Southwest Rapid Rewards - Whole flight assigned boarding pass# A0

On the kickoff flight from Akron/Canton tomorrow, Southwest's IT folks have apparently assigned everyone on the plane boarding pass A0. Separate PNR #s, tried separate PCs, using IE, Firefox, and m.southwest.com.

EDIT: We're also on the inagural flight out of Dayton, and got A0's all the way around.

Just showing that all of their passengers are priority

Quick! Somebody call the staff at TLC's On the Fly and tell them to go film at that airport tomorrow!

I can just see Southwest trying to resolve 100+ passengers all trying to cram into the A1-30 line, and the staff saying wait till they call your group, and every single person saying "but I'm in first group"!

Please make sure you provide an update on the outcome of this! I'm curious to see how WN handled the situation.

For testing purposes I also bought a Business Select ticket, scored the same position: A0

LOL! Another Southwest computer system mess.

Please make sure you provide an update on the outcome of this! I'm curious to see how WN handled the situation.

at Akron checkin counters (only 30min prior to flight), the kiosks could pull up our reservations but gave an error "there is an issue with your reservation and this system cannot continue" each time.

There were several people already talking to ticketing agents -they were telling the customers maybe they hadn't booked the right flight # or day.

Since we had A0 boarding passes printed from home, we went through security. The gate agent had us board in the approximate correct position based on our mix of A+ and Business select status.

In Dayton, the gate agents made repeat announcements and already had a stack of replacement boarding passes printed for each customer---with BP #s written on in sharpie marker. We got the boarding positions we expected. We commented that the website folks hadn't turned on the two new cities, and they agreed that seemed to be the issue.

Overall, handled pretty well by the two airports. Thumbs up for keeping the boarding positions fair.

at Akron checkin counters (only 30min prior to flight), the kiosks could pull up our reservations but gave an error "there is an issue with your reservation and this system cannot continue" each time.

There were several people already talking to ticketing agents -they were telling the customers maybe they hadn't booked the right flight # or day.

Since we had A0 boarding passes printed from home, we went through security. The gate agent had us board in the approximate correct position based on our mix of A+ and Business select status.

In Dayton, the gate agents made repeat announcements and already had a stack of replacement boarding passes printed for each customer---with BP #s written on in sharpie marker. We got the boarding positions we expected. We commented that the website folks hadn't turned on the two new cities, and they agreed that seemed to be the issue.

Overall, handled pretty well by the two airports. Thumbs up for keeping the boarding positions fair.

Thanks for the update -- sounds like it was handled as well as one could have expected.

Thanks for the update! Glad they worked it out!

Wait!

You mean they CAN separate Business Select and let them board first?

They CAN separate A-list Preferred from A-List and then board them as a group.

They can do it manually and on the fly and it works great.

Now that we know it CAN be done, let's look onto a system that boards PAX as groups, and in order within those groups, to prevent three of the most-often mentioned issues on this forum, people boarding out of order, late purchase A-list and A+ getting C boarding passes and the serendipitous early boarder.

Also, kudos to the folks at the airport for having the initiative to fix this in an equitable way. It could have been another huge mess.

InkUnderNails, of course manually you can do almost anything without complicated computer program
It would probably be a lot more complex to program what they did manually today and computer processing time can be expensive

InkUnderNails, of course manually you can do almost anything without complicated computer program
It would probably be a lot more complex to program what they did manually today and computer processing time can be expensive

It requires no computer time and the last thing you want to do is involve WN programmers. If they simply eliminate the serendipitous early boarders, everyone should already be in line correctly. Just call for Business Select and no one without a BS BP boards. Same for A+. Same for A-List. If I buy inside the 36 hour window and it says A-List preferred on my BP, I board at the end of A-List Preferred even if my BP says C2.

It requires no computer time and the last thing you want to do is involve WN programmers. If they simply eliminate the serendipitous early boarders, everyone should already be in line correctly. Just call for Business Select and no one without a BS BP boards. Same for A+. Same for A-List. If I buy inside the 36 hour window and it says A-List preferred on my BP, I board at the end of A-List Preferred even if my BP says C2.

Don't forget about me who paid $10 extra for EB

Don't forget about me who paid $10 extra for EB

I am long on the plane before it gets to you. :p

Does your BP have EBCI or some similar on it? If not, all they would have to do is add it and you guys would be good to go as well. It is the reason I did not include it as I did not know.

I am long on the plane before it gets to you.

Ahhh blue pass boarders...I always try and sneak in before them ;)

Ahhh blue pass boarders...I always try and sneak in before them ;)

They changed it! I do not have to get a blue sleeve anymore. I just show my "Seat Reserved" document and I am good to go.

The blue sleeve is like a big "board me first flag," so it helps. It is also a "Check me out and make sure I deserve this" pass to a lot of folks.

I'm always humored to see "status anxiety" among SW flyers wanting to get a high boarding pass #. If you've ever sat in the most basic FC seat, none of this matters. With SW, I'm happy not getting a middle seat next to a crying baby.