Southwest Early Bird Checkin

[Mickey&JoshNut]

It will still say check in but your boarding number will already have been assigned. You still select the passengers you want to check in and then it goes to the boarding pass screen where you can print (or not).

Thanks Tara

 

[Tara]

More data:

11/10 flight MCO-ALB, purchased about 10 weeks prior, EBCI added about 4 weeks prior...
A16

11/11 flight MCO-ALB, purchased about 8 weeks prior, EBCI added same day...
A19, A20

11/11 flight, MCO-BHM, purchased about 8 weeks prior, EBCI added a few days later...
A23, A24, A25

The best part was not having to worry about checking in! At about 4:30 on 11/09, my DH said "(expletive)! I haven't checked in." He'd totally forgotten about EBCI...and it wasn't even 24 hours prior yet anyway.

 

[DVC-Don]

Okay, we are flying back home today. We purchased our flight (MCO - ALB) about three weeks ago and added EBCI a couple of days later. Today we have A 24 & 25.

 

[Rash]

No EBCI, today (Saturday) at 7:15 am was T-24 hours. Checked in online at exactly 7:15 am - got A38 - A42 (4 of us - wonder who got A41 ). Our flight appears to be sold out, so I'm pretty happy with that. I thought with T-24 being so early on a Saturday that many people would use EBCI - guess not.

 

[love2driveinct]

I could not read through this whole thread (although I really, really should), I just do not have the time right now, so I apologize if these questions have been asked...

I have never flown SW before, so I am new to the whole process. I don't even know what the letters and numbers mean, although I'm gathering it is a prioritized boarding process. Are the numbers your seat locations? Or the order you get to board within each group?

We are a family of five, so what does this mean for us and our children? Are people nice about having some random child sitting next to them? And while I would never assume a person would move their seat for my family's convenience, does it occasionally happen? Are there people who don't mind and do it to be nice?

I know that my DD11 would be okay (she wouldn't like it, but she'll survive) sitting with strangers, but my DS8 will probably sit teary and red-faced the whole flight, and my DD5 will probably just cry. I consider my kids to be nice, normal, fairly well-behaved, outgoing kids, but this is only their second time flying so I just don't know how much this could upset them.

Is there anything I can do, beyond checking in at exactly 24 hrs prior? I hate to sound cheap or unreasonable, but I do not want to spend the money for EBCI when they are five of us and it would cost $50...

Anyone have any suggestions? Should I just do my best to prepare the kids for what may happen? Make sure they have plenty of snacks and things to keep them busy?

 

[crashbb]

I could not read through this whole thread (although I really, really should), I just do not have the time right now, so I apologize if these questions have been asked...

I have never flown SW before, so I am new to the whole process. I don't even know what the letters and numbers mean, although I'm gathering it is a prioritized boarding process. Are the numbers your seat locations? Or the order you get to board within each group?

We are a family of five, so what does this mean for us and our children? Are people nice about having some random child sitting next to them? And while I would never assume a person would move their seat for my family's convenience, does it occasionally happen? Are there people who don't mind and do it to be nice?

I know that my DD11 would be okay (she wouldn't like it, but she'll survive) sitting with strangers, but my DS8 will probably sit teary and red-faced the whole flight, and my DD5 will probably just cry. I consider my kids to be nice, normal, fairly well-behaved, outgoing kids, but this is only their second time flying so I just don't know how much this could upset them.

Is there anything I can do, beyond checking in at exactly 24 hrs prior? I hate to sound cheap or unreasonable, but I do not want to spend the money for EBCI when they are five of us and it would cost $50...

Anyone have any suggestions? Should I just do my best to prepare the kids for what may happen? Make sure they have plenty of snacks and things to keep them busy?

If increasing the odds of sitting next to your children is not worth $50 to you, then the only thing that you can do is check-in right at the 24hr mark. None of your children are young enough to benefit from family boarding (which occurs between groups A and B).

Once you get your boarding pass, you'll have a better idea of your chances of being split up (i.e. all high C boarding passes means you'll probably all be split up; low Bs and you should be able to do at least 2 and 3). Your children should each have what they need snack/books/toys in their own carry-on in case they aren't sitting near you (as I said, once you get your boarding passes you'll have a better idea of how likely this is).

The boarding passes give the order of boarding it goes A1-A60; B1-B60; C1-C60. A1-A16 are reserved, so the highest you could get is A17 and they are given in the order that you check in. Since EBCI people get checked in at 36hrs while normal check-in opens at 24hrs, they'll obviously get lower numbers than those not using EBCI (not including A-listers/Business Select and assuming no system glitches).

 

[love2driveinct]

Thank you so much for explaining that to me, I appreciate it! I hope I'm not totally hijacking this thread since it's supposed to be just about EBCI, but I needed some basic info on SW before I could even decide whether to spend that $50 each way.

From what I have read on this thread, people with young children seem to think that it is worth spending the money for the peace of mind... I realize that even with EBCI there is no guarantee, but odds are good that you won't all be separated. I will have to consider it.

I guess I was hoping that some folks had good stories to share that gave me hopes for getting by without it. Anyone?

We are still saving a lot of money flying SW versus Delta, but I hate to see that savings whittled away, y'know? The tickets are $449 cheaper, but then spending $100 extra to possibly sit together is more than a little frustrating... especially after the fact. (I already purchased the tickets.)

 

[love2driveinct]

Oh, so I guess I was also wondering... what happens if we ARE split up and one of my children is upset during the flight? Will everyone on the flight totally hate me?

 

[disneyfaninaz]

SWA really makes an effort to not have children split from a parent. You children will not need to sit by themselves. As said, just check in at exactly 24 hours before your flight and you should be fine. SWA planes seat 3 in a row with an aisle in between. You may be able to get a row across from each other or in front or back of the other. Not all 5 of you will be able to share a row anyway, so you will be split. Know before hand which parent is going to sit with which kids.

 

[love2driveinct]

SWA really makes an effort to not have children split from a parent. You children will not need to sit by themselves. As said, just check in at exactly 24 hours before your flight and you should be fine. SWA planes seat 3 in a row with an aisle in between. You may be able to get a row across from each other or in front or back of the other. Not all 5 of you will be able to share a row anyway, so you will be split. Know before hand which parent is going to sit with which kids.

Oh, thank you that does make me a feel a bit better... but I guess I don't understand what they (SW) can do about it if it is really up to the people who board before you do?

 

[Tara]

Thank you so much for explaining that to me, I appreciate it! I hope I'm not totally hijacking this thread since it's supposed to be just about EBCI, but I needed some basic info on SW before I could even decide whether to spend that $50 each way.

From what I have read on this thread, people with young children seem to think that it is worth spending the money for the peace of mind... I realize that even with EBCI there is no guarantee, but odds are good that you won't all be separated. I will have to consider it.

I guess I was hoping that some folks had good stories to share that gave me hopes for getting by without it. Anyone?

We are still saving a lot of money flying SW versus Delta, but I hate to see that savings whittled away, y'know? The tickets are $449 cheaper, but then spending $100 extra to possibly sit together is more than a little frustrating... especially after the fact. (I already purchased the tickets.)

With a 4yo child you'll be able to use family boarding in between the A and B groups. So you might not need EBCI. However, if you don't want to spend $50 each way, you could get it for you and 2 of the children. Then if you get good numbers, board with the 2 older children and have your husband board with the youngest during family boarding between the A and B groups.

Just a thought...

 

[crashbb]

With a 4yo child you'll be able to use family boarding in between the A and B groups. So you might not need EBCI. However, if you don't want to spend $50 each way, you could get it for you and 2 of the children. Then if you get good numbers, board with the 2 older children and have your husband board with the youngest during family boarding between the A and B groups.

Just a thought...

The first post said the youngest was 5 (or would be a flight time) so, as I said, family boarding won't work.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Oh, thank you that does make me a feel a bit better... but I guess I don't understand what they (SW) can do about it if it is really up to the people who board before you do?

Unless you get a high "B" or a "C" you shouldn't have any troubles. However, if necessary, a flight attendant will ask for volunteers to trade seats in order for a child to sit with a parent.

 

[mom23guys2]

Just something to think about. I paid the extra $20 per person for my flight. I would be pretty annoyed if someone expected me to give up my aisle or window seat so they could sit next to their children when they were split up because they didn't want to spend the money for EB. Now that this is available to all it may be harder to get people to switch.

 

[Luv2Diz]

No EBCI for this flight. Checked in at T-24 this morning and got A25 and A26.

 

[TDC Nala]

From one who won't use EBCI: Check-in in Vegas Sunday by mobile phone at a little past T-24 because my watch was not correct. A-55.

 

[Plannin'Shannon]

From one who won't use EBCI: Check-in in Vegas Sunday by mobile phone at a little past T-24 because my watch was not correct. A-55.

Same here. Checked in Vegas to Orlando nonstop on Sunday by phone. Received A38, 39, 40. The flight was completely booked as well.

 

[rie'smom]

I have used EBCI for this trip because we're traveling during a holiday. If we were flying SW during a nonbusy time, we wouldn't need it.

 

[poohmickey]

Checked in this morning using EBCI and got A19 - A22, flying from PDX to MCO. This flight is completely sold out.

 

[mareed]

I have a situation that's interesting (at least to me!) in that tomorrow my Dad is flying from Tulsa to Houston and connecting there to our same flight from Houston to Tampa. He has a 4 hour layover in Houston, so he was able to get his boarding pass for the 2nd leg (Houston to Tampa) at T-28 hours, which is probably the first of any non-EBCI because I doubt there's any other layover longer than 4 hours. He got A43.

I purchased EBCI for our 4 tickets from Houston to Tampa on Sept. 20, which was not when they first introduced EBCI, but over 2 months before our flight. I'll update this post later today when I can get my boarding pass at T-24, but it better be lower than A43 or something is seriously wrong!

I purchased EBCI because I know there are lots of connections making this same flight from Houston and they would have all been able to get their boarding passes before us at T-24. It's the busy Thanksgiving travel time, and all flights that day are either sold out or only have 1-2 seats left. Since we're travelling with my Dad, we'd like to all be able to sit together.

There are 4 of us travelling from Houston, and in hindsight it would have been interesting to NOT purchase EBCI for 1 of us and see what we got at T-24, but I didn't want to have the hassle of saving a seat for that extra person and possibly having a confrontation over it.

Update added: Our 4 boarding passes from Houston to Tampa that I got EBCI for were A28 - A31 and they clearly state EarlyBird CheckIn under the boarding #, and these are the numbers I would have expected given the circumstances. For this trip for us, it was worth it to pay! I'm sure we would have been pretty far back in the B boarding group otherwise after all of the other connecting flights. I'll bet that the last EBCI # was in the low 40's right before my Dad's A43. Although I guess if someone paid for EBCI at the last minute and got checked in at T-26, they'd actually be after my Dad!