Is early bird worth it?

[floridaguy]

Early Bird Check In is not worth anything.

You are essentially making a donation to Southwest's bottom line and get nothing in return.  Set a reminder on your phone for 25 hours before the flight departs as a reminder to check in.  Costs nothing.

There are too many complaints here that people use EBCI only to have boarding positions in the B series.  

Check yourself in and be happy.

[dfwskier]

Bear in mind that it is GUARANTEED the the worst EBCI boarding position will be better than the best one obtianied by someone that manually checks in.

The closer to departure date you buy EBCI, the smaller the difference becomes since EBCI boarding spots are assigned in EBCI purchase order.

[buzzchris]

Well sir,..read my post  from Dec 11 (Monday). I got my EB months in advance. My wife, not an A-Lister, got better boarding numbers than me when she checked in 24 hrs prior, on the minute. . This has happened twice to us  within a year.   

I'm not an IT expert but can't SW program their system if a person with a low number cancels, then the next EB in line gets that number? 

But I will continue to do EB especially on departure times of 0600 hours.  

[dfwskier]

I think SW has far better ways to spend it's IT resources (recall last December's meltdown?) than this.

[floridaguy]

Yes, they need to clean up the HR system and also work toward preventing the next Holiday Disaster.

[navjag03]

The same thing has happened to me twice. I bought my EB three months in advance and my checked in exactly 24 hours prior. First  time, I was A38, she A36. Second time, I was A35 and she A33. !!??  I usually get a number in the high 20s.  

[ParSWA]

"Early Bird Check-in is not worth anything."

What a silly, categoric, statement. But, it's 'almost' like your personal opinion and situation, might not exactly apply to everyone -- or something.

For many others, spending $25 to take the added stress out of setting an alarm to remind you to check in 24 hrs & 5 minutes ahead of your flight -- just to make sure you don't get relegated to a C boarding pass, sent to the back of the bus, likely getting wedged into a middle seat, while hoping there's enough room in the overhead bins, is more than worth it... and worth the non-taxable 'donation' to SWAs bottom-line.

Or, if you get an SWA Rapid Rewards card or two, you'll likely get two complimentary Early Bird boarding passes per year, plus 4 complimentary A-list boarding passes per year.

Given all of the combined stressors when flying, many find that a lot of combined little things like Early Bird Check-In, TSA Precheck (about $16 per year... or free with certain credit cards), free rental car memberships, and more, are more way more worth it.

Anyway, happy traveling. 

[buzzchris]

I totally agree with you. For my 5:30 AM flights, it is totally worth it. Plus, I just found out that that I get two or three free EBs with my credit card.  Plus, on vacation, I don't have to worry about checking in 24 hrs prior.   However, each to their own.