Confused about on-line airfare purchase

[Keebles]

I've never purchased airfare online before (only flown three in my life - all to DisneyWorld) and I'm a bit confused about printing boarding passes. I've read some posts where people have asked their resort if they could print boarding passes. Can't you use curbside check-in or one of those check-in kiosks for this? Do you have to have the boarding pass before you arrive at the airport? Maybe it's faster to do it before you leave the resort? Has anyone had problems with the resort granting this request? Seems like you should be able to print your boarding passes before you leave home since if you purchase the old fashioned way you get both your arrival and departure boarding passes.

HELP!!

 

[alecam]

People who are flying Southwest are concerned that if they don't get "A" borading passes, they will be split up. If you are flying other airlines (I fly Song), it is not as necessary to get early boarding passes. You still need to get to the airport 90-120 minutes before your flight, but YES you can use the curbside check-in or the kiosk's. I have had alot of success with these using Song (Delta).

 

[DebbieB]

What airline are you flying? Some airlines do not assign seats in advance. Air Tran assigns seats online 24 hours prior. Southwest does not assign seats at all, they just give you a boarding pass with A, B or C, you pick your own seats, A's go first.

Airlines no longer issue boarding passes more than 24 hours in advance for security reasons, so you can't get your return boarding passes at the same time as the first flight. Some are also charging a fee if you book over the phone or in person instead of online.

 

[safetymom]

As DebbieB mentioned when you get the paper tickets you don't get boarding passes. Sure you can always check in at the airport ticket counter, curbside or a kiosk.

Checking in early with some airlines lets you select a seat when you didn't have one(Airtran), lets you change a seat(most airlines), lets you bring a boarding pass that allows you to board earlier and choose a seat(Southwest). These are examples of some of the reasons for online check in.

 

[Keebles]

Thanks guys! We haven't actually purchased yet, but it will probably be Northwest out of Memphis. I was under the impression that when you made the initial purchase, you could choose seats then for both flights.

 

[safetymom]

Yes most airlines will let you select seats when you purchase your tickets. But when you go to check in you can sometimes switch seats. Also if the plane is close to full you may not be able to select seats. They would be assigned at the airport.

 

[DrTomorrow]

As to boarding pass printing at WDW resorts, the official policy (as of last December) was that ALL resort front desks will provide this service if you provide them with the necessary info (for SWA, that's the URL, passenger name(s) and confirmation number(s)).