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

[CarlyMur09]

Got ours for $183 pp both ways (PIT-MCO). Had a bunch of travel credits, so only paid about 400 after it all (around $100 pp).

Gonna keep an eye on the next day's flight, as we're currently flying back Saturday night since Sunday's midmorning flights were higher than I wanted to spend.

 

[kenny]

those are still good prices! I was on right when released and from NH it was $321 down and $298 back....insanity

Yep. On as soon as it started and Long Island was $275 each way. Normally $150-$180

 

[buzzrelly]

After all that waiting, I ended up booking our flight home on Jet Blue in April for a couple reasons.

First, the SW flights from MCO to BDL are super limited...we had a choice of coming home at 9am which wouldn't work because we'll be getting off the WISH, or 8:30pm getting us home at 11:30pm.

And second, the price was more than Jet Blue's price which is crazy.

Did anyone else hear that SW is doing away with the EBCI altogether? That came up on my DFB socials yesterday, but I'm not sure if it was old news? I hadn't heard that before. But honestly, that's just another reason I'm kinda over SW. The boarding was tolerable if you could purchase EBCI and have a decent boarding number but if they are doing away with that I don't think I'll be booking too many SW flights anymore.

 

[Doug7856]

After all that waiting, I ended up booking our flight home on Jet Blue in April for a couple reasons.

First, the SW flights from MCO to BDL are super limited...we had a choice of coming home at 9am which wouldn't work because we'll be getting off the WISH, or 8:30pm getting us home at 11:30pm.

And second, the price was more than Jet Blue's price which is crazy.

Did anyone else hear that SW is doing away with the EBCI altogether? That came up on my DFB socials yesterday, but I'm not sure if it was old news? I hadn't heard that before. But honestly, that's just another reason I'm kinda over SW. The boarding was tolerable if you could purchase EBCI and have a decent boarding number but if they are doing away with that I don't think I'll be booking too many SW flights anymore.

I haven't heard of a plan to eliminate EBCI, but it appears that they will limit it and I suspect that will improve it. I can't imagine Southwest walking away from the review generated by EBCI.

I've been a longtime fan of Southwest since they came to BWI and they are now the dominate airline there. The flight frequency is great, but the price of their near monopoly at BWI has me looking for alternatives. I haven't purchased an alternative yet, but at some point it's inevitable.

 

[buzzrelly]

I haven't heard of a plan to eliminate EBCI, but it appears that they will limit it and I suspect that will improve it. I can't imagine Southwest walking away from the review generated by EBCI.

Yeah, DFB loves to do those click-bait titles and I was at work when I saw it so I didn't really have time and skimmed the article quickly.

I've been a longtime fan of Southwest since they came to BWI and they are now the dominate airline there. The flight frequency is great, but the price of their near monopoly at BWI has me looking for alternatives.

I used to love SW but even before 2020, they were cutting back on their BDL-MCO-BDL flights. We used to have some mid-afternoon flights home but that hasn't been the case for years now. Jet Blue has more options, a better boarding process, and a way better terminal at MCO. I'm thinking of switching to a Jet Blue rewards card and getting rid of SW.

 

[Tink3815]

Southwest’s strategy seems to be open with high fares, see who buys and then run sales on specific flights that are not selling well. Dis people know how to check for fare reductions, but I don’t think most of the public does. We want the morning non-stop so I will book on opening day. Very rarely do these go down in price.

 

[Neener16]

After all that waiting, I ended up booking our flight home on Jet Blue in April for a couple reasons.

First, the SW flights from MCO to BDL are super limited...we had a choice of coming home at 9am which wouldn't work because we'll be getting off the WISH, or 8:30pm getting us home at 11:30pm.

And second, the price was more than Jet Blue's price which is crazy.

Did anyone else hear that SW is doing away with the EBCI altogether? That came up on my DFB socials yesterday, but I'm not sure if it was old news? I hadn't heard that before. But honestly, that's just another reason I'm kinda over SW. The boarding was tolerable if you could purchase EBCI and have a decent boarding number but if they are doing away with that I don't think I'll be booking too many SW flights anymore.

I definitely agree with you on the limited SW flights from BDL. We only do nonstop and the choices are first thing in the morning and late at night. Maybe the prices changed from yesterday, but when I just checked the JetBlue site, the one way nonstop started at $457. Southwest wasn’t that much yesterday. My last trip I took Southwest down to MCO and JetBlue back. I like the flexibility of SW and the ability to get points or money back if the price goes down. The lack of nonstop flights at convenient times might eventually get me away from SW, but I’m not quite there yet. Leaving on that 6 am flight to MCO and returning on the 8:50 pm flight with an infant may convince me it’s not worth it, however. Edit: Sorry, I just noticed a 9 am nonstop for $299, my mistake. I would never take a first flight in the morning home since you basically wasted the whole day.

 

[winnieofpooh]

Super high pricing from BWI.

Just looked to book our flights out of BWI in May. No WGA fares for the way down, so hopefully they post those in the coming days and it's not already sold out! RT would be $975 for one person!! I expected to pay more because we're traveling around MDW, but that's absolutely absurd. It's more than a 50% increase on the regular price.

 

[Doug7856]

Just looked to book our flights out of BWI in May. No WGA fares for the way down, so hopefully they post those in the coming days and it's not already sold out! RT would be $975 for one person!! I expected to pay more because we're traveling around MDW, but that's absolutely absurd. It's more than a 50% increase on the regular price.

I'm very tempted to drive to Wilmington, DE and fly on Avelo to any Florida city. The difference in price is shocking.

 

[Bibbidi Bobbidi]

Does every person purchasing an Anytime fare at least 36 hours in advance receive a better boarding position than every person who purchases EBCI?

Example:
Person A purchases a Wanna Get Away+ fare and adds EBIC on the day fares are released.
Person B purchases an Anytime fare 3 days before the flight.
Will Person B always have a better boarding position than Person A?

 

[focusondisney]

Does every person purchasing an Anytime fare at least 36 hours in advance receive a better boarding position than every person who purchases EBCI?

Example:
Person A purchases a Wanna Get Away+ fare and adds EBIC on the day fares are released.
Person B purchases an Anytime fare 3 days before the flight.
Will Person B always have a better boarding position than Person A?

Yes, that is my understanding anyway. You are checked in by fare class & then time of purchase. So everyone with Business Select gets checked in in order of purchase, then all Anytime tickets in order of purchase, WGA+ etc. I *think* A List & A List Preferred plus anyone on their same reservation are checked in before Anytime fares. Also, if anyone has a Companion Pass passenger flying with them, the Companion is checked in right after they are. From the SW website:

“Priority boarding privileges are already included with the purchase of Business Select® fares and are a benefit of being a Rapid Rewards® A-List Preferred or A-List Member or a Passenger on a reservation that includes an A-List Preferred or A-List Member.

Is there an order in which EarlyBird Check-In boarding positions are reserved?

Yes. Customers who have purchased Anytime fares receive priority over Customers who purchase EarlyBird Check-In with Wanna Get Away Plus and Wanna Get Away fares. If EarlyBird Check-In is available, customers who purchase EarlyBird Check-In with Wanna Get Away Plus receive priority over Customers who purchase EarlyBird Check-In with Wanna Get Away fares. Boarding positions are assigned based on the time stamp of the EarlyBird Check-In purchase relative to Passengers within the same fare product.”

 

[Bibbidi Bobbidi]

Yes, that is my understanding anyway. You are checked in by fare class & then time of purchase. So everyone with Business Select gets checked in in order of purchase, then all Anytime tickets in order of purchase, WGA+ etc. I *think* A List & A List Preferred plus anyone on their same reservation are checked in before Anytime fares. Also, if anyone has a Companion Pass passenger flying with them, the Companion is checked in right after they are. From the SW website:

“Priority boarding privileges are already included with the purchase of Business Select® fares and are a benefit of being a Rapid Rewards® A-List Preferred or A-List Member or a Passenger on a reservation that includes an A-List Preferred or A-List Member.

Is there an order in which EarlyBird Check-In boarding positions are reserved?

Yes. Customers who have purchased Anytime fares receive priority over Customers who purchase EarlyBird Check-In with Wanna Get Away Plus and Wanna Get Away fares. If EarlyBird Check-In is available, customers who purchase EarlyBird Check-In with Wanna Get Away Plus receive priority over Customers who purchase EarlyBird Check-In with Wanna Get Away fares. Boarding positions are assigned based on the time stamp of the EarlyBird Check-In purchase relative to Passengers within the same fare product.”

Thank you! Great clarification. I couldn't find that. It makes a good case for purchasing Wanna Get Away+. The fare often isn't too much higher than Wanna Get Away, and even though you still pay for EBCI you have a much better chance of getting an A group. Family boarding, especially to and from MCO has been ridiculous on our past several trips.

I've gone pretty far back in this thread and I don't see any reports of anyone with WGA+ and EBCI not getting A group. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[disneylover81]

Thank you! Great clarification. I couldn't find that. It makes a good case for purchasing Wanna Get Away+. The fare often isn't too much higher than Wanna Get Away, and even though you still pay for EBCI you have a much better chance of getting an A group. Family boarding, especially to and from MCO has been ridiculous on our past several trips.

I've gone pretty far back in this thread and I don't see any reports of anyone with WGA+ and EBCI not getting A group. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

My son recently booked a last minute trip to MCO on a SWA $99 sale, but I went ahead and I purchased $115 WGA+ for him and added EBCI and he got something like A30, which I thought was great. Since it was last minute, I didn’t want to buy just WGA and him be in a B group, but he didn’t want to spend the money on the Anytime so the in between WGA+ did him good.

 

[Bibbidi Bobbidi]

My son recently booked a last minute trip to MCO on a SWA $99 sale, but I went ahead and I purchased $115 WGA+ for him and added EBCI and he got something like A30, which I thought was great. Since it was last minute, I didn’t want to buy just WGA and him be in a B group, but he didn’t want to spend the money on the Anytime so the in between WGA+ did him good.

Thank you for sharing your son's experience. This is a good example of what I was looking for.

 

[LadybugsMum]

My son recently booked a last minute trip to MCO on a SWA $99 sale, but I went ahead and I purchased $115 WGA+ for him and added EBCI and he got something like A30, which I thought was great. Since it was last minute, I didn’t want to buy just WGA and him be in a B group, but he didn’t want to spend the money on the Anytime so the in between WGA+ did him good.

I am very glad to read this. I got us WGA+ fares for our trip in Nov and I was concerned that we’d still be in the late Bs. My twins are are too old for family boarding, but too young to sit by themselves.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I don't see any reports of anyone with WGA+ and EBCI not getting A group. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I wouldn't read that to mean that's how it is. It will always depend on how many people on the plane have higher priority. And observationally more people in recent months here on this thread seem to favor more Anytime Fares.

My husband is A-list. On our flight to Vegas day before Labor Day we were A25 and A26. Our flight back home several days later were A30 and A31.

You'll increase your odds but it will depend on how many people purchase WGA+ (and when) as well as the make up of the other passengers. There are 45 slots to be given out in the A group (1-15 are Business Select).

 

[disneylover81]

I wouldn't read that to mean that's how it is. It will always depend on how many people on the plane have higher priority. And observationally more people in recent months here on this thread seem to favor more Anytime Fares.

My husband is A-list. On our flight to Vegas day before Labor Day we were A25 and A26. Our flight back home several days later were A30 and A31.

You'll increase your odds but it will depend on how many people purchase WGA+ (and when) as well as the make up of the other passengers. There are 45 slots to be given out in the A group (1-15 are Business Select).

You’re right. I used to be strictly WGA with EBCI and we always had A group, but over the years kept getting closer and closer to A60 so now I only buy Anytime fares. Even a couple weeks ago for Labor Day weekend, with Anytime we got A31 and A32. I’ve also been known to upgrade to BS if I don’t like the A boarding position given. It’s the amount of preboards that get to me sometimes so I prefer to be as close to A1 as I can get. Just a personal preference though. Honestly I don’t know why I care so much where we board, as DH and I don’t have any small children anymore. Both of them are grown and out the house with kids of their own. But still I feel I have to be in A group.

I just booked our May 2024 flights Thursday on release day as soon as sales opened up and it crossed my mind to book WGA+ to save some RR points and just see what happens, but I just couldn’t talk myself into it. So I used up 10k more points for Anytime.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You’re right. I used to be strictly WGA with EBCI and we always had A group, but over the years kept getting closer and closer to A60 so now I only buy Anytime fares. Even a couple weeks ago for Labor Day weekend, with Anytime we got A31 and A32. I’ve also been known to upgrade to BS if I don’t like the A boarding position given. It’s the amount of preboards that get to me sometimes so I prefer to be as close to A1 as I can get. Just a personal preference though. Honestly I don’t know why I care so much where we board, as DH and I don’t have any small children anymore. Both of them are grown and out the house with kids of their own. But still I feel I have to be in A group.

I just booked our May 2024 flights Thursday on release day as soon as sales opened up and it crossed my mind to book WGA+ to save some RR points and just see what happens, but I just couldn’t talk myself into it. So I used up 10k more points for Anytime.

I totally get wanting to be in the A's even if you don't care where you sit, I mean we're like that too doesn't matter where we sit. I think it's about wanting to have more choices of where to sit that sort of feeling. Our flight to Vegas was actually a continuation flight of a prior flight so there were people on board when we boarded, the first non-stop this time around was nearly 9am compared to last year same time frame of being labor day and the first flight out was a 5am flight and we took that, was kinda cool being in Vegas as the sun was rising but very early too lol.

 

[Lsdolphin]

Have to move up in fare class. Someone that bought a WGA+ yesterday with EBCI would have been ahead of you. What is the route? Could there have been a number of connections?

I think you’re right I had the lowest fare…MCO to BWI direct flight. I still got a window seat near front of plane so I was . Flight had lots of turbulence so flight attendants were unable to complete the beverage service and believe it or not there was a woman who actually was loudly complaining about not getting her drink….when the plane landed they handed her a cup with a plastic top as she left plane and a few people who were there cheered for the flight attendant. it was a really rough flight but pilot had to alter flight path due to storm so we were a bit late but not much.

 

[Bibbidi Bobbidi]

Yes you can change it yourself. In your account, the reservation will display, click change reservation. There is a page to confirm passengers you want to change & which flight you want to change if you have a round trip. You just select the same date. All flights that day will display & it will tell you how much of an increase or decrease for each. Select the same flight if that’s still what you want. If you booked with points, they will go back to your account. If you paid cash & are eligible for a refund, you will get an option to return the refund to method of payment or travel funds.

If you find there isn’t a savings, you don’t have to complete any changes.

Thanks for walking me through this. I got almost $200 back. I am really bad about asking for price adjustments, refunds, things like that. I usually just let it go. This was so easy!