Early Bird Checkin FAIL

[eddiegcs]

We purchased Early Bird Checkin for two, $15 each way, so $60 total. It's supposed to let us checkin up to 36 hours early. Wrong. It does not work. My flight leaves in less than 26 hours and when I try to check in I get an error message saying I may only checkin up to 24 hours before departure.

"EarlyBird Check-In Customers will have their boarding positions reserved beginning 36 hours prior to their flight's scheduled departure time. Boarding Passes can be accessed beginning 24 hours prior to the flight's scheduled local departure time."

https://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/faqs.html?topic=earlybird_checkin

This is very misleading.

[chgoflyer]

I'm not sure why you think it's misleading. It's pretty clear: EarlyBird Check-In assigns your position at T-36, ahead of everyone who has to manually get theirs at T-24. Boarding passes can be accessed beginning at T-24, which will include your already-assigned position.

EBCI fails often enough through things like the infamous Southwest "glitch," but this is simply you not understanding how it works. 😉

[Whiskchef]

Fail here as well. I just had to check myself in 24 hours prior. I received no notification if I was or was not checked in and the check in button allowed me to do it myself.... under the 24 hour window, with everyone else.

[chgoflyer]

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@Whiskchef wrote:

Fail here as well. I just had to check myself in 24 hours prior. I received no notification if I was or was not checked in and the check in button allowed me to do it myself.... under the 24 hour window, with everyone else.

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Did your boarding pass say "EarlyBird Check-In" on it? If so, you received the benefit you paid for. If not, contact Customer Relations (I recommend via Twitter) and they'll refund the fee you paid.

[kapitts56]

Thanks for this info, my boarding pass does not state early bird!  I did contact SW via twitter!