Newbie Southwest Question, please help

[js]

Hi.
I have my dd's boyfriend booked on a Southwest flight on January 2 from FLL to BWI.
It is a non-stop flight. The day of his flight is the day we disembark from a cruise.
I am use to flying United an JetBlue where we have a seat assignment. I see he does not,
nor could I choose one, I think.

I was reading on here about doing the $12 online check in now. Should I do this for him?
What is the benefit. It does not matter if he boards last but it will certainly matter to me, since
I booked him and paid for this fight, that he has a seat to go home.

If the $12 helps, I will most certainly pay it.

Thank you my dis know it alls!

 

[anonymousegirl]

By doing the $12.50 Early bird check in (EBCI), Southwest will check him in at the 36 hour mark, instead of him doing it at the 24 hour mark. This will get him an earlier boarding position which should give him his preference of an aisle or window nearer the front of the plane. He will still need to print his boarding pass on the ship at the 24 hour mark, or at the airport.
Southwest boards in this order: preboards and medicals, then A group, then (sometimes family boarding for families with very small children), then B group then C group. Your DD's boyfriend should be in the A group, but could be in the B group depending on how many people bought EBCI before him.

 

[leebee]

Southwest doesn't assign seats; they give you a boarding priority when you check in. They board in three separate groups: A, B, and C. There are 60 available slots in each boarding group, and your boarding pass will tell you specifically where you need to stand in line for boarding the plane. In real life, this means that A-1 is the very first person to board, and C-60 is the very last person. Once you are on the plane, you have your choice of any seat that is unoccupied. The earlier you check in, the higher (closer to A-1) your boarding position will be.

The $12 is known as Early Bird Check In (and it's $12.50). It means that Southwest automatically checks him in and assigns him a boarding priority at 36 hours pre-flight. He will in all likelihood be in the A boarding group (or possibly early-B) and pretty much have his choice of a window, aisle, or center seat. Otherwise, someone will have to check him in at 24 hours pre-flight, or any time up to about an hour before the flight departs. He could even check himself in at the airport on the day of his flight. HOWEVER... the earlier he checks in, the closer to the front of the line he'll be for his boarding priority assignment. If he really doesn't care where he sits (as in, if he really doesn't care if he's squished into a middle seat between two strangers), then when he checks in doesn't matter. If he wants a window or aisle seat, I'd do online check in as soon as the 24 hour window opens (so if his flight is at 11am on a Friday, you'd check him in online at 11am on Thursday- the day before). However, it sounds like you'll be at sea the day before his flight departs. Unless you know for sure that you are going to have good internet access to check him in (or you can trust him to do it for himself), I'd pay the $12.50 for EBCI and not worry about it!

 

[js]

By doing the $12.50 Early bird check in (EBCI), Southwest will check him in at the 36 hour mark, instead of him doing it at the 24 hour mark. This will get him an earlier boarding position which should give him his preference of an aisle or window nearer the front of the plane. He will still need to print his boarding pass on the ship at the 24 hour mark, or at the airport.
Southwest boards in this order: preboards and medicals, then A group, then (sometimes family boarding for families with very small children), then B group then C group. Your DD's boyfriend should be in the A group, but could be in the B group depending on how many people bought EBCI before him.

Southwest doesn't assign seats; they give you a boarding priority when you check in. They board in three separate groups: A, B, and C. There are 60 available slots in each boarding group, and your boarding pass will tell you specifically where you need to stand in line for boarding the plane. In real life, this means that A-1 is the very first person to board, and C-60 is the very last person. Once you are on the plane, you have your choice of any seat that is unoccupied. The earlier you check in, the higher (closer to A-1) your boarding position will be.

The $12 is known as Early Bird Check In (and it's $12.50). It means that Southwest automatically checks him in and assigns him a boarding priority at 36 hours pre-flight. He will in all likelihood be in the A boarding group (or possibly early-B) and pretty much have his choice of a window, aisle, or center seat. Otherwise, someone will have to check him in at 24 hours pre-flight, or any time up to about an hour before the flight departs. He could even check himself in at the airport on the day of his flight. HOWEVER... the earlier he checks in, the closer to the front of the line he'll be for his boarding priority assignment. If he really doesn't care where he sits (as in, if he really doesn't care if he's squished into a middle seat between two strangers), then when he checks in doesn't matter. If he wants a window or aisle seat, I'd do online check in as soon as the 24 hour window opens (so if his flight is at 11am on a Friday, you'd check him in online at 11am on Thursday- the day before). However, it sounds like you'll be at sea the day before his flight departs. Unless you know for sure that you are going to have good internet access to check him in (or you can trust him to do it for himself), I'd pay the $12.50 for EBCI and not worry about it!

Thank you both very much! Will do it now. I knew the only people I could ask are the dis'ers

 

[Gracie09]

If he is flying alone i Wouldn't bother.

 

[SteveMouse]

I probably would in this case- you would likely incur an expense to check in manually 24 hours before the flight (you'll be out of the US cellular range and would either need to use the ship's internet or some other solution to check in.

Port Everglades is about 15 minutes from the Fort Lauderdale Airport- do make sure his flight is late enough to have an easy transistion.