Southwest Early Bird Checkin

[bstnsprts]

#1 it is going to be interesting to see if there are complaints once this goes into affect. Many people have stated they are still going to do the 24 hour check in... but how will they react if they get a C pass?

#2 How are people going to act if 75 people all pay the early bird fee and some of them still get a B or C.....

#3 How are people going to react to 1 person in a party saving a bunch of seats because they didn't want to pay for everyone in their group....

Going to be interesting.......

I have differing opions on numbers one and two. Southwest has the right to do this, and you have the right to book with them or not based on the knowledge that an early check in fee is now in place. With this knowledge, that's the risk you take. Where I think the issue will be is that they should have started this to coincide with the openning of a new booking window. Those already booked did so without the knowledge that early check in would be offered for a fee. You booked with the knowledge that checking in at 24 hours would in all probability get you an A boarding pass. Now even paying a fee weeks in advance might not get you that.

As for number three, that's easy. Just remove whatever is on the seats and proceed to sit down. Southwest has never allowed saving of seats. Seats are first come first serve.

 

[Lewisc]

It doesn't actually seem like it is totally based on who bought Early Bird first. From their FAQ it says:




Which sounds to me like someone who bought an Anytime Fare is going to get a better boarding pass than someone who bought a cheaper fare, even if they (the one with the Anytime fare) bought their ticket and/or Early Bird thing later.

I also read it that way. Makes sense. A SW rep on FT said the priority is based on when the passenger purchased Early Bird first. It's possible the policy is evolving.

Unless something has changed with the pricing a passenger who's going to pay for an anytime fare and for early bird first might as well pay for business select (if available).

 

[magicmommy]

I might be in the minority but I have no issue with it. I just paid 40 dollars yesterday for DH and I for our October trip. I much prefer this over a charge for a second bag. We fly SWA for a variety of reasons and it is not always price. We live almost an equal distance between MHT and BOS with a slight mileage edge given to Boston. Parking, flying and driving to Manchester is a much more pleasant experience than Logan airport. I like the flexibilty of no change fees and the flexibilty of using credits. It is well worth it for me to be at WDW or somewhere else and not watching the clock to checkin. I do have a Blackberry but I still have to watch the clock and it is a race to checkin. Now I don't have to worry. I may not get an A but I'll get better than if I waited until 24 hours and did not pay the fee. I do however agree that it should be an all or none with respect to your group. Anyone on the same conf. number should have to do it. I understand you could get around that by booking each person seperately. It will be interesting to see now that folks are paying to board if they will so easily turn the other cheek to those saving multiple seats.

 

[dudspizza]

I have differing opions on numbers one and two. Southwest has the right to do this, and you have the right to book with them or not based on the knowledge that an early check in fee is now in place. With this knowledge, that's the risk you take. Where I think the issue will be is that they should have started this to coincide with the openning of a new booking window. Those already booked did so without the knowledge that early check in would be offered for a fee. You booked with the knowledge that checking in at 24 hours would in all probability get you an A boarding pass. Now even paying a fee weeks in advance might not get you that.

As for number three, that's easy. Just remove whatever is on the seats and proceed to sit down. Southwest has never allowed saving of seats. Seats are first come first serve.

I totally agree with you.... I am not a loyal SW customer... I am just interested to see how this all shakes down...

 

[Dizzyworld]

Okay, still lost here.

If people pay the new extra fee, then when other people go to sign in at the 24 hours mark, it is possible there will not be any more "A" passes correct?

 

[crashbb]

Okay, still lost here.

If people pay the new extra fee, then when other people go to sign in at the 24 hours mark, it is possible there will not be any more "A" passes correct?

Yup. In fact (in an extreme situation) there might not be any A or B passes left (I suspect that this is highly unlikely).

 

[rwdavis2]

Okay, still lost here.
If people pay the new extra fee, then when other people go to sign in at the 24 hours mark, it is possible there will not be any more "A" passes correct?

That is what I expect to happen in many cases, especially on the return home part of the trip. You would no longer have to detour into Guest Services or check in via your mobile phone.

I will always use it as I despise how SWA boards their planes but it's really the only game in town for a lot of the trips we make.
BD

 

[bavaria]

Well, judging by what I've read today alone, SW must be raking in the cash for the advance check ins and saying to themselves "OK, and why didn't we do this sooner?"

Wander over to the family board and it is a different story - people refusing to pay the fee but still demanding that others move for them.

I can see quite the 'interesting' boarding on flights if people expect those who did pay the fee to move for those who chose not to pay the fee...

 

[kentear]

#3 How are people going to react to 1 person in a party saving a bunch of seats because they didn't want to pay for everyone in their group....

That could get very "interesting" to say the least. Saving a seat or two is fine, but I can see someone trying to hold 10 seats and causing quite a mess.

 

[crashbb]

That could get very "interesting" to say the least. Saving a seat or two is fine, but I can see someone trying to hold 10 seats and causing quite a mess.

Why is saving a seat or two fine? Why is even saving one seat fine? Except for rare TSA spot-check problems, why didn't everyone in the boarding get (roughly) the same boarding number?

 

[bavaria]

Why is even saving one seat fine? Except for rare TSA spot-check problems, why didn't everyone in the boarding get (roughly) the same boarding number?

People are planning to have one member of the party pay the fee, and save seats for all the rest.

 

[crashbb]

People are planning to have one member of the party pay the fee, and save seats for all the rest.

Oh, I understand why people are going to want to do it. I just think that even saving one seat is wrong and I was curious why the PP thought that saving 1 or 2 seats was fine.

 

[Moomduck1]

I would not be comfortable saving seats for someone else on the plane, so we don't do it. But if someone saved 1 or 2 in their same row, it wouldn't bother me. Anything more than that would be wrong, IMHO.

Could someone please explain to me what a bulkhead is? Is that where you put your carryon bag?

 

[Moomduck1]

Oh, and if I paid extra for pre-boarding, I would not move if someone asked me to. I find it very annoying when people board near the end and the flight attendants walk around trying to get people to move.

 

[crashbb]

Could someone please explain to me what a bulkhead is? Is that where you put your carryon bag?

The bulkhead is the first row - where you have a wall in front of you, rather than another seat.

On some planes, there can be more than one bulkhead as there can be walls/dividers in a few places.

 

[Moomduck1]

Thanks for explaining what a bulkhead is!

 

[luvmy3jewels]

I've always been fairly brand loyal to SW and have encouraged others to try them because of the cost and service they have provided in the past. I will admit that I am now re-thinking my loyalty.

My biggest problem with this change is that is was announced "effective immediately." When comparing flight costs with other carriers, I was not able to include the cost of early bird boarding at the time I booked our flights. Since I have paid for 6 round trip tickets, it would cost me $120 to get the early bird seating for our trip in 2 weeks. I would not care about the seating, if it weren't for the fact that I have three young kids (5,6 & 8).

Since we fly with the kids, I will definitely include the cost of the early bird fee when comparing SW's prices and other airlines. My loyalty is wavering a bit, and I may start looking a little more closely at the airlines that offer reserved seating.

 

[agnes!]

Does anybody know if there is any way to see before possibly purchasing how many EarlyBirds there already are on a flight?

And I think it SUCKS that SW did this in one fell swoop. I'm with the poster who wished Southwest would have announced this when the next selling window opened up.

Gonna be fun when all the A's or even some B's are gone via the EarlyBird fees and all those travelers are wondering why in the world they paid extra to board in the B or C Groups.
Gonna be fun when one person in a party EarlyBird boards and tries to save seats for others in their party, you just *know* that's going to happen!

Fun fun fun ...
agnes!

 

[Lewisc]

Does anybody know if there is any way to see before possibly purchasing how many EarlyBirds there already are on a flight?

And I think it SUCKS that SW did this in one fell swoop. I'm with the poster who wished Southwest would have announced this when the next selling window opened up.

Gonna be fun when all the A's or even some B's are gone via the EarlyBird fees and all those travelers are wondering why in the world they paid extra to board in the B or C Groups.
Gonna be fun when one person in a party EarlyBird boards and tries to save seats for others in their party, you just *know* that's going to happen!

Fun fun fun ...
agnes!

NO way to find out how many EBs have already been sold. I think a lot of passengers are cheap. My concern would be if my flight is likely to have continuing and connecting passengers. Those passengers get their BP 24 hours before their first flight.

I agree it would have been nice if SW made the change effective with the schedule extension. My guess is SW doesn't think they can defer the extra revenue.

 

[pinkerbell]

I've always been fairly brand loyal to SW and have encouraged others to try them because of the cost and service they have provided in the past. I will admit that I am now re-thinking my loyalty.

My biggest problem with this change is that is was announced "effective immediately." When comparing flight costs with other carriers, I was not able to include the cost of early bird boarding at the time I booked our flights. Since I have paid for 6 round trip tickets, it would cost me $120 to get the early bird seating for our trip in 2 weeks. I would not care about the seating, if it weren't for the fact that I have three young kids (5,6 & 8).

Since we fly with the kids, I will definitely include the cost of the early bird fee when comparing SW's prices and other airlines. My loyalty is wavering a bit, and I may start looking a little more closely at the airlines that offer reserved seating.

I feel the same way - it was not done in a manner that served it's customers with already purchased fligts at all.
Cleary they are trying to get a quick cash flow, but will it be off-putting to many w/familes who can not get the same price with a reserved seat when booking in the future.. I know I'll be shopping around now

especially since southwest STILL IS NOT a participating airline in the depart trip (except POP - i know - but that's been since june!! and no more have added)