Can Someone Explain SW to me

[jackal]

We usually fly Airtran and love it. But SW has cheaper flights and I have the $25 off, plus their times are better for us, so I was thinking of trying them. Although, i am afraid. I hate change. Hate it! We are so comfortable with Airtrain and know how it works. Usually I will pick our seat, check in on line beforehand and everything is smooth.

Can someone explain SW to me. I know you can pay $10 for priority seating. Can I still print my boarding pass from my computer before we leave? Does the $10 get me seated quicker in my choice of seat? What happens when we arrive at the airport, is it just like Airtran? Also, Will Disney print my boarding pass before we leave to come home?

Also, I heard there are refundable seats or they don't charge if you change your flights. Is that true? I need help

Maybe I should just stick with what works and go Airtran?

 

[FINFAN]

Hi...SW is easy to fly!
SW has on open seating policy which is basically once you are on the plane, you are free to chooose whatever seat you wish. The objective is to be in the first 30 or so to board to have primo seat selection. Normally, once a flight is purchased, you cannot go on line and "check -in" until 24 PRIOR to the flights departure, so if your flight will leave on Monday 5/31 at 4 pm, you would want to go on line Sunday 5/30 at 4 pm to check in on line. At that time you will receive a boarding number, usually grouped in A,B or C status, and there are usually 50-60 people in each group.
If you choose to go with the early bird seating for $10, you are still in a first come first serve of those who book EB. As people book their flights, and book EB it is notated and SW will assign boarding pass in the order of receiving EB purchases. In other words, if I booked the same flight as you 2 months ahead of you and purchased EB, my ressie will get priority over yours. ALL EB bookings get priority over anyone who waits until 24 hours out to chek in thmeselves on line.
You can print out boarding passes on line at any computer,so the resort would be able to do that for you. That is where EB comes in handy, you will not have to be concerned over getting on line exactly 24 hours out, your boarding will already be determined and you can have your boarding pass printed out at your convenience or you can also do it at the airport sicne you may have bags to check anyway.
It is true that you do not ahve any penalty to pay for changing your flight, only an increase if your new flight is higher. If your current booked flight goes down, you can get a credit on file thatyou have 1 year to use and it is a very nice perk to have. As far as staying with Airtran, you just have to wiegh luggage costs and seating costs vs Early Bird check in costs, flight times etc. I use both airlines to/from Fl quite often and I am usually booked on one airline one way and another for my return, whatever gets me the best rate.

 

[Brian Noble]

Explain southwest? You give them money, they fly you places.

It's really pretty simple---rather than assign seats, they assign "boarding position"---you board "in order", and pick the seat(s) you want when you board the plane. You can pay $10 each way to get a better chance at being "near the front of the line", or you can check in at the 24-hour mark (exactly!) to still get a pretty good chance. Personally, I just pay the $10, but that's me.

They are a reasonable airline, and I would fly them more often if they were a little more competitive, price-wise, out of DTW.

 

[jackal]

Thank you both very much! It seems easy enough. I would definitely pay the $10 to get early boarding. As it is, I would pay $30 to Airtran for the baggage and we probably woudl pick our seats so that would be another $24. So that is $54 with Airtran and only $40 with SW and the SW prices saved me about $100.

It's the change thing that gets me everytime. I think we will try it tho. To save over $100 - we can use for some drinks at Disney!

 

[pamjb]

Here is Everything you need to Know about SW Checkin

http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/checkin.html

and my personal favorite....their Boarding School
http://www.southwest.com/help/boardingschool/index.html

 

[SnackyStacky]

If you have an iPhone, Southwest has an app. You can use it to check in, and just print boarding passes when you get to the airport. I'm sure they have a mobile site accessible from any smart phone for the same purpose. But no need to be at the resort 24 hours prior to flight departure to print a boarding pass if you have a smart phone.

 

[aboveH20]

. . .and. . . as you may or may not know, because of the open boarding, depending upon how full the plane is when you board, you may or may not get to sit with your party, including kidlets.

My sons and I flew from New York to Disneyland and we were not able to sit together. They were almost teens at the time, so it wasn't a major issue, but it was a long flight. I had used a travel agent for that trip and was surprised she didn't tell me that I wouldn't be able to sit with my kids. I'm guessing EB circumvents that problem, but heads up to others thinking of using SW.

 

[dburg30]

. . .and. . . as you may or may not know, because of the open boarding, depending upon how full the plane is when you board, you may or may not get to sit with your party, including kidlets.

My sons and I flew from New York to Disneyland and we were not able to sit together. They were almost teens at the time, so it wasn't a major issue, but it was a long flight. I had used a travel agent for that trip and was surprised she didn't tell me that I wouldn't be able to sit with my kids. I'm guessing EB circumvents that problem, but heads up to others thinking of using SW.

It pretty much will, but that is NOT how you should think of EBCI. It is strictly that they will check you in before those that dont pay for EBCI. It doesnt promise you an "A" pass or anything like that, just the ease of not having to worry about checking in for your flight.

 

[goofy4tink]

If being seated with your party is important to you, I would really recommend buying the EBCI....especially when coming home from WDW. No need to worry about being online at that 24 hr window.

The vast majority of people that checkin, online, at that 24 hr window, are able to get A numbers or low B numbers. If you are only a group of 2 or 3, you should be fine being seated together. If you are a larger group, then you may not find a bunch of seats that are all together. But there should be groupings of two seats. Even those who forget about the 24 hr mark are able to find seats together as long as they are able to get lower C numbers.

 

[huskies90]

Question: If you book a SW flight and not the EBCI. and then the price of the flight goes down and you get a credit, can you apply the credit towards purchasing the EBCI at a later date? The credit is a nice perk, but it has to be used within a year of booking and I don't plan to travel again 1 year from my booking date.

 

[toywaltz]

Doing the EBCI should have no trouble sitting together. I have yet to pay for the EBCI and just do my own around the 24 hour point. Just did two flights last week with a group of six and we had no trouble sitting together and we boarded at A53-59. Both flights were fully booked (asking for volunteers to bump). I would think a group of four could easily sit together even if positioned well into B group.

 

[FINFAN]

Question: If you book a SW flight and not the EBCI. and then the price of the flight goes down and you get a credit, can you apply the credit towards purchasing the EBCI at a later date? The credit is a nice perk, but it has to be used within a year of booking and I don't plan to travel again 1 year from my booking date.

well, youmay purchase EBCI at anytime prior to your departure...but remember, the later you purchase it, the further down the line you are. I imagine you could apply a credit but since I have never done it and do not know fosure, just call SW and ask.

 

[goofy4tink]

Question: If you book a SW flight and not the EBCI. and then the price of the flight goes down and you get a credit, can you apply the credit towards purchasing the EBCI at a later date? The credit is a nice perk, but it has to be used within a year of booking and I don't plan to travel again 1 year from my booking date.

I have heard reports that they do not allow you to use credits to pay for EBCI...but that could very well have changed at this point.

Doing the EBCI should have no trouble sitting together. I have yet to pay for the EBCI and just do my own around the 24 hour point. Just did two flights last week with a group of six and we had no trouble sitting together and we boarded at A53-59. Both flights were fully booked (asking for volunteers to bump). I would think a group of four could easily sit together even if positioned well into B group.

I am not paying for EBCI in order to get a much lower boarding number...I do it so as to not have to deal with checking in myself....especially when in WDW. Yes, I've checked my group in at the 24 hr window before while at WDW, but it was a pain. I kept watching my time, I wouldn't do anything that might get in the way of my being 'ontime'...it was just a pain. But, others may not feel the same way.

 

[PrincessKate's Mom]

We've always flown Airtran, too, but are trying Southwest this time as Airtran has no nonstop flights for our travel dates.
My DH will not pay for the early check in, and I won't have an iphone or computer. Where do I go at the resort to do checkin at T-24 hours? Or would there be a way to have someone at home check us in at the right time, but print our boarding passes later?

 

[tiggerplus5]

. . .and. . . as you may or may not know, because of the open boarding, depending upon how full the plane is when you board, you may or may not get to sit with your party, including kidlets.

My sons and I flew from New York to Disneyland and we were not able to sit together. They were almost teens at the time, so it wasn't a major issue, but it was a long flight. I had used a travel agent for that trip and was surprised she didn't tell me that I wouldn't be able to sit with my kids. I'm guessing EB circumvents that problem, but heads up to others thinking of using SW.

I've read that small children under 4 and one adult will be allowed to board before "B" tickets get in line. My niece is flying with a 16 month old and a 6 year old. Will they let her board with both children or will the 6 year old be stuck in line waiting? This is worrisome. The 6 year old has never flown before. Maybe she should pay for EB to avoid being split up? She was planning on doing online check in at 24 hours prior.

 

[Tara]

I've read that small children under 4 and one adult will be allowed to board before "B" tickets get in line. My niece is flying with a 16 month old and a 6 year old. Will they let her board with both children or will the 6 year old be stuck in line waiting? This is worrisome. The 6 year old has never flown before. Maybe she should pay for EB to avoid being split up? She was planning on doing online check in at 24 hours prior.

No, they are not going to let a small child board alone. And the "one adult" rule is usually only enforced when there is a large number of family boarders. Usually it's immediate family anyway, which means children and parent/s, but not Auntie Sue and Grandpa Joe.

 

[DISengineer]

I fly on business a lot and have used SW priority boarding to Orlando from Chicago. Amazingly there have been times i was the only one. I got to stand first in line with the closest people ten feet behind at the post for numbers 30 and higher. I could choose any seat I wanted.

Even when I was not alone there were seldom more then a handful of people in priority boarding. SW is a great airline if you do priority.

 

[LisaCat]

I've read that small children under 4 and one adult will be allowed to board before "B" tickets get in line. My niece is flying with a 16 month old and a 6 year old. Will they let her board with both children or will the 6 year old be stuck in line waiting? This is worrisome. The 6 year old has never flown before. Maybe she should pay for EB to avoid being split up? She was planning on doing online check in at 24 hours prior.

They board "families traveling with small children" between the A and B group. If she checks in AT the 24 hour mark, she should be in the A or low B group anyway.

 

[LisaCat]

Or would there be a way to have someone at home check us in at the right time, but print our boarding passes later?

Yes you can. I've done it. The person checking you in would need your 6 digit confirmation number and your name. Then when you check your bag at the airport, they can print your boarding pass. I used to check my hubby in all the time when he was traveling for business until he did so much he got "A List" status.

 

[tiggerplus5]

thanks everyone for your help. I suggested southwest because I heard they were a great airline and then I started reading the ins and outs of the boarding system and got worried.