howahya

For the OP - by all means use EBCI but if you're traveling as a pair and just want to sit together it should be quite easy as long as you check in at T-24. Nobody wants that middle seat that one of you will be occupying!

Sometimes it's better to board in the B group because that way the two of you can choose your seat mate. A small quiet person curled up by the window? Perfect. Someone large and sneezing violently? You don't want them to choose YOU when they board later.

jeffandnicole

Not necessarily. Someone may take the window seat, and a couple comes by and takes the aisle and middle seat.

joshua362

yes

nwflyboy

Hoping someone can answer a couple dumb-noob questions for me on this. I've only flown Southwest once and that was many years ago. Please be gentle...

I'm getting ready to book an award trip, cashing in my small handful of RR points that I've been sitting on for far too long. Will be booking two one-ways (actually two one-ways as part of an open-jaw trip: A-B outbound, C-A return...we will make our way from B to C by other means). Both legs, the A-B outbound and the C-A return, involve at least one connection (I'm hoping to keep it to one connection, we'll see).

Of course, I'm keenly interested (like most folks) in sitting together with my spouse, and avoiding miserable seats generally. We have no status. And we'll be on award tickets. And connecting. I don't need an exit row (nothing wrong with that, tho), but we will want to have a window+adjacent middle or aisle+adjacent middle. We will be checking our large bags, and will have fairly modest size carry-ons (daypack size, not wheelie roller-bags).

As I understand it, you can help ensure a somewhat better boarding position (and better chances of choosing favorable seats) by checking in T-24. Or you can buy Early Bird Check-In ("EBCI") for $12.50 per person, which gets you a (reasonably) favorable boarding position. Correct so far? Assuming I've got that part right, here are my questions:

1. Is EBCI available as an option when booking an award seat? If so, is it the same ("just as good") as EBCI for a paid ticket? Is it available during the award booking process, or is it available as an optional add-on later? Do you buy EBCI for an itinerary (A, connecting in X, continuing to final destination B), or do you need to buy it separately for each leg?

2. I'm particularly concerned with what seats we end up with on the second (or potentially third) legs...as I understand it, some folks will be staying on the plane ("through passengers") and thus the available seats for those boarding as a connecting flight will be even more limited. How does this work? Does buying EBCI help us only for the first leg of the day, or does it help for the 2nd (or maybe 3rd) leg, too? If so, how?

Thanks for your help - it's much appreciated!

NextTrip

Frankly, I think you are over thinking the whole boarding process. If you check-in at T-24, there is little doubt you won't get seats together.

That being said, I always buy EBCI so I don't need to watch the clock and I figure it is cheap enough.

But to answer your questions:
1. EBCI is available during the booking process on a points ticket, just as on a paid ticket. Whether the boarding position is the same or not is anyone's guess. You can buy it either when you book the ticket or later. EBCI is for all flights to your destination.

2. There may be "thru passengers" and maybe not. But, if you do purchase EBCI, you will have a better boarding position.

One thing you do have to think about is whether or not your flight is one time to get your boarding position at your connecting point. I have arrived when the plane is already boarding and lost any advantage of a low boarding position because my number group had already boarded. In that case, I have called SWA after my trip, explained the situation and asked for a refund of the EBCI. There was no hassle as they credited it back to my card in a day or two.

nwflyboy

Overthinking something - who, me? Yeah, I've been accused of that before...

I agree, it's cheap enough so I'm inclined to go for the EBCI as you suggest.

Thanks, very useful and helpful info.

Ah, makes sense. So that prompts another question:

How far in advance of the scheduled departure does WN start the boarding process? For the airlines I usually fly, it's about 45 minutes before scheduled departure. About the same here?

Thanks again, very useful info.

toomanybooks

Comparable boarding time.

If you check-in at T-24, you should have absolutely no problem getting what you want. The people obsessed with EBCI are pretty much those who cannot abide a middle or really want either an aisle/window.

The middles are the last to go with a few exceptions for couples/children who want or need them (mostly). Or guys who see a cute single gal in the window seat and think they have a shot. So until more than 2/3 have loaded, no problem for you.

Check-in at T-24 and you will likely get something around B-15. There should be a lot of middles next to aisle/window. But of course no absolute guarantees.

It may depend if you consider any of the non-middles to be "miserable." To me, all aisles (my preference) are pretty much the same.

I cannot recall ever having to take a middle and I never get EBCI.

NextTrip

I cannot remember ever having to take a middle when I haven't bought EBCI. But, I was traveling alone, not trying to snag two seats together.

The other caveat is checking in 24 hours before the flight; not 20 hours or 10 hours. On some popular routes, it has to be pretty close to 24 hours before to get a decent boarding position.

I also fly non-rev quite a bit. So, I'm very used to taking a middle seat. That is why when I fly on my dime (or more often than not RR points), I spring for EBCI. Small price to pay for the convenience of not having to check in at T-24 and also having a decent boarding position.

NextTrip

Depends on if the plane is sitting empty at the gate and whether the crew is there! Plan on 30 minutes before the scheduled departure, but it is usually less.

Cledaybuck

If you give your routing, people on here may have a better idea on how many (if any) through passengers to expect.

nwflyboy

Thanks all, I should be all set now.

I got up early and booked a trip to Mexico in February shortly after the new schedule loaded. Outbound is SEA-MEX (via Kansas City/no plane change, then via HOU with a 2 hour 20 min layover - it'll be a long day but we'll manage), returning CUN-SEA (via DEN, with a 1 hour 55 min layover). Used around 22,000 RR points per person for both outbound and return.

Bought EBCI both ways. Seems like a no-brainer, cheap insurance against getting stuck with a bad seat. I'm perfectly comfortable throwing in 15 bucks at that - I'm going on vacation and prefer not to worry about being able to check in at exactly T-24 (who knows if I'll have access to internet), and will have better things to do at the time.

Thanks again for the help, it's appreciated.

lougord99

Your return is a perfect example of why one might buy EBCI.

jeffandnicole

Generally speaking, there aren't many people remaining on a plane at a stop. For many people, the airport is their home airport or their destination airport. I would roughly estimate maybe about 20-30 people are so will remain on the plane. Then...not all of them are flying separately. There will be couples and families, many of whom are sitting next to each other and taking that middle seat.

You probably won't get an exit row, and you probably won't be up in front of the plane. But getting 2 seats together - your main objective - shouldn't be an issue.

Note one other thing...the timing of your trip, and more importantly, when you purchase EBCI, impacts your position in line (I know you already purchased the tix, so this is just an FYI). If you're booking a trip for next week, most people on board have already purchased their tickets, and would have also purchased their EBCI if they opted for it. So you may get a late A, early B position (again, generally speaking). If you're booking a trip 6 months out, chances are very few tickets were sold, and you'll have a much more generous boarding position. Regardless, you're still going to be ahead of everyone checking in at T-24, so there's always that benefit.

nwflyboy

In this case, trip was just booked for February 2017. I bought the tickets (and EBCI) within 30 minutes of when the schedule was loaded (I got up painfully early to do this) so it seems very highly unlikely that anyone on that flight bought it earlier than me. All in all, I'm happy with the prospects. Of course, we'll see when it comes round, but I'm feeling fairly confident things will work out.

Thanks again for the guidance.