Post all SW questions concerns, etc. here...

[McManus]

Not happy with the increase in the Early Bird...$25.00 a person!

 

[McManus]

Not happy with the increase in the Early Bird...$25.00 a person

Sorry, already posted this.

 

[mom2missmous]

mine double-posted too ! sorry everyone!

 

[Iowamomof4]

It's been that way for awhile now (increased EB pricing). I factor it in, almost like a baggage fee would be on any other airline. If you paid less than $25/pp, consider yourself fortunate!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Not happy with the increase in the Early Bird...$25.00 a person

Sorry, already posted this.

As others have posted it's been that way for a while (don't remember the exact date but it's probably somewhere in this vast thread lol).

What SWA did is make it variable based on route, particular flight/demand. It can be $15-$25 PP but most often people have been paying $25 PP at least it would appear that way.

 

[momtwoboys]

not impressed with the prices so I will wait and see what Spirit has as my dates become closer. We are already booked with jetblue for our annual Spring trip. This is just an extra that I want to take end of june early july. I am not paying close to 300 for one person, nope.

 

[mom2missmous]

With early bird both ways we paid about $300 pp from Hartford to Orlando. Had hoped would be a little less (hoping also I didn't miss out by being a few minutes late!) but we have paid more! Did notice less choices than in past years- especially later return flights. either way, we are booked !

 

[scrappinginontario]

A sad day has come... booked our summer vacation which is my last "Family Boarding" ever as my younger daughter will turn 7 at the end of next summer... Hello $200 in EBCI expenses next time I book, lol! Luckily we don't ever pay for the flights due to points so this just means my flights will cost $200 RT instead of $0 RT,

Ah, I remember that sad day too. How come our kids have to grow up so fast??

We tend to buy EBCI only for our Orlando - Buffalo leg as I make it a priority the day before we go on vacation to check in right at the 24 hour mark. Saves us a little $$.

Last time I paid for the EBCI home and we were in the early A's for boarding. My DD walked by rows of empty seats to the area we often sit in when we don't have EBCI so that was $50 poof, gone but I'll still happily pay for it to allow us to sit together!

 

[jen7233]

A sad day has come... booked our summer vacation which is my last "Family Boarding" ever as my younger daughter will turn 7 at the end of next summer... Hello $200 in EBCI expenses next time I book, lol! Luckily we don't ever pay for the flights due to points so this just means my flights will cost $200 RT instead of $0 RT,

Yep, we do EBCI, even though my kids are older they are complicated on board in my opinion! They want to be with dad, lol, so I get a seat by myself!

 

[aokeefe]

Was able to book about an hour after release- PVD-MCO for end of July. I was actually surprised how many flight options there were for that time frame- JetBlue has decreased the number of options for that route during the summer and Southwest seemed to increase. Our EBCI was $25 pp. I just can't justify paying that. My kids are older so if we don't end up sitting together it's okay but in all the flights we always manage to get at least 2 and 2 seats- we even got 2nd row last trip.

 

[Reneedisnerd]

Six people from PHL to MCO was under 2300 to include the crazy 25 early bird fee for a mid to end of June flight. Sold... because it was still cheaper than American or United and those prices don’t include bags. I also don’t have to drive further to BWI to get the direct flights I wanted.

 

[shoreward]

Has anyone who booked flights that opened today checked the aircraft associated with their flights? One of my flights shows the MAX 8, though I really question the aircraft being certified as airworthy any time in the foreseeable future. When I noticed that flights to/from my home airport were cut back by Southwest, I assumed it was because the fleet was smaller due to the grounding of the MAX, but now I'm not so sure; it could be that route expansion is reallocating the aircraft.

 

[Music City Mama]

Has anyone who booked flights that opened today checked the aircraft associated with their flights? One of my flights shows the MAX 8, though I really question the aircraft being certified as airworthy any time in the foreseeable future. When I noticed that flights to/from my home airport were cut back by Southwest, I assumed it was because the fleet was smaller due to the grounding of the MAX, but now I'm not so sure; it could be that route expansion is reallocating the aircraft.

One of mine is a 737-800 and the other is a 737-700. I don't think either of these are MAX planes, but I don't know enough about all of that to say for sure. The disclaimer appeared to say something specifically about the MAX 8, so I don't think my aircrafts fall in this category.

 

[shoreward]

One of mine is a 737-800 and the other is a 737-700. I don't think either of these are MAX planes, but I don't know enough about all of that to say for sure. The disclaimer appeared to say something specifically about the MAX 8, so I don't think my aircrafts fall in this category.

Neither plane is the MAX 8, so you are in luck.

 

[L_MD]

Has anyone who booked flights that opened today checked the aircraft associated with their flights? One of my flights shows the MAX 8, though I really question the aircraft being certified as airworthy any time in the foreseeable future. When I noticed that flights to/from my home airport were cut back by Southwest, I assumed it was because the fleet was smaller due to the grounding of the MAX, but now I'm not so sure; it could be that route expansion is reallocating the aircraft.

Not in this release, but my flight that I booked returning on May 1st is scheduled to be on a MAX-8. I want to change, but the next flight would get me home around 1am and I don't want to deal with that. So, I'm a bit nervous!

 

[Iowamomof4]

I wanted to share my experience yesterday with booking flights with travel funds.

Dh and I had a trip in August 2019. Our flight price on one leg dropped 3 times for dh's ticket and 2 times for my ticket, so we had a bank of travel funds to use.

I booked 4 of us on a single reservation from Orlando to Omaha. I was able to apply my 2 travel funds and 2 of dh's 3 travel funds on this single reservation and then pay the remainder with a credit card. So yes, essentially I had 5 forms of payment since each traveler can have travel funds applied to their own ticket, however I was definitely only able to use 2 of dh's 3 travel funds because his funds weren't enough to cover the entire cost of his ticket. Hope all of that is making sense. Also, on my receipt (email confirmation), it shows that my ticket and dh's ticket both expire 5/23/20 (we used LUV vouchers to help pay for our August trip and those were issued on 5/24/19, so I'm sure that's where that date comes from), whereas the tickets for our kids show expiration dates of 12/10/20 (a year from last night's purchase).

I was subsequently able to use the remainder of dh's travel funds (a single credit) when I purchased his flight from Omaha to Orlando. His ticket funds will expire 5/23/20. I bought the rest of our tickets individually because I have hopes that the price could drop for one or more of us and I wanted the flexibility to take advantage of that if it happened.

Let me know if you have any questions. I'm going from memory, so if I've said something a little wrong I do apologize and welcome input and/or correction.

 

[shoreward]

Not in this release, but my flight that I booked returning on May 1st is scheduled to be on a MAX-8. I want to change, but the next flight would get me home around 1am and I don't want to deal with that. So, I'm a bit nervous!

I have a feeling that Southwest will not be flying the MAX 8 at that time. They currently have the MAX 8 grounded, till the beginning of March, and the FAA still has not declared the plane to be safe for flying.

You may just receive notice from Southwest in a month or two about a change to your flight.

 

[Iowamomof4]

I believe we have 24 hours to cancel a flight for a full refund after initial booking. Would I also get my EBCI back or is that money gone?

Edit: I think that money is gone. Looks like I have to make a decision between changing our flights vs. cancel and rebook. Since EBCI costs $25, I figure the flight needs to be more than $50 cheaper to make it worth canceling for a refund.

 

[focusondisney]

I know how boarding positions are assigned with early bird check in is a big topic around here so I wanted to post our experience from last week. I booked immediately on opening morning for my DH with points & added early bird immediately. I know the trick to check the low fare page & actually booked before the fares were showing up on the regular booking page.

I then went back in & added myself flying free as his companion. I booked my early bird at the same time. I also booked round trips so everything was booked all at the same time.

When I have done this before, we have always gotten As, usually 20s- 40s. So I was surprised when checked my husband in first & he got B3. I thought that was very strange because there was no way 45 people could possibly have bought EBCI before him. There just wasn’t. But I prepared myself mentally to get B4 or higher. I was shocked that I had A17! Even more shocked when I lined up for boarding & there was no one in A1-16! Yes, not just no one in 1-15, but no one was A16 either. I was the first person in general boarding & I was flying free as his companion! Our family members who did not purchase EBCI but checked themselves in at the 24 hour mark got B 17 & 18, just a few slots behind DH.

On our return flight, my DH was A17 & I was A20. This is pretty much what we normally experience when I book quickly on opening day. I have never gotten a number before his when I am booked as his companion. I am convinced some strange glitch happened with his check in on the first flight. And he should have been A16 which is why that slot was empty too. There is no way 45 people booked EBCI before him & less than 14 others did in all the months since i booked us on opening day.

 

[Crazyhorse]

I know how boarding positions are assigned with early bird check in is a big topic around here so I wanted to post our experience from last week. I booked immediately on opening morning for my DH with points & added early bird immediately. I know the trick to check the low fare page & actually booked before the fares were showing up on the regular booking page.

I then went back in & added myself flying free as his companion. I booked my early bird at the same time. I also booked round trips so everything was booked all at the same time.

When I have done this before, we have always gotten As, usually 20s- 40s. So I was surprised when checked my husband in first & he got B3. I thought that was very strange because there was no way 45 people could possibly have bought EBCI before him. There just wasn’t. But I prepared myself mentally to get B4 or higher. I was shocked that I had A17! Even more shocked when I lined up for boarding & there was no one in A1-16! Yes, not just no one in 1-15, but no one was A16 either. I was the first person in general boarding & I was flying free as his companion! Our family members who did not purchase EBCI but checked themselves in at the 24 hour mark got B 17 & 18, just a few slots behind DH.

On our return flight, my DH was A17 & I was A20. This is pretty much what we normally experience when I book quickly on opening day. I have never gotten a number before his when I am booked as his companion. I am convinced some strange glitch happened with his check in on the first flight. And he should have been A16 which is why that slot was empty too. There is no way 45 people booked EBCI before him & less than 14 others did in all the months since i booked us on opening day.

Keep in mind that those who purchase Business Select and even Anytime fares are highly likely to receive a better boarding position than Wanna Get Away fares. Who knows what algorithm SW uses to determine boarding slots but you can be sure that they are certainly going to reward those who spend the most on their tickets.