Does Companion Pass consecutive boarding work with a regular Wanna Get Away points booking?

[SWAsince98]

I recently booked a Wanna Get Away fare with points and added my wife as my Companion. I thought that if I added Early Bird we would be placed together in the boarding process. On the outbound flight it worked perfectly with A29 and A30 assigned. However on the return I also had Early Bird and checked us both in on the app about 22 hours before our flight to check our boarding positions and I was in A and she was in B with 60+ people boarding between us. Since she and I always take a window and center seat this wasn't an issue but still slightly disappointing and I was surprised that it worked for one leg and not the other.

I spoke to a couple check-in agents at SAV and they said it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't and said that a scenario such as another passenger cancelling their reservation could have bumped me up but left my companion at her original position.

Is there any way to make sure that consecutive boarding works consistently for myself and my Companion? In this case it seems that if I had simply forgone the Early Bird add to my ticket that we would have been much closer in line even if both in B?

[dfwskier]

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@SWAsince98 wrote: 

....t and said that a scenario such as another passenger cancelling their reservation could have bumped me up but left my companion at her original position.

That is correct

Is there any way to make sure that consecutive boarding works consistently for myself and my Companion? In this case it seems that if I had simply forgone the Early Bird add to my ticket that we would have been much closer in line even if both in B?

As long as what is described in the first paragraph happens, I am afraid not.

[parpitt1 · Accepted solution]

I had a similar issue with my Companion this past winter, in Jan. (I'm A-list Preferred, booked our flight 6+ months before, On points, Converted her to Companion when I re-earned my CP for 2024 in Sept.), Out bound flight on check-in, I got assigned A-20 something. she got B-30ish.

No explanation, obviously not sequential, and no changes made to the reservation for at least 3 months before the actual flight. I just used one of the annual 4 upgraded boarding credits I get on my CC and she boarded like A-3.

(We are not a seat savers, "be part of the solution NOT part of the problem" is my motto.)

SWA agent could not provide any reasoning why the sequential boarding #'s did not happen.

On the Return flight, we got a sequential boarding #'s.

Long story short, Sequential boarding usually occurs BUT may not always. 

[SWAsince98]

Thanks for the responses so far. I think I'll just skip the Early Bird charge and check us both in (with separate confirmations - ugh) precisely at 24h before departure and get boarding positions closer to each other. A little more work but saves us some money and hassle!

[DancingDavidE]

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@SWAsince98 wrote:

Thanks for the responses so far. I think I'll just skip the Early Bird charge and check us both in (with separate confirmations - ugh) precisely at 24h before departure and get boarding positions closer to each other. A little more work but saves us some money and hassle!

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Was it early bird for both tickets or just yours?

This normally works with A-list so I don't know why it didn't work for EBCI which should also be assigned at T-36.

I don't agree that you would have bumped up due to someone canceling - once you got your assignment at T-36 that should have been it - someone lucky checking in at T-24 would have gotten the abandoned position.

I did have an issue when I called to have the companion pass added vs when I had self-serviced it online. The clue was that although the companion can sign in and see their ticket, the companion ticket doesn't show up on the A-listers ticket so the association gets split somehow. If you ever notice that the companion isn't showing on the CP holder's ticket, assume you won't get sequential boarding.

[SWAsince98]

Thanks for your reply. I only added Early Bird for me since everywhere I had read led me to believe that my Companion would still receive a boarding position next to me. As I said, it worked like that on the MDW to SAV flight but not on the return. Makes me think that even if I had paid the extra $25 to add EB to my Companion she might have been given a position nearer to mine but not necessarily with me. Either way I'll just play it safe and go with manual check-in from here on out.