Southwest EBCI

[BuzzLiteyear]

When you pay for the EBCI are you guaranteed a higher boarding position that those who wait until the 24 hour mark?

I only ask because on a recent flight I checked us in at the 24 hour mark and my family was split up . Some of us were in "A" and the rest were in "B" and there were a few people in between us. I thought it was odd and don't want to waste the money if you don't necessarily get higher boarding positions than those who don't get it.

 

[KaLyn]

When you pay for the EBCI are you guaranteed a higher boarding position that those who wait until the 24 hour mark? I only ask because on a recent flight I checked us in at the 24 hour mark and my family was split up . Some of us were in "A" and the rest were in "B" and there were a few people in between us. I thought it was odd and don't want to waste the money if you don't necessarily get higher boarding positions than those who don't get it.

You should be because with EBCI you are checked in at the 36 hour mark.

 

[jayhawk74]

There is only one way that a person who check in at the 24 hour mark can get a lower boarding number than a person with EBCI. That way is if a passenger who is an "A" lister (or also had EBCI) cancels their reservation after the 36 hour mark and before the 24 hour mark. That canceled boarding number would get recycled. While it does happen it is extremely rare.

 

[DVC California]

When you pay for the EBCI are you guaranteed a higher boarding position that those who wait until the 24 hour mark?

I don't believe it's "Guaranteed" but it's more likely. A lot can happen in this 12 hours from EBCI to T-24. Eg. - Some passenger might have rescheduled their flight, releasing their EBCI back into the pool.

I only ask because on a recent flight I checked us in at the 24 hour mark and my family was split up . Some of us were in "A" and the rest were in "B" and there were a few people in between us. I thought it was odd and don't want to waste the money if you don't necessarily get higher boarding positions than those who don't get it.

I guess some of you were in high "A"s (A50+) and others in low "B"s (B01+). You can all board together with the "B"s, keeping the group together.

Be advised it could still happen with EBCI, probably some glitch in the computer's assignment programming. You will get higher boarding assignments, probably all together but not guaranteed. Just board together with the highest assignment.

HTH, Steve

From SWA:

BETTER BOARDING POSITION
We'll automatically check you in and assign your boarding position within 36 hours of your flight's departure - that's 12 hours before general boarding positions become available. While EarlyBird Check-In doesn't guarantee an A boarding position, it improves your seat selection options to help you get your favorite seat.​

 

[PCFriar80]

When you pay for the EBCI are you guaranteed a higher boarding position that those who wait until the 24 hour mark?

I only ask because on a recent flight I checked us in at the 24 hour mark and my family was split up . Some of us were in "A" and the rest were in "B" and there were a few people in between us. I thought it was odd and don't want to waste the money if you don't necessarily get higher boarding positions than those who don't get it.

Yes, you'll get a higher boarding position [36 hour check-in] but there are other factors that influence the pecking order. Folks with Business select or Anytime fares get priority over the wanna get away fares. Also, the closer you book EBCI to your departure date means there are more wanna get away fares ahead of you. Bottom line, supply and demand. If you're on a popular flight and booked later you'll probably be in the situation you are. Nothing bad, just the way it is.... more people spending the one way $12.50 for the EBCI.

 

[ssmerdel]

Usually we drive to WDW, but flying SWA this time and purchased EB. Are you able to print the boarding passes at the 36 hour window?

 

[sam_gordon]

Usually we drive to WDW, but flying SWA this time and purchased EB. Are you able to print the boarding passes at the 36 hour window?

No. BP's aren't available to print until 24 hours before your flight.

 

[ssmerdel]

No. BP's aren't available to print until 24 hours before your flight.

Thanks!

 

[KaLyn]

Usually we drive to WDW, but flying SWA this time and purchased EB. Are you able to print the boarding passes at the 36 hour window?

Nope. Southwest checks you in at T-36 but they aren't able to be printed until T-24.

 

[mslhb]

The way I understand EBCI is your slot will be based on when you bought the EBCI for your ticket. So the 1st person to choose it will get the 1st slot (behind the business select people). I fly southwest a lot. Typically EBCI gets you the A group but certainly not guaranteed. EBCI is getting more and more popular. Worst I have ever gotten with EBCI was mid B.

 

[ssmerdel]

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[KaLyn]

The way I understand EBCI is your slot will be based on when you bought the EBCI for your ticket. So the 1st person to choose it will get the 1st slot (behind the business select people). I fly southwest a lot. Typically EBCI gets you the A group but certainly not guaranteed. EBCI is getting more and more popular. Worst I have ever gotten with EBCI was mid B.

If I'm understanding correctly, this is awesome news! I booked for our May trip as soon as the flights opened for booking back in October. My printed confirmation says 6:23am and they opened at 6:00am. I bought EBCI at that point too, it was all done at the same time, so I didn't buy it after the tickets. So we should have good boarding numbers, right?

 

[DebbieB]

On my last trip, I checked in at exactly 24 hours for my return flight and got B28. So just because you got B doesn't mean EBCI wasn't an advantage. Ironically, the back of the plane was empty, I had a row to myself.

 

[LisaS]

If I'm understanding correctly, this is awesome news! I booked for our May trip as soon as the flights opened for booking back in October. My printed confirmation says 6:23am and they opened at 6:00am. I bought EBCI at that point too, it was all done at the same time, so I didn't buy it after the tickets. So we should have good boarding numbers, right?

A1-A15 are for Business Select passengers. After that come A-List Preferred, then A-List, then passengers who bought Anytime Fares with EBCI, then those who bought Wanna Get Away fares with EBCI. I'm always in that last group and lately have been getting anything from A40-something to high Bs.

I usually purchase my flight within minutes of the schedule opening for my travel dates and purchase EBCI at that time. I do sometimes rebook my flights if the cost goes down. There is anecdotal evidence that if you reprice your flights, your EBCI purchase date is changed to the date you repriced your flights, moving you further back in the boarding queue so that may explain why I am often at the back of the A group. Or, it could be there are a lot of A-Listers and Anytime Fare passengers (with EBCI) on my flights.

 

[summermac]

So it sounds to me like if you bought a Wanna Get Away the EBCI is a waste of money. I opted to not purchase EBCI for our flight (next week) and at this point, it is what it is. We are a travel party of 7, 5 of those being adults who don't necessarily need to sit together. I do have 2 kids but I am hoping (perhaps stupidly) that at least each child + 1 adult can find a seat together.

I don't really understand the point of paying for EBCI if you truly don't get to pick your seat at the 36 hour window. Until this post, I thought EBCI was actually an opportunity to pick your seat. So really, you're paying $12.50 to board early and that's truly it. What a rip!

 

[KaLyn]

So it sounds to me like if you bought a Wanna Get Away the EBCI is a waste of money. I opted to not purchase EBCI for our flight (next week) and at this point, it is what it is. We are a travel party of 7, 5 of those being adults who don't necessarily need to sit together. I do have 2 kids but I am hoping (perhaps stupidly) that at least each child + 1 adult can find a seat together. I don't really understand the point of paying for EBCI if you truly don't get to pick your seat at the 36 hour window. Until this post, I thought EBCI was actually an opportunity to pick your seat. So really, you're paying $12.50 to board early and that's truly it. What a rip!

What you really pay for is for Southwest to automatically check you in at T-36, which in turn *should* get you to board earlier. But all they guarantee is being checked in 12 hours before everyone else, without you having to worry about it. Which is good for us because at T-24 I will be busy and may miss it.

 

[KaLyn]

A1-A15 are for Business Select passengers. After that come A-List Preferred, then A-List, then passengers who bought Anytime Fares with EBCI, then those who bought Wanna Get Away fares with EBCI. I'm always in that last group and lately have been getting anything from A40-something to high Bs. I usually purchase my flight within minutes of the schedule opening for my travel dates and purchase EBCI at that time. I do sometimes rebook my flights if the cost goes down. There is anecdotal evidence that if you reprice your flights, your EBCI purchase date is changed to the date you repriced your flights, moving you further back in the boarding queue so that may explain why I am often at the back of the A group. Or, it could be there are a lot of A-Listers and Anytime Fare passengers (with EBCI) on my flights.

Thanks for the info!

 

[summermac]

What you really pay for is for Southwest to automatically check you in at T-36, which in turn *should* get you to board earlier. But all they guarantee is being checked in 12 hours before everyone else, without you having to worry about it. Which is good for us because at T-24 I will be busy and may miss it.

I guess this is a good point. I will be able to check us in right at the 24 hour mark for both flights.

 

[goofy4tink]

EBCI is always going to put you ahead of the vast majority of people. Yes, there could be a situation where someone cancelled their flight, with EBCI, and then someone comes along and buys a ticket with EBCI and gets that vacated spot. That can put someone ahead of you.
Also..A1-15 are seldom all taken. I have seldom seen more than 5 or 6 people in that section. SW tells us that buying EBCI gets you an earlier boarding than those that didn't buy it...that's it. One would assume that the earlier you board, the better seat choices you have.
But....I've seen people in the middle to late B group board and find seats together. If it were a large group, then obviously they would have to split up, but it wasn't hard to get pairs of seats together up to the C grouping.

 

[LisaS]

EBCI is always going to put you ahead of the vast majority of people. Yes, there could be a situation where someone cancelled their flight, with EBCI, and then someone comes along and buys a ticket with EBCI and gets that vacated spot. That can put someone ahead of you.

This can happen whenever someone who does not have EBCI just happens to be the first person to check in after a cancellation occurs for a reservation that had already checked in. It could be someone who bought a ticket at the last minute or someone who bought a ticket months ago (without EBCI) and just happened to check in at the right time.

Also..A1-15 are seldom all taken. I have seldom seen more than 5 or 6 people in that section.

Another group that boards ahead of those with EBCI are the passengers who opt to pay $40 (or whatever it is SW charges) to grab one of those open seats in A1-A15. There have been a few on the each of the last couple of SW flights I've taken.