Chose not to use EBC on SW

[ls1222]

For those who are concerned (like myself), I didnt want to by the early bird checkin.......... I was still able to get A34 & A35 this morning at the 24hr mark. It appears to be a sold out flight too!!!! This is our first trip w/o our kids and I am so nervous!! I really debated about paying extra but it turned out great.

 

[Thumper4me]

That's great to hear!
We booked a weekend trip for this weekend and didn't pay for the early bird check in as the flight was already over $300. It is nice to know that we will probably have little probem being able to sit together. It is only the two of us this trip.

 

[dthogue]

Me too - I checked in at the 24 hour mark and got A34, A60 and B1 - just can't figure out why our boarding passes aren't all together???? My DD is now worried becasue she is the B1 - I told her DH will board with her and not to worry!!! I know we won't have any trouble getting seats together.

I did buy the EBC for our return flight home, I didn't want to be bothered with trying to check in 24 hours before our flight while I'm in a park!!

Tammy

 

[dudspizza]

The more I read about EBCI the more I am convinced that it isn't actually working as they state it should. EBCI should check in everyone who bought it before the 24 hour mark, yet there have been reports that some people are still getting lower BP's than people who don't use EBCI..... that would really bother me if I paid the money...

 

[Thumper4me]

Well, I checked in this morning and we got A58 and A59. So not bad for not having paid the extra bucks. We should be able to sit together with no problem. Who knows on the way home.

Kelly

 

[goofy4tink]

The more I read about EBCI the more I am convinced that it isn't actually working as they state it should. EBCI should check in everyone who bought it before the 24 hour mark, yet there have been reports that some people are still getting lower BP's than people who don't use EBCI..... that would really bother me if I paid the money...[/QUOTE]
I'm not sure if I'm reading what you said correctly...wouldn't this mean that it was working correctly?? EBCI fliers are getting checked in at the 36 hr window, those not buying it get checked in at 24 hrs. I think what we're seeing is a lot of fliers are just not buying the EBCI at this point. They found that it didn't really move them up as much as they had hoped for. After all...only so many people are going to get A16 through A25.
Now, if I got into line, at spot A56, and I heard someone a few people ahead of me saying...'This isn't too bad a spot for not paying that extra $10 pp for EBCI.'..then, I'm going to be severely annoyed.

 

[tjmw2727]

I think it depends on - connecting flights, continuing flights and how many have purchased EBCI.

So - if you research you can make an "educated decision".

If your are flying out of a hub, on the 2nd leg of a connecting flight or later in the afternoon it may make sense to purchae EBCI. Folks with a connecting flight will get both BP's at their T24 which will be earlier than yours. Folks on a continuing flight stay onboard and can move seats - you won't get on ahead of them but will have the best choice of seats if your BP is lower. You can research a continuing flight but not so much your chances of being the 2nd leg of a connecting leg. Of course there is no way to know how many purchased EBCI before you.

I will opt out of EBCI on an early morning flight out of a non hub airport but not a flight out of say BWI or Manchester NH. I will also purchase EBCI on my return flight from MCO as most folks don't want to bother with checking in and will probably purchase EBCI.

OP -glad you got such good BP's and have a great trip.

 

[CarolMN]

For those who are concerned (like myself), I didnt want to by the early bird checkin.......... I was still able to get A34 & A35 this morning at the 24hr mark. It appears to be a sold out flight too!!!! This is our first trip w/o our kids and I am so nervous!! I really debated about paying extra but it turned out great.

I haven't bought ECBI for the flight to MCO, but I do buy it for the trip home. It's been worth the $10 each just so I don't have to worry about where we'll be at the 24 hour mark. (Don't have a smart phone). Even with the $10 extra per ticket included, the price has been less than my other choices.

If checking in at 24 hours isn't a problem for you, then no worries. Worst case, since there won't be kids on this trip, does it really matter if you can't sit next to your spouse?

 

[msjprincess]

We chose not to use it on our trip 2 weeks ago. We got A38-42 on the way down and A52-A56 on the way back. The flight home was completely sold out.

 

[pipervali]

Since this was our first time flying SW, we got EBC, for our flight tomorrow morning. We received A24-A26. Gotta say, I'm fairly happy with that, then again, I don't really know any better lol

 

[LilyWDW]

The more I read about EBCI the more I am convinced that it isn't actually working as they state it should. EBCI should check in everyone who bought it before the 24 hour mark, yet there have been reports that some people are still getting lower BP's than people who don't use EBCI..... that would really bother me if I paid the money...

I'm not sure if I'm reading what you said correctly...wouldn't this mean that it was working correctly?? EBCI fliers are getting checked in at the 36 hr window, those not buying it get checked in at 24 hrs. I think what we're seeing is a lot of fliers are just not buying the EBCI at this point. They found that it didn't really move them up as much as they had hoped for. After all...only so many people are going to get A16 through A25.
Now, if I got into line, at spot A56, and I heard someone a few people ahead of me saying...'This isn't too bad a spot for not paying that extra $10 pp for EBCI.'..then, I'm going to be severely annoyed.

I think the post was worded incorrectly. I think duds was saying there were reports of people who did NOT pay for ECBI that had lower numbers then those who did. I remember these reports as well and remember that it was a glitch of some sort in the system.

As for ECBI... you really need to do the research and decide if you should purchase it. If you don't, then you are taking a chance as to what your numbers might be. If enough people buy it, it could push you back and lessen your chances of sitting together. If you are willing to deal with this if it happens, then don't get it. If you are not willing to deal with it if it happens, then maybe you should pay.

 

[magicaldisney]

Since this was our first time flying SW, we got EBC, for our flight tomorrow morning. We received A24-A26. Gotta say, I'm fairly happy with that, then again, I don't really know any better lol

We will be flying SW for the first time as well and we also got EBC. Do they notify you after they check you in or do I have to look it up?

 

[CarolMN]

We will be flying SW for the first time as well and we also got EBC. Do they notify you after they check you in or do I have to look it up?

You still have to print a boarding pass, but you can do it anytime. With EBCI, there is no need to print a BP at the 24 hour mark. You can even wait until you get to the airport if you would like.

With EBCI, you are actually checked in at the 36 hour mark. You will get whatever BP number they assigned at that point no matter when you print the BP.

 

[magicaldisney]

You still have to print a boarding pass, but you can do it anytime. With EBCI, there is no need to print a BP at the 24 hour mark. You can even wait until you get to the airport if you would like.

With EBCI, you are actually checked in at the 36 hour mark. You will get whatever BP number they assigned at that point no matter when you print the BP.

Thanks Carol!! Can I print the boarding pass between the 36 and 24 hour time frame or do I need to wait until the 24 hour mark hits?

 

[CADisneyMom]

The way that EB checkin works is that it has to be purchased at the minimum 25 hours in advance for a flight. Here is how the priority goes:

A1-15 goes to the Business Select passengers.
Next: A-List members who purchased their flights & had their RR #'s in the reservation at least 36 hours in advance.
Next: EB checkin with priority going to purchases made first & cost of fare (in other words people who paid full fare get top priority).

Occasionally there will be glitches in the system when the list doesn't transfer over. The only way that you would know that this happened is if you happen to be at a computer at the under 36-hour mark to try and check in. Then if it doesn't work then you could call the 800# to ask what is going on with the system and they can then fix it before the 24-hour mark hits so that you still get the EB checkin. I know this can seem like an inconvenience to the passenger but I know for a fact that the people at the airport ticket counter DO NOT have a list of who paid for the EB checkin, otherwise they would be able to rectify the situation by letting people board who had the EB checkin and the A-list before the general population. And they will refund the EB fee if the system failed.

People just have to remember that it is a computer system and that it is not the people who work behind the counters fault that there was a glitch in the system, so please don't yell at them.