Southwest Earlybird Check-in

[johnnyr]

Never flown Southwest. Is Earlybird Check-in worth it? It will cost me an extra $100.00 if I decide to do it.

 

[goofy4tink]

There are a lot more people buying EBCI than ever before. Those that don't buy EBCI are finding they are getting boarding positions in the high B group. Those that buy it, however, can also get a higher slot than they had hoped for.
I seldom buy it for my flights out of my home airport....but I do tend to buy it for my flights home from MCO. I prefer to not worry about having to checkin at that 24 hr window while in WDW.

Is it worth it? That's a very personal choice. If you are flying with young children, then you may be able to board in the family boarding group for families with kids 4 and younger. If your family has older kids, and you want to all sit together, then it may be worth it to pay for EBCI. I always suggest that those that want to be seated with their group, think of EBCI as just part of the fare, vs another extra fee.

 

[johnnyr]

Thanks. I'm traveling around a holiday so I'll go for it for peace of mind.

 

[jimandami]

We have never purchased EBCI and have never had a problem getting seats together if we check-in at exactly the 24 hour mark, but we aren't picky about the location of our seats.

 

[nkereina]

It can really vary on whether or not its worth it. If your flight is direct and at an off time (mid-week, mid-day, etc), then you may not need it. I just took a business trip on Southwest and did not purchase EBCI, checked in right at the 24 hour mark, and had B11 and B14 for both of my flights. Likely, most of the people in front of me had purchased EBCI. There must have been a lot of solo travelers/business people on board, because when I got on at B11, I had to move about 3/4 of the way to the back of the plane before I could find an open window seat. Everything before it was a middle.

When traveling with another person, we always purchase EBCI for the peace of mind.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I have not purchased EBCI before, but did get it for my family of four for our upcoming trip. I am not available to check in at the 24 hour mark on either flight, so ECBI seemed like a good purchase to make travel a bit less stressful. I think the $100 will be worth it for me

 

[emily94]

If you are going around a holiday, definitely do it! I think it is well worth it, especially if your flights are super early or late or just at an inconvenient time to check in exactly 24 hrs. before!

 

[Muhlenberg]

I never bought it before...until this trip.

PHL to MCO...did NOT buy it. We all got somewhere around B15 (four of us). My mom was with us, and she pre-boards. I boarded with her as her assistant. I had checked us in EXACTLY 24 hours ahead. The flight was full.

TPA to PHL...bought EBCI about 3 days ahead. I decided I would go ahead and do it (for the two people who DO NOT pre-board), since we would be in a park 24 hours ahead. Good thing I did! Because I forgot COMPLETELY about check-in until 21.5 hours out (for the two of us that pre-board). The two EBCI people got A45 and A46 (probably because of a cancellation), and the two NON-EBCI got somewhere around C12!!! It was money well-spent. This was also a full flight. We more than likely would have boarded near the end, had it not been for EBCI.

I will certainly do it again, especially since my mom may never fly again (she's 90).

Oh and the dates we flew weren't near a holiday, except for Mother's Day. We flew May 3rd and May 9th.

 

[runnerchick]

If you are flying out of MCO I would recommend buying Early Boarding. The number of folks that board via Family Boarding is quite high. They board after Group A, but before Group B. If you want to sit together Early Boarding is the way to go!

 

[LisaS]

If you are flying out of MCO I would recommend buying Early Boarding. The number of folks that board via Family Boarding is quite high. They board after Group A, but before Group B. If you want to sit together Early Boarding is the way to go!

Just so people are aware, depending on the number of A-List passengers and how many people purchased EBCI, you may end up with a B boarding pass with EBCI. I've had low B (B10 for example) with EBCI. It's a bit annoying watching the families boarding ahead of those in the B group who paid for EBCI but it can happen. Fortunately it was just DH and I so we only needed two seats. We found a window and middle seat near the front of the plane so it all worked out fine.

We felt that EBCI was still worth it to us, even though we ended up in the B group because without it, we would have been even further back in the line.

 

[runnerchick]

LisaS you are so right! Seems like more and more people are buying EBCI. Years ago I would almost always get boarding group A if I checked in exactly 24 hours before my flight without EBCI. Now, I am thrilled with an early B group. Wonder if SW will change things so all EBCI will board before Family Boarding...or be a tad stricter, I have seen quite a few folks take advantage of Family Boarding with older kids (maybe they just don't know the rules...

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

Never flown Southwest. Is Earlybird Check-in worth it? It will cost me an extra $100.00 if I decide to do it.

I think it's worth it if you are traveling with a group of 3 or more. With our family of 4, it's really difficult to get seats together without it. We now buy it every time or make sure we check in at exactly 24 hrs before

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

.....Wonder if SW will change things so all EBCI will board before Family Boarding...or be a tad stricter, I have seen quite a few folks take advantage of Family Boarding with older kids (maybe they just don't know the rules...

If someone doesn't know the rules, then it is up to Southwest employees to educate them and enforce their published boarding rules. If they let people get away with breaking the rules, it's on them.

 

[vanyel]

I buy it because my husband is really tall (6'5) and needs an aisle seat. I also prefer an aisle but I take one for the team as I'm only 5'1. When I travel alone, I always get it, again because I really want the aisle seat.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Why not each take an aisle seat across from each other?

 

[tjs198]

Here is a guide I put together to setup your own automatic check-in at Southwest using a simple browser extension and script someone else wrote which is free.

I'm not very computer saavy and was able to set it up in a few minutes. It does the job for me when I can't be at a computer exactly at the 24 hr mark. It even texts the boarding pass to your phone.

Let me know if you need any help setting up. http://www.theartoftravelhacking.com/automatic-check-southwest-flights/

 

[siskaren]

This thread is from 2 years ago.

 

[scrapquitler]

Never flown Southwest. Is Earlybird Check-in worth it? It will cost me an extra $100.00 if I decide to do it.

We only buy it if we have a connection, and that doesn't happen often because I usually book nonstops. On one of our trips that I did use earlybird, we still had a B30s because we booked our flights late.

We usually just go all the way to the back of the plane, and we don't worry if we can't sit together. We almost always find 3 seats together in a back regardless of when we board (sometimes it might be 2+1, which isn't an issue for us, but we don't have little kids.) If I had little kids, I might have a whole different attitude about EBCI.

 

[DebbieB]

After a trip about a year ago where I got stuck in the back with a B23, I decided to buy EBCI all the time. I was behind all the family boarders (with kids obviously older than 6) and the seat savers. My last trip I got A23 both ways, loved it.