I have observed that each time over the past year when I have selected early-bird check-in that my seat assignment continues to get further and further back. Two weeks ago my assignment was B-20, indicating that approximately 80 people had either an upgraded status, or had purchased early bird check-in prior to me. I did an informal survey of passengers in the B-1 to B-20 group and found that many had never heard of early bird check-in. A number of the travelers were flying for the first time. None had any preferred status. This made me wonder whether early bird check-in @ $15 per segment really works or is just a new revenue collection tool. I have spoken to SW about this, but customer service has not been helpful and they have no way of actually checking this. Does anyone have any thoughts about this. How do we know if early bird check-in actually works?
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