EBCI worth it on direct flights?

[mickey1968]

I fly SW by choice whenever I travel, but I have never done Early Boarding. I travel solo so I don't have to worry about getting seats together, but I am wondering if I should try it to avoid getting stuck in the back of the plane.

 

[sam_gordon]

I fly SW by choice whenever I travel, but I have never done Early Boarding. I travel solo so I don't have to worry about getting seats together, but I am wondering if I should try it to avoid getting stuck in the back of the plane.

1) Can you check in at the 24 hour mark?
2) Is there a particular reason the back of the plane won't work for you?
3) Does this flight originate at your airport or is your airport a connection point?
4) Does the $25 (RT) fit into your budget?

It's a personal preference whether to purchase EBCI or not. It might be worth it to one person and not to another. For me, traveling solo, I wouldn't spend the money unless I couldn't check in at the 24 hour mark.

If I was traveling with someone I wanted to sit next to, I'd pay for it.

 

[DebbieB]

I fly SW by choice whenever I travel, but I have never done Early Boarding. I travel solo so I don't have to worry about getting seats together, but I am wondering if I should try it to avoid getting stuck in the back of the plane.

What's nice about flying solo is it's easy to find a single seat. I had a B number on my last trip and got a window in the 3rd or 4th row, a couple was sitting in the aisle & center. Another time I got an aisle seat in the 2nd row next to a woman and her son. On another trip I had changed flights last minute and had B48. I got an empty seat in the exit row. I wouldn't waste the money.

 

[mickey1968]

I dislike the back of the plane because 1) I am very impatient to get off and 2)the back is frequently smelly due to latrine and 3) the back seems to be where a lot of the noisy families end up. I should be able to check-in at the 24-hours mark and I am pretty sure my airport is the originating flight (OKC) because I think there is another stop but no plane change. I guess I can always move up closer after they do the nose-count at the stop.

Thanks for your input.

 

[rszdtrvl]

Are you meaning Direct (plane makes a stop to pick people up but you do not replane) or Nonstop (plane goes right to your destination)?

Either way, I would say EBCI is totally worth it.

 

[ironz]

I dislike the back of the plane because 1) I am very impatient to get off and 2)the back is frequently smelly due to latrine and 3) the back seems to be where a lot of the noisy families end up. I should be able to check-in at the 24-hours mark and I am pretty sure my airport is the originating flight (OKC) because I think there is another stop but no plane change. I guess I can always move up closer after they do the nose-count at the stop.

Thanks for your input.

I wouldn't pay for EBCI if I were flying alone (and I don't buy it when it is me and my boyfriend flying together, either).
If you are alone and want to be in the front half of the plane...
a) check in a 24 hours to get the best non-EBCI you can.
b) when you are boarding and you see what looks like a couple (man/woman, 2 friends, whatever) in one of the more frontward rows, but they are sitting aisle/window....take the middle seat.

Worse case scenario, you stay in that middle seat.
Next best scenario, they really want to sit together but are trying to keep the middle open....so one of them will move to the middle, freeing the aisle or window for you to sit in.
Either way, you're not in the back of the plane.