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Re: Early Bird didn't work?

dfwskier
Aviator A

@LuvTravel wrote:

Early Bird was wonderful years ago, but now I feel it's going the same way as the "Express Pass" at Disney.  You feel the need to purchase it for even the chance of a decent seat.  It would be a great service to SW customers if SW allowed visibility to how may EBCI passes have been purchased for your flight to help  determine if it's worth the fee.  That being said, I purchase early bird for nearly every flight and I still love SouthWest.  The EBCI might be a bit greedy, but at least it's not hidden fees to pick a seat or bring a bag or get a beverage and snack while in flight.  


Good suggestion, but it won't give you all the visibility you want. A listers are always in front of EBCIers when it comes to boarding position, and those that buy tickets after ypur EBCI purchase

still end up in front of EBCIers as long as the ticket is bought more than 36 hours before flight time.

So if you could get data about the number of EBCIers and A listers that had purchsed flights, that would get you closer to what you want.

 

You might want to try to check in yourself. I have friends that still do so and they normally end up with boarding positions good enough to snag an aisle or window seat somewhere on the plane. Just be sure to check in  exactly t-24 from departure time -- not t-23:30. Lots of people try to check in exctly 24 hour before flight time.

Re: Early Bird didn't work?

dkaval
Explorer C

Signed up for early bird when we bought our tickets in August, partly because we tend to forget to check in and we wanted to sit together. We're flying tomorrow, Milwaukee to Denver, December 28. Our boarding numbers? C8 and C9. And we paid $40 for this? It's hard to believe that more than 120 people either have elite status or bought early bird before us. Has anyone else paid for early bird and got a C boarding group?

Re: Early Bird didn't work?

chgoflyer
Aviator A
Solution

@dkaval wrote:

Signed up for early bird when we bought our tickets in August, partly because we tend to forget to check in and we wanted to sit together. We're flying tomorrow, Milwaukee to Denver, December 28. Our boarding numbers? C8 and C9. And we paid $40 for this? It's hard to believe that more than 120 people either have elite status or bought early bird before us. Has anyone else paid for early bird and got a C boarding group?




While it is possible to receive a C boarding position even after paying for EarlyBird Check-In, I suspect something went wrong in your case, given the advanced  time frame of your purchase. Do your boarding passes actually say EarlyBird  Check-In on them? I'd suggest a call to Southwest Customer Relations to verify whether or not you actually received it. If there was some kind of glitch and EBCI became unattached to your booking, they will refund the fee you paid.

 

Unfortunately, since boarding positions have now been assigned, that's all they will be able to do. You may want to consider purchasing Upgraded Boarding at the gate. There are reports of possibly having that fee refunded after the fact in cases like yours, but there's no guarantee. Good luck.

 

Re: Early Bird didn't work?

jquebby
Explorer C

I purchased my ticket January 12, 2020 for travel January 14th.  I also purchased EBCI.  I was able to use it for my outbound flight but not for my inbound flight because I ended up changing my travel to leave one day earlier.

Because the EBCI is non-refundable, Southwest is unwilling to give me a refund.  I have already taken to Twitter to express my displeasure about this and will never again waste my money for this product.  I will simply wait ask at the boarding gate when I arrive if there are any more A zone slots available.  I would rather pay $50 for that than waste the $25 for EB and get nothing.

Re: Early Bird didn't work?

dfwskier
Aviator A

@jquebby wrote:

I purchased my ticket January 12, 2020 for travel January 14th.  I also purchased EBCI.  I was able to use it for my outbound flight but not for my inbound flight because I ended up changing my travel to leave one day earlier.

Because the EBCI is non-refundable, Southwest is unwilling to give me a refund.  I have already taken to Twitter to express my displeasure about this and will never again waste my money for this product.  I will simply wait ask at the boarding gate when I arrive if there are any more A zone slots available.  I would rather pay $50 for that than waste the $25 for EB and get nothing.


 

The closer to 36 hours pre flight time you get, the worse the value of your EBCI. Why - because EBCI positions are allocated based on when they are purchased. If bought within 24 hours of flight time it is worthless.

 

'As far as EBCI refundability  goes, you yourself said "Because the EBCI is non-refundable, Southwest is unwilling to give me a refund." so you seem to understand that it is nonrefundable.

 

You do know what nonrefundable means -- don't you? You may not like it, but that is the rule.