SW- pay for early boarding?

[hsmamato2]

We're flying from LAX to home next fall
We've never been there- but thinking,b/c we're going home from vacation- it might be a good diea to pre buy the boarding pass to go home? What do you think- should we?
is LAX so busy that we would need to ?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

There are many threads here already on this topic, so try searching if you want to read a lot of opinions. IMO, it's not worth the extra money.

 

[paults]

don't waste your money, getting a B BP isn't that bad, Just check in at the 24hr mark.

 

[Lewisc]

One passenger who paid for EBCI will get a BP number one better then one passenger who checked in at T-24. That's all EBCI guarantees.

Makes a lot of sense if your flight will have a lot of connecting passengers who were able to their BPs 2 or 3 hours before your 24 hour window opens up.

 

[SaraJayne]

For us, EBCI is worth it. We don't take a computer with us on vacation and I don't want the hassle of worrying about when the 24 hour mark is.

Everyone is different, though. If you feel it will be worth it, pay for EBCI.

 

[Jestocost]

My most recent experience with EBCI both ways within the last two weeks:

STL-MCO, Friday midday non-stop, A60-B3
MCO-STL, Sunday night non-stop, A36-A39

I suspect that the high numbers on Friday were due to the fact that the flight likely had a large number of passengers connecting from flights that originated at other airports earlier. Those connecting passengers would get their numbers assigned 36 hours before their original flight if using EBCI. I will note that it appears that some of those passengers were late with their connections as there were very a lot of empty spaces in the A16-A59 slots. Also, there were passengers continuing on the flight from its origination point who had seats before anybody boarded in STL.

We did get a full three-seat row and the aisle across from that farther back in the plan with those numbers. We may not have been able to find that many seats together if we had waited until T-24 to check in, but there's no way to tell for sure.

My advice is to consider all of the factors that may impact where you fall in the boarding order (i.e. a 7:30 a.m flight is not likely to have connecting passengers checking in before you whereas a noon flight likely will) as well as convenience in making your decision.

 

[mousefan1972]

For our school vacation week trip to Disney in 2 weeks, I wouldn't fly without EBCI. Our flights to and from Orlando are both sold out and have been for weeks.

For routine travel, I wouldn't spend the extra $. My Dad is flying home from Orlando tomorrow morning after visiting his sister. I checked him in for his flight to Manchester, NH at the 24 hour mark this morning and got him A19.

 

[goofy4tink]

A few thoughts.....when you buy EBCI (for $10 pp), you aren't getting 'early boarding'. What you are getting is the perk of not having to go online at the 24 hr mark (before flight departure) and allowing SW to check you in at the 36 hr mark. There is no need to worry about where you will be at the 24 hr mark. Yes, I know you can check yourself in on a cell phone, or at Guest Services. But I hate having to even think about it. I always do EBCI for my flight home when flying SW.
It's not so much a case of getting a lower A spot, but the mere convenience of not having to check myself and my party in at the 24 hr mark. For that reason alone, it is really worth it to me...not a waste of money at all.

 

[DisneyCher]

I have one of my kids check me in from their home at the 24-hour mark, but I've consistently gotten B-group numbers since SW started this EBCI stuff. I don't mind, since DH and I have always found 2 seats together.

 

[mdsd8700]

Agree there have been many threads about this and different opinions. We only fly SW and there are 4 of us. We have never purchased EBCI and we have always gotten boarding passes in A or B and never have had a problem sitting together (2 sets of 2 seats). We always check in exactly at 24 hours.

Have a wonderful vacation.

 

[dancin Disney style]

We used EBCI for the first time 2 weeks ago. We decided that we would use it only for our flight home from MCO. The main reason being that I thought it might be a pain to have to plan to be in the hotel right at the 24hr mark which for us was gonig to be 12:50pm. We didn't have web access via phone and I wasn't bringing my laptop so we would have to be in our hotel.

We ended up getting A26-29. It was a sold out flight and I only added the EBCI approx 3 weeks prior. We were very happy with our A's and decided that it would be more than worthwhile in the future. Our flight going to MCO I checked in right at the 24hr mark and got B29 and up....we ended up getting the last 2 sets of 2 seats together in the second to last row. This flight was also sold out and it took quite some time to get all the C's seated. There were several announcements asking for people to switch seats for people with kids.

One funny note....on our flight home there should have been 25 people ahead of us in the line. There might have been 10 at most and there was only 1 medical preboard which was a family of 3.

 

[crashbb]

One funny note....on our flight home there should have been 25 people ahead of us in the line. There might have been 10 at most and there was only 1 medical preboard which was a family of 3.

The first bunch (I think it is A1 to A16) are held for Business Select and frequent SW flyers (A listers in the rewards program). So, these slots are often empty.

 

[ToddyLu]

Dh and I always use EBCI when flying SW for the reasons listed above.

 

[rie'smom]

Early Bird is worth it if you're traveling with a group that wants to sit with each other or even if it's just a couple of you traveling during a holiday period and you want to sit together. My husband and I had a few instances in the past of not being able to sit together even though I called at 24 hours prior but that was during a holiday season.

 

[dancin Disney style]

The first bunch (I think it is A1 to A16) are held for Business Select and frequent SW flyers (A listers in the rewards program). So, these slots are often empty.

Yes, I realized that after but most of the people ahead of us were in that area of the line. There was one family of 4 in between the head of the line and us at the end of the first side. I suppose those people might have just moved up rather than trying to get into the numerical order near the poles. or else many of the A's weren't there at that exact time. It was a 12:50 departure so we made sure to be at the airport a little bit earlier than normal so we could get lunch before boarding.

 

[Lewisc]

The first bunch (I think it is A1 to A16) are held for Business Select and frequent SW flyers (A listers in the rewards program). So, these slots are often empty.

The first 15 slots are held for business select. Some of those might be empty. A-Listers (25 paid one way flights) BPs start at A16 and keeping going until all the A-Listers on that flight are assigned BPs. The next group of BPs go to passengers who paid for EBCI. The next group will go to passengers who are connecting and were able to get BPs 24 hours before their first flight. Too many connecting passengers and passengers originating on that flight who check in at T-24 might get high BPs. Not the end of the world.

 

[Wendy5055]

This was very informative...thank you!

I have decided that since we have gotten such great deals on fares that we will try the Early Bird feature for both ways.

While you do have the option of going to Guest Services within any park to check-in on flights and print boarding passes, this will give me the peace of mind that it is done early and all I have to do it have our boarding passes printed.

Now if I could get our dining plans pinned down so easily!!!

 

[duffy]

I'm looking for advice, and this seems a good spot!

Our family of 3 is heading to Salt Lake City from Pittsburgh in May. On the way back to Pittsburgh, we will have a 45-minute layover in Midway airport in Chicago. I'm stressing over that.

Would it be worth getting Early Bird Check-In so that we can be assured of getting seats as close to the front as possible? That way we can de-plane as quickly as possible to get our connection.

Now I've started on a flying peeve: people who have arrived at their final destination, could you please linger in your seats, if possible, to allow those with a tight connection to make get off first??

 

[Jestocost]

I'm looking for advice, and this seems a good spot!

Our family of 3 is heading to Salt Lake City from Pittsburgh in May. On the way back to Pittsburgh, we will have a 45-minute layover in Midway airport in Chicago. I'm stressing over that.

Would it be worth getting Early Bird Check-In so that we can be assured of getting seats as close to the front as possible? That way we can de-plane as quickly as possible to get our connection.

Now I've started on a flying peeve: people who have arrived at their final destination, could you please linger in your seats, if possible, to allow those with a tight connection to make get off first??

Not a bad idea. MDW is big and busy, but 45 minutes should be sufficient if you are on time and don't dally after getting off of your plane. Being up front could give you a few extra minutes, but note that there's no guarantee that you will get far up front even with EBCI. If your SLC-MDW flight started somewhere else, there may be people staying on the plane from its point of origin and they are likely to move up before you board. In addition, if there are people connecting to your SLC-MDW flight where you are starting then any of them who use EBCI will be checked in before you too.

I wouldn't sweat it too much. SWA is better than most airlines about holding flights to wait for passengers with connections.

 

[Lewisc]

I wouldn't worry about missing your connection.

Sometimes we overthink. For many (most?) of us it's not the end of the world if we get split. Even passengers with low C BPs can frequently find seats together.

That said I'd pay for EBCI. There will probably be passengers connecting on your Salt Lake City flight. They'll be getting their BPs T-24 their first flight. Your flight from Midway will have continuing passengers on the flight. Probably some passengers from the west coast who'll be able to get their BPs an hour or so before your 24 hour window opens. More then a few passengers who purchased EBCI.

SW will start boarding 30 minutes or so before flight time. Your flight is delayed and you could get to your connecting flight after they start boarding. I guess the 10 minutes you save by sitting in the front of the plane could make a difference.

I'm looking for advice, and this seems a good spot!

Our family of 3 is heading to Salt Lake City from Pittsburgh in May. On the way back to Pittsburgh, we will have a 45-minute layover in Midway airport in Chicago. I'm stressing over that.

Would it be worth getting Early Bird Check-In so that we can be assured of getting seats as close to the front as possible? That way we can de-plane as quickly as possible to get our connection.

Now I've started on a flying peeve: people who have arrived at their final destination, could you please linger in your seats, if possible, to allow those with a tight connection to make get off first??