Does "changing flight" affect SW EB Check in number?

[MaleficentRN]

I booked my flight a few months ago with SW and opted for Early Bird check in. This morning, the points needed for my flight has gone down considerably, so I changed the flight, the original for the same, in order to get a points refund.
Will that alter my check in number? Would they consider it a new reservation and give me a higher number? Confirmation number is still the same.

 

[crashbb]

According to a thread a little while ago, yes, it would be considered a new reservation and you'd move to the back of the EBCI line (i.e. you'd be ranked in EBCI as if you had just bought your ticket today).

Of course, since the actual EBCI line seems to be somewhat random (it shouldn't be, but based on people's experiences, it seems to be), it might not make much difference.

 

[MaleficentRN]

Sooo.....maybe? Oh well. It is what it is. Thanks!

 

[mzspaz]

Not sure if this will help, but I bought our tickets the day the schedule came out months ago and purchased ECBI at the time.

I kept watching the prices but they never went any lower then what I initially paid. So we left everything as it was.

We were A 16, 17, and 18 for our flight and were the first to board the planes outside of the medical boarding.

So apparently if you get your tickets early and your ECBI early, you will be towards the front of the line, so i would imagine that re-doing your reservation would change your ECBI order.

I know that there are quite a few that think that ECBI is kind of random, but I would imagine that there is some type of formula that is used.

Happy planning!

 

[PCFriar80]

I booked my flight a few months ago with SW and opted for Early Bird check in. This morning, the points needed for my flight has gone down considerably, so I changed the flight, the original for the same, in order to get a points refund.
Will that alter my check in number? Would they consider it a new reservation and give me a higher number? Confirmation number is still the same.

Your EBCI will not change if you have the same confirmation number and simply "changed" your flight. You will forfeit your EBCI if you "cancel" your flight and rebook getting a new confirmation number. I learned the hard way but they were kind enough to refund my EBCI that I lost when I cancelled and rebooked.

 

[MaleficentRN]

Your EBCI will not change if you have the same confirmation number and simply "changed" your flight. You will forfeit your EBCI if you "cancel" your flight and rebook getting a new confirmation number. I learned the hard way but they were kind enough to refund my EBCI that I lost when I cancelled and rebooked.

Thanks.That's good to hear.

 

[LisaS]

According to a thread a little while ago, yes, it would be considered a new reservation and you'd move to the back of the EBCI line (i.e. you'd be ranked in EBCI as if you had just bought your ticket today).

Of course, since the actual EBCI line seems to be somewhat random (it shouldn't be, but based on people's experiences, it seems to be), it might not make much difference.

I think this is the thread that you mentioned. Two families purchased tickets and EBCI the same day, in fact it was at 7am the day the schedule first opened. One family changed their flights when prices dropped the other family did not. When they got their boarding assignments, the family who did not change their flights got A18 and A19, the family who did change their flights got A48 and A49.

This is just one data point but it does suggest that when you change your flight, you lose your place in the EBCI line and go to the end of the line as it exists at the time you make the change.

 

[Lewisc]

It's not clear in what order Southwest assigns BP numbers to EBCI passengers.

Some people believe the "fare bucket" you book is one factor. Passengers who book fully refundable fares are thought to get the lowest EBCI numbers, even if they purchase EBCI 4 days before their flight. (Those passengers might be better off purchasing a BS ticket.

Remember when SWs website showed several different "wanna getaway" fares? Each fare represents a different "fare bucket". Some people think the fare bucket you book might also affect your number. Get a fare credit because seats in a lower fare bucket open up and your number will be higher. Get a fare credit because there is a sale, your "bucket" stays the same and your BP number should stay the same.

I don't think there is a definitive answer.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I think this is the thread that you mentioned. Two families purchased tickets and EBCI the same day, in fact it was at 7am the day the schedule first opened. One family changed their flights when prices dropped the other family did not. When they got their boarding assignments, the family who did not change their flights got A18 and A19, the family who did change their flights got A48 and A49.

This is just one data point but it does suggest that when you change your flight, you lose your place in the EBCI line and go to the end of the line as it exists at the time you make the change.

We were the ones that changed our reservation to get the SW credits Nd wound up with the A48 & 49 boarding passes while our friends who didn't change had A18 & 19.....on our flight to Orlando
On our flight home which we both purchased our tickets and EBCi on the day the flights opened and early around 7am...we had A 17 & 18 while our friends had A 35 & 36. I had purchased our tickets and then called her so she purchased her tickets maybe 15 min after us...so who knows how they assign the boarding passes

 

[LisaS]

It's not clear in what order Southwest assigns BP numbers to EBCI passengers.

Some people believe the "fare bucket" you book is one factor. Passengers who book fully refundable fares are thought to get the lowest EBCI numbers, even if they purchase EBCI 4 days before their flight. (Those passengers might be better off purchasing a BS ticket.

The EBCI FAQs page states that those who book Anytime fares do get lower boarding positions:

Is there an order in which EarlyBird Check-In Boarding Passes are reserved? Yes. Customers who have purchased Anytime Fares will receive priority over other fare types that are assigned their position based on the time stamp of the EarlyBird Check-In purchase.

Remember when SWs website showed several different "wanna getaway" fares? Each fare represents a different "fare bucket". Some people think the fare bucket you book might also affect your number. Get a fare credit because seats in a lower fare bucket open up and your number will be higher. Get a fare credit because there is a sale, your "bucket" stays the same and your BP number should stay the same.

I don't think there is a definitive answer.

The "fare bucket" theory is also possible but seems more complicated than necessary.

If your place in the EBCI line is based on the date and time you purchased EBCI, perhaps that timestamp gets updated when you change your flight. It might be as simple as that. I just changed some flights I booked at 6:30am on the day the schedule was posted. I bought EBCI immediately. Yesterday I rebooked those flights when the price went down. I will try to remember to post an update about our boarding numbers next spring when we take our trip.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

It really is a luck of the draw.

On Oct 12 I purchased 2 tickets at 1:00 a.m for a flight that left at 8:00 a.m. on Oct 12. After I got our reservation number I immediately checked in for our flight and got an A 15 and A 18 board number. I was shocked. I figured I would get a C board number. I had purchased a Wanna Get Away fare and did not purchase the EBCI since it was a flight that left in 7 hours.

 

[LisaS]

It really is a luck of the draw.

On Oct 12 I purchased 2 tickets at 1:00 a.m for a flight that left at 8:00 a.m. on Oct 12. After I got our reservation number I immediately checked in for our flight and got an A 15 and A 18 board number. I was shocked. I figured I would get a C board number. I had purchased a Wanna Get Away fare and did not purchase the EBCI since it was a flight that left in 7 hours.

It sounds like you picked up boarding positions from people who cancelled their flight on short notice. A-Listers and those who purchased EBCI get their boarding positions assigned automatically 36 hours out. If any of them cancel their flight after that point, their boarding position goes back into the pool and is assigned to the next person to check in. You checked in for your flight 7 hours ahead of departure and managed to scoop up a couple of cancelled boarding positions so in this case it really was luck of the draw!

 

[palhockeymomof2]

It sounds like you picked up boarding positions from people who cancelled their flight on short notice. A-Listers and those who purchased EBCI get their boarding positions assigned automatically 36 hours out. If any of them cancel their flight after that point, their boarding position goes back into the pool and is assigned to the next person to check in. You checked in for your flight 7 hours ahead of departure and managed to scoop up a couple of cancelled boarding positions so in this case it really was luck of the draw!

I had this happen once too....had to rebook my husband on a later flight the same day and he wound up,with a very low A boarding pass......He was very happy since he was expecting to get a C and have to sit in a middle seat

 

[Lewisc]

The EBCI FAQs page states that those who book Anytime fares do get lower boarding positions:

The "fare bucket" theory is also possible but seems more complicated than necessary.

The specific wording regarding passengers who book anytime fares wasn't in the original FAQ. I was pretty sure it was in the current site but I didn't check prior to posting. Southwest doesn't even say the date you purchase EBCI determines your sequence number. All they say is anytime fare customers get the lower numbers.

Some posters on FT think fare bucket may be one factor. It's not any more complicated then putting anytime fare passengers first. Each fare bucket has a letter designation. We agree passengers with anytime fares get lower sequence numbers. Continuing to issue BPs based on fare designation isn't complicated. Explaining that to customers is what's complicated. It's not clear exactly how the numbers are assigned. Not a big deal when purchasing EBCI all but guaranteed an A. Might matter now. Would you rebook if you're only going to get a nominal credit, which you might not even use, if you thought your BP would go from a mid A to a mid B?

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

To the OP sorry this is slightly off topic but thought I'd chime in with our experience yesterday flying home from MCO.

I always purchase EB when traveling home from MCO but I "manually check us in" promptly for the flight going to MCO. Going down to MCO we all had A boarding numbers but since I used RR points for each of us we all had different reservation numbers so I had to check us in individually. No problem we can deal with the A's. We didn't get our boarding passes at POP like we usually do the morning of our departure so when we checked our luggage at the luggage desk prior to our ME departure she printed for me and said sometimes they don't get delivered properly. I don't know why but I didn't look at all three of ours (myself, DH, and DS) but I saw the first two were A43 and A44.

On the ME bus I got a text from SWA the flight was going to be delayed 4 hours so we were busy thinking about that. We went to the SWA counter to get more information and it was then I noticed my DS had B23! I booked all three tickets the same time and paid for EB the same time. I also did this over 4 months ago. We have had EB's that were a few numbers off but not this drastic. The SWA agent advised me they used to see this in the past but he hadn't seen one like this recently. He said the "system" does look at fare prices, if you are an A list member, etc. My DS is also a RR member so there was no logical explanation for it.

I wanted to mention this lastly - in RDU and MCO they made an announcement that if someone in your party had a different boarding group or number and you had an A they were to board with you in the A group. Once this was announced in MCO leaving, my DS' B boarding didn't really matter since he boarded with us in the A's as they instructed. I've never heard this before and we flew SWA in June and August this year (and numerous other times). Makes me wonder if they know it is flawed right now?

Heather