?'s about SW Early Bird

[Mckys#1Fan]

I(female) will be traveling with my DS8. From BHM to MCO.....Our flight is at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning.

Is the early bird check-in necessary to get to sit with each other?

How popular is this check in?

Is there any way to find out if the plane will be empty when we board or if it already has passengers on board?

I don't mind paying the extra $20.00... but if it is not necessary then we will spend that $20.00 at Disney.

I am definitely going to add Early Bird for our return flight just so I don't have to leave the parks to go check in at the 24 hour mark.

 

[DebbieB]

I(female) will be traveling with my DS8. From BHM to MCO.....Our flight is at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning.

Is the early bird check-in necessary to get to sit with each other?

How popular is this check in?

Is there any way to find out if the plane will be empty when we board or if it already has passengers on board?

I don't mind paying the extra $20.00... but if it is not necessary then we will spend that $20.00 at Disney.

I am definitely going to add Early Bird for our return flight just so I don't have to leave the parks to go check in at the 24 hour mark.

If it's 6:30am, it will be empty when you board. It's too early for it to come in from another city with passengers on board.

For your return, you can check-in at the park, just go to guest relations. I've done it at City Hall at MK.

 

[Mckys#1Fan]

Our return flight is also on a Saturday... We leave MCO at 3:35...

Will the early Bird check-in be necessary at that time?

 

[Jestocost]

Our return flight is also on a Saturday... We leave MCO at 3:35...

Will the early Bird check-in be necessary at that time?

Necessary? No. Checking in at 24 hours almost certainly will allow you to board early enough to find two seats together.

The bigger issue for return flights IMO is the challenge of having to remember to do the check in at the 24-hour mark and then arranging to do so. That means using your Web-enabled cell phone or other mobile device (at mobile.southwest.com), being at a resort and going to the front desk, or getting it done at a guest relations location in one of the parks or at DTD. You'll have to have your confirmation number to do it any of those ways and also have ID if you want a Disney CM to do it for you. Another option is to arrange in advance for a trusted (100 percent reliable) friend or relative do it from their computer.

You can skip all of that with EBCI and, for me, it would be worth the $20.

 

[mdsd8700]

We fly SW 95% of the time and have never used the early bird check in since it has been offered. As long as we check in exactly 24 hours prior we always get seats together and we are a family of 4. Out of all our flights I think we only had B once. Even with the B boarding we had no problem sitting together. I am sure if you call SW they will tell you if it is a direct flight (which means there could be people on it from a previous flight) or a non-stop flight.


Not sure if you have a phone with internet access but if you do I am sure there is a way you can check in via your phone for SW. My husband has a Blackberry and has been able to do this for years. He just sets an alarm and if we are in a park or eating he knows that it is time to check in with the airlines. Works like a charm. I am sure many of the new sophisticated phones must have an app or download that will allow you to do this.

Enjoy your trip!