Southwest Early Bird Checkin

[LisaS]

I bought my husband's and my tickets in June and my daughter's in mid-August for our flights leaving Sept 25 at 9:00am and returning flight 8:30am Oct 3rd.
I purchased the EBCI for all our tickets in mid-August.

I have done it pretty much this way in the past. I always bought our tickets about two months prior to our trips and I usually have not purchased EBCI at the same time I booked my flights but always got low group A numbers.

Thanks for the information. The first time I purchased EBCI it was within a day or so of the EBCI program becoming available. I expect we were among the first to sign up for EBCI on our flights and we got low A boarding numbers. We have a trip coming up and I had to wait a few weeks after the schedule was released to purchase the tickets (and EBCI, which I purchased at the same time). More people know about EBCI now and lots of other passengers had a chance to get in the queue before I did so I'm wondering what to expect this time. Given you purchased EBCI only 6 weeks or so before your outbound flight and still got A30s and 40s I'm encouraged that we might still get A boarding passes!

 

[clanmcculloch]

I actually suspect that what SWA tells us about the boarding position assignments for EBCI isn't entirely accurate. For our August trip I purchased the tickets the morning that our booking window opened and bought EBCI as soon as I paid for our flights. We got A41-A44 for our return flights. I really don't think THAT many people got in to buy it before us.

What I really think happens is that at 36 hours before the flight, the block of boarding positions is locked and as people check in the boarding positions for the people in that group are assigned. The first available boarding position for people who don't pay is after the block for people who paid for EBCI but the actual boarding positions for those who did pay aren't individually set until the person checks in. We didn't do our own check-in; our boarding passes were on our doorknob when we got up in the morning meaning we were likely checked in a little after midnight (I'm guessing it's an automated batch process) meaning around 5 hours after some other people who took a look themselves to see their boarding positions (5 hours before that would have been T-24).

I'll pay for EBCI 100% of the time coming home. I'm still trying to decide about my outbound flight since I know I can be online at T-24 but I kind of like knowing that we'll get boarding positions before those who don't pay (I know we're not guaranteed A boarding positions but at least we'll be ahead of those who don't pay). I'll still check our positions at T-24 going down because I do believe my theory is correct. Coming back I'll likely stop at the front desk to check our boarding positions rather than wait for the printout in the morning just to get better positions, again believing my theory is correct. If it's not correct then no harm done; if it is correct then we get better boarding positions. I have an autistic child so I like doing all that I can to ensure we get seats together and we often fly during busy times of the year.

 

[Laurabearz]

My Family of 5 have been able to all sit together with B 40-46 boardiing numbers, so I am not really concerned about EB...

But I must say I do like it for the return flight, even with the easy peasy SWA iPhone App... I prefer not to be reminded I am leaving in 24 hours... So depending on whether it's a budget trip, I will spring for it, for the return flight.

 

[dburg30]

you brought your probably very contagious son, with the flu, onto a plane? And your biggest issue was boarding? Forget about the health of everyone else on that plane ....

LOL I was thinking the exact same thing..

I actually suspect that what SWA tells us about the boarding position assignments for EBCI isn't entirely accurate. For our August trip I purchased the tickets the morning that our booking window opened and bought EBCI as soon as I paid for our flights. We got A41-A44 for our return flights. I really don't think THAT many people got in to buy it before us.

Well I see you are in NH isnt that a 'hot bed' of activity for airlines up there? You cant count a1-a16, you also dont know if there were any alisters that would get a17-.. whatever. Add a couple of families with 5 or 6 people and it doesnt take long to get to a41 honestly.

I'm curious to see what numbers we get, we got our tix right away when they were available. I didnt add EBCI til about 45 day or so ago when I started seeing the plane filling up . So I should get a pretty good idea when I see my numbers.

 

[candy0730]

I would love to know how EBCI boarding numbers are determined. I bought our tickets for our return flight out of MCO on 10/02/10 the day the fares were released (3/23/10) but did not purchase EBCI until 8/11/10. We got A21, 22 and 23. I guess it is possible that not many people purchased EBCI. I am glad we did because the amount of people in line for family boarding was crazy.

 

[LidoDeck]

I would love to know how EBCI boarding numbers are determined. I bought our tickets for our return flight out of MCO on 10/02/10 the day the fares were released (3/23/10) but did not purchase EBCI until 8/11/10. We got A21, 22 and 23. I guess it is possible that not many people purchased EBCI. I am glad we did because the amount of people in line for family boarding was crazy.

I emailed Southwest Saturday with the same question...still awaiting a reply. We booked our tickets (Manchester to Orlando) on April 21st for travel September 30th. We got A47 & A48. Ours were the last two EBCI boarding passes as the gentleman behind us did the T-24 online check-in. Two parties in front of us booked their tickets just a couple months prior to travel (as compared to our 5 months & 9 days). It just didn't make sense.

If EBCI date of purchase has no bearing on your boarding assignment, then we'll simply wait until T-37 to buy EBCI. It is my opinion that Southwest is selling a service and we have a right to know exactly what that service promises.

 

[4greatboys]

Seems like more people going in and out of MCO are using it. From HOU to MCO I checked it right at the stroke of 24 hr and got A 40's. On the way from MCO to HOU same thing and I got A 55, 56 and 57.

 

[helloirishkitty]

I used it on the way home in September because flying down we checked in the moment we could and we were given early B's. On the way back, we had A 11 and 12 but the plane was empty

 

[msvlg]

When we went to Disney in April I purchased EBCI for all of us and my 25 year old daughter and her boyfriend received B boarding passes and my 29 year old son and his girlfriend received early As. The thing is I purchased my daughter and her boyfriend's ticket months before I purchased my son and his girlfriend's.Everyone else in our group received A passes. So go figure! If I had known she would have received a B pass I would not have paid the extra money.

 

[LidoDeck]

When we went to Disney in April I purchased EBCI for all of us and my 25 year old daughter and her boyfriend received B boarding passes and my 29 year old son and his girlfriend received early As. The thing is I purchased my daughter and her boyfriend's ticket months before I purchased my son and his girlfriend's.Everyone else in our group received A passes. So go figure! If I had known she would have received a B pass I would not have paid the extra money.

Write to SWA about it! I am still awaiting an email reply from them, but will write a snail mail letter if I don't hear from them this week. They can't sell a service, then fail to deliver and get away with it. At the very least, Southwest owes us an explanation of how this service works or is supposed to work when there is an apparent failure. I don't care about the $10 so much as the expectation that I paid for something of value to me and I didn't receive it.

If Southwest continues to hear from frustrated passengers, perhaps they will address the problem.

 

[ccgirl]

Write to SWA about it! I am still awaiting an email reply from them, but will write a snail mail letter if I don't hear from them this week. They can't sell a service, then fail to deliver and get away with it. At the very least, Southwest owes us an explanation of how this service works or is supposed to work when there is an apparent failure. I don't care about the $10 so much as the expectation that I paid for something of value to me and I didn't receive it.

If Southwest continues to hear from frustrated passengers, perhaps they will address the problem.

The more people that purchase the EBCI, the higher the boarding numbers will go. I agree, they should publicize how boarding number is determined as it appears from the posts it is not according to when the EBCI is purchased. However, if there are 60 seats in the A boarding group and 75 people purchase EBCI, 15 people will still get the B boarding group and board after the families. That is not something I am interested in paying for. I'd rather pay for an actual seat assignment. Please post back when/if you hear back from SW. I'm interested in their response.

 

[twinklebug]

When we went to Disney in April I purchased EBCI for all of us and my 25 year old daughter and her boyfriend received B boarding passes and my 29 year old son and his girlfriend received early As. The thing is I purchased my daughter and her boyfriend's ticket months before I purchased my son and his girlfriend's.Everyone else in our group received A passes. So go figure! If I had known she would have received a B pass I would not have paid the extra money.

If you also purchased EBCI at the same time you bought the tickets, what you describe sounds like a failure of the software to assign those EBCI boarding numbers in the order they were purchased. I've heard of this before and SW did refund the purchaser their EBCI funds and followed up to resolve the issue in the software. If she had not reported it it may have gone unnoticed.

In your case you have the receipts for the purchases, the order in which EBCI was purchased and the boarding numbers assigned. For the software analyst, your experience is invaluable in tracking down what went wrong. I'm glad you spoke up Let us know how it turns out!

 

[dburg30]

CMH - MCO for 10/16

I checked in this AM.. I had purchased tix march or april, whenever they opened up for this time period. About a month ago, maybe a bit longer I decided to add EBCI to 3 of our party (my wife, bro and sis in law) my mom and I, didnt do it for at that time, but did add it on a few weeks ago and the rest didnt pay for it because they have twins 2 years old so they could board between a and b...

Got a24,25,26 for the first 3 EBCI's, A36 and 37 for the next set (which makes sense since I did purchase those later then the 24-26 set.. and the rest of the family at t-24 I got A44-48..

ETA: the red wording was something I forgot..

 

[JustineMarie]

My family purchased EBCI for our recent trip home from St. Louis. My MIL and FIL bought theirs when they purchased their flight - they got A24 and A25. My Bil and Sil's purchased theirs a week before we left and got A30,A31,A32. My husband, me, and our girls purchased ours a month before we left and got A44,A45,A46 and A47. Not sure how my inlaws got higher boarding than us since they purchased after us, plus I checked in before they did? Who knows, but I was glad that we at least got A boarding.

 

[dburg30]

My family purchased EBCI for our recent trip home from St. Louis. My MIL and FIL bought theirs when they purchased their flight - they got A24 and A25. My Bil and Sil's purchased theirs a week before we left and got A30,A31,A32. My husband, me, and our girls purchased ours a month before we left and got A44,A45,A46 and A47. Not sure how my inlaws got higher boarding than us since they purchased after us, plus I checked in before they did? Who knows, but I was glad that we at least got A boarding.

Did your bil and sil have to buy the next level pricing? Not the 'wanna get away' or Ding fare, but the "anytime" fare since it was recent? If the right hand column wasnt available, and they bought the middle column, they would get better... but nevermind.. I'm sure your MIL and FIL didnt buy the middle priced tix??? So that does seem wrong..

 

[JustineMarie]

They actually bought the wanna get away fares, altho they didn't buy the EBCI at the time of purchase of the tickets. They bought their tix about 3 weeks after we purchased ours.

 

[dburg30]

They actually bought the wanna get away fares, altho they didn't buy the EBCI at the time of purchase of the tickets. They bought their tix about 3 weeks after we purchased ours.

then i think i'd be on the phone with SW getting my money back..

 

[kmermaid]

Checked in at 24hr mark w/ no EBCI and got A32 & A33, not bad. Though this is a monday morning flight not a weekend.

 

[Spoisal]

I am curious. I have EBCI. At the 36 hour mark, will I get an email from Southwest letting me know I have been checked in? If I go online at the 36 hour mark, would I be able to tell that I am checked in? I am a nervous nelly - I would like to know that I am actually checked in!

 

[Jestocost]

I am curious. I have EBCI. At the 36 hour mark, will I get an email from Southwest letting me know I have been checked in? If I go online at the 36 hour mark, would I be able to tell that I am checked in? I am a nervous nelly - I would like to know that I am actually checked in!

You will not get an email. You can go online to check your boarding numbers, but not until 24 hours before the flight.