Southwest EBCI Fee increase eff March 14th

[stitchlovestink]

AT BWI your at a pretty large disadvantage when it comes to this.

BWI is a common SW connection city. Chicago Midway would have the same problem.

For both EBCI or normal checkin you check in 24 hours before your first flight.

So lets say 2 people are flying from BWI to Orlando at 12 noon.
A is flying from Albany to BWI to MCO The Albany to BWI flight leaves at 10 AM.
B is flying from BWI to MCO directly

A will be ahead of B every time. Because A got checked in for the BWI to MCO flight when they checked in for the first flight, 2 hours before. Doesn't matter if the person is EBCI or not.

Not only do you have a worst boarding position going from BWI, but the same boarding position is generally worse on a flight leaving from BWI unless its first thing in the morning because there are probably already people on the plane before you board.

I do not disagree with your post. However, it has been my experience (and I *generally* don't take the first flight of the day) that there are rarely more than a few people on the plane when I board. There might be a dozen people at most and that is a lot. But our gate area is a mob scene because the flights are usually full or close (less than 10 empty seats).

 

[kamik86]

I do not disagree with your post. However, it has been my experience (and I *generally* don't take the first flight of the day) that there are rarely more than a few people on the plane when I board. There might be a dozen people at most and that is a lot. But our gate area is a mob scene because the flights are usually full or close (less than 10 empty seats).

I think most of the time it seems to be between 5 and 10. However with my home airport I have never seen the number be anything but 0. Both when coming in and the flight attendant at the front says it to the ones in back or when I was getting on.

However yes the fact that from BWI your at the back of the EBCI or 24 check in line behind everyone that connected is much more significant of a number.

 

[beccasmom]

We've always lucked out with EBCI in getting into the A group. But I agree it is entertaining to watch people at the gate jockeying for position. Some gate agents are better at handling the crowds than others. And at Philly there are always a number of wheelchairs. My elderly mom should be using one, but refuses to. I would rather have a committed seat assignment, but I do prefer SWA to our other "choices" - American (have not found a great deal on airfare with them yet), Frontier or Spirit who nickel and dime everything or Delta with extended lay-overs. Though I have found SWA fares to be higher than they used to be, I can usually find a good fare by tweaking dates.

 

[goofy4tink]

The last time we flew Southwest we (rudely) ignored the women saying they saving seats. The women were in the middle so I took the aisle and DS took the window. My DH took the aisle seat right next to me.

What part of "no seat saving" is difficult to understand.

However....SW has NO policy regarding seat saving. So if someone wants to save a seat for someone, they can. On the other hand, if you want to sit in that 'saved' seat, you can! Well, you can try. If you ask a FA to tell the passenger, saving the seat, to move their things from the 'saved seat, so you sit there? The FA won't get involved. You will be told there is no policy regarding the saving of seats...and that hopefully the involved parties will handle it.

 

[JodyTG]

I guess I'm just rude and mean. I also have no problem moving dry towels off of a chair so that I can sit down.

 

[kristenrice]

I have EBCI currently added to a flight that I booked with cash. If I cancel it and rebook it using points instead, will I lose my EBCI or will I get a "credit" to add it to a different flight? I really don't want to lose the $50 AND have to pay another $60 to add it to the same flight if I rebook using my points. I'm OK with having to pay the extra $10 to account for the increased price of EBCI, but I really don't want to forfeit the $50 I already paid.

 

[lovewdwfun]

I don't see Southeest eliminating family boarding or moving all early birds ahead of it. It helps them leave on time. I have done a lot of flights with young kids. We are slow, although we always head to the back of the plane to not inconvenience anyone else. It takes a while to get the hang of putting a car seat in a small airplane. You also have to request a seatbelt extender and wait for a flight attendant to bring one to you, which can take a while.

I have also seen situations where people will not move seats to let a child sit with a parent. This takes a while and the flight attendants get involved to try to find someone to switch. I am sure they want to avoid this as much as possible. Plus, if they actually don't sit parents and kids together, I imagine eventually there could be liability issues. What if the oxygen masks come down and the stranger next to your kid doesn't help him? Or if someone touches your kid?

So bottom line, I don't think Southwest does family boarding to be nice, it is in their own best interest.

 

[LisaS]

I have EBCI currently added to a flight that I booked with cash. If I cancel it and rebook it using points instead, will I lose my EBCI or will I get a "credit" to add it to a different flight? I really don't want to lose the $50 AND have to pay another $60 to add it to the same flight if I rebook using my points. I'm OK with having to pay the extra $10 to account for the increased price of EBCI, but I really don't want to forfeit the $50 I already paid.

If you cancel a flight with EBCI, you lose your EBCI. You do not get a credit for the amount you paid for it.

That's why when you reprice a flight you must use the "change flight" option rather than cancel and rebook. EBCI is attached to the reservation number so if that changes, which it will if you cancel, your EBCI is lost. "Change flight" preserves your reservation number so EBCI is still attached to the reservation after you reprice it. So the question is, can you use the "change flight" option to pay with points instead of cash and I don't think you can. Perhaps this is something that customer service can do for you but as you probably know, once customer service touches your reservation you will not be able to make any further changes to it online. You will have to call from that point on.

 

[daughtryfan114]

So I bought our tickets with EBCI the day our dates were released. We got A17-21!

 

[kimyinpink]

And they recently bumped the qualifying age from 4 to 6. Gee wasn't that nice of them toadd to the number of people eligible for family boarding??!!

As a Kindergarten teacher I cannot imagine my kiddos being separated from their parents. At that age they definitely still need family boarding. I think the problem is the same one that is prominent everywhere- selfishness and inconsideration. If people would be respectful and stop trying to take advantage of others family boarding would be exactly what it was intended to be. As a mother of a 3 and 1 year old I am so grateful for family boarding. I think it would be ridiculous for me to pay more to ensure I sit with my kids. I however use family boarding as is respectful- just for me, DH and our 2 kids. No extended family, no saving seats, just keeping our family together.

 

[Kaytie]

As a Kindergarten teacher I cannot imagine my kiddos being separated from their parents. At that age they definitely still need family boarding.

But Unaccompanied Minors start at age five. If children can fly alone with a Flight Attendant watching them while also responsible for dozens of other pasengers and the parent/s not even on the plane, why can't they fly on the same plane as the parent/s, just not seated adjacent?

 

[kimyinpink]

But Unaccompanied Minors start at age five. If children can fly alone with a Flight Attendant watching them while also responsible for dozens of other pasengers and the parent/s not even on the plane, why can't they fly on the same plane as the parent/s, just not seated adjacent?

Good point! I cannot imagine 3/4 of the kids I teach traveling alone. Whew! God bless those flight attendants. There are certainly some mature enough but overall I can barely trust them to go to the bathroom alone. Haha.

 

[MMCD]

When you buy EBCI, do they order it when purchased order or is it random assigned to those who prebought at the 24 hour mark? For example, If I am the first one to buy among 20 people who bought, would I get the highest EBCI number or I am at risk of being 20/20?

 

[LisaS]

When you buy EBCI, do they order it when purchased order or is it random assigned to those who prebought at the 24 hour mark? For example, If I am the first one to buy among 20 people who bought, would I get the highest EBCI number or I am at risk of being 20/20?

They assign boarding positions to passengers who purchased EBCI (along with some other groups, see below) once you are 36 hours from departure. The positions are assigned based on when you purchased EBCI so the earlier you purchase it, the better your boarding position will be. However, among the EBCI passengers, they first assign positions to the EBCI'ers who bought an "Anytime" fare, then to those who purchased EBCI with a "Wanna Get Away" fare. So if you are the first to purchase EBCI but you bought a WGA fare, you won't necessarily be at the head of the EBCI section of the queue.

At 36 hours out the computer assigns boarding positions to passengers in this order: 1) Business Select, 2) A-List, 3) Anytime+EBCI, 4) Wanna Get Away+EBCI. At 24 hours out, everyone else can check in and get a boarding position. Even with EBCI you could end up in the B group, putting you behind Family Boarding which happens between the A and B groups. Also, any A-Listers who booked less then 24 hours out and end up with anything other than an A boarding pass get to board at the end of the A group.

 

[MMCD]

Well, my youngest is now 14yo. I however want to sit next to my family member so I can lean/drape during flight. I will save my $15 and learn to sit upright.