Southwest ECBI Check In - Should I Get An "A"?

[jhaig]

Never flown SW before so this is all new to me. I bought our flight from Rochester NY to MCO for 2 adults and 1 15yr old on Feb 25 and purchased ECBI. As I understand it SW automatically checks you in 36 hours prior to your flight and assigns you a boarding number. What kind of boarding group and/or number should I expect to receive? Should I expect to be in the "A" group since I purchased so far in advance?

 

[maxiesmom]

Probably.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

I'm flying tomorrow on Southwest. Only decided about a week or so ago to get EBCI (started to worry about being behind family boarding!). I still got A45-48. And this is on a completely sold out flight.

 

[goofy4tink]

For my flights in July, Providence to Orlando, the flights were full, and I booked about 3 weeks prior to travel. I got A spot both times.

 

[jhaig]

Sounds encouraging so far...

 

[barbliny]

Other side of the coin - we just got back and had full flights both ways - flew into Tampa.
I checked the 4 of us in myself - paying for checkin for me just isn't worth it since we're all adults - and doing it this way I've never gotten anything worse than mid-B's flying all over the country.
Going to Disney I checked-in exactly 24 hours before, we had B13 through B16. Coming back, same procedure - we had A48, A49, A50, A52 - oddly enough someone grabbed 51 in the middle, I've never seen that happen before.

 

[keishashadow]

Other side of the coin - we just got back and had full flights both ways - flew into Tampa.
I checked the 4 of us in myself - paying for checkin for me just isn't worth it since we're all adults - and doing it this way I've never gotten anything worse than mid-B's flying all over the country.
Going to Disney I checked-in exactly 24 hours before, we had B13 through B16. Coming back, same procedure - we had A48, A49, A50, A52 - oddly enough someone grabbed 51 in the middle, I've never seen that happen before.

curious, were you all on the same confirmation #?

OP - based upon flying SWA out of PIT for many years: winter (non holiday) and weekday flights into MCO are less crowded than weekend, especially Saturday's first NS flight out. You should be fine.

 

[Disneylover99]

We always buy EBCI, usually when flights first open up. But we've also booked about a month out before. We've always gotten A boarding.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Other side of the coin - we just got back and had full flights both ways - flew into Tampa.
I checked the 4 of us in myself - paying for checkin for me just isn't worth it since we're all adults - and doing it this way I've never gotten anything worse than mid-B's flying all over the country.
Going to Disney I checked-in exactly 24 hours before, we had B13 through B16. Coming back, same procedure - we had A48, A49, A50, A52 - oddly enough someone grabbed 51 in the middle, I've never seen that happen before.

When DH and I flew in to Dulles (Wash D.C.) last month we were on the same reservation and someone got a boarding number between us on our initial flight into Chicago, and the connecting flight. We usually don't do the EBCI, but as long as we check-in right at the 24-hr mark we're fine. On our flight home I checked in about 23-1/2 hrs and we were in the mid-B range but still got aisle seats. (We're too old and creaky to climb over other passengers.)

 

[helenk]

I fly from Philly and generally buy the EBCI when I book my flights. I have gotten low B numbers once in a while. So you cannot count on getting an A every time.

 

[barbliny]

curious, were you all on the same confirmation #?

Yes, they were all the same confirmation number

When DH and I flew in to Dulles (Wash D.C.) last month we were on the same reservation and someone got a boarding number between us on our initial flight into Chicago, and the connecting flight. We usually don't do the EBCI, but as long as we check-in right at the 24-hr mark we're fine. On our flight home I checked in about 23-1/2 hrs and we were in the mid-B range but still got aisle seats. (We're too old and creaky to climb over other passengers.)

We always pick aisle seats also - hate to be closed in, and being across the aisle from each other is just as easy.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

We were considering flying SWA for the first time for our upcoming trip next Spring Break. But wasn't able to get tickets. But I had a lot of questions and EBCI was one. When speaking to customer service about it I was told EBCI was not a guarantee of A boarding. But it sounds promising from reading these threads.

 

[msforsythe]

We are flying SWA in November and I was wondering the same thing. We are a family of 4. My kids are 16 and 12. I'm not too worried about sitting together but it would be nice. So any helpful hints are appreciated!

 

[nkereina]

I've flown out of Rochester to MCO several times on Southwest. I always purchase EBCI and have always received an A number. It's never for certain, but has always worked out for me. It's my understanding that EBCI purchases are checked-in in the order in which they were purchased. You purchased it early, so that bodes well for you. The flight also originates in Rochester which means you're getting on an empty plane. I've boarded SW flights at places like ATL and BWI before, and sometimes they are carrying stop-over passengers that remain on the plane and those folks have already taken the "good" seats like bulkhead and exit row by the time I get on, even though I may have an A number.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I was originally booked to fly out of Baltimore but two weeks ago moved my flights to fly out of Philly. They had to cancel and rebook my flights but I got to keep my EBCI I purchased with the Baltimore flights.

I just printed by boarding passes and we are A30-34. And they had to split us into two confirmation numbers. The kids on one and us two adults on the other.

 

[CarolMN]

....(snip).....It's my understanding that EBCI purchases are checked-in in the order in which they were purchased. .......

I was told that it also depends on the fare class purchased. So someone who purchased a more expensive fare than you would get a lower BP, even if you bought before that person. (Assuming that the more expensive fare purchase also included EBCI). Also, sometimes passengers who check in relatively late in the process end up with better BP numbers than those who check in earlier. Apparently this happens if someone cancels or changes to another flight after check-in has begun.

OP - never a guarantee, but more often than not, an EBCI purchased early gets a good A position. Especially true if your flight originates from your airport - i.e.,not a continuing fight to MCO that originated elsewhere. In those cases, there will be people on the plane before boarding at your airport begins and those people are allowed to change seats after the departing passengers deplane and a count is done by the flight attendants. So even the A boarders might find themselves seated towards the back of the plane.

 

[Allison]

Anytime fares will get a better boarding number per the Southwest site:

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.

 

[justafigment27]

Last April, during spring break, we received B group (I don't remember the exact number, but I want to say B6-10) with EBCI on our non-stop return flight from MCO. We did get 4 seats together near the back of the plane and didn't have to worry about checking in on our last day of vacation, so I guess it was worth it ... but I was a wee bit tense after watching the HUGE family boarding crowd get on between groups A and B. We have flown SWA to MCO for three spring break trips and that was the only time we received B group after purchasing EBCI, but it happens ...

 

[bumbershoot]

Coming back, same procedure - we had A48, A49, A50, A52 - oddly enough someone grabbed 51 in the middle, I've never seen that happen before.

Just about every time the 3 of us go on SW, on the same booking, we manage to get out of order numbers.

 

[jtdl]

On our departing flight we have to change planes in Atlanta and only 55 minutes from landing to take-off. I have EBCI but what time do they start boarding? I hope our flight is on time and we will be able to make it to the next gate with time to spare. As far as I can tell it is an originating flight out of Atlanta to Detroit so I don't think we will have remaining passengers. Is there an easy way to check that it is an originating flight?