailed complaint for the trip over to Orlando. I know A boarding is not a guarantee, but I think having to pay 30 buck for B 35, 36, and 37 is a little crazy!!! They were suppose to respond to my email within 5 business days.......that was on the 15th and I still haven't received a email????

 

[twinklebug]

well....I purchased the EB thing with southwest. We went from Albuquerque to Orlando on the 15th and I got B 35, 36, and 37. I still am not sure what happened there.

However, on the way home today, I got A 19, 20, and 21.

I sent an emailed complaint for the trip over to Orlando. I know A boarding is not a guarantee, but I think having to pay 30 buck for B 35, 36, and 37 is a little crazy!!! They were suppose to respond to my email within 5 business days.......that was on the 15th and I still haven't received a email????

This is a re-occurring issue some folk over at Flyertalk have reported encountering.

It seems SWA is not acknowledging there is an issue or even responding to people who question it. I have been a SWA fan up until all this started. Unless they can clear up the issues and make amends (nobody's asking for free flights, they just want their $10 back if there were T-24 hr self check-ins in line before them) I think my love affair with SWA may be over.

... that and I don't want to hit this issue with any of our flights

Go post your issue on fliertalk - they have 2 SWA employees over there who monitor the Southwest threads and try to keep everyone happy with their customer service. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/sout...91379-post-your-boarding-card-eb-checkin.html (hoping the link is allowed)

 

[Tara]

Thanks twinklebug for your explicit explanation...I understand now. A?? will be your boarding number not seat assignment. So when I print the boarding pass it'll show me on that what boarding number we have, correct? We are booked for the flight down and the flight home for all 3 of us! Thanks again!

That is correct.

 

[dwicks4]

I purchsed 3 round trip tickets from PIT to MCO this month on Southwest Airlines (for Feb 2010). Since the tickets were only $69 (each way) I decided to go ahead and pay the $10 extra (each way) for the early-bird boarding pass (sounds like it pretty much assures you an "A" pass). I don't like stressing out trying to jostle for a position to get a seat on the plane.

 

[Tara]

I purchsed 3 round trip tickets from PIT to MCO this month on Southwest Airlines (for Feb 2010). Since the tickets were only $69 (each way) I decided to go ahead and pay the $10 extra (each way) for the early-bird boarding pass (sounds like it pretty much assures you an "A" pass). I don't like stressing out trying to jostle for a position to get a seat on the plane.

You might want to scroll up just a bit on this page.

 

[dwicks4]

Thanks Tara -- I should have read to the end of this thread to find some very enlightening info. I hope the $60.00 EB fee I paid at least guarantee's me a seat on the plane. I think I will also do the 24-hr advance check-in to increase my odds. I haven't flown Southwest since 1995....and all I remembered was I hated the "boarding tension". This time...I just couldn't pass up the $69 ticket price deal.

 

[Tara]

Thanks Tara -- I should have read to the end of this thread to find some very enlightening info. I hope the $60.00 EB fee I paid at least guarantee's me a seat on the plane. I think I will also do the 24-hr advance check-in to increase my odds. I haven't flown Southwest since 1995....and all I remembered was I hated the "boarding tension". This time...I just couldn't pass up the $69 ticket price deal.

Good luck - I do think that despite the anecdotes here, the odds of getting an A are better with EBCI than without!

 

[seashoreCM]

Don't worry about the B boarding pass unless you are actually unable to sit together in which case you can now feel free and justified to do a lot* of asking about for others to switch. In the event an FA becomes involved then you can see how things go for a little while longer and then propose the alternative of getting a refund for the EBCI you bought.

* Because you can't expect others who also bought the EBCI to respond.

 

[bellemeeko1]

Thanks Tara -- I should have read to the end of this thread to find some very enlightening info. I hope the $60.00 EB fee I paid at least guarantee's me a seat on the plane. I think I will also do the 24-hr advance check-in to increase my odds. I haven't flown Southwest since 1995....and all I remembered was I hated the "boarding tension". This time...I just couldn't pass up the $69 ticket price deal.

Checking in 24hrs in advance wont increase your chances if you do EBCI...cuz you are automatically checked in at 36hrs ahead...so checking in at 24 just gives you your BP that was assigned to you at 36hrs!

 

[crashbb]

Don't worry about the B boarding pass unless you are actually unable to sit together in which case you can now feel free and justified to do a lot* of asking about for others to switch. In the event an FA becomes involved then you can see how things go for a little while longer and then propose the alternative of getting a refund for the EBCI you bought.

* Because you can't expect others who also bought the EBCI to respond.

Unless one could prove that people who didn't buy EBCI (and were not connecting from a previous flight, did not buy Business Select tickets, and were not A-listers), then there is no justification for asking for a refund. Nor, frankly, would I expect people to move to accommodate.

 

[magicmommy]

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[agnes!]

I've been keeping up with the posts here as we are traveling on SW this Friday and also in December. My DH is an A-Lister but I went ahead and got EBCI for DD & I. I do have to say, if a single person gets on and as we're boarding attempts to save 5 or 6 seats (as has happened on some SW flights)?... If my party of three wants those seats and no people are sitting in them or getting ready to sit in them and someone says they're 'saved' and we're standing right there?... they're ours.
Even before the advent of the EBCI, my A-List DH never saved seats. He might be a couple of slots ahead of us, but we lined up as our passes indicated. He would usually get on and find an unoccupied row to start stowing his bags first, but if a party of two had wanted the 2 seats next to his or even if a singleton wanted one of them then we would have found something else.

I'll come back here tomorrow evening and post what all our boarding passes are for our trip this weekend.
agnes!