Southwest Early Bird Check-in?

[joandegennaro]

Sorry, but can anyone explain what is going on here with SW. From what I am reading if you book 4 seats on a SW flight it's a crap shoot as to where you sit? What exactly is A vs B vs C? Don't they assign you seats when you check in at the counter? What is this talk of "saving" seats? Any and all explanations is appreciated. We are new DVC members and will most likely travel out of Buffalo when we fly. While for my family DH, DD 17 DD 12 and myself it is no longer a need to sit together it is something we would prefer to do.

 

[Alderbrook]

Sorry, but can anyone explain what is going on here with SW. From what I am reading if you book 4 seats on a SW flight it's a crap shoot as to where you sit? What exactly is A vs B vs C? Don't they assign you seats when you check in at the counter? What is this talk of "saving" seats? Any and all explanations is appreciated. We are new DVC members and will most likely travel out of Buffalo when we fly. While for my family DH, DD 17 DD 12 and myself it is no longer a need to sit together it is something we would prefer to do.

With SW you don't get to choose your seats like you do with lots of other airlines (ie with Airtran you pay $6 pp to choose what seat you want on the plane when you book). SW has some weird boarding procedure where at 24 hrs before you fly you can do online check-in & you get a boarding group assignment, either A, B or C. If you get A you board first & choose where you sit, next is B & then they board & pick where they sit & finally C, they get last pick at where to sit & basically get whatever is left over, there is no seat assignment whatsoever. Now SW offers "early bird check-in" which costs $10 & if you choose to pay that per person, 36 hrs before you fly, they essentially do the online check in for you. It's basically first come first served so if you can't get to a computer at exactly 24 hrs before & have to wait to do online check-in you run the risk of getting boarded in group C. Some people don't care where they sit, but we have a group of 5 (my son is 4) & we would all like to board 1st so we can choose to sit together. If we get "C" we run the risk of not having all of us sit together.

Their stupid system is flawed though. If you have say 200 people on a plane & everyone chooses to pay $10 for early bird check-in it's a waste of $$$ since not everyone will benefit from getting group A, not everyone can get boarded first. Why pay $10 if you're only going to get C anyways?

Hope that explains it.

 

[joandegennaro]

This alone will stop me from flying with SW, while I don't need to sit with my kids I do prefer it. I know that a co-worker uses this airline but she does have small kids. Is there consideration for families with young kids? I know it wouldn't apply for my family but just wondering.

 

[Alderbrook]

This alone will stop me from flying with SW, while I don't need to sit with my kids I do prefer it. I know that a co-worker uses this airline but she does have small kids. Is there consideration for families with young kids? I know it wouldn't apply for my family but just wondering.

Apparently they do let families with small children board first, but not grandparents so essentially, we would be split up because we are travelling with my parents.

We have never flown SW because of their boarding procedures & I've always managed to get cheaper flights with other airlines, but for this trip, SW had the best arrival time. I could have flown AT on the way down for $69 but it got us into MCO at 7:30, by the time we actually get into the hotel room we're looking at 9 pm so that didn't work so for $12 extra pp SW was the best option regarding arrival times, so we're going to bite the bullet & try them out. We're only flying down with them, not home so it's just one way we have to worry about.

 

[pumpkin21]

A friend of mine flew SW at March break. She did not pay the $10, her family of 4 was split up and almost did not get on the flight. Another family was asked to have their toddler sit in their lap to accommodate the flight holding her family of 4. However, my friend's sister's family of 4 DID NOT get on the flight -they were told the next flight they could take from Buffalo to Orlando would be in 3 days!!! They ended up getting SW credits, renting a car and driving from Buffalo to Cleaveland. Flying from Cleaveland to Chicago and then Orlando in order to spend March Break in Orlando. All this because SW had overbooked and they had not paid the $10 and did not preprint their passes 24 hours in advance. What a horrible way to start a vacation to Disney.

 

[Alderbrook]

That's terrible! I've heard so many horror stories about travelling at March Break. Friends of ours got stuck in Pittsburg once because of a winter storm. 2 Parents, 4 kids & the mom on chemo that she had to be back for. They ended up renting a car & driving thru a storm to get home. The husband is a teacher so they are limited to when they can travel but they said they will never do March Break again.

I think we're just going to pay the $10 (even though I disagree with it) & never fly with them again. We're not planning on going to Disney again for quite a few years & if we do, we'll probably start driving again because my son is at an age where he should be able to tolerate time in the car. The only reason we're flying is because my son has always been awful in the car, but I think he's manageable again.

At least we're only 1 way with SW & it will only cost us $10 per person instead of $20!

 

[tink1969]

I just purchased the early bird check-in. They don't charge for bags so I don't mind.

 

[NikP]

I broke down and bought it too. I had already purchase it for our return, but thought I could just check us in myself for the trip down till I started reading this thread. There are 10 of us and we would like to sit together. I think I made the right choice. 7 more sleeps till we go to Buffalo...

 

[Alderbrook]

I just bought it now, not very happy about it, but at least it's kind of peace of mind I guess.

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

Also, with SW if you book their top two fare categories (most expensive flights or if nothing else is available) "Business select" is one - those people get first priority with boarding even before those who pay the $10. Boarding priority also depends on the price you paid on SW.

DH just flew to Vegas on a full flight. He paid the highest price in Business select category due to last minute and he was given A1. I'm sure a bunch of people paid the $10. and boarded behind him.

 

[ccgirl]

To the PP that stated a famly was forced to put their toddler on their lap...that means they did not purchase a seat for the toddler, they were hoping there would be empty seats so rather than paying for a seat they took a chance and "lost". SW is not the only airline that overbooks their flights. I've actually had less luck with other airlines. I have been flying SW for years and have never been split up from my family. That was with C boarding passes. To those that are nervous flying with them, be sure to post back your experience.