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Confused about boarding pass/check-in

billwh
Explorer C

I haven't flown in a long time, would like to gowith Southwest but totally confused about the boarding pass/check-in situation. I have a desktop computer at home, no printer. I can check-in 24 hours before I depart, right? Do I need to then print the boarding pass at home or can I do that at the airport? I have just a regular cell phone, no internet, so I'm wondering about how I will check-in on the returning trip. How I can I check in then without access to the internet? From reading some of these posts, Early Bird seems to be an option, but one that I see a lot of complaints about. 

2 REPLIES 2

Re: Confused about boarding pass/check-in

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A
Solution

For the first flight you can manually check in 24 hours prior to the scheduled departure time and then get a boarding pass printed at the airport. Completing the check in process will assign you a boarding position that will be held for you when you get the boarding pass printed. For the return flight you can check in when you get to the airport which almost guarantees you an awful boarding position or purchase EarlyBird Check-In. My opinion is this situation is a perfect fit for EBCI. I believe most of the complaints are from people who either don't understand what EBCI does/doesn't do or have expectations that it guarantees a specific boarding position. As you don't have the option to manually check in EBCI seems far better than the alternative of showing up at the airport and checking in.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

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Re: Confused about boarding pass/check-in

billwh
Explorer C
Solution

I will pay for the Early Bird. I checked several different airlines and flights, and unless I want a 7 hour layover, Southwest had the cheapest flight for where and when I want to go. However, paying extra for the Early Bird will add to that cheap fare. I've read several other posts and some people have complained that it didn't give them enough of an advantage as fae as getting the seat they wanted. That is not a concern for me, at least not now. I'm buying my ticket three months in advance. I do like the idea of being automatically checked in and then just picking up my boarding pass at the airport. I may not have any access to the internet during that 24 hour period before boarding the plane. The last time I flew, I recall having an assigned seat when I purchased the ticket, though it wasn't with Southwest. I'll try this and see how it works. Thanks for the reply.