Southwest EBCI a must?

[nkereina]

I haven't flown Southwest in a while and will be booking them for my November trip. Last time I flew Southwest, EBCI was a fairly new concept with most people NOT using it. Is it safe to assume that by now MOST people use it? Are the days of checking in yourself at the 24 hour mark over if you want any chance of sitting together? I plan to book EBCI for my return flight since I won't be able to check myself in but for my outbound flight, I'm thinking about risking it. FWIW, the flight is the afternoon of Thursday 11/14 at 12:30pm out of Buffalo direct to MCO. Hard for me to gauge how busy that might be.

 

[Disneylover99]

I have a SW trip booked for December. I have never flown SW. I bought the EBCI for my family. I have 2 children who will be 10 and 6 when we fly. I really don't want to be separated from them, so for me buying it is worth it. If you are traveling with children, then I would buy it.

I've also read that some people just buy it on the way back from Orlando, so they don't have to worry about checking in 24 hours in advance.

 

[SwimChicSQ]

It all depends, I buy for the way back, just so I don't have to worry. but if all you care about is a seat no real need

 

[brymolmom]

If it's going to ruin your trip if you are separated, then buy EBCI. There's a good chance you'll be together if you check in right at 24 hours...But it's not even close to 100% chance.

 

[skelooch]

I just checked in at the 24 hour mark yesterday for a flight this afternoon, and got A53, A54, A55 and B01 had plenty of seat choices and the flight was 100% full.

 

[helenk]

I use it for my return trips, this way I do not have to worry about checking in at the 24 hour mark when I am in WDW. To me the $12.50 is worth it.

 

[mdsd8700]

We are a family of four with two older teens so us sitting together is not an issue. The only time I have used EBCI is when we have 3 or 4 confirmation numbers due to using points for our flights. However 95% of the time I check us in at 24 hours and we have always been in the A or B group. Never C. Of course that is no guarantee. On our return flights we check in on our phone. I know some people don't want to be bothered but we don't mind at all. It is very easy to do and it works out well for us.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[goofy4tink]

If you are flying alone? I would just go with the 24 hr checkin but pay for EBCI for your flight back. I usually use EBCI for the convenience of not having to remember to be online at that 24 hr. window!!!

 

[mikehn]

If it's a 'must' for all of you to sit together then paying for early checkin is probably the way to go. We've never paid for it and Ive even missed the 24 hour mark a few times and the worst I've ever gotten was boarding section B. In boarding section B, you probably wont find 4-5 seats together, but we've always found pairs of seats together.

 

[richmo]

I've never bothered with EBCI. Of course, my kids are old enough now that if they have to sit by themselves for a couple of hours, its not an issue.

However, I've never done worse than low A or high B doing a 24 hour check-in. I've also found that check-in for the outbound flights from MCO are not nearly as competitive as check-in since I'm sure there are a lot of folks wandering around some theme park 24 hours before they leave rather than the computer stalking they do for the inbound flight to MCO. Lately, I've used a smartphone to check in for the return trip and do fine.

 

[mickeynut1]

I haven't flown Southwest in a while and will be booking them for my November trip. Last time I flew Southwest, EBCI was a fairly new concept with most people NOT using it. Is it safe to assume that by now MOST people use it? Are the days of checking in yourself at the 24 hour mark over if you want any chance of sitting together? I plan to book EBCI for my return flight since I won't be able to check myself in but for my outbound flight, I'm thinking about risking it. FWIW, the flight is the afternoon of Thursday 11/14 at 12:30pm out of Buffalo direct to MCO. Hard for me to gauge how busy that might be.

It's all personal preference, but I pay for EBCI both ways. We are a family of 4 and although we don't have little ones, we do like to sit together, so for me the extra cost is worth it.

 

[dudspizza]

I've always paid for EBCI and been around A45 range every time with my family. I fly to BWI next Tuesday and did not buy it this time. I'm going to roll the dice and save the 50 bucks each way for something else. My kids are 14 and 17, so we'll be fine. I'll still check in right at the 24 hour mark, so we'll see what I get....

I checked a buddy in for his return trip home from Reno last month. We were hanging in the casino and realized we forgot to check him in.... we were about 22 hours out. He still ended up with B15 and A55 for his two flights....

Duds

 

[dburg30]

If you are flying alone? I would just go with the 24 hr checkin but pay for EBCI for your flight back. I usually use EBCI for the convenience of not having to remember to be online at that 24 hr. window!!!

This, OP if you are solo flyer, just check in at 24 hours.. and do EBCI for return just so you dont have to deal with it..

 

[nkereina]

Thanks for all the replies! Just my fiance and I flying. Thinking I'll take my chance on the way down. I wasn't sure if it's "the norm" now for SW flyers to use EBCI, with the 24 hour check-in being the past norm. Sounds like there's still a mix which is good! Thanks all

 

[dudspizza]

I just checked in for my flights for tomorrow. MSP - MDW and MDW to BWI.

I did not pay for EBCI this trip and here is what I got.
MSP-MDW A31, 33, 34, and 35
MDW-BWI A38, 49, 41, 42 (kind of funny how our second flight got us lower boarding numbers when all of those people who originate on that flight can't even check in for another 2+ hours. Goes to show more people paid for EBCI for the MDW-BWI leg of our trip, which is a big connection point for SW).

This isn't a trip to MCO, but we did very well. One thing I did was I found out exactly what time it was on Southwest's site compared to my own computers clock. How you ask? I happened to be on last night just before midnight and wanted to check the status of my flight. They always list yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Well, after midnight, tomorrow was Tuesdays flights. I kept hitting refresh as midnight approached to see when the date switched over. I found that Southwest's clock was about 3-5 seconds behind my computer's clock. I simply hit check in at 06:30 and 5 seconds. Bam, I was in and got great boarding numbers.......

Anal, yes, Pathetic, yes. OCD, yes....... but we did well! lol

Have a great trip.

Duds

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

I think it depends on how popular SW is in your area. Here in Chicago, SW is a preferred airline and people are very savvy to EBCI because people use SW so much and so many of the flights are full or oversold.