SW plane change ?

[SaraJayne]

I've only ever flown direct on SW and never had to change planes. On our trip coming up in two weeks (yes, I bit the bullet and just booked it today ), DS and I will have to change planes in BWI.

We have plenty of time between flights (2 hours on way down and hour on the return trip) but I'm wondering how the boarding passes work for a plane change.

Will we receive two boarding passes when we print them at the airport? One for MKE to BWI and one for BWI to MCO?

 

[Bobo912]

Yes, when you checkin you will receive boarding passes for both legs of your flight.

 

[SaraJayne]

Yes, when you checkin you will receive boarding passes for both legs of your flight.

Thank you. That's what I thought, but wanted to have it confirmed.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

FYI - This is how it works on every airline, not just SWA.

 

[vacationclub]

I hope you plan on checking in online and not at the airport, otherwise prepare to sit between 2 strangers.

 

[SaraJayne]

FYI - This is how it works on every airline, not just SWA.

I know that is how it works on other airlines, but since SWA has a different boarding procedure, I thought the boarding passes might be different.

Which is why I asked.

 

[SaraJayne]

I hope you plan on checking in online and not at the airport, otherwise prepare to sit between 2 strangers.

I never said I was checking in at the airport. I said I was going to print boarding passes there.

 

[vacationclub]

I never said I was checking in at the airport. I said I was going to print boarding passes there.

Yes, but your question implied that you may be checking in at the airport..... People do this a lot for other airlines that don't treat you like cattle, but if you do this on SW you're in for fun flight. Moooooo.......

 

[SaraJayne]

Yes, but your question implied that you may be checking in at the airport..... People do this a lot for other airlines that don't treat you like cattle, but if you do this on SW you're in for fun flight. Moooooo.......

I love SW and fly it every chance I get. Their service and staff is heads above Delta.

No, I didn't imply I may be checking in at the airport. I said we were printing boarding passes there. Two totally different things.

 

[vacationclub]

I love SW and fly it every chance I get. Their service and staff is heads above Delta.

No, I didn't imply I may be checking in at the airport. I said we were printing boarding passes there. Two totally different things.

There are only two reasons why you would be printing passes at the airport.
1- you are checking in at the airport and must print your boarding pass at that time

or

2- you check in on-line ahead of time (either manually or by paying for EBCI) but don't have access to a printer.

Apparently you are doing option number 2....but I would have no way of knowing this based on your comments that didn't mention this.

So, they aren't totally different things, they are directly related. Your statement left a 50% chance that you were checking in at the airport...thus, you were implying that you MAY be checking in at the airport, thus my comment and warning to someone that may be in for a surprise. I was just looking out for a fellow passenger.

I love SW's no-change fees and free luggage....I hate their completley non-sensical, confusing on every single flight that takes off seating policy (or should I say...lack of seating policy). Every last SW plane I've ever riden starts with the flight attendants on the speaker saying "no more seats except in the middle, just sit down somewhere" followed by confused families trying to figure out why they aren't sitting next to each other as they scan the plane for seats and walk up and down the isle. But hey, the pilots make jokes, so it's all worth it...

 

[Ctsplaysinrain]

I love, Love ,Love Southwest's boarding policy...... It gives you some control over where you sit versus most of the others.... Do you know AA is now charging 15.00 to sit in most seats that are not centers, so if you are a family of 3 even- you are looking at a minimum of 30.00 extra per flight just to sit together...

 

[msr709]

There are only two reasons why you would be printing passes at the airport.
1- you are checking in at the airport and must print your boarding pass at that time

. . . .I love SW's no-change fees and free luggage....I hate their completley non-sensical, confusing on every single flight that takes off seating policy (or should I say...lack of seating policy). Every last SW plane I've ever riden starts with the flight attendants on the speaker saying "no more seats except in the middle, just sit down somewhere" followed by confused families trying to figure out why they aren't sitting next to each other as they scan the plane for seats and walk up and down the isle. But hey, the pilots make jokes, so it's all worth it...

You seem a little upset with the OPs statement about checking in or printing her boarding pass when its totally off topic. He/she just wanted to know about layover procedures. Just sayin!

Anyway to the OP, just wanted to add that 1 hour is really not a lot of time to switch planes, its been my experience that at the very least 2 hours is a much better option. I hope the gates are close by and they let you off the plane first. The slightest delay of the first leg will throw your 2nd leg off completely. I know from experience since I missed by connection once (with Delta flight) because the 1st leg was an hour late. I had to then go to the counter and book the next flight out myself, they do not do it for you. It was not a very pleasant experience, since then I try to avoid lay overs as much as possible and if I do have one I try for at least 2 or 3 hours b/w flights. Its really not the airline's fault if one flight is late for whatever reason but I did email Delta and they very graciously gave me a credit for a flight that I was able to use the next year for my vacation. You know the saying about one door closes and a window opens! Anyway, I do hope all goes well. If I was you I would at least check out the floor plan of the connecting airline so you know where you are going. Delta stewardess did call ahead and tried to see if our connecting flight was also delayed and did ask the passengers to let the passengers that have connecting flights get off first. While it didn't help we still missed the flight but it was the thought that counts, right. HTH

 

[bumbershoot]

You seem a little upset with the OPs statement about checking in or printing her boarding pass when its totally off topic. He/she just wanted to know about layover procedures. Just sayin!

:

I think the poster just didn't like the lack of appreciation for trying to make sure SJ wasn't trying to check in at the airport. Could easily have gone the other way, with OP not knowing, given the info in the first post. I wondered, too, because with the same question I would have stated, in order to make sure everyone knew that I knew what I was doing, that I was just printing, not checking in.

 

[SaraJayne]

You seem a little upset with the OPs statement about checking in or printing her boarding pass when its totally off topic. He/she just wanted to know about layover procedures. Just sayin!

Anyway to the OP, just wanted to add that 1 hour is really not a lot of time to switch planes, its been my experience that at the very least 2 hours is a much better option. I hope the gates are close by and they let you off the plane first. The slightest delay of the first leg will throw your 2nd leg off completely. I know from experience since I missed by connection once (with Delta flight) because the 1st leg was an hour late. I had to then go to the counter and book the next flight out myself, they do not do it for you. It was not a very pleasant experience, since then I try to avoid lay overs as much as possible and if I do have one I try for at least 2 or 3 hours b/w flights. Its really not the airline's fault if one flight is late for whatever reason but I did email Delta and they very graciously gave me a credit for a flight that I was able to use the next year for my vacation. You know the saying about one door closes and a window opens! Anyway, I do hope all goes well. If I was you I would at least check out the floor plan of the connecting airline so you know where you are going. Delta stewardess did call ahead and tried to see if our connecting flight was also delayed and did ask the passengers to let the passengers that have connecting flights get off first. While it didn't help we still missed the flight but it was the thought that counts, right. HTH

Thank you (the bolded)! I was not asking about checking in. I'm well aware of how the SWA process works. Guess I'll need to clarify that from now on, to avoid stressing newbies out.

Thanks for the suggestion on checking out the airport. I'll go check it out right now. Typically, airlines keep their gates in one section of the airport, so I'm thinking we won't have to go far. But I'll double check, just to make sure.

 

[SaraJayne]

I think the poster just didn't like the lack of appreciation for trying to make sure SJ wasn't trying to check in at the airport. Could easily have gone the other way, with OP not knowing, given the info in the first post. I wondered, too, because with the same question I would have stated, in order to make sure everyone knew that I knew what I was doing, that I was just printing, not checking in.

I did say I was printing boarding passes in my OP.

 

[SaraJayne]

I checked out the airport where we'll have the layovers (BWI) and learned SW uses two terminals, A and B.

I'm hoping on our return flight (hour layover) we'll be in the same concourse. If not, we'll deal with it at that time.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Thank you (the bolded)! I was not asking about checking in. I'm well aware of how the SWA process works. Guess I'll need to clarify that from now on, to avoid stressing newbies out.

Thanks for the suggestion on checking out the airport. I'll go check it out right now. Typically, airlines keep their gates in one section of the airport, so I'm thinking we won't have to go far. But I'll double check, just to make sure.

BWI isn't a large airport, so you shouldn't have any problem. And I hope I didn't just jinx you by saying that.

 

[vacationclub]

I did say I was printing boarding passes in my OP.

You said "Will we receive two boarding passes when we print them at the airport?"

That leaves the possibility that you are actually checking in there. As I and another poster indicated, you weren't clear about how you were handling check in, and I was just giving you a heads up....from a point of view of a "non-newbie." I, and others, had no way of knowing your previous experiences with SW and its odd boarding practice. So I threw it out there just in case.

Sorry I tried to help you avoid a bad situation even though you didn't specifically ask about it. Didn't realize it would upset you.

Have a great flight.

 

[Ed J]

I never saw where she presented herself as or said she was upset, why are trying so hard to insert things in posts that aren't there?

 

[vacationclub]

I never saw where she presented herself as or said she was upset, why are trying so hard to insert things in posts that aren't there?

Perhaps "upset" wasn't the right term. I simply offered some insight and advice based on her initial comments. Instead of saying..."Thanks, but I already know about how SW works, I'll be checking in at home" she split hairs about what she said or didn't say, or asked about, about what she doesn't think she ever implied, about them being totally different things, etc. If not upset, perhaps there is another word for it.

I'm simply letting her know why I thought it was worth mentioning to help a fellow passenger, and why I'm now sorry I ever brought it up. Ironically, someone else brought up info she also didn't ask about (locations of gates at BWI) and she thanked that poster for that bit of advice. But I got called a stressed out "newbie"... Not sure why mine was treated so differently.