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Re: Question about the automatic checkin for earlybird

jksobonya
Aviator A

@kbluebig wrote:

My point exactly @aMomTo6

 

I do understand that you do potentially get a better position and yes my wife and I did get A27 and A28. That is not my issue.

 

My issue is, if we still have to press check-in then that nullifies the advertising stating EBCI does AUTOMATIC checkin for you. If you purchase EBCI and there still needs to be a way for the customer to obtain their boarding pass online, then change the wording of it on your website and app, to say something like, "receive boarding pass"

 

And also, the fact that you do not SEE the benefit until you press the checkin button within 24 hours of your flight but the advertisement says they reserve your position 36 hours before your flight. I want to SEE that added benefit right when it happens. I want to see my position 36 hours before my flight. Since that is how you are claiming this earlybird service works.

 

 This is sort of a weird thing to cherry-pick. Early Bird automatically assigns *your boarding position* 36 hours ahead of time, as opposed to standard check in when you check in at least 24 hours before and your position is assigned during that check in process. If you have checked in for any Southwest flight at all right at the 24 hour mark, if you are more than a minute late you can see the difference in boarding positions plain as day. The benefit of Early Bird is that it eliminates all the hassle and your boarding position is automatically assigned regardless of when you actually check in. It doesn't matter if you check in right at 24 hours or an hour before, your boarding position was already assigned ahead of time, and it's almost always good and it's certainly better than anything you could have manually assigned yourself if you checked in 24 hours to a couple of hours before your flight. Your evidence of this is in your A boarding positions. A common misconception is that Early Bird guarantees an A position; it does not, but let's be honest, more times than not, you will get an A. If you don't use Early Bird, you have to be lightning quick at the 24 hour mark to get an A position, and like I said, if you are a minute or more late you're going to get a B or a C position. 

 

You should think of it as "Early Bird Boarding Assignment", not "Check In" necessarily, since everyone has to "Check In" for their flight regardless of whether they use Early Bird or not. 

 

--Jessica

Re: Question about the automatic checkin for earlybird

SWFlyer007
Aviator C

Good **bleep** for tats on here.  But honestly, it takes about 2 min, if that, do the check in.  Since I've never done the EBCI, (Alister for over 10 years) I really can't say.  I'm Alist and still do the check-in as close to the 24 hours scheduled time of departure.  Maybe shoot for A list and then you can get on board early and save a seat for whoever flying with you as I do.