SW Early Bird Check-in Worth it?

[Huff]

I have never once found that EBCI was worth it.

Our last trip I checked in at 24 hours and got A54-56. Flight was completely full but we had no problems getting a full row for the 3 of us.

On our return flight from MCO I used my phone to check in at 24 hours. Got B5-7. Again, full flight but we had no problems getting a full row for us. When we boarded there were still about 10 full rows available and plent of overhead room.

ECBI I feel is only worth it for those that do not have a smartphone and do not want to go to guest services or hotel desk to check in at 24 hours.

Disney printed our boarding passes and had them on our door the night before our return flight home. I never asked them to do that so it was a nice suprise. I had thought I would get them at the front desk in morning or at airport kiosk.

 

[javamom]

Disney printed our boarding passes and had them on our door the night before our return flight home. I never asked them to do that so it was a nice suprise. I had thought I would get them at the front desk in morning or at airport kiosk.

Wow that's cool! Never had that happen before.

 

[beccasmom]

We used it for our trip in August. A16-20 from PHL-MCO; A37-40 on our return flight. We ended up in row 6 heading to MCO and in row 8 heading home. We were pleased. In fact, the boarding of the plane was quite efficient and we left on time with both flights.

 

[MommyJack]

So, for instance, those that sign up when flights first come out will get an earlier boarding number than those purchasing EBCI a week before their flight.

Here here is information on EBCI: http://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/faqs.html?topic=earlybird_checkin

That's not how I read it. I don't see anywhere that it says this.
Copied from SW FAQ:

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 during the initial boarding position assignments.

 

[Nohal]

We use it on the flight coming home and feel it is worth the extra $10. It is DH and myself so on the way down we just check in at 24hr mark. I had an early morning flight so it wasn't a problem checking in, if your flight is during the day and you don't have access to a computer it would be worth it to pay the extra $10. The flight coming home is another story. It is well worth it not to have to be somewhere at exactly 24hr mark. In this case I went to guest services in DHS to check in but forgot to take my paperwork so I didn't have my confirmation #, if I hadn't done the early bird I would have been in trouble. Coming home we were A34-35 with EBCI, going down without EBCI we were A54-55. When we got our magical express paperwork, they had checked us in also and our luggage was already checked in with a number on it and on the same paper was our boarding passes. I didn't even know that they did this for you.