Can we talk about the literal mob scene at the SW Baggage check/Boarding Pass area, and how much we miss RAC??

[buzzrelly]

We flew in April to WDW for the first time since, well, you know. Anyway, I never realized how spoiled we were by RAC until we had to literally jump into a mob of people at the Southwest ticketing kiosks to print our boarding passes and then fight for a spot to check our luggage. There was absolutely no discernible line and after waiting patiently while at least two people jumped in front of us, I put my foot down and just kind of jammed myself up to block more people from going ahead of us.

Is this normal and how it's going to be from now on?? I have to say, it made for a VERY stressful morning.

For context, I usually fly out of BDL which is a much smaller airport, but SW has ropes up for lane lines and it's all very orderly.

Is there a better way to do this that I need to know? We had taken the DME to the Hyatt the night before our flight so this was at maybe 6 in the morning, but in August we'll be taking the DME and just heading home that day. And actually, in August we'll be flying home on Jet Blue…anyone know if their process is the same?

 

[teawar]

It is chaotic at the SWA counter at MCO. SWA has a lot of flights leaving back to back, so a lot of people check their bags at the same time. You get a lot of first time travelers at MCO and it compounds the stressful situation.

Your message reminds me of why I will strive to do carry on with that airline until when/if RAC returns.

 

[Gitelfor]

Have you considered registering a complaint with Southwest, to make them aware of your unsatisfactory experience? They usually are very responsive to legitimate customer complaints.

Register a Southwest complaint

 

[Best Aunt]

... Anyway, I never realized how spoiled we were by RAC until we had to literally jump into a mob of people at the Southwest ticketing kiosks to print our boarding passes and then fight for a spot to check our luggage.... And actually, in August we'll be flying home on Jet Blue…anyone know if their process is the same?

I flew JetBlue out of MCO in 2019, so if nothing else this can serve as a pre-pandemic comparison. At that time, JetBlue did not have curb side check in. They had kiosks where you printed off the label and put it on your own bag. You also checked in and printed your boarding pass at the kiosk, if you had not done so before you got to the airport. Then you gave your bag to an employee. I don't recall a struggle to get to the kiosk or to turn over my bag when I was done. But I liked doing curb side check-in, and I found this process a little stressful.

 

[Lewisc]

SW has curbside checkin at MCO. You wait on an orderly line. A tip is customary for skycap, curbside service.

 

[Gitelfor]

If arriving by DME, drop off is on the "B" side of Level 1. Southwest departures & curbside check-in are located on the "A" side of Level 3. Curbside check-in for Southwest is convenient for those arriving by other means of transportation, dropping off on Level 3. There's also a check-in area in parking garages "A" and "B"; I'm not sure if that's currently in operation, though.

 

[MrKnight]

This seems to be a widespread issue with all airlines (I have traveled with several airlines and experienced the same issues with crowds/long waits), especially at MCO, travel is skyrocketing and airlines are struggling to keep up with the sudden spike in demand, that paired with missing services like RAC is a perfect storm putting a huge strain on airport check-in counters.. It's safe to say that arriving at the airport AT LEAST two full hours prior to your flight is the norm again and will become a must from this point onward..

 

[Lewisc]

If arriving by DME, drop off is on the "B" side of Level 1. Southwest departures & curbside check-in are located on the "A" side of Level 3. Curbside check-in for Southwest is convenient for those arriving by other means of transportation, dropping off on Level 3. There's also a check-in area in parking garages "A" and "B"; I'm not sure if that's currently in operation, though.

Buses aren't allowed on the upper levels, I read its a weight issue.
Incoming DME guests have get their luggage up to level 3, curbside or not.

Precovid you could get a skycap on level 1 who would accompany you, and your luggage, to level and would get you checked in

 

[MinnieMSue]

So curbside checkin is back at MCO? It wasn’t in March. I prefer that over the chaotic southwest counter.

 

[Katie1174]

We just flew home on Southwest yesterday for a 6pm flight and our driver dropped us off level 3 A side and he told us that the curbside check in may or may not be available. When he was dropping people off earlier in the day they were there, when we got there at 4:18 they weren't there anymore.
And yes, the Southwest counter was a mob scene. The kiosk lines blend with the dropping off tagged luggage lines so we just grabbed and empty kiosk, got our tags, looked for the shortest sort of line in front of the luggage drop off people and waited a few minutes. Now security was a mob scene as well, that took us longer than the luggage drop off but each person seemed to need like 10 trays, so that backed us up but all in all, we were at our gate by 4:45 so it wasn't that bad for us.
It appears that travel has ramped up dramatically. Every Southwest departure lounge was chocked full. Our flights out of BWI and MCO were 100% full and when we got back to BWI at 8pm, it was a sight! Every single departure lounge at BWI was a mob scene for departing flights.

 

[Heather07438]

We always fly JetBlue at MCO. Last experience was Jan ‘21. The tag kiosks weren’t bad, none were more than 2 or 3 people deep. The line to check luggage was kinda long but there was an agent keeping it organized and we waited 10 minutes for our turn. Not bad.

What came in real handy... TSA Pre-Check. The security lines in MCO can be insane. 45 minutes or 90 minutes are not unusual. Our local airport EWR isn’t much better. This is money well spent if you travel every year.

 

[JoJoGirl]

Southwest ticketing at MCO was chaos when we flew out a couple of weeks ago. They really need to rethink their layout so there is some sort of signage and a discernible line, so people know what they need to do. Right now it’s just a free-for-all. Lines are forming ad hoc and winding through the kiosks with no semblance of order.

We tried the trick of walking all the way to the left where the kiosks weren’t as busy. Unfortunately by the time we got our bags tagged, the one dropoff window that was open down there abruptly closed and we had to re-enter the melee. There was a single mom with three small children struggling to hold a baby and get her bags tagged, and the SW agent was just yelling orders at her instead of helping. It was ridiculous.

 

[sophy1996]

Southwest ticketing at MCO was chaos when we flew out a couple of weeks ago. They really need to rethink their layout so there is some sort of signage and a discernible line, so people know what they need to do. Right now it’s just a free-for-all. Lines are forming ad hoc and winding through the kiosks with no semblance of order.

Same thing we experienced a few weeks ago. And that was at 5:15 in the morning!

Here at DEN they have the kiosks set up so that there is a defined queue space to proceed to the counter after getting tags. They are in crying need of that at MCO.

 

[Gitelfor]

Southwest says they are "aware of the situation."

 

[LSUmiss]

And why can’t RAC come back to wdw now?!

 

[Lewisc]

And why can’t RAC come back to wdw now?!

$$$ Disney painted over the RAC signage. S/D would have offered RAC as a guest paid service if they thought the demand justified the effort.

 

[buzzrelly]

Have you considered registering a complaint with Southwest, to make them aware of your unsatisfactory experience? They usually are very responsive to legitimate customer complaints.

Register a Southwest complaint

Thank you for that suggestion and the link. I sent them a complaint yesterday…I'll report back when they respond.

SW has curbside checkin at MCO. You wait on an orderly line. A tip is customary for skycap, curbside service.

If arriving by DME, drop off is on the "B" side of Level 1. Southwest departures & curbside check-in are located on the "A" side of Level 3. Curbside check-in for Southwest is convenient for those arriving by other means of transportation, dropping off on Level 3. There's also a check-in area in parking garages "A" and "B"; I'm not sure if that's currently in operation, though.

So curbside checkin is back at MCO? It wasn’t in March. I prefer that over the chaotic southwest counter.

Sounds like this may or may not be an option, but also, not super helpful when taking the DME.

We always fly JetBlue at MCO. Last experience was Jan ‘21. The tag kiosks weren’t bad, none were more than 2 or 3 people deep. The line to check luggage was kinda long but there was an agent keeping it organized and we waited 10 minutes for our turn. Not bad.

That's good to hear since we are actually flying home on Jet Blue in August (unrelated to this issue, we just got a better flight).

What came in real handy... TSA Pre-Check.

I actually have that and in April it was absolutely useless to me since my mom and niece didn't have it and I couldn't ditch them because my mom gets confused. Sometimes my mom and kids will also get TSA pre-check on their tickets, but we had credit and booked all of our tickets separately so they didn't get it this time. The security line was also ridiculous but at least I expected that and at least it was lines.

There was a single mom with three small children struggling to hold a baby and get her bags tagged, and the SW agent was just yelling orders at her instead of helping. It was ridiculous.

That's terrible. Definitely a deterrent for traveling to WDW. When my kids were young, WDW made it so easy and I think that was a big part of the appeal of traveling there.

Southwest says they are "aware of the situation."

Where does it say that? Did you send a complaint?

And why can’t RAC come back to wdw now?!

Exactly! This would be the best option!

 

[Gitelfor]

Thank you for that suggestion and the link. I sent them a complaint yesterday…I'll report back when they respond.

I sent a message to Southwest, regarding the unsatisfactory conditions at the MCO counter. They replied that they were “aware” of issues.

Included in Southwest’s reply:
“We are aware and are always closely assessing our staffing at the airports we serve, and we work to make adjustments as needed.”

 

[kristenrice]

Thanks for the update. I am flying with DD16 in October and I need to get a new rolling bag since TSA broke the zipper/lock on mine last year (TSA said that even though I had a TSA-compliant lock, they are not liable for damage...GRRR! They pried it open and broke the whole mechanism and now the bag won't stay zipped closed...but I digress...) I have to get a new bag and I *was* planning to check a bag or two on the way home but hearing about this mess has made me reconsider. I think we will fly as we normally do and just stick to carry-ons. I will plan my purchase accordingly.

 

[JoJoGirl]

Thanks for the update. I am flying with DD16 in October and I need to get a new rolling bag since TSA broke the zipper/lock on mine last year (TSA said that even though I had a TSA-compliant lock, they are not liable for damage...GRRR! They pried it open and broke the whole mechanism and now the bag won't stay zipped closed...but I digress...) I have to get a new bag and I *was* planning to check a bag or two on the way home but hearing about this mess has made me reconsider. I think we will fly as we normally do and just stick to carry-ons. I will plan my purchase accordingly.

I really hope SW improves the situation by October! And hopefully curbside will be fully functional by then to take some of the pressure off. If not, I still wouldn’t let it deter me from checking a bag if wanted to.

75% of the problem at MCO was that people didn’t know what to do or where to go, because their home airports probably had a better setup. Forewarned is forearmed. Go in mentally prepared that you will have to:

1. Find a kiosk to print your boarding pass and bag tags. They probably won’t do this for you at the counter At MCO. The kiosks to the left of the area are usually a LOT less crowded. Tag your bags in the less crowded area - less pressure, lol.

2. Scope out what looks like a line heading to bag drop and get in it. Prepare yourself for a little aggravation but you will get there soon enough.