Southwest Change leads to Boarding Question

[ancestry]

We are a party of five who leave on May 7th. Today unexpectedly we had to drop one of our 19 year olds from our reservation and replace him with one of our 11 year olds. [It was supposed to be a trip for the older kids in the family.]

I originally bought our Southwest tickets with EBCI back in November when the dates first opened up.

The 11 year old's ticket was bought today with EBCI. She is on a different reservation number.

The agent who made the changes for me stated that she didn't know if EBCI boarding order was granted based on when EBCI was bought OR if boarding order was granted based on the cost of the airfare. She stated that she wasn't sure if the 11 year old would board before us (because her airfare cost nearly double what we paid) or if she would board behind us because we booked 6 months before she did.

Can sometime tell me what to expect at the airport?

If she gets a later boarding number can I switch with her so she can take my number and board with the rest of our party and I board later in her place?

I'm not so worried about us all sitting together - I'm sure that will work out. I just don't want to leave her behind at the gate by herself with all of us boarding way before her.

If she gets a later boarding position is there any chance they would let her board with the rest of us considering we ALL (including her) have purchased EBCI?

 

[mb187143]

We are a party of five who leave on May 7th. Today unexpectedly we had to drop one of our 19 year olds from our reservation and replace him with one of our 11 year olds. [It was supposed to be a trip for the older kids in the family.] I originally bought our Southwest tickets with EBCI back in November when the dates first opened up. The 11 year old's ticket was bought today with EBCI. She is on a different reservation number. The agent who made the changes for me stated that she didn't know if EBCI boarding order was granted based on when EBCI was bought OR if boarding order was granted based on the cost of the airfare. She stated that she wasn't sure if the 11 year old would board before us (because her airfare cost nearly double what we paid) or if she would board behind us because we booked 6 months before she did. Can sometime tell me what to expect at the airport? If she gets a later boarding number can I switch with her so she can take my number and board with the rest of our party and I board later in her place? I'm not so worried about us all sitting together - I'm sure that will work out. I just don't want to leave her behind at the gate by herself with all of us boarding way before her. If she gets a later boarding position is there any chance they would let her board with the rest of us considering we ALL (including her) have purchased EBCI?

I think what I've read for EBCI, it's not just by the date you book, but also by your A+ status, and fare type. I'm certain someone will be along to explain that in more detail.

She could get a number higher than the rest of your party (boarding later) or lower (boarding earlier). You could switch with her if she gets a lower number and let her board with the rest of the party. If she gets a later boarding number, your entire party can wait and board with her at the later number.

 

[LisaS]

Boarding positions A1-A15 are reserved for Business Select passengers. Starting with A16, they assign positions to A-List Preferred passengers and then A-List passengers. Then they begin assigning boarding positions to those who purchased EBCI. They start with those who purchased an Anytime Fare ticket, assigned in order by the date and time they purchased EBCI. Finally the Wanna Get Away passengers are assigned a boarding position, again in order by date and time of purchase of EBCI.

There have been reports here that people were told that your fare code also comes into play, meaning that those who purchased a more expensive WGA ticket would always get a better boarding position than someone who purchased a cheaper WGA ticket, regardless of the date/time EBCI was purchased. I don't know if that's true or not. It's not mentioned on SWA's website where they describe how EBCI works.

OP: I hope you will update us on what boarding position your 11-year-old gets because it would be very useful information! (We also need to know the fare class -- does everyone, including the 11-year-old have a WGA fare?) It would help to clarify whether the cost of the ticket plays a role or not.

If your 11-year-old does end up further back in line someone could switch with her or you could ask the gate agent if they will make an exception and allow her to board with the rest of the family.

 

[goofy4tink]

There is no way to tell how your 11 y/o got a particular number! Here's why. In this instance, you have now cancelled your 19 y/o's ticket/EBCI. Now, if someone had just booked their flight/EBCI, they could very well move into your ds's spot. So, your 11 y/o could conceivably get a better boarding position than you! Probably won't happen, but it could. However, you can certainly switch positions with the 11 y/o...that won't be an issue. The problem with asking that she board with the rest of the family is that now all those people in between her and the family will be expected to move back a spot. Most wont mind, bit there is sure to be that one person that makes a stink.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Its really a crap shoot. I changed my flight home from MCO 6 hours before the flight was do to take off and I got the A boarding position. I really thought I would get C.

In any case if she ends up will say a B 40 and you get A 35. You can go and stand with her at her boarding position.

 

[LisaS]

There is no way to tell how your 11 y/o got a particular number! Here's why. In this instance, you have now cancelled your 19 y/o's ticket/EBCI. Now, if someone had just booked their flight/EBCI, they could very well move into your ds's spot. So, your 11 y/o could conceivably get a better boarding position than you! Probably won't happen, but it could.

The phenomenon you describe only happens 36 hours or less from departure. At 36 hours out they create the initial list of boarding positions, ordered as described previously (A-Listers, Anytime Fare passengers with EBCI, etc.) At 24 hours out, everyone else can check in and get assigned a boarding position. If someone cancels their flight after their boarding position has been assigned, it creates an open position in that ordered list. The next person to check in will get that discarded boarding position previously held by the passenger who cancelled his/her flight.

Its really a crap shoot. I changed my flight home from MCO 6 hours before the flight was do to take off and I got the A boarding position. I really thought I would get C.

This is an example of picking up a low boarding position due to a cancellation. Whoever was originally assigned that A boarding position cancelled and you happened to be the next to check in and got lucky!

 

[BigTigger]

If A1 to A15 are not full, you can now "buy" one of those slots at the airport. It was about $35 to move up if I remember correctly on our last MCO to BDL flight. This is another option to consider if your 11 year old gets a late B or early C number.

Enjoy your trip!!

 

[Sugardimples]

You can switch with her at the gate and let her board ahead of you. At that point, nobody cares if people switch numbers. I've done it many times.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

The phenomenon you describe only happens 36 hours or less from departure. At 36 hours out they create the initial list of boarding positions, ordered as described previously (A-Listers, Anytime Fare passengers with EBCI, etc.) At 24 hours out, everyone else can check in and get assigned a boarding position. If someone cancels their flight after their boarding position has been assigned, it creates an open position in that ordered list. The next person to check in will get that discarded boarding position previously held by the passenger who cancelled his/her flight.
This is an example of picking up a low boarding position due to a cancellation. Whoever was originally assigned that A boarding position cancelled and you happened to be the next to check in and got lucky!

But there were 4 of us and we all got the A position. So it baffled me but I was okay with it.

 

[goofy4tink]

The phenomenon you describe only happens 36 hours or less from departure. At 36 hours out they create the initial list of boarding positions, ordered as described previously (A-Listers, Anytime Fare passengers with EBCI, etc.) At 24 hours out, everyone else can check in and get assigned a boarding position. If someone cancels their flight after their boarding position has been assigned, it creates an open position in that ordered list. The next person to check in will get that discarded boarding position previously held by the passenger who cancelled his/her flight.
This is an example of picking up a low boarding position due to a cancellation. Whoever was originally assigned that A boarding position cancelled and you happened to be the next to check in and got lucky!

But...we've heard from several people that have added a person to their flight plans, after everyone else was paid for. That addtl person bought their ticket, paid for EBCI, and when they all checked in, the person that had purchased their ticket much later, ended up with a much better boarding position.

 

[ancestry]

We all are booked using a Wanna Get Away Fare - including my 11 year old. We paid $217 round trip for those of us who booked in November. We paid $397 round trip for my 11 year old yesterday.

So it is the same fare class but a large difference in price.

I'll let everyone know which boarding positions we each end up with.

 

[LisaS]

But...we've heard from several people that have added a person to their flight plans, after everyone else was paid for. That addtl person bought their ticket, paid for EBCI, and when they all checked in, the person that had purchased their ticket much later, ended up with a much better boarding position.

It's also possible that the person they added much later paid more for the ticket and that was the reason they got a better boarding position. I could be wrong but it would make sense to me that the there is no EBCI list in the database at all but rather just an indicator (maybe the EBCI purchase timestamp) in a field in the reservation record. At 36 hours out the system runs a query to pull up the reservation numbers of those records with a non-empty EBCI timestamp, ordered by the booking class, fare class (or maybe actual amount paid) and finally the timestamp. Then it runs through that ordered result list and assigns boarding positions.

When the non-EBCI passengers check in 24 hours or less from departure, the system does a query to find the lowest open boarding position and assigns that to that passenger. That will usually be at the end of the queue unless there is a hole due to one or more passengers cancelling and giving up their assigned boarding positions.

 

[LisaS]

But there were 4 of us and we all got the A position. So it baffled me but I was okay with it.

Not everyone who cancels a flight is traveling alone. Maybe a family of four or more had to reschedule their flight after checking in and getting boarding assignments. Or maybe it was a group of people traveling together on business who had to change their return flight due to a meeting being rescheduled. That happens to my DH from time to time when traveling for work. They book the earliest return flight they know they can make based on the meeting schedule but then someone asks them to stay another couple of hours to meet with someone and they have to scramble to change their flights 6 to 8 hours before departure. DH cancels his low A boarding position and ends up with a C on his new return flight. Fortunately they now allow A-Listers to board at the end of the A group when that happens.

 

[PSUGuy]

Semi-related question, I paid for EarlyBird, is there someplace I can look at the 36 hr mark and see where wifey and I are slotted?

Thanks,
Bill From PA

 

[amomma23]

Semi-related question, I paid for EarlyBird, is there someplace I can look at the 36 hr mark and see where wifey and I are slotted?

Thanks,
Bill From PA

Your boarding position will be on your boarding pass. You can view/print it from home or on the SW app at 24 hours. (It won't show anywhere before then.)

 

[PSUGuy]

Your boarding position will be on your boarding pass. You can view/print it from home or on the SW app at 24 hours. (It won't show anywhere before then.)

Thanks, work's for me!

 

[ancestry]

So we leave tomorrow and as requested I'm reporting in with what boarding positions we received.

The four of us who have been booked since November got A 20 - A 23. My 11 year old who was booked last week at the same class (Wanna Get Away) but at a higher cost received B4.

 

[goofy4tink]

So we leave tomorrow and as requested I'm reporting in with what boarding positions we received.

The four of us who have been booked since November got A 20 - A 23. My 11 year old who was booked last week at the same class (Wanna Get Away) but at a higher cost received B4.

Yep, that's what I figured would happen. I would have one adult take the B4 spot and put your 11 y/o in the A grouping.

 

[LisaS]

Thanks for reporting back. It helps to have real data when we're trying to reverse engineer their boarding assignment system! Your experience suggests that price paid is not a factor. That's good news.

ETA: When people have posted here that they were told by a SW agent that the price paid for the ticket is a factor in the boarding position I've wondered if the agents were simply referring to the fact that those who purchased an Anytime fare and EBCI are assigned their boarding positions before those who purchased a WGA fare and EBCI. I'm really hoping that's the case because SW is usually upfront about how things work and I wasn't pleased that there might be undisclosed rules about how EBCI really works. There is still the open question of whether repricing a flight with EBCI will cause your EBCI purchase date to change, putting you further back in the boarding queue.

 

[goofy4tink]

Thanks for reporting back. It helps to have real data when we're trying to reverse engineer their boarding assignment system! Your experience suggests that price paid is not a factor. That's good news.

ETA: When people have posted here that they were told by a SW agent that the price paid for the ticket is a factor in the boarding position I've wondered if the agents were simply referring to the fact that those who purchased an Anytime fare and EBCI are assigned their boarding positions before those who purchased a WGA fare and EBCI. I'm really hoping that's the case because SW is usually upfront about how things work and I wasn't pleased that there might be undisclosed rules about how EBCI really works. There is still the open question of whether repricing a flight with EBCI will cause your EBCI purchase date to change, putting you further back in the boarding queue.

I truly believe it's the class you book, not the price! If you book business or full fare, then you get in A1-15. If you book a wanna getaway fare, it doesn't really matter what you paid for your fare. That would really penalize those who bought tickets and EBCI early on vs waiting until a month of so out and paying a lot more.