Never flown Southwest. What is early check in?

[Dotsie]

I see on the boards people asking about early check in and paying for it. We're flying SW in 3 weeks for our trip to the World . We have 3 kids and need to all sit together. How do I make that happen. TIA

 

[Jestocost]

Southwest does not have assigned seats and you board in order based on a number assigned at check in. Passengers with medical pre-board clearance and unaccompanied minors board first, then A1-A15 board next with those numbers reserved for elite frequent flyers and passengers who have purchased a higher-priced Business Select ticket. Then, A16-A60 board followed by families with children ages four or under. After that, B1-B60 board followed by anyone in the C group.

If you do not use EBCI, you can check in online starting 24 hours before your flight to get your boarding number assigned. Generally, that will get you in the A group and even if you get numbers in the B group you typically can find seats together. In your case, a B pass could mean that you'd have to split up into a group of two and a group of three, but wouldn't mean that your kids would have to sit alone.

If you use EBCI, however, Southwest will check you in automatically 36 hours prior to your flight time. While that will not guarantee an A boarding pass, I have only read one report of a passenger using EBCI getting a B pass and that was for a flight originating out of Chicago Midway, where SWA does a lot of flight connections.

 

[goofy4tink]

The other thing to remember with early bird checkin is that SW checks people in, at that 36 hr mark, in the order that they booked. So, basically, those who bought tickets and paid for EBCI back in Oct will get lower boarding numbers than someone who reserved and paid for EBCI 2 weeks ago. Usually that isn't an issue. But if you are going at a busy time of year, it may put you towards the end of the A grouping.

 

[disneyag]

Just make sure you are online to check in at exactly 24 hours. Even if you get B boarding passes, you should be able to sit together. A few weeks ago, our family of 4 flew to Denver for Spring Break. The plane was over sold, we had B10, 11, 12, 13 and still managed to sit together.

 

[papertraveller]

This is really helpful, thanks everyone. We also are new Southwest customers. Just paid for early bird check-in for October, so we should be in decent shape for boarding. The prospect of sitting alone (even if it's highly unlikely) would make DD apoplectic!

 

[Hannathy]

This is really helpful, thanks everyone. We also are new Southwest customers. Just paid for early bird check-in for October, so we should be in decent shape for boarding. The prospect of sitting alone (even if it's highly unlikely) would make DD apoplectic!

You should always prepare everyone that they may be sitting alone. It does happen and it happens on all airlines. You never know when there will be "weather" as the airlines say or equipment failure that planes need switched and suddenly the plane is 3/4 filled with folks connecting when you board.

 

[v.t.]

What about the second flight? We will be making a connection that is only 35 minutes so I doubt we would have an early group. Is there anyway we can get seating together?

 

[Jestocost]

What about the second flight? We will be making a connection that is only 35 minutes so I doubt we would have an early group. Is there anyway we can get seating together?

You'll actually get checked in for your second flight when you check in for your first flight, so you probably will get a low boarding number. The tricky part is that you may not be able to get to the gate in time to board in your proper place. I'm guessing that each gate agent handles your situation differently, which makes it a little hard to figure exactly what will happen if you arrive with A passes and the Bs are boarding.

 

[v.t.]

You'll actually get checked in for your second flight when you check in for your first flight, so you probably will get a low boarding number. The tricky part is that you may not be able to get to the gate in time to board in your proper place. I'm guessing that each gate agent handles your situation differently, which makes it a little hard to figure exactly what will happen if you arrive with A passes and the Bs are boarding.

Thanks!