if i have checked in for a flight already but I arrive early at the airport and want to do a same day airport change to an earlier flight, can they de-check me in from the later (original) flight and move me to the earlier flight?

or does checking in disallow you from making any other changes to your original flight?

i wanna check in to my flight at the 24 hour mark so I can seat select, but there’s a good chance I might get to the airport much earlier and there are two other WS flights offered on my route that day So I wanna try and show up to the counter and pay the SDAC fee to fly earlier if I can

but if being Checked-in to a flight already nullifies this option, then I won’t show up earlier to the airport, or, perhaps I will reconsider my decision to check-in and just leave the check-in till I find out if I make it on the earlier flight

i wrote to WS about this question and still haven’t heard back...I think they are very BZ this time of year. My flight is in two weeks.

thanks to anyone who knows!

Did it a few days ago, and it worked perfectly.

Yes. Check in for your flight, get to the airport early (if you can), and request the earlier flight. I made my request at check-in, not at the gate.

I was at check-in just over an hour in advance of departure on the new flight - on an Econo Flex fare - and they changed me to the earlier flight with no issue. New boarding pass issued quickly and easily, then I went off to Security.

Just be sure to get to an agent with sufficient time to complete the change before the cut-off time for your flight. YMMV on an “Econo” fare — should still be do-able, but you’d need to pay. And, of course, it won’t work at all on a “Basic” fare.

I think it’s like $100 bucks for my fare. It’s 9 hours earlier, so I consider it money well-spent as that’s a lot of time saved.

did you phone ahead to see if the flight you were thinking of changing to had seats? I am travelling during peak holiday, so I was gonna phone ahead to get an idea of load. Obviously if they say the flight is sold out, then I wouldn’t even bother.

And just to confirm, you made the request at the Check in COUNTER or did the option to move to an earlier flight appear online?

i don't have status...

Interesting. I definitely wouldn’t be doing it AFTER security. I have luggage. It would have to be at the check in counter. Hope that’s still OK.

Thanks all

Absolutely — the check-in counter works perfectly. (That’s my preference - assuming there’s no line - because if there are limited seats remaining I want to make the request as soon as I possibly can.)

And, no, there’s no way to do a same-day change via the app or web-site — at least not yet. This has to be done in person, at the airport, on the day of departure.

I have twice in the last year made flight changes by phone (gold support line) the day before my flight (albeit within the 24 hour check in period) at no charge (because of status). It doesn’t have to be same day and in person, for golds at least :)