A good reason to "early bird" on SW

[Elmo007]

Recently three of us were on a SW flight. For some bizarre reason we had booked it uder three different conf codes. All three of us did early bird. When we went to get our boarding passes, only 2 of us could and the third had a message that online check in was not available.

We ended up at the check in at the airport and they could not find the third ticket. It took them 20 minutes of typing and then just issued a new ticket. However when they gave out the boarding pass, they gave a "C" in the 30s.

A few more minutes of typing showed that that ticket should have had an "A" in the 20s. They were unable to print out the A, but the check in agent wrote a note to give to the gate agent at boarding and it worked fine,

Long story but here is the point. If we did not early bird, the third in our group would have been way at the back of the line as he could not have done the advance check in

 

[kaytieeldr]

Good tip!

Just so you know, Southwest apparently doesn't have a policy one way or the other regarding saving seats. With open seating, anybody can sit anywhere, but what you could have done (if they couldn't find your friend's ticket) would be for the two of you to board and take a window and aisle seat a bit more than halfway back. Or, heck, given what I'm about to say - if you wanted, take those same seats in an exit row. Then save the middle seat for your friend. Now, granted, somebody else COULD insist on sitting there - but few people take a middle seat by choice.

 

[PatMcDuck]

My husband can never check in online. His name is on the government watch list, not HIM, but someone else with the same name. He has applied to get off the list, to get a code # or something, but it has been over 6 months and nothing has come thru yet. Drives him NUTS.

When we fly as a family on SW, we just save him a seat. (Rarely an issue since he usually pre-boards with my handicapped son.) When he flies alone, he has to wing it, get the lowest # "C" he can, the day of the flight. (On other airlines he often gets the exit row when flying alone, checking in the day of the flight). When flying alone, you can usually do fine with a "C" pass. But, on a really full flight it might be worth getting him the Early Bird.

I was surprised to read months ago that SW has NO policy against "seat saving". They do not say they allow it, either. But once I read that, to me it means it is allowed...... I am not even sure what the flight attendents would do it a passenger insisted on sitting in a "saved" seat, and the passenger saving it refused to allow it.