SWA boarding numbers out of order - same reservation

[cel_disney]

I checked in for our flight today and our boarding numbers seem strange to me - B5, B6, B8 (my 9 year old) and B10 (my 5 year old). We were all in the same reservation, any idea why we got split up? In theory its not very far and I think all in the same group, but who got B7 and B9??

 

[disney world dreamer]

it happens.
its normal.
other people got B7 and B9.
yes B 1-30 are all in the same boarding group.

 

[Baklava]

Someone else who was checking in at the same moment you were got 7 and 9.

 

[DebbieB]

That's not bad, someone posted a couple days ago that they got B10 and B55.

 

[disney world dreamer]

That's not bad, someone posted a couple days ago that they got B10 and B55.

in that thread some believe that person had several reservation numbers as generally you would not have that big of a gap between boarding positions if you only have one reservation.

 

[tjmw2727]

Just computer glitches- it has happened to me a couple times. We just all line up with the highest number and board; in your case 2 people isn't going to make much difference in your seat selection.

 

[cel_disney]

I guess it just seems like a strange software algorithm that doesn't complete all passengers within a single reservation before moving to the next reservation in the queue. it all went well...B7 and B9 were nice people who also thought it was strange...thanks for letting me know its southwest normal!

 

[LisaS]

A web server operates like a bank with one queue and multiple tellers. As each customer finishes their transaction and walks away, the next customer walks up to that teller to begin their transaction. If one customer has multiple transactions to do, it ties up one teller for quite a while but the rest of the queue continues to be served by the other tellers as they free up. Web servers work the same way. They process transactions in parallel so that users get better response time even when some transactions take longer than others.

If they coded the check in software to complete the process for all passengers within a single reservation before moving on to the next, it would be like a bank with only one teller. By writing the code so that the web server can process multiple check-ins in parallel, everyone gets better response time from the system. The side effect is that boarding positions are interleaved if two groups check in at exactly the same time.

 

[kamik86]

Yeah this happens.

I have found on most flights that most people don't care about a position or two at least not until you get to the high Bs. I know I definitely don't. However if you want to not take the chance that you get someone that really would care you just let B7 and B9 go in front of you all... since your probably looking for a 2/2 configuration anyway those two people really aren't going to limit your seating options anyway.


The other one you can get odd is sometimes checking in late you can get something like A24, B32, B33, B34. This is becasue the person with the A pass cancelled and you happened to be the next person to check in. The system will give you that spot and then the next ones in line.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I've had that happen only a handful of times and we fly with Southwest all the time. We typically have two reservations: one for my husband and I and another for my father and mother-in-law and sometimes my sister-in-law. Sometimes we do this because we have found a certain fare is only available for a certain number of seats in one reservation and other times it's because of the payment method we want.

What seems to be happening more often is people paying the extra amount for a pre-check-in where the system will automatically check you in so you don't have to stalk the website exactly 24 hours prior to your flight time. This might be causing what people may describe as random boarding positions because in theory you've got real live people checking in 24 hours prior to flight time but you also have a software program doing the same thing at the same time. Theortically this could make people in the same reservation not have the boarding positions in numerical order.

A couple years ago we used to get more middle to end A's nowadays it's usually B's (never a C though because we do it 24hours exactly) and usually our flight is mostly to fully booked everytime we fly even a couple of years ago.

My husband has been traveling back and forth from home to Houston every two weekends since July until Christmas and he does the pre-check-in (as it is for business and his company pays for it). He always gets an A but sometimes he gets towards the end of A (he's told me that it doesn't appear that many business class people are on the flight most times meaning more people have done the pre-check-in).

This is just my thoughts though

 

[Allison]

I've had that happen only a handful of times and we fly with Southwest all the time. We typically have two reservations: one for my husband and I and another for my father and mother-in-law and sometimes my sister-in-law. Sometimes we do this because we have found a certain fare is only available for a certain number of seats in one reservation and other times it's because of the payment method we want.

What seems to be happening more often is people paying the extra amount for a pre-check-in where the system will automatically check you in so you don't have to stalk the website exactly 24 hours prior to your flight time. This might be causing what people may describe as random boarding positions because in theory you've got real live people checking in 24 hours prior to flight time but you also have a software program doing the same thing at the same time. Theortically this could make people in the same reservation not have the boarding positions in numerical order.

A couple years ago we used to get more middle to end A's nowadays it's usually B's (never a C though because we do it 24hours exactly) and usually our flight is mostly to fully booked everytime we fly even a couple of years ago.

My husband has been traveling back and forth from home to Houston every two weekends since July until Christmas and he does the pre-check-in (as it is for business and his company pays for it). He always gets an A but sometimes he gets towards the end of A (he's told me that it doesn't appear that many business class people are on the flight most times meaning more people have done the pre-check-in).

This is just my thoughts though

EBCI checks you in at 36 hours not 24. That's the point-to give you an advantage over those who check in at 24 hours.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

EBCI checks you in at 36 hours not 24. That's the point-to give you an advantage over those who check in at 24 hours.

Hmm. wonder if that's always been the case cuz I don't remember that a few years ago maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention. Thanks for pointing that out

I did go to their website and it does say the following:

"Customers who have purchased Anytime Fares will receive priority over other fare types that are assigned their position based on the time stamp of the EarlyBird Check-In purchase."

Additionally:

"If EarlyBird Check-In is purchased within the same transaction as the air purchase, then all eligible Customers must purchase EarlyBird Check-In as well."

Just some other thoughts

 

[Allison]

Not sure what you are getting at with what you posted. EBCI checks people in at 36 hours so it doesn't figure in to boarding passes out of order at 24 hours. That is why it is called early bird and it was the case a few years ago. You might not have realized that since you can't print the boarding pass at that time.

 

[LisaS]

I agree with Allison -- the whole point of Early Bird Check In is that it checks you in early, at 36 hours out. It's been that way since it was first introduced. At 36 hours from departure Southwest automatically checks in their Business Select passengers (who get assigned into the A1 - A15 group), and then starting with A16 they check in their A-Listers and then those who bought EBCI. In the EBCI group, boarding positions are prioritized by fare class with those who purchased Anytime fares ahead of Wanna Get Away fares and within each fare class by the timestamp of your EBCI purchase. Starting 24 hours from check in everyone else can check in online.

 

[Chereya]

I have mixed feeling about Early Bird Check In. I learned the hard way over multiple trips to purchase my and my husband's tickets separately (so we both don't need to pay for EBCI) and to have his ticket as the EBCI (so he can manage our bags boarding before me). However my most recent SW flight, I checked in at 24 hours and then checked him in and my boarding pass was about 4 spots behind him in the boarding line. :/ I was extremely underwhelmed with having spent extra for a whopping 4 spaces. I think he was B59 and I was C3.

 

[subtchr]

We never buy EBCI, because, frankly, I enjoy the "game" of checking in at exactly 24 hours! We have fun with it, setting an alarm on my phone, then pulling it out and tapping checkin the SECOND the minute turns. (Admittedly, we're oddballs, finding fun and humor where many people would not. Ha!)

Doing that, I've never had higher than mid-Bs, over maybe 25 SW flights. For the PP, I'd be VERY upset if I bought EBCI and ended up with B59. That's crazy.

 

[Chereya]

We never buy EBCI, because, frankly, I enjoy the "game" of checking in at exactly 24 hours! We have fun with it, setting an alarm on my phone, then pulling it out and tapping checkin the SECOND the minute turns. (Admittedly, we're oddballs, finding fun and humor where many people would not. Ha!)

Doing that, I've never had higher than mid-Bs, over maybe 25 SW flights. For the PP, I'd be VERY upset if I bought EBCI and ended up with B59. That's crazy.

I can usually check in right at 24 hours on my outbound flight but am usually busy vacationing when checking in for the return flight I just hate being in the 2nd half of the C group, which has happened before when I checked in at the 23 hour mark using the free business center computers. We lucked out getting seats together 5 rows from the back of the plane but that's cutting it a little too close for my comfort.

I did go talk to the gate agent to ask why did I bother paying for EBCI when it netted me 4 spots ahead? Her response was basically "too bad, so sad, SW is busy making money and sometimes the consumer loses at this game but you can pay me $40 more to get A 1-15"

 

[subtchr]

I can usually check in right at 24 hours on my outbound flight but am usually busy vacationing when checking in for the return flight I just hate being in the 2nd half of the C group, which has happened before when I checked in at the 23 hour mark using the free business center computers. We lucked out getting seats together 5 rows from the back of the plane but that's cutting it a little too close for my comfort.

I did go talk to the gate agent to ask why did I bother paying for EBCI when it netted me 4 spots ahead? Her response was basically "too bad, so sad, SW is busy making money and sometimes the consumer loses at this game but you can pay me $40 more to get A 1-15"

Interesting, it's not the 4 space difference that would concern me, but the fact that paying extra only got me B59.

We love vacationing, too, but since it only takes 30 seconds to pull out my phone (which may well be out to check MDE anyway!), open the Southwest app, and check in, we have fun doing that wherever we are at the 24 hour point. Everyone has to decide what's best for his or her family, to be sure.

 

[LisaS]

I did go talk to the gate agent to ask why did I bother paying for EBCI when it netted me 4 spots ahead? Her response was basically "too bad, so sad, SW is busy making money and sometimes the consumer loses at this game but you can pay me $40 more to get A 1-15"

EBCI boarding positions are assigned based on when you purchased EBCI. The very last Wanna Get Away passenger to purchase EBCI will be just one boarding position ahead of the first person to check in 24 hours out.

How far in advance of your travel date did you purchase EBCI for your DH? As you get close to your departure date, it might not be worthwhile to pay for EBCI provided you are sure you will check in exactly 24 hours out.