Southwest early bird

[lovedisney123]

Is you place in line assigned based on when you bought your ticket? I bought ours on the day the prices came out. Does that put us ahead of someone buying a ticket today with the early bird check in? Or is it a random order for all the Early Bird purchasers (trying to decide if it is worth buying that extra feature).

Thank you

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

It is based on when you buy Early Bird, not the ticket.

 

[lovedisney123]

OK thanks. At least it isn't just a lottery with random assignment. So the earlier the purchase the better the boarding pass. Good to know

 

[DisDadDVC]

It is based on when you buy Early Bird, not the ticket.

This is correct.

 

[sam_gordon]

IIRC, the level of ticket will make a difference, so if you purchased "Wanna Get Away" when the dates were released, someone purchasing "Business Select" or "Anytime" a week before the flight could jump ahead of you.

 

[lovedisney123]

IIRC, the level of ticket will make a difference, so if you purchased "Wanna Get Away" when the dates were released, someone purchasing "Business Select" or "Anytime" a week before the flight could jump ahead of you.

Oh OK, well we did buy the 'wanna get away' ticket so I guess that will effect us. I just want us to get to sit together, I really do not care where the row is as long we we can sit together as a family. So hopefully since we bought the early bird on the day the prices were released we can do that.

Thanks!

 

[DisDadDVC]

IIRC, the level of ticket will make a difference, so if you purchased "Wanna Get Away" when the dates were released, someone purchasing "Business Select" or "Anytime" a week before the flight could jump ahead of you.

This is not really true. A1-15 are reserved for business select. No EB people can get those seats no matter what. Anytime fare does not get boarding preference over Wanna Get Away. See also:

https://www.southwest.com/flight/pop_fareCompare.html?airline=WN

 

[Spunky946]

I bought tickets for my July trip in late May and had a27 and a28 with early bird.

I've also had high b's and had seats together in the back of the plane.

 

[sam_gordon]

This is not really true. A1-15 are reserved for business select. No EB people can get those seats no matter what. Anytime fare does not get boarding preference over Wanna Get Away. See also:

https://www.southwest.com/flight/pop_fareCompare.html?airline=WN

While not "official", it's been speculated on this board for a while.

 

[DisDadDVC]

While not "official", it's been speculated on this board for a while.

It is not true.

 

[PlutoPony]

This is not really true. A1-15 are reserved for business select. No EB people can get those seats no matter what. Anytime fare does not get boarding preference over Wanna Get Away. See also:

https://www.southwest.com/flight/pop_fareCompare.html?airline=WN

Anytime fare DOES get EB queue preference over Wanna Get Away
Go to Southwest FAQ's https://www.southwest.com/html/generated/help/faqs/earlybird_checkin_faq.html

Specifically -
Is there an order in which EarlyBird Check-In Boarding Passes are reserved?

Yes. Customers who have purchased Anytime Fares will receive priority over other fare types that are assigned their position based on the time stamp of the EarlyBird Check-In purchase.


The FF's over at Flyertalk agree this is the way EB is assigned based on their extensive experience. There are occasional surprises in EB numbers but they are typically attributed to last minute tickets cancellations when EB has already been assigned

 

[DisDadDVC]

Anytime fare DOES get EB queue preference over Wanna Get Away
Go to Southwest FAQ's https://www.southwest.com/html/generated/help/faqs/earlybird_checkin_faq.html

Specifically -
Is there an order in which EarlyBird Check-In Boarding Passes are reserved?

Yes. Customers who have purchased Anytime Fares will receive priority over other fare types that are assigned their position based on the time stamp of the EarlyBird Check-In purchase.


The FF's over at Flyertalk agree this is the way EB is assigned based on their extensive experience. There are occasional surprises in EB numbers but they are typically attributed to last minute tickets cancellations when EB has already been assigned

Thanks.

 

[Disneylover99]

We bought our EBCI (wanna get away tickets) at 6am the day flights were released in February for our August trip. We got A18-21 down and A18-21 back.

 

[DisDadDVC]

We bought our EBCI (wanna get away tickets) at 6am the day flights were released in February for our August trip. We got A18-21 down and A18-21 back.

That's one of the good things about MCO flights. Not a ton of A-list travelers to take the A16-60 seats. I am A-list and almost almost get <A20 to MCO. However, I am frequently A40+ to MDW.

 

[bookgirl]

however....if you modify your flights, like rebooking at a fare drop, the day you modify becomes your EBC date. I never modify unless its a substantial savings if I'm close to my flight date.

 

[lovedisney123]

however....if you modify your flights, like rebooking at a fare drop, the day you modify becomes your EBC date. I never modify unless its a substantial savings if I'm close to my flight date.

Thank you! I was wondering that. Our fares did drop. However, we do not plan to flight again anywhere for a few years, so the credit would most likely go unused and then we would lose our EBC spot. So thank you for mentioning this. I had thought about changing us just in case we could use the credit, but honestly I don't see it happening (we have lots going on the following year that will prevent us from going on a big trip). So it is not worth losing our spot just of a 'possible credit that we may use but probably won't".

 

[kaytieeldr]

That's one of the good things about MCO flights. Not a ton of A-list travelers to take the A16-60 seats. I am A-list and almost almost get <A20 to MCO. However, I am frequently A40+ to MDW.

You need to start flying more frequently to MCO, and less to MDW