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Early bird checkin

LouiseP
Explorer C

This is the first time that I chose to use "early bird checkin." I figured it would be more convenient.  It was a waste of money. I landed with Boarding Pass B13. When I do my own checkin, I always get the latter A or beginning B. I won't use this again. A lesson learned. Disappointed! 😕

4 REPLIES 4

Re: Early bird checkin

franktravel
Aviator B

Something to keep in mind... Southwest planes have 143 or 175 seats. A group is only 1-60 and 15 of that group is reserved for business select which leaves only 45 positions left for A group and for People who may be A List and A list preferred.  

 

Re: Early bird checkin

chgoflyer
Aviator A

1) Did your boarding pass say "EarlyBird Check-In" on it? It's possible that EBCI dropped off your itinerary ("glitch"). If so, you should contact Southwest and request a refund.

 

2) If it does say EBCI on your BP: EBCI positions are assigned based on order of purchase, so those who purchased well in advance receive better positions than those who buy closer to the flight.

 

 

Re: Early bird checkin

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Some flights just have more A-List and EarlyBird Check-In people than other flights, it usually depends on the route and time/day of the week (business vs leisure travelers). 99.9% chance if you had manually checked in for that exact same flight you would have received a worse boarding position than you did with EarlyBird.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Early bird checkin

chgoflyer
Aviator A

Most flights now have EBCI passengers that stretch at least into the high As, and often low Bs. "I bought EBCI but received a B-XX position" is becoming a common complaint.

 

Southwest earned nearly $400 million on EBCI fees alone in 2017.