Help! SW wants money to early board me.

[Diamondintheruff]

I got an email notice from SW to do early boarding with them. I leave 5 days from now. The catch is it costs $10 per person per flight so for my Dh and I it is $40. I've flown with them before and never been offered this option. Do I have to do this?

Help.

 

[seashoreCM]

It's not mandatory. But it can come in handy if:

1. You can't get to your computer exactly 24 hours in advance of flight time to check in, or
2. You are randomly selected for extra security screening where not buying this feature prevents you from getting a boarding number until you complete that screening at the airport.

 

[DebbieB]

See this longggggggggg thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2273607

 

[kaytieeldr]

It's optional, not mandatory - and it's NOT early boarding. It's early boarding pass assignment.

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

I'm on my THIRD "Bird" trip and DH and I LOVE the service - easily worth the $$$$.

You don't have to worry about anything - all done for you by my FAVORITE airline!

Sure, it's a revenue source for Southwest -but we don't pay for bags!

Try it - you may like it - we have!

 

[Dizney73]

I just booked with SW and definitely am thinking that I will purchase the early bird check in. But I had to call SW to add on my lap infant and the representative told me that we can still board between A and B. So my question is If I purchase early check in and get a B boarding pass then I just wasted my $$$ right? I like this idea, especially on the return with no thinking about check in in the park... but if I can already board between A and B with my infant... is it still worth it for me to purchase this?

 

[Cmbar]

We have a similar problem. We are traveling with two elderly people (90 and 93). I probably will have a wheelchair to get them through the airport but I have never done the "people needing assistance" route with Southwest. They will be extremely slow, but it isn't like they have a broken leg or something. I know they will board first if they are in a wheelchair, so I am not sure how many people will go on with them. We can just have my MIL go with them and then pay for my family to bump up our boarding assignment. We got really cheap tickets so I don't mind paying the price, but my DH hates to waste money if they are going to be boarding earlier anyways.