Sould I pay the extra for Southwest boarding?

[KELLY]

I purchased tickets threw SW this is our first time flying SW in a few years. When I was purchasing our tickets I noticed the 10.00 to board group a. MY kids are 6 and 3 so it is important for me that we sit together. But with that being said I don't think anyone will want to sit wit my kids and be there friend for the flights either. LOL

Should I pay the 80.00 to board group A? And what exactly does the mean? The last time we flew SW was 2004.

 

[Jestocost]

First, there's no guarantee that you will get in group A by using EBCI. All that EBCI does is check you in 36 hours before your flight time. That means you will check in ahead of anyone who checks in manually at the 24-hour mark, but you may be behind passengers connecting to your flight who used EBCI (they get checked in 36 hours before their first flight) and others on your flight who used EBCI. EBCI does get you in the A group most of the time, but there are isolated reports of passengers using EBCI and getting B boarding numbers.

Another thing to consider is that you should be able to board your three year old with at least one adult between the A and B groups if you get B or C boarding passes. It's possible that they will let the entire family board with the three year old, but that's up to the gate agent to determine. In rare circumstances when there are a ton of families with kids four and under they will not do the family boarding, but usually that's not an issue.

It is likely that you will at least be able fo find two sets of two seats together on the plane whether or not you use EBCI. If it's critical that all four of you sit together then I would strongly consider using EBCI both ways.

Even if you don't use EBCI for the trip down, you may want to do it for the trip home. I find that the biggest benefit is that you don't have to worry about running around on your vacation to check in for your return flight.

 

[jcarwash]

I agree with all of Jestocost's info.

Unless you're asleep at the switch and forget to check in online right at 24 hours in advance, you can still get a good boarding position without EBCI. From what I've seen I think you really need to be into the Cs before you have problems sitting together.

Jestocost's point about family boarding is an important one -- even if you get a B position, it's very likely you will all be able to board in between A and B anyway. It's a nice advantage with younger kids.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

No, you should not pay extra for EBCI. It's a waste of money.

 

[homedad]

thanks for info, also using SW for 1st time

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm not sure I would go so far as to say EBCI is a 'waste of money'. Is it something everyone needs to do? Absolutely not. You have a child under 4, so will be able to board in between the A and B groups. This will get you 2 seats together. Depending on how many other parents are boarding in this group,you may even be able to board as a family...all four of you. But, that's up to the gate agents. Plan on being online at the 24 hr window for your flight to MCO...get all of you checked in at that time.

But, as already mentioned, having paid for EBCI for the flight home is often a godsend. Many, many others do this when leaving MCO. Why? Because it's worth the $10 pp to not have to worry about being near a computer to get checked in for the flight home. Let SW do it at the 36 hr window..and then forget about it.

 

[Cherinva]

I don't think it's necessary, but if you don't have a problem with spending the extra money, then do it....especially for the trip home....sometimes it's hard to find a computer to do the online check in 24 hours in advance....although, I have gone to Guest Relations a number of times, and they have done it for me.

 

[mckinley]

We have not flown SW in quite awhile. But our upcoming trip i did pay for the EBCI just so we didn't have to worry about being available to checkin at the 24 hour time. In the past we have been A & B and always able to find many seats together.

 

[Brian Noble]

I do. It's a small price to pay to not have to play the Atomic Clock game, and a pleasant little convenience on vacation. Is it a 'good value'? Maybe not. Who cares?

If you are watching every dollar, these are good dollars not to spend. If you aren't, though, I say it is fine to splurge and live a little. It's vacation!

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

I fly Southwest at least four times a month and no, it is not worth the money.

With a three year old, they will allow you to board after group A (which includes A 1 - 60 or 60 people). That will give you plenty of seats to find together as a family and plenty of overhead space if you need it.

I highly recommend checking in online (or on your iphone as I do with the SW application) EXACTLY 24 hours prior to your departure. If you leave 9am on Monday, check in 9am Sunday. The A-listers will be pre-checked in so you can't do anything about that but you will be the first in line after them which is typically in the A group (or the first 60 people).

As for getting ahead in line for security with that extra money - it is a crap shoot! As an a-lister myself, I have found that the regular line is sometimes shorter than the 'quicker' line and even if you use that 'extra special line', the employees do too and they are priority. So you wait for the employees, then you only have one TSA agent checking all the folks in that line. THEN you are usually relagated to just one x-ray scanner and they seem to have put the fancy wave scanners in that line so you stand super still for what seems like 5 minutes as they xray everything. I avoid that line now...

 

[goofy4tink]

I fly Southwest at least four times a month and no, it is not worth the money.

With a three year old, they will allow you to board after group A (which includes A 1 - 60 or 60 people). That will give you plenty of seats to find together as a family and plenty of overhead space if you need it.

I highly recommend checking in online (or on your iphone as I do with the SW application) EXACTLY 24 hours prior to your departure. If you leave 9am on Monday, check in 9am Sunday. The A-listers will be pre-checked in so you can't do anything about that but you will be the first in line after them which is typically in the A group (or the first 60 people).

As for getting ahead in line for security with that extra money - it is a crap shoot! As an a-lister myself, I have found that the regular line is sometimes shorter than the 'quicker' line and even if you use that 'extra special line', the employees do too and they are priority. So you wait for the employees, then you only have one TSA agent checking all the folks in that line. THEN you are usually relagated to just one x-ray scanner and they seem to have put the fancy wave scanners in that line so you stand super still for what seems like 5 minutes as they xray everything. I avoid that line now...

Okay, I'm going to take exception to some statements here. Yes, generally families flying with youngsters under the age of 4 are allowed to board in between the A group and the B group. BUT...that is not etched in stone. If there are a lot of people doing this, one of several things could happen...
1. No one is allowed to board here. You all must adhere to your boarding group number.
2. Only one parent will be allowed with each under 4 child.
3. Gate agents will allow the entire family to board together...but this may very well not happen. 1 or 2 is much more likely.

The other thing...I'm not sure what the subject of 'security' has to do with this. It has no bearing whatsoever on EBCI. Neither do I understand any references to 'a-listers'..doubt you're talking about those holding A boarding group numbers. So, I'm just not sure what any of that has to do with the subject at hand.

 

[Vijoge]

Neither do I understand any references to 'a-listers'..doubt you're talking about those holding A boarding group numbers.

I think the reference is to those SWA frequent flyers who, due to A-list status, are automatically checked in, at no charge, 36 hours prior to their flight.

http://www.southwest.com/rapid_rewards/aList_membership.html?int=GSUBNAV-RR-ALIST

 

[DCbride]

I do not use the $10 option and we fly to MCO about 4x a year.

If you were to use it, I would do it on the way home rather than the way there since it is more difficult to be at a computer at the 24hr mark while in WDW.

 

[KELLY]

Thanks for all the helpful info.

 

[Shelli_5]

I've flown SW many times. We decided to purchase ECBI for this trip & I'm really disappointed with the results. I just printed out our boarding passes for tomorrow & we got A46-48. I've always done better at the 24-hour mark without the $10 per person fee. :-(

Shelli

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I use it if I KNOW I won't be able to check in right at 24 hours....

but IMHO it's not a 'waste of money'. I am willing to pay to ensure I get a seat I like. I am not willing to move so that others can sit with thier family because they didn't want to pay....

Food for thought!

SW gives A1 to A16 or so to the "Business Select" flyers (basically full fare flyers) Their frequent flyers are guraranteed the next set of A boarding passes. As a result, my "A" at 24 hours or my EBCI have both gone up over past history.

And my last flight.. had about 20 through flyers.. So by the time b boarded there were 80 people on board, not 60. (And I have seen worse! I have seen flights where half the plane was full before the first person boarded. If the plane starts in San Francisco and stops in Texas on it's way to Orlando... easy for it to have a lot of flyers going San Fran to MCO and not getting off in Texas)

By the way, there are no "special" lines at MCO. You will be in the regular line regardless of your airline statys.

 

[KELLY]

I use it if I KNOW I won't be able to check in right at 24 hours....

but IMHO it's not a 'waste of money'. I am willing to pay to ensure I get a seat I like. I am not willing to move so that others can sit with thier family because they didn't want to pay....

Food for thought!

SW gives A1 to A16 or so to the "Business Select" flyers (basically full fare flyers) Their frequent flyers are guraranteed the next set of A boarding passes. As a result, my "A" at 24 hours or my EBCI have both gone up over past history.

And my last flight.. had about 20 through flyers.. So by the time b boarded there were 80 people on board, not 60. (And I have seen worse! I have seen flights where half the plane was full before the first person boarded. If the plane starts in San Francisco and stops in Texas on it's way to Orlando... easy for it to have a lot of flyers going San Fran to MCO and not getting off in Texas)

By the way, there are no "special" lines at MCO. You will be in the regular line regardless of your airline statys.

Ok can someone please explain what the last line in the quote above means? I'm probably a little slow today but that has me confused.

 

[Jestocost]

Ok can someone please explain what the last line in the quote above means? I'm probably a little slow today but that has me confused.

A PP had posted about special security screening lines for top-tier frequent fliers and first class passengers. It wasn't really relevant to this discussion and the response you are questioning simply notes that MCO doesn't even have such lines.

 

[Jestocost]

I've flown SW many times. We decided to purchase ECBI for this trip & I'm really disappointed with the results. I just printed out our boarding passes for tomorrow & we got A46-48. I've always done better at the 24-hour mark without the $10 per person fee. :-(

Shelli

Not sure what you're disappointed about as you clearly would have received even higher numbers if you had waited another 12 hours to check in. The absolute worst case scenario is that you were the last EBCI passengers checked in and you know you would have been the first to check in at 24 hours; in which case you would have the same numbers you have now. Given that the reality is we have no way of knowing where you landed in the EBCI order and every reason to believe that you probably would not have been the first to check in at 24 hours, you almost certainly did better than you would have had you not used EBCI.

 

[KELLY]

A PP had posted about special security screening lines for top-tier frequent fliers and first class passengers. It wasn't really relevant to this discussion and the response you are questioning simply notes that MCO doesn't even have such lines.

Thanks we fly once maybe twice a year I ddin't even know there was such a thing.