??'s on printing boarding pass with SW Early Bird Checkin

[disneygrandma]

I purchased the Early Bird Checkin with SW, and now I'm looking for the link to print our boarding passes for our flight tomorrow. When I click on the "Online Checkin" button and fill in my name & confirmation #, it then says to click on "continue" and it will assign us a number. If I do that, will it show me I already have a boarding # assigned? Or will I get another #?

As you can tell, I not only don't fly often but I worry a lot. It seems to me in the past that there was a link to "Print boarding pass", and that's what I've been looking for.

I had received a confirmation email from SW that the Early Bird had been purchased, but I don't see a link there either.

Please help! I know many of you are thinking how silly & stupid this is, but also consider the fact that I'm technically challenged with things like this.

Thanks!

 

[1tufgt]

I purchased the Early Bird Checkin with SW, and now I'm looking for the link to print our boarding passes for our flight tomorrow. When I click on the "Online Checkin" button and fill in my name & confirmation #, it then says to click on "continue" and it will assign us a number. If I do that, will it show me I already have a boarding # assigned? Or will I get another #?

As you can tell, I not only don't fly often but I worry a lot. It seems to me in the past that there was a link to "Print boarding pass", and that's what I've been looking for.

I had received a confirmation email from SW that the Early Bird had been purchased, but I don't see a link there either.

Please help! I know many of you are thinking how silly & stupid this is, but also consider the fact that I'm technically challenged with things like this.

Thanks!

When did you purchase your EBCI?

Yes you just do as you explained and print your passes. Since you already did EBCI it will give you your boarding pass number that was assigned during EBCI.

 

[disneygrandma]

So are you saying to start the check-in procedure as if I didn't already do EBCI? And it will then give me our Boarding #'s?

The only other time I used EBCI was on a flight home, and then we just checked in at the ticket counter & got our boarding passes there. I hadn't planned on using EBCI on our flight down, but I haven't been feeling so great and when I didn't get any sleep on Sat night, I didn't want to worry about getting up before 6 AM today to check-in. I figured that getting some extra sleep today to feel better was worth the $20 we spent. So I went ahead & purchased EBCI yesterday. (before the 36 hr mark) I feel much better today, so yes, it was worth it. But now I just need to print the boarding passes.

 

[1tufgt]

So are you saying to start the check-in procedure as if I didn't already do EBCI? And it will then give me our Boarding #'s?

The only other time I used EBCI was on a flight home, and then we just checked in at the ticket counter & got our boarding passes there. I hadn't planned on using EBCI on our flight down, but I haven't been feeling so great and when I didn't get any sleep on Sat night, I didn't want to worry about getting up before 6 AM today to check-in. I figured that getting some extra sleep today to feel better was worth the $20 we spent. So I went ahead & purchased EBCI yesterday. (before the 36 hr mark) I feel much better today, so yes, it was worth it. But now I just need to print the boarding passes.

Yeah you just proceed with the typical check in procedure as if you didn't purchase EBCI. It will already assigned you boarding. Pass. Number since you did EBCI and print then print off the tickets or like you said print them off at the airport.

 

[corster]

So are you saying to start the check-in procedure as if I didn't already do EBCI? And it will then give me our Boarding #'s?

The only other time I used EBCI was on a flight home, and then we just checked in at the ticket counter & got our boarding passes there. I hadn't planned on using EBCI on our flight down, but I haven't been feeling so great and when I didn't get any sleep on Sat night, I didn't want to worry about getting up before 6 AM today to check-in. I figured that getting some extra sleep today to feel better was worth the $20 we spent. So I went ahead & purchased EBCI yesterday. (before the 36 hr mark) I feel much better today, so yes, it was worth it. But now I just need to print the boarding passes.

Yeah, just check in like you normally would and it will give you the boarding number reserved for you for using EBCI. Online, Kiosk, or in Person, doesn't matter, you'll get the number you paid for.

 

[ttfn3]

It will give you a confirmation number based on your EBCI. Just check in online, using your name and confirmation number. Then, you can print out your confirmation number. I agree that the message is confusing. I guess it's standard language for the checkin process on their website. If you paid for EBCI, the number was assigned to your confirmation number at the 36 hour mark. It states on their website: Boarding Passes are reserved based on the time stamp of your EarlyBird Check-In purchase.

 

[disneygrandma]

Thanks for all your help. I just printed them off. I knew before purchasing EBCI that our place in line would be based on the time we purchased. However, I didn't want to worry about it last night & thought we should get a better # than if I checked in at the 21 hour mark......but now I'm not so sure. We were given A 48 & A 49. We've never had such high #'s, and that's including when I checked in myself at 24 hrs before.

How do I know that SW actually assigned these #'s at the 36 hr mark? I purchased them around 3:30 PM yesterday for a 6AM flight tomorrow. (38 1/2 hrs before) Our #'s usually are in the A 20's. I hope we didn't just waste the $20 and then ended up with higher #'s than if I just checked in today at 22 hrs.

Is there anyway to find out if EBCI assigned our #'s, or if it was done when I just completed the checkin process now to print the boarding passes?

 

[kaytieeldr]

You could poll your fellow passengers in line... But it's more likely that more people are using EBCI now than the last time you flew.

It's also possible that 38.5 hours is too close to 36 hours for you to qualify for that check-in time and that instead you were checked in 25 hours prior to take-off, i.e. the 'second shift'.

 

[nkereina]

Thanks for all your help. I just printed them off. I knew before purchasing EBCI that our place in line would be based on the time we purchased. However, I didn't want to worry about it last night & thought we should get a better # than if I checked in at the 21 hour mark......but now I'm not so sure. We were given A 48 & A 49. We've never had such high #'s, and that's including when I checked in myself at 24 hrs before.

How do I know that SW actually assigned these #'s at the 36 hr mark? I purchased them around 3:30 PM yesterday for a 6AM flight tomorrow. (38 1/2 hrs before) Our #'s usually are in the A 20's. I hope we didn't just waste the $20 and then ended up with higher #'s than if I just checked in today at 22 hrs.

Is there anyway to find out if EBCI assigned our #'s, or if it was done when I just completed the checkin process now to print the boarding passes?

Those aren't really high boarding positions. Non-business class usually starts with A16. There will be people with B's and probably C's. EBCI will check people in in the order in which EBCI was purchased. So if you purchased it months ago, you get a better number. If you purchased it a week prior to your flight, it won't be as low.

 

[brymolmom]

I agree with you OP and I was right there with you. Purchased EBCI for dd and I (not for dh and ds) for our return flight from MCO to BUF last week. At 36 hours, I think that EBCI people need to be able to at least view their boarding numbers (or be emailed). How do you know that you (or they) did not mess up and not register your EBCI and how if a mistake was made, do you have time to 'fix' it before your flight?

Yes, you have to go thru the 'normal' check in procedure and yes it is scary that you are going to get a new number. I think there needs to, at the VERY least, be a link to 'view/print EBCI documents' or something online.

At 24 hours, we went thru the check-in for dh and ds...then a few minutes later we went back and did dd and I - even tho we clicked on the check-in button after dh and ds - we still got lower Boarding pass numbers from the EBCI.

Don't like the way they don't show it to you early tho.

 

[goofy4tink]

Thanks for all your help. I just printed them off. I knew before purchasing EBCI that our place in line would be based on the time we purchased. However, I didn't want to worry about it last night & thought we should get a better # than if I checked in at the 21 hour mark......but now I'm not so sure. We were given A 48 & A 49. We've never had such high #'s, and that's including when I checked in myself at 24 hrs before.

How do I know that SW actually assigned these #'s at the 36 hr mark? I purchased them around 3:30 PM yesterday for a 6AM flight tomorrow. (38 1/2 hrs before) Our #'s usually are in the A 20's. I hope we didn't just waste the $20 and then ended up with higher #'s than if I just checked in today at 22 hrs.

Is there anyway to find out if EBCI assigned our #'s, or if it was done when I just completed the checkin process now to print the boarding passes?

Those aren't all that high. Buying EBCI doesn't assure you of a lower bp number. As more and more people buy EBCI, the group numbers are going to keep getting higher and higher.
Supposedly, the earlier you book EBCI, prior to your departure, the lower the number. I know that in the past we have seen this not really be the case. But in your case, I am going to assume that it was the case. For example...
if someone is flying out today, but purchased their flight back in July and bought EBCI at the time of flight booking, supposedly they will have a lower boarding number than someone who booked the same flight, but didn't book EBCI until a month ago. I 'think' that you got a higher number simply because you got EBCI the day before you fly out.

Even when buying EBCI, you still can't print out the boarding pass until you get to the 24 hr window.

 

[Lewisc]

The first 15 BPs are generally reserved for passenger who book "business select". The next group of BPs go to A-Listers, very frequent fliers. Anyone who bought EBCI and booked a fully refundable ticket gets the next group of BPs. A48 sounds about right.

There will be one passenger who paid for EBCI who will get a BP exactly one number lower then one passenger who checked in a T-24.

EBCI puts you ahead of non-EBCI passengers connecting in your airport who otherwise would get a BP lower then yours. There 24 hour window opens up 24 hours before their first flight.

 

[jdb in AZ]

The first 15 BPs are generally reserved for passenger who book "business select". The next group of BPs go to A-Listers, very frequent fliers. Anyone who bought EBCI and booked a fully refundable ticket gets the next group of BPs. A48 sounds about right.

There will be one passenger who paid for EBCI who will get a BP exactly one number lower then one passenger who checked in a T-24.

EBCI puts you ahead of non-EBCI passengers connecting in your airport who otherwise would get a BP lower then yours. There 24 hour window opens up 24 hours before their first flight.

If there aren't 15 business select people, there's a "hole" in the line. For example, if only 5 business select people are on the flight, they would have boarding passes A1-A5. No one would be assigned A6-A15. So everybuddy after that is technically closer to the front of the line than their boarding numbers indicate.

 

[goofy4tink]

The first 15 BPs are generally reserved for passenger who book "business select". The next group of BPs go to A-Listers, very frequent fliers. Anyone who bought EBCI and booked a fully refundable ticket gets the next group of BPs. A48 sounds about right.

There will be one passenger who paid for EBCI who will get a BP exactly one number lower then one passenger who checked in a T-24.

EBCI puts you ahead of non-EBCI passengers connecting in your airport who otherwise would get a BP lower then yours. There 24 hour window opens up 24 hours before their first flight.

Have to differ with you here. I have been a business select passenger...we got A1, 2, and 3. When I haven't booked business select, but gone with a none refundable fare, I have been able to get A16...on several occasions. A1-15 are held for elite fliers as well as business select people. But, A16 and on up are up for grabs.

I have yet to get a really high boarding group number....I think A38 has been the highest we've gotten to date. I usually check myself in at the 24 hr window going to MCO, but I do buy EBCI for the flight home..hate having to worry about checking in on my last full day at WDW.

 

[Lewisc]

Have to differ with you here. I have been a business select passenger...we got A1, 2, and 3. When I haven't booked business select, but gone with a none refundable fare, I have been able to get A16...on several occasions. A1-15 are held for elite fliers as well as business select people. But, A16 and on up are up for grabs.

I have yet to get a really high boarding group number....I think A38 has been the highest we've gotten to date. I usually check myself in at the 24 hr window going to MCO, but I do buy EBCI for the flight home..hate having to worry about checking in on my last full day at WDW.

A-Listers get BPs starting with A16. There probably weren't any A-Listers on your flight.

 

[SaraJayne]

I must be lucky. Using EBCI, the lowest I've ever had was A25. I'm typically A16 or 17.

Even though you are checked in at the 36 hour mark, you won't be able to see your boarding number or print a boarding pass until the 24 hour mark.

You can check your boarding number online, but not print your pass right then. I usually check online (because I like to know! ) and then print our boarding passes when we check our luggage.

 

[Ro Z]

I purchase EBCI when I book my flight. Most of the time we get as low as A-17ish and as high as A-35ish. The last time I got A-37,38 and B-6. We were all on the same confirmation #! The explanation I got was the computer assigns the #s. We don't have anything to do with it. Today I checked DS and DDIL in 4 hours late(WHOOPS!) and they got B-20 and 21 which I was happy with after my little mistake

 

[goofy4tink]

A-Listers get BPs starting with A16. There probably weren't any A-Listers on your flight.

Could be so...but I've had A16 or 17 more than once. I must be very lucky. With that being said.....A1-15 are held all the time. If you don't pay more, you don't sit there. A16 on up is open to anyone. IF there are any A-listers, they get first dibs...otherwise anyone can sit there.

 

[Lewisc]

Could be so...but I've had A16 or 17 more than once. I must be very lucky. With that being said.....A1-15 are held all the time. If you don't pay more, you don't sit there. A16 on up is open to anyone. IF there are any A-listers, they get first dibs...otherwise anyone can sit there.

It takes 25 qualifying one way flights in a calendar year to achieve A-List status. Orlando isn't a top destination for business fliers. Your originating airport makes a difference. Some airports seem to have an increasing number of passengers who elect to purchase EBCI.

 

[goofy4tink]

It takes 25 qualifying one way flights in a calendar year to achieve A-List status.

Well, that's a heap of flying in a year...no wonder there aren't many people in that section. I would imagine that anyone who flies SW that often is doing so for business. That's a trip a month!!! Well, r/t anyway.