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

[DrFacilier]

I'm in the same boat and yes it stinks but I can't get prices even close to what SW offers even after factoring in EBCI.

I hear ya. SW pricing is usually the best we can find at our local airport even after EBCI. I just hate that it's always going to be an extra $200 instead of $120 from now on. Oh well.

 

[BlueFairy]

I did this yesterday to recoup some points. I was told that if you change flights instead of cancelling and rebooking you should have the same confirmation number and will not lose EBCI. I recommend doing it over the phone just to make sure.

Ok. That's really good to know. But if I do lose ECBI, then is it refundable?

 

[DrFacilier]

Ok. That's really good to know. But if I do lose ECBI, then is it refundable?

I'm pretty sure I saw that it is non-refundable. As I said your best bet is to do it over the phone so you don't lose it by accident.

 

[shoreward]

Ok. That's really good to know. But if I do lose ECBI, then is it refundable?

If you "change" a reservation, the EBCI remains with the new flights. If you "cancel," the value of EBCI is lost and non-refundable.

 

[jenseib]

So I booked our fare from BDL to MCO for April 3. The fare was the nest price I've seen in April in a LONG time…$111/pp. I hesitated for about a second when I saw that they are now charging us $25 pp for EBCI. However, I ended up adding it for all of us because it still brought the fare totals to $136, which is much less than we usually pay for just the fare.

It'll be interesting to see what we get for our flights home when those open up. I think the fact that Easter is much later in 2019 and our Spring Break stays the second week in April is really helping us out!

Whoa!! I missed this...They went from 15 to 25? When? I just flew them last month and it was 15.

 

[DrFacilier]

Whoa!! I missed this...They went from 15 to 25? When? I just flew them last month and it was 15.

I was lucky enough to hear it on a podcast and booked EBCI for 15 the day before they went to the new pricing structure. We have flights in March that we booked yesterday and will have to pay $25 for the same route.

 

[buzzrelly]

Whoa!! I missed this...They went from 15 to 25? When? I just flew them last month and it was 15.

This is literally JUST happening. The change went into effect this week. And it’s not always 25...I think it ranges from 15-25 depending on the route and the popularity of the flight. I guess CT to Orlando over April break is popular, so we have to pay the most

 

[DrFacilier]

This is literally JUST happening. The change went into effect this week. And it’s not always 25...I think it ranges from 15-25 depending on the route and the popularity of the flight. I guess CT to Orlando over April break is popular, so we have to pay the most

$25 from PVD to MCO too but we are also going during spring break time. It would be great if we didn’t have to pay $25 all the time but time will tell.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

EBCI for my MDW to MCO flights went up to $20 each way. HTH someone

 

[darly2004]

We have 3, 8, and 11 year olds with us for our trip in March. Should we be worried that we won't be able to board together during family boarding in March? When we have flown before, they have always let us board together. If we do get to board for family boarding, are the chances of us sitting together pretty high? We are okay if we are separated into groups of 2 and 3. Our kids, even the older ones, will not be okay if not sitting next to one of us. If we purchase EBCI now (our flight was just released 2 day ago, I think), what group would we likely get, A or B? I don't really want to spend money if we are going to end up in B group anyway.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We have 3, 8, and 11 year olds with us for our trip in March. Should we be worried that we won't be able to board together during family boarding in March? When we have flown before, they have always let us board together. If we do get to board for family boarding, are the chances of us sitting together pretty high? We are okay if we are separated into groups of 2 and 3. Our kids, even the older ones, will not be okay if not sitting next to one of us. If we purchase EBCI now (our flight was just released 2 day ago, I think), what group would we likely get, A or B? I don't really want to spend money if we are going to end up in B group anyway.

Per the Southwest website, Family Boarding is for 1 adult + 1 child 6 and under. The rest of the family should board with their boarding group. I would recommend purchasing EBCI for 1 adult plus the 8 and 11yo ASAP. The sooner you purchase the better the boarding number you will receive.

There really is no way to tell if you will get As or Bs but reality is the earlier you purchase the better.

I wish SW would start enforcing the family boarding based on what is published on their website. They have each child’s age associated to their ticket. It would be easy for them to create 2 family boarding passes (1A, 1C) for each child 6 and under. In cases where a parent may be flying with 2 children (1 older than 6) they could be issued a special pass.

I was frustrated last week when a family on our flight had one (tall) 6 yo and boarding with that child was both of his parents plus his 3 teen siblings. Until SW starts to enforce their family boarding or comes up with a better method, people are going to continue to abuse it because they can!

 

[LMHB]

I do think that the gate agents have complete discretion when deciding which groups are allowed with family or early boarding. We never pay for ED and just check in at 24 hours. On a recent trip to CA, the gate agent was joking around with everyone and after calling for families and military announced "and anyone with a pink bag!"....I happened to be carrying a pink bag and my husband nudged me up there. The gate agent was serious! I said "really" and he said "sure!" so I got to board early....but I insisted that the military guy go before me....and then he insisted that I go before him and he wouldn't budge. All in all a fun and friendly flight for me! It was a lucky pink bag!

 

[captaindavidhook]

Just want to give everyone a heads up. When Early April dates came out a lot of flights from philly to Orlando were sold out for some reason. Now they have changed and there are openings. I changed my flight again to my desired date. Happy it changed but wondering why there were 15 flights sold out from 5 am to 9 am on opening. Doesn't make sense but thought I give you all a heads up.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Just want to give everyone a heads up. When Early April dates came out a lot of flights from philly to Orlando were sold out for some reason. Now they have changed and there are openings. I changed my flight again to my desired date. Happy it changed but wondering why there were 15 flights sold out from 5 am to 9 am on opening. Doesn't make sense but thought I give you all a heads up.

SW doesn’t open all routes at the same time the day new dates are added. Your experience seems similar to what many shared here.

Sounds like they might have opened up routes without opening all available price structures at the same time but have since added them.

Glad you were able to switch to what you wanted. Hopefully others are having success too!

 

[captaindavidhook]

SW doesn’t open all routes at the same time the day new dates are added. Your experience seems similar to what many shared here.

Sounds like they might have opened up routes without opening all available price structures at the same time but have since added them.

Glad you were able to switch to what you wanted. Hopefully others are having success too!

Its truly frustrating that this happens. Something interstign I would like to share, the 630 flight I booked cost$107, then I look last night and it was already moved to $127. Wow what a joke.

Also another thing that I am peeved about. My flight cost $87 and there is a 20 dollar tax fee. Well I have vouchers, and I cannot use them for the taxes only the 87 dollars. I was ready to lose it when I told the agent that. I am not sure whats going on with sw lately but I am getting plenty angry.

 

[shoreward]

Its truly frustrating that this happens. Something interstign I would like to share, the 630 flight I booked cost$107, then I look last night and it was already moved to $127. Wow what a joke.

Also another thing that I am peeved about. My flight cost $87 and there is a 20 dollar tax fee. Well I have vouchers, and I cannot use them for the taxes only the 87 dollars. I was ready to lose it when I told the agent that. I am not sure whats going on with sw lately but I am getting plenty angry.

The fare most likely increased since the time you booked, as there's only a fixed number of seats for each fare bucket - maybe 4-6 seats. So, each time the seats available for the lowest fare sell out, the next lowest fare is available for booking. That's why it's always good to check your flights, as a customer may have canceled a flight and opened up a lower-cost seat that you can take.

Also, the taxes and fees, usually $5.60 per person, per flight, are turned over to the government, not kept by Southwest. They are only a pass-through and don't make any profit on that portion of the fare. It used to be that the taxes and fees would be added on when actually booking a ticket and not be included in the quoted fare, but the government changed the regulations a few years back, so that the taxes and fees are included.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Also another thing that I am peeved about. My flight cost $87 and there is a 20 dollar tax fee. Well I have vouchers, and I cannot use them for the taxes only the 87 dollars. I was ready to lose it when I told the agent that. I am not sure whats going on with sw lately but I am getting plenty angry.

You're going to run into taxes everywhere. Have you flown before?

Just ran a random flight from my airport to LA and here is the blurb on the taxes that SWA gives me plain and clear:



Is the $20.00 comprised of just the 9/11 fees? If so don't get mad at SWA. That's something the Federal Government requires and everyone pays that including those flying on Companion Passes, those flying on RR Pts redemptions, etc.

 

[captaindavidhook]

You're going to run into taxes everywhere. Have you flown before?

Just ran a random flight from my airport to LA and here is the blurb on the taxes that SWA gives me plain and clear:

View attachment 348031

Is the $20.00 comprised of just the 9/11 fees? If so don't get mad at SWA. That's something the Federal Government requires and everyone pays that including those flying on Companion Passes, those flying on RR Pts redemptions, etc.

yes I have flown before. My complaint is not about the taxes so much but why cant I use the voucher to pay for the flight plus the tax. Flight was listed at $107. I have no problem with that but 20 of that is taxes and they say you cannot use voucher on entire $107. Taxes must be paid separately. That is what my beef is.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

yes I have flown before. My complaint is not about the taxes so much but why cant I use the voucher to pay for the flight plus the tax. Flight was listed at $107. I have no problem with that but 20 of that is taxes and they say you cannot use voucher on entire $107. Taxes must be paid separately. That is what my beef is.

I can understand the frustration but is the $20.00 the September 11th Security Fee (often referred to as the 9/11 fee)?

Like I said everyone pays that and it's not the airlines requiring it, it's the Federal Government. It doesn't go to the airlines at all. It goes to TSA (and I'm totally not trying to open that can of worms lol just trying to say where the money goes to). According to TSA's website:

*Under the assumption this is the fee you're talking about. If it's another fee please advise.

 

[captaindavidhook]

I don't know where the fee comes from. They sw said it $20 in taxes. That's all I got. No clarification from any of the 3 agents I spoke with.