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Checkin for same-day return with same confirmation number?

kenwrotethis
Explorer C

I'm sure this has been covered in the forum but Search didn't find it.

 

I'm flying a business trip (tomorrow) with morning departure and same-day evening return. Both flights are on the same confirmation (I've since learned it's best to book them separately, so they have separate confirmations and allow separate rescheduling - I'll do that in the future).

 

When I tried to test-checkin sooner than 24 hours before the morning flight, I got a warning that I was too early - as expected. I checked in at 24 hours before the morning flight and got a boarding pass.

 

When I test-checkin for my evening flight, earlier than 24 hours, it simply confirms my morning-flight checkin -- because it's the same confirmation number.

Am I already checked-in for the evening flight (doubtful)?

 

How do I checkin for my evening flight using the same confirmation number?

Will the site magically allow me to checkin for the evening flight when it's less than 24 hours?

 

 

3 REPLIES 3

Re: Checkin for same-day return with same confirmation number?

rtbarron
Frequent Flyer A
Solution

@kenwrotethis wrote:

Am I already checked-in for the evening flight (doubtful)?

 

How do I checkin for my evening flight using the same confirmation number?

Will the site magically allow me to checkin for the evening flight when it's less than 24 hours?

 

 


You will still need to check-in for the evening flight at 24 hours prior. You should be able to check-in for your return flight using the same confirmation number unless your outbound trip has a connection. Apparently the system only allows two boarding passes at one time.

Let us know how it goes.

Re: Checkin for same-day return with same confirmation number?

kenwrotethis
Explorer C

I successfully received a 2nd boarding pass when I checked-in at the 24-hour mark of the second/return flight, using the same confirmation number as the morning flight. My Checkin page now lists both flights (checked-in), where this morning, the page only listed one flight. 

 

So, no worries ... except that the Checkin page was disconcerting until I was checked-in for both flights. 

 

 

Note to Southwest:  It'd be nice if Southwest worked on the UX of the Checkin flow to list the 2nd flight for the same confirmation number when the flier checks-in for the first one, and not just list the 1st flight, until the 2nd flight is checked-in. 

 

Re: Checkin for same-day return with same confirmation number?

rtbarron
Frequent Flyer A

I'm glad to hear that it worked out. Thanks for sharing the outcome with us.