Yea I know but I’ve never flown Southwest. They just started flying from my nearest airport.
I booked flights today and there seems to be an early bird option. It was 12.50 per person per flight. I’m wondering if it’s worth it to upgrade. Does this mean you get priority boarding?
Sorry, but I’m a bit confused about the no assigned seats. Will it matter, to be perfectly honest I don’t really care if I sit with my husband. Our last flights we didn’t sit together and it was fine. I see him all the time, I don’t need to sit with him for a 3 hour flight.
Anyways, I am excited about a non stop flight and the free checked bags.
I’m not sure how the early bird option works. I can say that I’ve never been bothered by the no-assigned-seats policy I don’t fly often but the few times in the past few years that I have flown, I’ve used Southwest, and the seats were as good (or bad) as they can be on any flight or airline.
With a normal ticket you can check in 24 hours before departure. Business select and A-list passengers get priority boarding positions ahead of the normal tickets.
Early bird puts you in the front of the queue for normal check-in so you automatically get the best available boarding priority at the time of booking. If you don’t do early bird then your position is determined by how many people checked in ahead of you when check-in opened up.
There’s 3 boarding groups, A/B/C. In A and B you can typically get an aisle/window and 2 seats together. In C you’ll probably be in a middle seat and split up. If you skip early bird but check in as soon as it opens up 24 hours prior, you’ll almost certainly get an A or B and can sit together. If you wait a few hours past initial check-in then you’ll probably get C if it’s a popular flight.
I think the early bird option is only somewhat useful when you want to have an easier time to store your carry-on, or to avoid having to sit on a middle seat. I think we rarely bought the option.
Especially when it is not a popular flight, checking in as soon as you can seems to be good enough to get a non-middle seat and not a seat in the back of the plane.
I think there must be a lot of people using early bird, because I’ve checked in many times, either for myself or my daughters, at the first minute possible (literally) and gotten into group A only once.
It matters only if you hate middle seats and if your flight is likely to be full. It also matters if you have a short connection time and want to sit in the front of the plane. You are paying to get in the initial boarding group (you do realize that you just pick your seat once you’re on the plane?) so you can choose a better seat (whatever your criteria are) BUT you are behind all the favored SW customers. You can check in on the exact second the clock hits 24 hours before your departure time and still find yourself number 42 in the A group. Whether it’s worth $12.50 is a personal choice. We’re usually making a connection and I’m a worry-wart, so it’s worth it to me. Your mileage may vary.
I only use it for springbreak trips if they is a chance of being bumped…on the way there only. Other than that if you don’t care if you sit together than its not worth it.
We almost always buy the early bird option especially when we have connecting flights with shorter layovers. We want to be near the front of the plane…with our carryon luggage nearby. That gives us the option of getting off the plane more quickly than if we are at the back…or our carry on bags are at the back.
I don’t buy it for trips that are short and have no plane changes. I mean really…for an hour flight from here to Baltimore, I can sit anywhere…and I don’t care if they have to gate check my bag.
I almost always use it. I would hate to forget to check in and end up in the middle section. I always check my bags, but I still need a carry on that has medications, jewelry, etc. I also have a c-pap machine, so I want to be able to put that in the overhead. I like an aisle seat and I always get one if I do early bird. If you don’t care, it isn’t a big deal. I am pretty sure that you only have to pay the $12.50 for each way instead of each segment. Paying for it both ways is cheaper than checking bags both ways.
Early bird boarding will not automatically put you in the A group. First, all the preferred (Business select and A-list (per their criteria) will board. If you are the only person to buy early bird (not likely) you will board next. If 50 people purchased early bird ahead of you, then you will board at the 51st. Except families with children will board after the A group and before the B group. Of course, if few people buy the early bird option you may still score an A group boarding pass if you check in 24 hours before your flight. It is also possible to buy early bird and still be in group C.
You may (if available) buy early bird boarding at the gate. The cost is usually $40 for the flights I fly.
Just don’t be one of those ***** that buy an early board pass for only one person in their party and try to save seats for others. Frequent SWA flyers will call you on that game.
Wheelchair passengers get to board first, as well as anyone with them. I flew with my parents recently and they both used a wheel chair to get through the airport; neither use a wheelchair at home, but the walk through the airport is too much for them. Because I was traveling with them, not even on the same ticket, Southwest let me go through security with them, which was fast, and board with them. They have always been able to get bulkhead on every fight they have taken with Southwest.
If you get stuck in C boarding and you have carry on/roller bag, you run much higher chance of it getting checked due to no more overhead space. Happened to Goskid recently when forgot to check in fast enough and ended up with C group.
We always use early bird and check in 24 hours before the flight. At $12.50 per way, it makes a difference in being in the A group, finding our seats quickly, and getting off of the plane quickly. My kids know what line to go to and always have their boarding tickets ready to go. We try to not bring carry-ons that can’t fit under the seat.
D3 uses preboard exclusively when she flies with her musical instrument, but we typically don’t bother otherwise. We don’t care about sitting together, and we’re pretty good about checking in at the exact time. Typically we get a B group.
There was one flight where I’d paid for the preboard and we found ourselves in the line behind people who hadn’t. (That was a trip that seemed to have a ton of little annoyances!) I complained to Southwest, and while they didn’t do anything about the problem, they did send us some free drinks coupons…too bad we typically just have water on the flight, but still!
If you think you might change the ticket (no change fees ), don’t do early bird. It doesn’t go with the changed ticket, and you lose the $12.50.
Also, once (six years ago) D2 was on a SW flight by herself with 2 legs. They oversold the second leg, and we couldn’t print her boarding pass for that leg. At the airport they said they weren’t sure she would have a seat on that leg. ^#(^ She was headed to a summer program, no choice but to grovel to the gate agent to try to help, and send her off on the first leg. She (ahem) forgot to call me from the transfer point to say she had a seat, so I had no idea for hours if she had made it (she did). They told me then that Early Bird would have avoided this… so if you don’t think your traveler could cope with this, then maybe EB is a good idea. We usually get EB now unless we think we may change the flight.
As an aside, if you have a small under the seat carry on, sometimes you can end up way up front even in C group – middle seat, but I ended up in row 2 recently from the C group.
@“aunt bea” if you buy early bird check in…you are automatically checked in at that 24 hour mark…and YOU don’t have to do that. All you need to do is check in when you feel like it and print out or save to phone your boarding pass.
We a.so use this option when we know we won’t be able to be near a computer to check in at that 24 hour mark. It’s one of the benefits of the early bird check in.
Agree – but the order is based on when you buy the ticket. If you buy really close to the flight (say a week before), you will get okay (but not great) boarding position.
