Soutwest-ok now I am really confused

[sersee05]

I know this has been asked a million times but I keep getting different answers and am completely confused. So please bear with me..

I booked my families flight. I have a rapid rewards number and so does my husband. So we have different account numbers. When I go in to check on my account, I only see myself listed but on my confirmation it lists all of my family(there are five of us). When I check in at the 24 hour mark...will it check us all in? Or do I have to log back out and go in under my husbands account number and check him in too? Will my three kids get checked in?


Also, I did not do the EBCI...but considered it on my way back...I have heard that if I sign up for EBCI then I don't have to bother checking in online ..and can just go straight to the airport since I am already checked in. I have also been told I would still have to check in , I just get to at the 36 hour mark. Someone has also told me that it only allows me to check in one hour before everyone else(which doesn't seem right..why would I pay ten bucks to check in one hour in advance).??

Would you do EBCI for everyone in your party? I noticed some people don't do it for everyone?

Thanks so much for helping me through this..My head is spinning with all the different information!1

 

[rgf207]

You use your confirmation number to check in. As long as everyone in the family has the same confirmation number, you will be able to check everyone in.

 

[Bobo912]

I know this has been asked a million times but I keep getting different answers and am completely confused. So please bear with me..

I booked my families flight. I have a rapid rewards number and so does my husband. So we have different account numbers. When I go in to check on my account, I only see myself listed but on my confirmation it lists all of my family(there are five of us). When I check in at the 24 hour mark...will it check us all in? Or do I have to log back out and go in under my husbands account number and check him in too? Will my three kids get checked in?


Also, I did not do the EBCI...but considered it on my way back...I have heard that if I sign up for EBCI then I don't have to bother checking in online ..and can just go straight to the airport since I am already checked in. I have also been told I would still have to check in , I just get to at the 36 hour mark. Someone has also told me that it only allows me to check in one hour before everyone else(which doesn't seem right..why would I pay ten bucks to check in one hour in advance).??

Would you do EBCI for everyone in your party? I noticed some people don't do it for everyone?

Thanks so much for helping me through this..My head is spinning with all the different information!1

If you are all on the same confirmation number you only have to check in twice. I find the SW website to be unpredictable when you login with you RR number. Right now I have 4 flights booked for my son and myself. When I login with my account I see three of them and all three show both of our names. When I login with his I see 2 flights and they both show the two of us. But the fourth flight doesn't appear on the list with either of the logins. But if I go to travel tool and type in the confirmation number it brings up our reservation.

If you purchase EBCI you don't have to check-in early. You are automatically checked in at the 36 hour point. You can print your boarding pass any time. You can even wait and print it at the airport kiosk if you want because you boarding pass number has already been assigned.

If you do not purchase EBCI for your entire party, then those for whom you do not purchase it will need to check in at the 24 hour mark if they want an early boarding pass, just as usual.

 

[Jestocost]

You use your confirmation number to check in. As long as everyone in the family has the same confirmation number, you will be able to check everyone in.

Correct. You don't log in to your SWA account to do a check in. You just enter your confirmation number and the name of one person on the reservation.

As far as EBCI goes, you do NOT (and in fact can NOT) check in at the 36-hour mark. That happens automatically. You can't even see your boarding numbers or print out the boarding passes until the 24-hour mark. Even if you wait until you get to the airport to get your BPs, however, you still will have the same boarding numbers that were assigned at 36 hours.

There certainly are those who won't do EBCI for their entire party and will try to save seats to avoid paying additional $10 charges. Many likely will succeed. Some will find themselves in a situation where they will be forced to give up seats and some of those will create a big stink about the fact that their plan to skirt the system didn't work.

 

[sersee05]

Thank you soooo much!! I see a lot of people seem to do the EBCI on the way back..and I thought that meant you didn't have to check in ..it was the convenience of having the airline give you the early A numbers. Ok, so I think I will do the EBCI on the way home..

One more question..I saw on the sw website something about TSA secure flight request..where they check your picture id and you name has to be the same as on your boarding passes? I put my husband's shortened name when I added him as a passenger..I didn't even think of putting his full name since he doesn't go by it..but it is on his license...Will that become an issue? I tried to go in and see if I could change it...but I couldn't find where I would be allowed too.

Thanks for the info you guys! I feel more secure about what I am doing now!

 

[Bobo912]

Thank you soooo much!! I see a lot of people seem to do the EBCI on the way back..and I thought that meant you didn't have to check in ..it was the convenience of having the airline give you the early A numbers. Ok, so I think I will do the EBCI on the way home..

One more question..I saw on the sw website something about TSA secure flight request..where they check your picture id and you name has to be the same as on your boarding passes? I put my husband's shortened name when I added him as a passenger..I didn't even think of putting his full name since he doesn't go by it..but it is on his license...Will that become an issue? I tried to go in and see if I could change it...but I couldn't find where I would be allowed too.

Thanks for the info you guys! I feel more secure about what I am doing now!

I don't know if they would make a big issue about your husbands name, but the TSA does say that you are subject to additional security screenings at the airport if the name on your ticket and your id don't match. I would call SWA and ask them to change his name just to be on the safe side.

 

[Jestocost]

Thank you soooo much!! I see a lot of people seem to do the EBCI on the way back..and I thought that meant you didn't have to check in ..it was the convenience of having the airline give you the early A numbers. Ok, so I think I will do the EBCI on the way home..

One more question..I saw on the sw website something about TSA secure flight request..where they check your picture id and you name has to be the same as on your boarding passes? I put my husband's shortened name when I added him as a passenger..I didn't even think of putting his full name since he doesn't go by it..but it is on his license...Will that become an issue? I tried to go in and see if I could change it...but I couldn't find where I would be allowed too.

Thanks for the info you guys! I feel more secure about what I am doing now!

The SWA message also said that if you had existing reservations where the name on the ticket didn't exactly match the name on the ID that you didn't need to do anything. Now that SWA does have the ability to capture middle names you should make all future reservations using an exact match.