Question about printing SW boarding passes...

[Jakesmom504]

Hi everyone, we leave in 5 days and I have a somewhat stupid question about the boarding passes. Do you go online at exactly 24 hours before your flight time? I read awhile back and unfortunately can't find it that SW headquarters are in the midwest so you go by their time, adding or subtracting an hour based on where you are flying out of. Is this true or is it based on when you are scheduled to take off? I also just read on another thread that a woman checked in one minute past her 24 hour mark and got B section, I guess that's why I was wondering about the time difference too.

Also how does check-in work? Do you just enter your Confirmation #, and all parties come up together? We have 6 and I booked them all together at the same time. Even if all 6 of us can't sit together, I want to be sure we are at least in groups of 3. My DS is 4, and I'm terrified of flying so I definitely want the 3 of us sitting together.

Thanks for any info you can give me. I'm really sorry if I sound stupid, never done this before and we leave Sat., just don't want to screw anything up!

 

[Jestocost]

It's 24 hours in advance of the scheduled flight departure based on the local time of the airport where you are departing from. You'll need to enter the confirmation number and name of one of the travelers, then you should see the entire party listed. Just check them all and click the button to check in. That's it. (If you're on a Mac or an iPhone and using the Safari browser you may not be able to check all of the boxes and check in everyone at once, but that's not an issue for most people.)

What can happen to cause you to get a high A or even a B right at 24-hours is if there are a lot of people flying in to your originating airport and switching on to your flight from other SWA flights. Those people can check in for their first flight AND their second flight (your flight) 24 hours in advance of their first flight, so they have a head start. This usually isn't a huge problem, but it can be in certain airports where there are a lot of people switching from one SWA flight to another.

Really, though, even with a middle B boarding number we've never had a problem getting four seats together (three on on side of the aisle and one across) and there were plenty of full rows available.

 

[Jakesmom504]

Ok good, at least I feel like I have somewhat of a headsup now and won't panic if I do get B. I feel much better. Thank you so much for all of the info!