southwest early bird checkin

[disnutt]

How do you purchase EB check in for just your return flight? Do you have to buy 2 one way tickets instead of a round trip? I was trying to do this but I couldn't find anywhere on the website to just get it for the return trip. Every time I added it, the website added it for both the departing and return flights.
Sorry if its a dumb question, this will be our first time flying SW.

It's been a couple of months but the last time I purchased it there was a little check off box beside each leg of my trip. I was able to just check the part of the trip that I wanted to buy EB for.

 

[chuckml]

It's been a couple of months but the last time I purchased it there was a little check off box beside each leg of my trip. I was able to just check the part of the trip that I wanted to buy EB for.

Thanks

 

[goofy4tink]

Maybe not, but their policy does state that you board and select seats based on your boarding pass #. So it stands to reason that if boarding pass B40 wants that exact seat that you have your purse on....then he gets it, even if you would prefer that person C40 would get it instead. It is a first come, first served setup - so that person gets to select ANY seat unfilled by a person when he/she enters the plane.

I have been on at least 3 flights where the flight attendants have announced during boarding 'REMEMBER, NO SAVING SEATS.'

We went ahead and bought 2 (out of 4 of us) of us EBCI for our return flight in August. I would prefer that at least 3 of us get together, but I don't think it will be a problem if I take an aisle and dd takes the window - I am guessing that middle seat will remain available until ds boards. And if not, that would be OK too.

Ummm, sort of. I did go over to the SW site to see what they said about seast choice. They say....'you are free to take any available seat'...so that is more a question of what 'available' means. If someone's purse is in it, is it available???

I fly SW a lot. Only when the FAs see a lot of seat saving do they say anything. The best time I remember??? Flight out of TFGreen to MCO. There was a largish family group...about 15 or so. They got on just before I did. They were among the first to board. Well.....they started sitting two in a row...aisle and window seats, with a coat or such in that middle seat. They took up about 7 or so rows that way...all in the front of the plane. Well, as the C group was boarding, the FAs could see that no one was sitting in any of those middle seats. So, they made the announcement that this was a completely full flight and there would be no empty seats. Well then...you should have seen the flurry of activity out of that family!! They starting redoing their seating arrangements. Seems no one wanted to have a stranger seated beside them if at all possible. The FAs just stood there and grinned.

But generally speaking, saving seats isn't disallowed. IF mom and dd get on, and then save a seat for poor old dad, no one is going to mind.

 

[brymolmom]

Ummm, sort of. I did go over to the SW site to see what they said about seast choice. They say....'you are free to take any available seat'...so that is more a question of what 'available' means. If someone's purse is in it, is it available???

I fly SW a lot. Only when the FAs see a lot of seat saving do they say anything. The best time I remember??? Flight out of TFGreen to MCO. There was a largish family group...about 15 or so. They got on just before I did. They were among the first to board. Well.....they started sitting two in a row...aisle and window seats, with a coat or such in that middle seat. They took up about 7 or so rows that way...all in the front of the plane. Well, as the C group was boarding, the FAs could see that no one was sitting in any of those middle seats. So, they made the announcement that this was a completely full flight and there would be no empty seats. Well then...you should have seen the flurry of activity out of that family!! They starting redoing their seating arrangements. Seems no one wanted to have a stranger seated beside them if at all possible. The FAs just stood there and grinned.

But generally speaking, saving seats isn't disallowed. IF mom and dd get on, and then save a seat for poor old dad, no one is going to mind.

Since a purse isn't a paying passenger...I would still consider that seat available!

And I agree that most of the time no one would mind - especially if it is a middle seat that will be last taken anyway. But it is the people who go in and take the middle seat and put things on both other seats that get me, as some couples might be splitting up due to that purse 'needing' a seat even though they have a right to those seats over all others behind them in the boarding order. We accidentally checked in a bit late one time - and had C boarding passes, and I was worried about dd6 not being able to sit with me. I prepared her just in case and was prepared myself to deal with it if there were TRULY no available seats next to each other. But I told dh as we walked on that we would be taking the first available row where there was only 1 person sitting - no matter how much stuff was on the seats. Not sure how upset someone would have been but I'm guessing FA's would agree about whether or not it was available, especially since we would have been holding up the line entering and they want you to sit as quickly as possible so if the seat saver was holding things up, they would have enforced it. Luckily, it wasn't necessary - there was one full 3 person row available in the back and me, ds and dd were able to grab it.