another southwest check-in question

[ontariomonkey]

I am wondering why people like to do on-line check in 24hrs before thier flight to get boarding group A.

We have flown SW a couple of times and have never checked in online. I can't remember the implication of the boarding group. Is it open seating, first onto the plane gets first pick? Or do you chose your seats 24hrs before? We checked in at the airport and got group B both times and sat together.

Thanks. and ps, getting onto the plane early or quickly is no concern for me.

 

[jamstew]

It is open seating, first-come first-served. I want an A boarding pass so that I'm assured of not having to sit in a middle seat at the back of the plane.

 

[tjmw2727]

Your check in order is your boarding order, SWA now has a "virtual line". Your boarding pass will have a letter A,B,C and a number 1-60 that's your spot inline.

The first group to board is A (after medical pre-boards) and by number 1-60 then famlies with children 4 and under, then B 1-60 and finally C. So you get your BP with a letter and number - eg A 23 and would board after A22.

There is a better explanation on the SWA website - I think it's called "Boarding School".

To answer your question, I like to check in online as close to the 24 hour mark as possible because I want to sit with my kids. I don't care where - but we like 3 seats togeter. IMHO its worth it to take 5 minutes out of my day and give us the best chance possible to sit in a row of three.

TJ

 

[DebbieB]

On my flights in June on SW, the people who got on last with C's had to split up. Luckily they were all adults.

 

[DVC-Don]

Our last flight (last week) we were B34 - 37 and we all sat together just behind the wing without a problem. Some people stress too much about an A.