Early bird check in for southwest??

[dislal]

Has anyone ever used this?

Did you think it was worth the $10 per person?

I am thinking about getting the early bird check in for our flight back from Orlando, do I still have to check in at the front desk of the hotel or is it automatic?

 

[Tink415]

Yes, I've used it and thought it was well worth it. I had the front desk print boarding passes, at my leisure, early bird had already checked us in and gotten our boarding position.
I travel with kids I need to sit with and it was always a hassle trying to remember to check in exactly 24 hours before to get a good boarding position!

 

[DisneyDayTripper]

Yes, I've used it and thought it was well worth it. I had the front desk print boarding passes, at my leisure, early bird had already checked us in and gotten our boarding position.
I travel with kids I need to sit with and it was always a hassle trying to remember to check in exactly 24 hours before to get a good boarding position!

Doesn't Southwest let all people traveling with children board after the A group? So you're still getting a pretty decent spot even if you don't check in 24 hours in advance.

 

[4greatboys]

Doesn't Southwest let all people traveling with children board after the A group? So you're still getting a pretty decent spot even if you don't check in 24 hours in advance.

No they preboard families with small children after A.



Copied from the SWA site:

An adult traveling with a child four years old or younger will board between the “A” and “B” boarding groups.

 

[clgwli]

No they preboard families with small children after A.



Copied from the SWA site:

An adult traveling with a child four years old or younger will board between the “A” and “B” boarding groups.

Isn't that was the previous poster said?

Personally I have used Early Bird Check In and it wasn't worth it. They do not guarantee you an A spot and I only got a few better numbers than when I checked in myself.

 

[BunsenH]

I recently traveled to MCO and did not use Early Bird. By calling right at 24 hours, I got A40's on the trip there. Due to empty spots in the A1-16 area, we were about 30th onto the plane.

On the return trip, I had a friend at home call at 24 hours. Again we were in the A40's. The concierge desk at the Beach Club was happy to print our passes. Due to empty spots in the A1-16 area, we were about 30th onto the plane once again.

 

[Tink415]

Doesn't Southwest let all people traveling with children board after the A group? So you're still getting a pretty decent spot even if you don't check in 24 hours in advance.

I'm picky about airplane seats I want my family together. It always worked out checking in close to 24 hours ahead, but remembering to do that for the return flight especially was sometimes difficult. My kids are over 4, but IMO I still need to sit with them. The $10 person EB fee is worth it to me to to know I'll be sitting next to my kids. Now that Frequent Flyers, Business Class and people with children 4 and under board early (and sometimes save seats for others) its harder to get 3 or 4 seats together.

Yes, you can get a B boarding pass with EB, but it'll be a higher B and its better than a C

I also prefer an aisle seat, with EB I know I'll have one.

 

[rszdtrvl]

If I was flying Southwest (which I would never do again) I would definitely pay the extra.

Last time we flew with them, 3 years ago, DH ended up in a cramped corner at the very back of a plane. In a seat just about as small as a jumpseat.

I would much rather pay extra for my bags to fly than pay extra to get a seat.

I Alaska Airlines

 

[4greatboys]

Isn't that was the previous poster said?

Actually no it isn't. The pp asked:

Doesn't Southwest let all people traveling with children board after the A group?

In fact they do not let ALL people traveling with children preboard. If the OP has kids older than the preboard age this info is likely important to them.

 

[PatsMom]

I don't bother with the EBCI. My child is 18 and could care less whether she sits with me or not. For that matter, when she was 8 she wouldn't have cared if she was separate from us. She can read her book without Mom or Dad!

I think which boarding number your get without EBCI is heavily affected by how popular the flight is. We like the first direct flight of the day from MHT to MCO and the last direct flight of the day from MCO to MHT. Since Southwest changed their schedule so that the early flight isn't really early and the late flight isn't really late, they are usually full. My daughter checked us in at 24 hours for our flight down two weeks ago, we were B18, 19 and 20 I think. Coming home my niece checked us in 24 hours prior and we were B28, 29 and 30.

So if sitting together or in a particular seat is important to you. your should consider paying the extra.

 

[NancyK]

We cruised out of Tampa last week and used the Early Bird for the return trip home yesterday. I booked it quite a while ago and ended up with A40 and A41. The flight was full, so I'm glad I did it. However, it would bother me if I purchased early bird and ended up with a B which is theoretically possible depending on the number of people utilizing Early Bird. If it weren't for Southwest's generous cancellation policy, I think I would be flying JetBlue.

 

[Cyndibear]

We are using it for the return flight home. It just makes it much easier than having to remember to check-in 24 hrs prior. Lets us enjoy our last Disney day and then we can have concierge print out our boarding passes later in the day. IMHO--great service.

Cyndi

 

[lovesmurfs]

We used it for our return trip from Orlando on Christmas eve. We were going to be in the parks at the 24-hour mark, and I didn't want to deal with it. We printed our boarding passes at the airport when we arrived. I'd say it was definitely worth it.

 

[DisneyDayTripper]

We've used SWA a few times and we checked in RIGHT at the 24 hour mark and got like A24 and 25 or something crazy and we were blown away at how many people got in ahead of us....when we got to the airport and got in line we noticed that A1-16 were reserved for the "early bird" check-in and no one had paid for that so if we would have it would have been a waste.

I can't guarantee that every SWA flight is like that or if it was just a time, but for us it would have been a complete waste of $$ to pay the extra.

 

[agnes!]

We've used SWA a few times and we checked in RIGHT at the 24 hour mark and got like A24 and 25 or something crazy and we were blown away at how many people got in ahead of us....when we got to the airport and got in line we noticed that A1-16 were reserved for the "early bird" check-in and no one had paid for that so if we would have it would have been a waste. ...

Actually, A1-16 is reserved for Business Select (oooo free drinks and first crack at seats). After Business Select, then it's any A-Listers (even in front of the earliest EBCIs), then Boarding Pass numbers are assigned to travelers who bought EBCI in order of their purchase. SW passengers who need extra time to board and get seated, as in they are handicapped, plus one other family/group-member are allowed to board in front of all other passengers. Families with children 4 and under are allowed to board between the "A" Group and the "B" Group.

agnes!

 

[ford91exploder]

EB definitely WORTH it for infrequent SW flyers, I buy it for my DW
on Disney Trips ( I'm a A lister due to frequent business travel on SWA as SWA does the thing nobody else does GET THERE ON TIME) assigned seats mean nothing if I do not make it to my meetings on time

it's really nice that we can stay together during Disney trips plus it beats having to remember to check in at exactly 24 hours.

Note you can buy it as an add-on to reward travel trips