RAC - how early?

[leadfootlevi]

Our flight leaves MCO at 8:55 PM. Can we do RAC the day before? If not, how early in the morning can we do RAC - 5:00 AM?

Southwest is a participating airline now, correct?

 

[tinka-belle]

RAC is open 5am to 1pm, cannot check in the day before, must be checked in no less than 3 hours prior to your flight for domestic flights, 4 hours for international. For an 8:55pm flight, check in before the desk closes at 1pm. Yes, SW now participates.

 

[goofy4tink]

You can't do it the day before. The RAC counter closes, for the day, at 1pm-ish. That is waaaaay more than the 12 hr window the airlines give you for checking your bags.
For an 8:55pm flight time, get down to the RAC counter whenever you wish to in the morning. If you want to be there by 5am, it should take about 10 mins to get checked in.

When flying home on SW, I usually buy the EBCI just so I don't have to worry about checking myself in. I can just go to the RAC counter that morning, check my bags, they print out my boarding pass and I'm good to go for the day.

 

[backyardponder]

I think the OP has a morning flight. OP: Please let us know.

 

[goofy4tink]

Umm, I do believe it says pm there...at least that's what my old eyes see.
IF it were an 8:55am flight, then they have until about 5:30 to get their business done. They would have to have their bags checked, boarding passes in hand, no later than 8:50. And, if they are using DME, it would need to be done sooner since their pickup time would be between 5:40 and 6:10.

 

[leadfootlevi]

You can't do it the day before. The RAC counter closes, for the day, at 1pm-ish. That is waaaaay more than the 12 hr window the airlines give you for checking your bags.
For an 8:55pm flight time, get down to the RAC counter whenever you wish to in the morning. If you want to be there by 5am, it should take about 10 mins to get checked in.

When flying home on SW, I usually buy the EBCI just so I don't have to worry about checking myself in. I can just go to the RAC counter that morning, check my bags, they print out my boarding pass and I'm good to go for the day.

It is a PM flight.

If I don't have EBCI, can I do online check-in and still have RAC print boarding passes and check our bags?

Thanks!

 

[tinka-belle]

Yes, sometimes RAC checks you in 24 hours prior, but since they won't be open you can do it yourself and have them print the boarding cards.

This gets messed up with any other airlines, checking in on your own seems to lock RAC out of the system. But I don't think SW is one that locks you out.
Other posters please chime in here!

 

[backyardponder]

Since your flight is in the evening, you can check in on line the evening before (24 hours or less) and then check your bags at RAC anytime before they close at 1PM. Since resort checkout is typically 11AM, then that would be a good time to check your bags.

I think you are confusing checking in to print boarding passes with checking bags, which are separate.

If you don't have a laptop with you, you can check in at the concierge at any resort or at guest services at the park or at DTD. If you have a laptop, you can do it yourself. You don't need to print the boarding pass...RAC can do that for you or you can do it at the airport.

On checking in at the 24 hour mark, I never worry about it. We don't mind sitting separately on the plane.

 

[goofy4tink]

If you checkin at the 24 hr mark, you should be fine. You don't have to worry about not having a printer handy. When you do the RAC checkin, they will print out your boarding passes after your bags have been checked in.

I think of it this way...when flying SW anyway. If I were to checkin, for my flight, at the 24 hr mark, but didn't have a printer, it would be fine. I could go to a kiosk at the airport, when I arrived there for my flight, and could then print out the boarding pass, and then head off and check my luggage. I think of it as the same thing as doing it at my resort, with RAC. But, like I said..now I just buy EBCI.

 

[Carina]

What's RAC?

 

[goofy4tink]

What's RAC?

Remote Airline Checkin. Think of it as curbside checkin but the curb is at the WDW resorts. You can head down to the RAC counter, between 5am and 1pm, check your bags and get your boarding passes issued. BUT..you must be flying out on a participating airline. There is a sticky at the top of the board that explains the whole participating airline thing.

You must be walking away from the RAC counter no less than 3 hrs prior to your flight departure. This means that if you have a flight before 8:30am, you are not going to be able to use RAC.