Southwest Airlines Self Tagging of baggage

[poochie]

Back in August my husband and I were returning from our Happy Place to MCO airport. There is no Southwestern Baggage check-in at the curb where Magical Express drops you off. So went to the to Southwest Airlines ticket counter. When we got there a not so nice agent asked why my bags were not tagged yet. I told her I was not familiar with how we could get them tagged as the were always tagged at our resort on trips prior. (So, so miss this option). She gave me a dead eye look, sighed heavily and said she would do it this time for us, but we must do it ourselves in the future. She is the only employee of Southwest that we ever in all my years to travelling to Disney who had an bad attitude. It was early morning so she was not so tired and overworked. We were one of the early flights out. I mean I do not expect over the top joy, but not the nastiness either. Just asking as with her attitude she did not explain what we would have to do next time either. Can someone please help us out with how to self tag our luggage on our return home on our trip next month. It has been 2 months and I still sting from shock and embarrassment of that encounter.

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

Before you reach the ticket counter, there are tons of self-serve kiosks where you obtain the tags and paper tickets (if you want). Once your tags are printed, you tag your bags and bring them up to the counter for them to weigh them and check them in.

You can't miss them...there are tons of them. I'm surprised you didn't see them this time when you went to the ticket counter.

 

[georgina]

Back in August my husband and I were returning from our Happy Place to MCO airport. There is no Southwestern Baggage check-in at the curb where Magical Express drops you off. So went to the to Southwest Airlines ticket counter. When we got there a not so nice agent asked why my bags were not tagged yet. I told her I was not familiar with how we could get them tagged as the were always tagged at our resort on trips prior. (So, so miss this option). She gave me a dead eye look, sighed heavily and said she would do it this time for us, but we must do it ourselves in the future. She is the only employee of Southwest that we ever in all my years to travelling to Disney who had an bad attitude. It was early morning so she was not so tired and overworked. We were one of the early flights out. I mean I do not expect over the top joy, but not the nastiness either. Just asking as with her attitude she did not explain what we would have to do next time either. Can someone please help us out with how to self tag our luggage on our return home on our trip next month. It has been 2 months and I still sting from shock and embarrassment of that encounter.

There are videos on YouTube that will take you through step by step. Basically you input your confirmation number on the kiosk and go through a series of screens, tell how many bags you want to check and it prints out the tags. There is a part on the tag that you peel off and keep as your receipt as you stick the ends together. That is the trickiest part for me, lining up the ends and sticking them together!

I haven’t checked a bag there in a few years, there used to be a SW person around the kiosk area to help people who had questions.

 

[DebbieB]

They typically have 2 lines - one for full service and one for bag drop. If you are using the bag drop line, you should get the tags at the kiosk.

 

[Lynne G]

Not that hard, there are directions on the tags. I had to figure it out the first time I did it. Sometimes I don’t line it up as perfect, as the sticky side is not as forgiving. The piece you remove is your baggage claim part. Watch others do it, and take your time and read before doing it.

 

[Disney.Dreamin.Dee]

There are usually 2 queues.
One is full service where they will print your boarding pass and luggage tags.
The other which is usually more convenient begin with you walking up to one of many small kiosks where you put your confirmation number in and it prints out your boarding pass and luggage tags.
You then put the luggage tags on and enter the self check in queue where they weigh your bag and you are on your way.

 

[tjmw2727]

Agree with the above, when you hit the SWA terminal there is usually a roped off line guiding you to the kiosks after which you head to the bag drop. The kiosk allows you to print a boarding pass if necessary and print your luggage tags. If you are not checking bags and you printed your boarding pass at home you can skip this completely.

Curious as to how you check in at your home airport, get your BP and luggage tags?

I travel SWA often and they have been using the kiosks at most airports for years now. FWIW not just SWA most others do as well.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

I wouldn't begrudge SouthWest as the bad guy. It would have been any airline employee.
The Kiosks are everywhere so I'm surprised you missed them. And as another poster asked: what did you do for the flight TO your destination? Since I'm just a regular joe, I'm always in the steerage line and do everything myself.

 

[preemiemama]

I wouldn't begrudge SouthWest as the bad guy. It would have been any airline employee.
The Kiosks are everywhere so I'm surprised you missed them. And as another poster asked: what did you do for the flight TO your destination? Since I'm just a regular joe, I'm always in the steerage line and do everything myself.

Not the OP, but at my home airport the kiosks are at the counter and the tags print behind the counter. So the SW employee tags all the bags and puts them on the conveyor.

This summer was our first time experiencing this at MCO as well. We did see the kiosks- we went to one and printed boarding passes and bag tags and then proceeded to the counter. This was where we found out we were supposed to tag our own bags. The SW employee did it for us as well- without complaint or attitude- which we appreciated.

I'm sure tagging your own bags in commonplace in larger airports, but in smaller markets it's not (yet). I don't mind doing it myself- I just need to know that's the expectation.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

Not the OP, but at my home airport the kiosks are at the counter and the tags print behind the counter. So the SW employee tags all the bags and puts them on the conveyor.

This summer was our first time experiencing this at MCO as well. We did see the kiosks- we went to one and printed boarding passes and bag tags and then proceeded to the counter. This was where we found out we were supposed to tag our own bags. The SW employee did it for us as well- without complaint or attitude- which we appreciated.

I'm sure tagging your own bags in commonplace in larger airports, but in smaller markets it's not (yet). I don't mind doing it myself- I just need to know that's the expectation.

THX for the explanation. I understand now how the OP could have had someone do the baggage tag for them. I flew home from PHX to MKE just this past week and helped a woman put her tag on. She had no idea about tearing off that small end that has the bag info ( in case of LOST Luggage). Now that I think about it, I've helped quite a few people with their tags before. Anything to help!!! I need it sometimes, too.

 

[chaoskids]

Pre Covid we always used curbside check- in at our home airport as well as MCO. We never used the SW kiosks until our first trip back after reopening.

 

[NotUrsula]

We've been using the kiosks both at our home airport and at MCO for years now. However, DH likes to say that he failed bag-tagging. He's not that great with many fine motor skills, and the task of lining up the ends of the tags strip on the first try so that no sticky glue remains exposed is a challenge. He's always having to try to un-stick the ends so that he can line them up better. (Most of the time he gets the kids to tag his bags unless he is alone, when he usually prefers to play clueless with the counter agent instead.)

FWIW, the trick to it is to wait to remove the tear strip over the adhesive end until *after* you have passed the tag through your bag's handle. Then remove the strip, hold both ends up close together but NOT touching, put some tension on both ends of the strip while you line them up, before then pressing them together about 6 inches from the ends and sliding your hand from there to the ends to stick them together smoothly.

 

[poochie]

I wouldn't begrudge Southwest as the bad guy. It would have been any airline employee.
The Kiosks are everywhere so I'm surprised you missed them. And as another poster asked: what did you do for the flight TO your destination? Since I'm just a regular joe, I'm always in the steerage line and do everything myself.

Not blaming Southwest, just the rude employee who was having the you are bothering me attitude. On our original flight to our destination, we have a curb side Check-in where the employee was very cheerful and helpful and tagged our luggage for us. So we never had to use the Kiosks before as previous trips they were taken care of at the airline Check-in at our resort.

Great News everyone. I did submit a very polite letter to Southwest on how much we love them and will always use them in the future. But did let them know about the very unhappy employee who made me feel quite small and ignorant in MCO. They sent me a very nice email and would you believe a LUV Voucher for $150 on a future trip. This was so unexpected as we already purchased tickets for another trip next month. Hmmm looks like there will be a future trip next summer when my granddaughter performs in WDW. Another reason we love SW, they really do care. ✈

 

[spiders]

People who do curbside checkin have to be nice to you. Those aren’t airline employees. Those are contractors and they exist because they want tips for the convenience of curbside.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

Not blaming Southwest, just the rude employee who was having the you are bothering me attitude. On our original flight to our destination, we have a curb side Check-in where the employee was very cheerful and helpful and tagged our luggage for us. So we never had to use the Kiosks before as previous trips they were taken care of at the airline Check-in at our resort.

Great News everyone. I did submit a very polite letter to Southwest on how much we love them and will always use them in the future. But did let them know about the very unhappy employee who made me feel quite small and ignorant in MCO. They sent me a very nice email and would you believe a LUV Voucher for $150 on a future trip. This was so unexpected as we already purchased tickets for another trip next month. Hmmm looks like there will be a future trip next summer when my granddaughter performs in WDW. Another reason we love SW, they really do care. ✈

That is awesome. I love flying Southwest also!