SW early bird necessary?

[hsmamato2]

haven't flown SW in years..... our 2 kids are 11 and older- how necessary is this? I intend to check in at 24 hrs anyway....

 

[DVC Grammy]

I've only done the24-hour check-in and I've never gotten anything but "A"s, I make sure that I'm all set to "click" right at the minute it's open!
SWA has been my preferred airline for most trips to WDW, so we're talking about years of travel.
Good luck

 

[Jestocost]

It's not usually necessary. In most cases you can get low enough boarding numbers to get four seats together by checking in at the 24-hour mark. If you are starting your travel at Chicago-Midway or BWI and aren't on the first flight of the day, you might consider doing it because SWA does a lot of connections at those two airports in particular and anyone connecting there will have a head start on you as far a check in goes. There have been reports of passengers using EBCI who got 'B' boarding numbers.

The biggest reason I would suggest using EBCI for the return trip is convenience, not boarding numbers. Otherwise, you have to arrange to be at a computer, remember to do check in on your mobile phone, get to a guest services location, etc.

 

[Elmo007]

Its not necessary, everyone gets on the plane and gets there. However for $10 a person it can be a stress reliever.

Also I always do EBCI on the way home so that I dont have to worry about finding a computer. On the way there, not so much

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I think it's a complete waste of money and a way for SW to pad their profits.

 

[dburg30]

I think it's a complete waste of money and a way for SW to pad their profits.

The first part of that statement is more a personal choice, the 2nd part is no doubt true. But in this choice you dont have to take advantage of it, where other times you pretty much have to pay fees ie: baggage, as it's gonna be pretty much impossible for most normal travellers to not have to check bags.

 

[pooh4evr]

I agree with the PPs do it for the flight home so you don't have to worry about being online at the 24 hr mark the day before. We always do it for everyone but our kids are smaller and would not do well sitting by others if we got separated, so for us it is a stress reliver too.

 

[hsmamato2]

thanks! we take JB back home,so I guess we're all set then....

 

[Nermel9]

I used it the last time I flew SW and I liked it, I didn't have to worry about figuring out a way to check in on the way home. To some people it's a waste of money, but I think it's worth it!

 

[magicaldisney]

There have been reports of passengers using EBCI who got 'B' boarding numbers.

How does that happen? Do people at the 24 hour mark get even worse than B? We are new to SW and trying to figure this whole thing out.

 

[cdrn1]

We flew a couple weeks ago from Indy...I forgot about checkin, wasn't sitting at my computer at the 24 hour mark. I remembered about 5 hours in. We were in the high B's, sat together in row 15. On the way home we did EB and were A20 and 21. We were in row 6. Probably not needed as we only added the EB 3 days prior to the outbound flight. Interesting though, a guy in row 5 had clearly done EB and held seats for his party of three, refusing for the longest time to let anyone sit with him. The rest of his party got on quite late in boarding but were still in row 5 as he saved the seats for them. So even though they had not paid extra and I am guessing had C boarding, they still got front row seats because 1 person in the party had paid the $10. Just wrong, in my book.

 

[taylor3297]

We flew a couple weeks ago from Indy...I forgot about checkin, wasn't sitting at my computer at the 24 hour mark. I remembered about 5 hours in. We were in the high B's, sat together in row 15. On the way home we did EB and were A20 and 21. We were in row 6. Probably not needed as we only added the EB 3 days prior to the outbound flight. Interesting though, a guy in row 5 had clearly done EB and held seats for his party of three, refusing for the longest time to let anyone sit with him. The rest of his party got on quite late in boarding but were still in row 5 as he saved the seats for them. So even though they had not paid extra and I am guessing had C boarding, they still got front row seats because 1 person in the party had paid the $10. Just wrong, in my book.

There was a thread awhile back about people holding seats for others. If someone sat there anyway and the fellow complained, the FA would tell him he can't save seats.

For our trip in Dec we leave at 7AM in the morning and I don't plan to be up early the day before. So, I paid the extra for my whole family for both legs of our trip. IS SW making more money off of me? Yes. Do I really care? No. I just like not having to worry about checking in early.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I think it's a complete waste of money and a way for SW to pad their profits.

While, sure, it's a way for Southwest to bring in more money, they didn't originate the idea. Other entrepreneurs did - although they were only charging $5 for the service (but was that $5 per passenger or per party, I forget?). Anyway, Southwest was able to estop those businesses and, recognizing a good thing when they see it, incorporate the service themselves.

 

[Paticake]

I added EB to the return portion of my Nov. trip. I did it in May and didn't have to worry about being near a computer at the 24 hour mark. DS,DDIL and DGS returned last Saturday and forgot to check in for a couple of hours. They got Bs but where able to do family boarding as DGS is 1. To me it is just a matter of preference, one less thing to worry about.

 

[PatsMom]

I don't normally bother with EBCI. We check in roughly 24 hours in advance for the flight to Orlando. I have my niece check us in on her iPhone for the flight home. She's never failed me yet in checking in at the 24 hour mark. Then we just reprint our boarding passes at the airport.

We are normally a party of 3. Since my daughter turned 7 or 8 and I thought her able to amuse herself for the entire flight reading if necessary, it hasn't really mattered to me that we have a single row of three. Nice if we do but not a problem if we don't. So even if I forget to check in and we get Bs or Cs it doesn't upset me.

Last trip we had a sister in law who has anxiety issues and was going to be medicated for the flight. She had never flown before. My 8 year old niece was also going with us and hadn't flown. We weren't sure how they would react so it was important to us that we all sit together. So I paid the extra for EBCI. And it was worth it for the peace of mind. We got low A passes so no problems getting a row of three with an aisle seat directly across.

 

[5boyz]

I've only done the24-hour check-in and I've never gotten anything but "A"s, I make sure that I'm all set to "click" right at the minute it's open!
SWA has been my preferred airline for most trips to WDW, so we're talking about years of travel.
Good luck

Me too DVC Grammy...I am already ready to go when the clocks strikes the 24hr mark....I have only ever got the B once and we still got whatever seats we wanted pretty much.

 

[Vivianne]

We flew in yesterday. No Early bird we got A40 and A47. Yeah, I was slow
at the trigger on the second person but we still sat together...

I noticed there were empty seats on the plane. It may depend on where you're flying from and how many on the plane.

 

[terbethk]

I actually just came on to ask if I should do EBCI...we're only flying SW for our return flight and I don't know if I want the pressure of remembering to check in 24 hours in advance. Has anyone checked in from an iphone? Experiences? Not really sure how all that works, this is our first time flying SW. We're just two adults, and we don't NEED to sit together, I'm just worried about being stressed, looking for seats and such...Thoughts??

 

[goofy4tink]

I've used EBCI both ways. Would I do it again? Probably, but mostly for our return trip. I hate having to worry about being near a computer at that 24 hr mark...so it's worth it to just pay the addtl $30 and get the three of us checked in.
I do think that if a ton of people, more than 50 or so, use EBCI, then yes, it is going to push those boarding numbers for the 24 hr mark people back into the B group. But even then, it's still pretty easy to find seats together.

I do it only for the convenience, not to get my 'pick' of the seats.

 

[cdrn1]

I actually just came on to ask if I should do EBCI...we're only flying SW for our return flight and I don't know if I want the pressure of remembering to check in 24 hours in advance. Has anyone checked in from an iphone? Experiences?

I check in from my Palm all the time. It's really very easy. I set the calendar to alert me when it's time.