southwest-maximum boarding passes issued

[LisaS]

It's great to have the $40 upgrade option for times like this!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Southwest holds back roughly 10% of the boarding numbers for airport issuance only. I've had it explained to me by a couple different Southwest CSRs and read it on flyertalk, however I don't know what the reasons are behind it. Having this occur does not necessarily indicate an oversell situation. It's happened to me a few times (none were oversold) and you just go to the counter and get it handled at the airport.

For information sake, another reason this can occur (although not the case here) is when somebody already has 2 active boarding passes in the Southwest system. I've not personally seen this but have read about it on flyertalk where if you attempt to print a 3rd boarding pass it will not print. This is more likely to occur in frequent business travelers who have multiple legs on back to back days.

 

[Flyer2018]

Southwest Security Document issued online Rather than Boarding Pass - SOLVED


Summary

-- GO TO THE AIRPORT early and get your physical boarding pass or

-- OR Upgrade to Business Select A1-15

Recently I was issued a security document online rather than a boarding pass for a late-evening wanna-getaway nonstop from CMH to STL. My son who had a different confirmation number was issued a boarding pass although he checked in only SECONDS before I did. I then was offered a strange check box to upgrade to Business Select when I printed the Security Document.

Yesterday after some research I discovered the most likely explanation for why this happens. Of course you can guess, it's about the money. The security documents are essentially standby passes for people in case people don't show up and they can sell the last-minute A1-A15 spots online. The upgrade would have guaranteed me a boarding position, I think. Because when I physically went to the airport early that morning to try to convert the security document to a boarding pass, the ticket agent DID issue me a pass with a medium range A number.

SWA phone operators initially told me that too many boarding passes were issued. The gate agent told me that they hold back the LAST 15 passes for some unknown reason. Upon boarding I discovered that although the flight was to be full, there were only about 40 people in the boarding area. Everyone I talked to BEHIND me in line had been issued a security document also.

It turns out the flight was the second leg of a couple of very large 8th grade tour groups flying from DCA to STL then onto Des Moines and Omaha. There were 112 people staying "through" at STL. The attendants told us they'd never seen anything like it.

When we boarded, the A1-A15 spots were COMPLETELY EMPTY - this accounted for the 15 security documents issued. You could have paid for one of these 15 guaranteed spots by upgrading!

My Wanna Getway fare is listed as a STANDBY fare if you look in the fine print of the email. "NONREF/NONTRANSFERABLE STANDBY REQ UPGRADE TO Y -BG WN".

Hope this helps!

 

[Simba's Mom]

This sounds strange. I didn't know about Southwest holding back boarding passes. I guess I was lucky. I once had my connecting flight cancelled and had to stay overnight. Then the next morning my new flight got cancelled, so they booked me on another flight a few hours later. I figure I got checked in about 5-6 hours before the flight, and got a C-50 boarding pass. It was the only time I was glad to have spasticity and great difficulty walking, as I got to pre-board the flight (my spasticity is so obvious, the gate attendant came to me to tell me to preboard). Otherwise, what would C-50 have gotten me for a seat? But at least I had a boarding pass!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

My Wanna Getway fare is listed as a STANDBY fare if you look in the fine print of the email. "NONREF/NONTRANSFERABLE STANDBY REQ UPGRADE TO Y -BG WN".

This does not mean you were on a standby fare. This is what is listed on all wanna get away fares meaning that it is a nonrefundable fare and to fly standby you need to upgrade to a Y Fare (Anytime) or pay the difference in fares between your current flight and the other flight.

 

[DebbieB]

This sounds strange. I didn't know about Southwest holding back boarding passes. I guess I was lucky. I once had my connecting flight cancelled and had to stay overnight. Then the next morning my new flight got cancelled, so they booked me on another flight a few hours later. I figure I got checked in about 5-6 hours before the flight, and got a C-50 boarding pass. It was the only time I was glad to have spasticity and great difficulty walking, as I got to pre-board the flight (my spasticity is so obvious, the gate attendant came to me to tell me to preboard). Otherwise, what would C-50 have gotten me for a seat? But at least I had a boarding pass!

You would have got a seat but likely a middle seat. If they are overbooked, you are not assigned a letter/number.