Early bird check in

[momcloud]

Somebody walk me through using Southwest Early Bird check in for our cruise in December ( for our return trip after the cruise.) Never used it before and need some info from people who have.

 

[slindamood]

When you have paid for Southwest's Early Bird Check-in, you need to do nothing. You do not need to check in 24 hours in advance to get a good boarding number, just get your boarding pass at the airport. That boarding pass will have your pre-assigned boarding number (your place in line to board, A, B, or C group with numbers 1-60). With early bird, your boarding number is assigned more than 24 hours before the flight and before those without early bird. This means you get to be among the first to board and get better seats and seats together. Your exact boarding number depends on how many have purchased the option, when you purchased, and the amount you paid for the ticket. I have never had a boarding number lower than A37, but it is possible.

 

[lorimay]

I will share our luck with not purchasing the early bird check in last week on our flight from Newark to Ft Lauderdale.
We booked a last minute trip to NYC for the weekend, we usually fly stand-by free because our son works for an airline.
4 days before the flight we were scheduled to fly stand by on was full.
So we went on Southwest website to see what we could get last minute out of Newark.
We found a reasonable flight, but figured at that point we would not be sitting together on the flight.
My husband went on at 640am the morning before and we somehow got into the A boarding group.
We were 2 of the first 20 to get onboard and it was a full flight.
I know being on a cruise you don't always have internet, but it could be worth to purchase some time 24 hours before the flight and check in right at 24 hours prior.

Have fun!

 

[southerngirl528]

Another vote for buying SW Early Bird c/i option when you buy your air tickets. I'm not sure, but at least the last time I flew SW, I don't believe I could purchase Early Bird AFTER I had purchased.

For me, it's peace of mind to pay the few bucks extra, and if I was going to be busy having fun on a cruise, there is NO WAY I would not invest it that option so I didn't have to even think about it. Happy planning!

 

[Dug720]

Another vote for buying SW Early Bird c/i option when you buy your air tickets. I'm not sure, but at least the last time I flew SW, I don't believe I could purchase Early Bird AFTER I had purchased.

For me, it's peace of mind to pay the few bucks extra, and if I was going to be busy having fun on a cruise, there is NO WAY I would not invest it that option so I didn't have to even think about it. Happy planning!

After two trips in a row where SW stranded me for upwards of 5 hours because they wanted to do something elective (The second time was on the voucher from the first...I ripped up the voucher they tried to give me on the second in front of them as I was leaving the plane. Fool me once and all that.), but both of those times I was able to get EB after I bought my ticket. It may have changed since 2015 though.

 

[Corfam]

I'm not sure, but at least the last time I flew SW, I don't believe I could purchase Early Bird AFTER I had purchased.

You can purchase the Early Bird option after tickets were already purchased. Online and over phone work. I do usually buy Early Bird when we are travelling as a family (to ensure seats together), but don't if flying alone or with one other person. I totally agree that it's not often needed as long as you check-in on your flight the instant flight check-in opens up 24 hours prior, but sometimes that's not possible or easy to do (like being on the ship for return flight home).

 

[southerngirl528]

You can purchase the Early Bird option after tickets were already purchased. Online and over phone work.

Thanks for that update, Corfam, as it has been at least a couple of years since I've flown SW. It just seems that several years ago it could not be added after the fact. Happy to hear it is not that way now!

 

[koala1966]

I would certainly buy Early Bird for return trips in the future. On your flight in, usually there's time to do the 24 hour online check-in to secure a good boarding number. But coming home is often to hectic to do while you are also enjoying your vacation. This last time we were traveling with our 12 year old niece. Obviously I wasn't going to let her board or sit alone. But I was late getting us checked in so our numbers were not good and on top of it they put my husband and I in one boarding group and her in another. Now they did work with me so she didn't have to board in the next group, but I had to speak to a few people to get it worked out. When we did board her and I managed to get the last two seats together, my husband had to sit by himself, I was totally panicked when I saw that we barely avoided a situation of her being alone. We agreed it would have been worth the fees, will do it next time.

 

[Kesohio63]

The sooner you buy your early bird check in, the earlier you will be checked in. We buy it when we buy our tickets and usually end up around 40 in the A group, but one time we were in the Bs. You really don’t need to worry about not being able to sit together if you are at least in the first half of the Bs. There are up to 60 in each group, I believe. All Southwest planes are 737s, with 6 seats in each row, 3 on each side of the central aisle. Except for the exit row, which has 4 seats.

 

[bumbershoot]

With EB you do nothing. I don’t normally get it, but I might for a cruise of I weren’t getting WiFi or couldn’t.

My husband went on at 640am the morning before and we somehow got into the A boarding group.
We were 2 of the first 20 to get onboard and it was a full flight.

That was incredibly lucky!’nn

I'm not sure, but at least the last time I flew SW, I don't believe I could purchase Early Bird AFTER I had purchased.

You can. But EB is supposed to go in order of when you buy it, so getting it later puts you further back in line.

 

[DisneyDream2B]

I booked a SW flight this past weekend, and the cost for EB went up to $25/ticket.

 

[AgentMama]

You can add early bird check in to any flight up to 36 hours before departure, after that, it's not an option to add anymore. There is usually an upgrade option at the airport for $40ish dollars for priority seating if all of business select options didn't sell out.

 

[jl]

How does early bird check in work on the 2nd part of flight w/connecting flights?
We purchased EB months ago...flying from Buffalo to San Diego w/connection in Baltimore? Do we have to buy EB for Baltimore to San Diego too?

 

[AgentMama]

How does early bird check in work on the 2nd part of flight w/connecting flights?
We purchased EB months ago...flying from Buffalo to San Diego w/connection in Baltimore? Do we have to buy EB for Baltimore to San Diego too?

If you're connecting, it covers all legs of the "flight" you purchased it for.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

We always buy EB when we book our SW tickets for our cruise. As others have said, you don't have to DO anything. It's what you don't have to do - that is you don't have to log in from the ship and get your tickets. We do it because DW and I want to make sure we sit together.

USUALLY we end up with A30-A50 on EarlyBird. We one time ended up with B20(!!!!). That many people had purchased as well.

When you get to the airport, you can just drop by a kiosk and print your tickets. Only takes a moment.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

Another vote for paying for the EB.

We traveled SW as a family of four to Orlando, and we weren't too worried if we didn't get to sit together so we didn't pay for the Early Bird. We did the registration exactly 24 hours before the flight, and got a decent number in the mid B's. But between all of the EB's and the people needing assistance, and the people traveling with small children, etc., we were almost the last people on the plane.

Maybe it isn't always like that, who knows, but we sure didn't expect to be that far down. The worst part was standing there, waiting, watching the whole plane fill up because we were one of the only families without a special case.

 

[TrishaK]

I always buy the Early Bird option. Once, I did add it after I had already purchased our tickets.

Somebody mentioned it being $25/ticket. I feel like it fluctuates depending on where you're flying? I think I've paid different rates when flying to different places. But it could be that it just keeps inching up and up! $25 is quite a bit when your flight is only about $100-$150 each way.

 

[jdb in AZ]

I always buy the Early Bird option. Once, I did add it after I had already purchased our tickets.

Somebody mentioned it being $25/ticket. I feel like it fluctuates depending on where you're flying? I think I've paid different rates when flying to different places. But it could be that it just keeps inching up and up! $25 is quite a bit when your flight is only about $100-$150 each way.

Yes, the fee does vary according to where you're flying. $25 is pricey, but the no-baggage-fee makes up for it.

 

[momcloud]

Thanks all! I purchased the tickets w/ early bird before the price went up and just needed to confirm that I had to do nothing before getting off the ship and heading to MCO.