Skip to main content

Southwest Airlines Community

Companion Pass + EBCI

emermanm1
Explorer C

Recently, I flew on a companion pass with my Business Select husband.   We purchased EBCI for me the day we purchased the ticket, which was the same day that flight opened up.  For inbound and outbound flights, he was in the A group, but I got B50 and C5.  In fact, the return flight when I had C5, the fight wasn't full and there were only 5 people boarding behind me, so my ECBI made me among the very last to board.  I tried reaching out to CS but received a non-answer, only suggesting that I use Upgraded Boarding instead to guarantee positions.   Can anyone shed some light on exactly what process determined my boarding position?  In the future, I'm not going to spend the $50 on a benefit that I don't get.  

9 REPLIES 9

Re: Companion Pass + EBCI

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

When was EBCI purchased related to the departure date/time? Boarding positions are assigned in the order EBCI is purchased. Purchasing close to departure will provide little improvement to boarding position, but does what it promises which is to check you in. Changing your flight or re-pricing the reservation will send you to the back of the virtual EBCI queue. Did you verify EBCI was actually on the reservation? It should indicate it on the boarding pass. I agree with customer service that the upgraded boarding is often the better deal, especially on non-stop flights. For not much more cost, an A1-15 position is guaranteed.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Companion Pass + EBCI

emermanm1
Explorer C

Thanks for your comments- to answer your questions- we purchased both tickets, as well as EBCI all at the same time, June 16, for flights on Nov. 19 and 26.  Which I believe was fairly immediately upon the flights opening up.   No changes were made to the reservations in the intervening months.  

 

 

Re: Companion Pass + EBCI

emermanm1
Explorer C

Also, yes, we definitely verified that it was on the boarding pass.  

Re: Companion Pass + EBCI

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

@emermanm1 wrote:

Also, yes, we definitely verified that it was on the boarding pass.  


I can only speculate that there was a huge amount of A-listers, or were you going to a meeting or convention where a lot of people from your origination would have also bought tickets way in advance?

 

The C boarding pass seems extreme.

 

Especially if your husband has the Business Select and you want to board with him (otherwise he'd be saving you a seat anyway right?) then do the same day upgraded boarding to get in the early A-group if the idea is for you two to board closer together and be settled.

 

Also if you husband is A-list and has you as companion you'll be checked in together, no need for EBCI. However with the Business Select fares the companion does not get the sequential boarding due to the limited A-1 to A-15 slots.

 

 

 

 

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.

Re: Companion Pass + EBCI

emermanm1
Explorer C

@DancingDavidE wrote:

@emermanm1 wrote:

Also, yes, we definitely verified that it was on the boarding pass.  


I can only speculate that there was a huge amount of A-listers, or were you going to a meeting or convention where a lot of people from your origination would have also bought tickets way in advance?

 

 

 

 

 


The flight was BWI-NAS during Thanksgiving week, Saturday to Saturday, so anecdotally, I'd say that it was more family holiday travel, but that's just a guess.  

Re: Companion Pass + EBCI

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Sorry, I guess you provided most of that info in the original message. I do have a guess, but don't know that you will ever be able to determine if my guess is accurate. When a non-Business Select companion pass holder adds a companion they are assigned sequential boarding positions. When the companion pass holder buys Business Select the sequential boarding perk does not happen and it's not clear the companion gets any boarding benefit. It's possible that the rules for that situation override any EBCI and force the companion to check-in 24 hours prior for their position despite purchasing EBCI. Clearly this shouldn't happen, but Southwest has had buggy situations like this in the past. This could explain what happened to you, but as I said, there's probably no way to prove it.

 

You could certainly send Southwest a message using the contact us link at the bottom of this page and provide all the information about your situation, including confirmation numbers for you and CP holder, explain that you know you don't get sequential boarding positions, but are concerned the EBCI did not apply because of the sequential boarding perk (or lack of) overriding the EBCI. If the message got routed to the right person it's possible that it could be looked at as a potential bug.

 

Or, it's possible you just had really, really bad luck with your EBCI. Seems unlikely though unless you are leaving out something. 

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Companion Pass + EBCI

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

@cheyenneallgood do you have someone you could forward this thread to as potential bug in the companion pass sequential boarding perk? Or at least verify the behavior seen here isn't a problem?

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Companion Pass + EBCI

emermanm1
Explorer C

@TheMiddleSeat wrote:

 

 

You could certainly send Southwest a message using the contact us link at the bottom of this page and provide all the information about your situation, including confirmation numbers for you and CP holder, explain that you know you don't get sequential boarding positions, but are concerned the EBCI did not apply because of the sequential boarding perk (or lack of) overriding the EBCI. If the message got routed to the right person it's possible that it could be looked at as a potential bug.

 


I did contact them yesterday with the details I provided in my OP, asking for clarification on exactly how I ended up with those boarding positions and this was the response, so nothing specific or new. 

 

The time of purchase and the fare play a role in how boarding positions are distributed, so it is likely that Customers under the same reservation will have consecutive or close boarding positions. However, since all boarding passes are assigned per Passenger, none of our fares or products (including EarlyBird Check-In) guarantees consecutive boarding positions for Customers traveling under the same reservation. While EarlyBird Check-In doesn't guarantee an A boarding position, it improves your seat selection options to help you get your favorite seat. Nevertheless, we regret that you were disappointed.

 

Interesting point you made re: a possible glitch.  Nonetheless, I guess...lesson learned.    But I appreciate the suggestions.  Although we're not new to SW, we're new to the CP world and I couldn't find anything here or in SW policies speaking to our particular situation.  





Re: Companion Pass + EBCI

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

I really wouldn't expect a response, at least one that had anything informative.  Like I said, the hope is the comment will be routed to the group responsible for programming these things and they look into it, but even that would be a stretch.

 

You really will do better with boarding positions if the companion pass holder does not purchase Business Select fares, but it's certainly understandable if that is desired for the benefits it offers.

 

--TheMiddleSeat