One quick Southwest question

[katsmeow07]

If I purchase Early Boarding, do I increase my odds of better seating if I do the 24 online checkin as well?

 

[Princess on the Run]

You can't do both. You either pay the $10 or check in at the 24 hr mark. By the time the 24 hr mark comes along, people who bought EBCI already have their boarding position assigned to them.

 

[chicharitta]

PP is correct the $10 you spent for Early Bird check in means you are automatically checked it at the 36 hour mark instead of having to do it yourself at 24 hours. On another note thanks for reminding me I need to pay for our EBCI!

 

[SaraJayne]

If I purchase Early Boarding, do I increase my odds of better seating if I do the 24 online checkin as well?

It is one or the other. If you purchase EBCI, you are automatically checked in at the 36 hour mark.

If you don't purchase EBCI, then you will need to check in at the 24 hour mark.

 

[Jestocost]

To be clear, if you have purchased EBCI you are automatically checked in at the 36-hour mark but you are not able to see your boarding assignment or print out your boarding passes until 24 hours before your flight. Even if you use EBCI you can go through the check-in process at the 24-hour mark in order to see your boarding number and print out your boarding passes, but you are not actually checking in at that time and going through the process at the 24-hour mark will have no impact on your boarding number one way or another.

 

[LiamandMaeve]

Thank you for your replies as I had the same question.

 

[Wild4Walt]

If you purchase EB you will definately have better seating - early bird is typically A group. I've logged in 24 hour to the minute and the lowest I have ever gotten is middle B group out of Chicago.

 

[helenk]

I just went to WDW the end of Sept, I booked my airfare in June and bought EBCI when I booked my flight. In July I booked airfare for my granddaughter and her other grandmom for the same flight and added the EBCI. When I checked in we were all in the A group going to and from Florida, however, oddly enough my boarding # was not the lowest, my grand-daughter had A22 going down and her other grand mom and I were A 44 and A45. Coming home it was just about the same. I would have thought that mine would have been the lowest since I booked first, but this was not the case.

 

[wdwfan1]

I just went to WDW the end of Sept, I booked my airfare in June and bought EBCI when I booked my flight. In July I booked airfare for my granddaughter and her other grandmom for the same flight and added the EBCI. When I checked in we were all in the A group going to and from Florida, however, oddly enough my boarding # was not the lowest, my grand-daughter had A22 going down and her other grand mom and I were A 44 and A45. Coming home it was just about the same. I would have thought that mine would have been the lowest since I booked first, but this was not the case.

Wow. I always thought the earlier you purchased EBCI the lower your number. That seems like the fair way to do it.

 

[dcfromva]

Wow. I always thought the earlier you purchased EBCI the lower your number. That seems like the fair way to do it.

You can also get an earlier boarding number if you paid for an anytime fare.

Is there an order in which EarlyBird Check-In Boarding Passes are reserved?

Yes. Customers who have purchased Anytime Fares will receive priority over other fare types that are assigned their position based on the time stamp of the EarlyBird Check-In purchase.

 

[helenk]

You can also get an earlier boarding number if you paid for an anytime fare.

All of ours were wanna get away fares, so I am not sure how the order was selected since I booked my flight aobut a month before the others

 

[francie57]

We bought wanna get away fares for our trip this past Aug. on the day they came out and bought early check-in at the same time. We had A18, 19, 20, 21 to MCO and A19, 20, 21, 22 on the way back. We have done the same thing for our trip in Jan. so hopefully we will get great numbers again. Love not having to be on a computer 24 hours out while on vacation.