SW and Early Bird Check-In

Kaufeegurl

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jul 29, 2018
Just back from a fabulous 8-day Disney trip and before I call SW customer service to ask, I thought I would post this here as I'm sure many of you have had the same experience. We fly SW a lot - they have the best schedules out of our local airport. I've read that SW has a 'secret' algorithm that they use for EB check-in. The company line is that EB check-in awards your spot in the order the EB check-in is purchased. That is just a big fat lie. I purchased our tickets the day they opened the booking window for our trip. I used separate RR accounts for my husband and myself but booked within 5 minutes of each other. He got A21 - I got B3. Other people in the line were also complaining - the couple behind me were traveling with their son who booked his ticket with EB 2 months after they did and he received an A position while they were back in B. Has anyone ever experienced this and cared enough to call SW corporate office and to get an answer? I'm super tired of hearing SW tout EB check-in and how your position is based on when you purchase EB. Honestly, it's just not worth purchasing anymore if you know you can be on your phone for check-in. $25 is a lot to pay for just a position in line and not an assigned seat.
 
I just assume those A spots are the upsell spots they hold back for their business class travelers but release last minute when they aren't needed.
 
I just assume those A spots are the upsell spots they hold back for their business class travelers but release last minute when they aren't needed.
Yes, A1-A15 are for those who purchase business class. You can actually purchase those positions for $40 at the gate if they are not filled (which they usually are not). Status passengers and those who need extra boarding time will not have to use their actual assigned position - they will be boarded before A and in between A & B.
 
There were a lot of complaints on my recent flight too. A woman and her husband bought early bird check in two months before their adult daughter did yet she was in the beginning of the As and they were at the end.
 


I know I bought our going flight pretty quickly after opening. Coming back I waited months. I am very afraid I wasted the EBCI expecially since we are traveling with our DS who has a 3 and 7 year old. If we all get "B"s, they'll just board with family boarding. Still 2 1/2 months to go.

I still feel ALL EBCI should board before family boarding. I know some people have pointed out it's not always listed on your ticket/phone if you had EBCI but I 'm sure that could be fixed.
 
I bought EBCI same day my booking window opened, I received A16 for both legs of my flight. Just my experience to add to the mix-
 


We just flew SW last month and there were multiple parties complaining that even though all tickets for their whole group were purchased together (as in Mom bought 4 tickets for the whole family in one transaction on her account) and had EBCI, their numbers were all over the place. The worst was one family where mom was like A20, Dad was A30, the 4 year old was early Bs and the 2 year old was late Bs. All flights purchased at the same time in the same fare group. There were multiple instances of this on each flight!
 
Knock on wood, when we have bought early bird, the 4 of us have always been in line together (for example A21, A22, A23, A24)...we have never been split.
 
We just flew SW last month and there were multiple parties complaining that even though all tickets for their whole group were purchased together (as in Mom bought 4 tickets for the whole family in one transaction on her account) and had EBCI, their numbers were all over the place. The worst was one family where mom was like A20, Dad was A30, the 4 year old was early Bs and the 2 year old was late Bs. All flights purchased at the same time in the same fare group. There were multiple instances of this on each flight!
This is scary......people are on here all the time saying if you want to sit next to your kids best bet is to pay for EBCI and not even rely on family boarding since sometimes that option is not available......I wouldn’t be happy if this happened to our family. I guess the only only guarantee for southwest would be to pay for the $500+ business select seating when flights are released....
 
This is scary......people are on here all the time saying if you want to sit next to your kids best bet is to pay for EBCI and not even rely on family boarding since sometimes that option is not available......I wouldn’t be happy if this happened to our family. I guess the only only guarantee for southwest would be to pay for the $500+ business select seating when flights are released....

I'd say it was just a weird glitch, but it was literally 3 or 4 groups of people on each of our 2 flights comparing notes about how this happened to them. My family of 3 was all together, FWIW. Those of us in line had no problem with the separated little kids coming up in line to stay with mom and dad. The other separated groups were all adults or older teenagers so just stayed at their assigned place (and I assume the members of their group who boarded first saved seats for them).
 
I purchased EBCI when hubby and I were on a cruise last year. Didn’t want to have to try and check in on cruise internet. There was a glitch and when we got to port (signal range for my phone WiFi), we discovered it had not checked us in (rep on phone confirmed). Long story short after a few rude reps at Miami airport a fantastic SW rep on phone told us to purchase the $40 ones at gate (we had A1/A2) and they refunded that and our original EBCI fee.

We’ve not had that issue before or after. We are usually close to each other in numbers assigned but can get a few people between us
 
I purchased EBCI when hubby and I were on a cruise last year. Didn’t want to have to try and check in on cruise internet. There was a glitch and when we got to port (signal range for my phone WiFi), we discovered it had not checked us in (rep on phone confirmed). Long story short after a few rude reps at Miami airport a fantastic SW rep on phone told us to purchase the $40 ones at gate (we had A1/A2) and they refunded that and our original EBCI fee.

We’ve not had that issue before or after. We are usually close to each other in numbers assigned but can get a few people between us
That's pretty crappy. They should have given you the upgraded ones at the gate for free.
 
That's pretty crappy. They should have given you the upgraded ones at the gate for free.


They refunded the money to us - credited immediately $80 (got email within 30 minutes stating that). The original EBCI took about a week to get refunded ). We were out no money. I believe we had to pay because of the way the system works , then refunded,
 
I still feel ALL EBCI should board before family boarding.
I agree, lots of people are paying extra for something, they shouldn't be stuck behind family boarding.
We are flying Jet Blue next trip because SW sells EBCI but does nothing about seat saving; why should I pay more for a better boarding position while other passengers have companions save seats for those further back in the line?
 
DW and I have always had sequential numbers with EBCI. Even when we have bought separately in a synchronized, I am pressing "buy" now, way. My general observation is that we have gotten numbers based on how early we bought the tickets. Once we got B numbers and on an Orlando flight that means boarding after a lot of families. But we still got seats together just further back in the plane.

I agree with @jo-jo that people who purchased EBCI should board before family boarding.

We just flew SW last month and there were multiple parties complaining that even though all tickets for their whole group were purchased together (as in Mom bought 4 tickets for the whole family in one transaction on her account) and had EBCI, their numbers were all over the place. The worst was one family where mom was like A20, Dad was A30, the 4 year old was early Bs and the 2 year old was late Bs.

This is just crazy! I have not heard of this before. I have to believe this was a glitch in the software.
 
They refunded the money to us - credited immediately $80 (got email within 30 minutes stating that). The original EBCI took about a week to get refunded ). We were out no money. I believe we had to pay because of the way the system works , then refunded,
Um....Southwest doesn’t fly to the Miami airport.
 
I'd say it was just a weird glitch, but it was literally 3 or 4 groups of people on each of our 2 flights comparing notes about how this happened to them. My family of 3 was all together, FWIW. Those of us in line had no problem with the separated little kids coming up in line to stay with mom and dad. The other separated groups were all adults or older teenagers so just stayed at their assigned place (and I assume the members of their group who boarded first saved seats for them).

Hmm, I got EBCI for DS and I for our January return flight. We are bad at remembering to check in for our return flight. He is 13 but a nervous about flying and just a bit of an anxious kid so I know he will be upset if we're not together. I hope we don't get separated!
 

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