No more SW for me...
Dec 12, 2018, 6:49 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: Motel 6, LLO Titanium
Posts: 98
No more SW for me...
Friends don't let friends fly SouthWest. Ok, old stuff, but I have only flown SW a couple times. After purchasing Early-Bird have a "B" boarding position. No thanks, ever again. I will get a paid seat on all my flights elsewhere. Yes, I understand that no one cares except me and I will not be missed... As if my $750.00 r/t PIT to FLL is not enough.
Dec 12, 2018, 7:16 am
#2
Moderator: Southwest Airlines, Capital One
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: California
Programs: WN Companion Pass, A-list preferred, Hyatt Globalist; United Club Lietime (sic) Member
Posts: 21,625
Friends don't let friends fly SouthWest. Ok, old stuff, but I have only flown SW a couple times. After purchasing Early-Bird have a "B" boarding position. No thanks, ever again. I will get a paid seat on all my flights elsewhere. Yes, I understand that no one cares except me and I will not be missed... As if my $750.00 r/t PIT to FLL is not enough.
That said, a low B boarding pass is just fine for getting an aisle seat aft of the exit row, which is where the most space is anyway.
Unless I anticipate inability to check in at T-24 I never buy EBCI for family members whose trips I book. A mid-B boarding pass is good enough.
Dec 12, 2018, 7:39 am
#3
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 616
Well first of all, I'm glad you will never fly Air Nambia (IATA SW) again. i wouldn't fly them either!
Southwest expressly states that EBCI is not a guaranteed "A" position, just that it checks you in 36 hours in advance. I check in at T-24 and constantly get low B and sometimes high B. Around this time of year, I get A a lot because many once a year customers check in at the airport.
I think you could give me a list of 100 reasons you wouldn't fly Southwest again, and while I could argue most of them with you, this would not be a good reason. First world problems at its finest here.
Southwest expressly states that EBCI is not a guaranteed "A" position, just that it checks you in 36 hours in advance. I check in at T-24 and constantly get low B and sometimes high B. Around this time of year, I get A a lot because many once a year customers check in at the airport.
I think you could give me a list of 100 reasons you wouldn't fly Southwest again, and while I could argue most of them with you, this would not be a good reason. First world problems at its finest here.
Dec 12, 2018, 7:41 am
#4
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Peoria
Programs: Southwest, Best Western Gold, La Quinta, Dollar
Posts: 819
Buying EBCI doesn't magically put you close to the front of the line. If you bought your tickets (and/or EBCI) very close to your flight date, lots of people who bought theirs before you did already were ahead of you. Some flights seem to get more EBCI purchases than others. Like I said in the other thread, Florida flights are a perfect example of that. Florida. FLORIDA. LOTS of people buying their tickets many months in advance, and lots of leisure or infrequent travellers worried about boarding issues and thus buying EBCI. I used MCO as the example in the other thread, but FLL is probably just the same. It happens, get over it.
Last edited by Peoriaman1; Dec 12, 2018 at 7:50 am
Dec 12, 2018, 7:48 am
#5
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: BNA (Nashville)
Programs: HH Diamond
Posts: 6,229
It gets annoying to pay for EBCI and then get stuck in the B group. I would be annoyed.
Jet Blue and WN offer non stops from my airport to FLL. If WN fare + EBCI is cheaper than Jet Blue + Luggage, I will do it.
If DL has a 2 hour layover in ATL, there better be a huge savings over non stop. Its all part of the game.
Jet Blue and WN offer non stops from my airport to FLL. If WN fare + EBCI is cheaper than Jet Blue + Luggage, I will do it.
If DL has a 2 hour layover in ATL, there better be a huge savings over non stop. Its all part of the game.
Dec 12, 2018, 8:19 am
#6
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Peoria
Programs: Southwest, Best Western Gold, La Quinta, Dollar
Posts: 819
I would be too but only briefly because its still better than anyone who did T-24 on that flight. Maybe his was a 5:30AM flight which had a higher-than-normal number of EBCIs due to the early hour? The OP didn't say where he was in the B group.... B-1 vs. B-59 is a big difference.
Dec 12, 2018, 8:19 am
#7
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Blue Ridge, GA
Posts: 5,512
Maybe, maybe not. If only there were some way to document that. Or post the position before purchase. Or caution people that cancellations by passengers holding A boarding positions go to the next available boarding positions. Status and check-in order are unappealable.
Dec 12, 2018, 8:24 am
#8
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: BNA (Nashville)
Programs: HH Diamond
Posts: 6,229
I would be too but only briefly because its still better than anyone who did T-24 on that flight. Maybe his was a 5:30AM flight which had a higher-than-normal number of EBCIs due to the early hour? The OP didn't say where he was in the B group.... B-1 vs. B-59 is a big difference.
Dec 12, 2018, 8:33 am
#9
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
I am no fan of WN and avoid it whenever possible. But, OP has no beef. The terms are clear and in plain English. Bottom line is that if you want what amounts to seat selection, don't fly WN.
Dec 12, 2018, 9:20 am
#10
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Dallas, TX
Programs: WN A-List Pref, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat
Posts: 460
I guess I need to go to the AA forum and give my list of complaints that have driven me to move exclusively. 
Honestly, I'm glad the OP figured out what he wants. I'm truly grateful that airlines aren't just exactly clones of each other, so there's actual, real consumer choices.
Honestly, I'm glad the OP figured out what he wants. I'm truly grateful that airlines aren't just exactly clones of each other, so there's actual, real consumer choices.
Dec 12, 2018, 9:36 am
#11
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,286
I would be too but only briefly because its still better than anyone who did T-24 on that flight. Maybe his was a 5:30AM flight which had a higher-than-normal number of EBCIs due to the early hour? The OP didn't say where he was in the B group.... B-1 vs. B-59 is a big difference.
Just to be clear -- since you repeated it twice, and may not be aware: OP may not actually be "better than anyone who did T-24."
Southwest re-issues the boarding positions of passengers who are checked in but then change or cancel their flight. This allows the next random person who did not pay the extra fee to snag that position. They are often low A positions and this happens not-infrequently.
(And, yes -- the OP has no beef here. They need to read the terms of the product they are buying.)
Dec 12, 2018, 10:10 am
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2001
Programs: DL 1 million, AA 1 mil, HH lapsed Diamond, Marriott Plat
Posts: 28,190
A few weeks ago I got an A-45 without status/EBCI - and it was enough to score an exit row aisle. It's the variability of EBCI positions that drives people familiar with seat assignments crazy.
Dec 12, 2018, 10:27 am
#13
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Chicagoland, IL, USA
Programs: WN CP, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 14,192
Friends don't let friends fly SouthWest. Ok, old stuff, but I have only flown SW a couple times. After purchasing Early-Bird have a "B" boarding position. No thanks, ever again. I will get a paid seat on all my flights elsewhere. Yes, I understand that no one cares except me and I will not be missed... As if my $750.00 r/t PIT to FLL is not enough.
I have checked in as low as C22 and I STILL got my preferred aisle. Toward the back, but still.
Dec 12, 2018, 10:45 am
#15
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Blue Ridge, GA
Posts: 5,512