Early Bird check in on second flight

[JoeNewberry]

Hi, fairly new to Southwest.  Are Early Bird check-ins good for the second leg of a trip, when I have to change planes?  Does the one check in give me the same boarding position for the second flight?

[SWDigits · Accepted solution]

Assuming both connecting flights are booked on the same reservation, yes you will be checked in for both flights when you check in (automatically with Early Bird, otherwise manually by you).

You will have different boarding positions for each flight.

If you booked a round trip flight then you'll check in separately using the same process as above for the return portion of your round trip.

[mitchland5]

This was not the case for me. I had a flight from LA to Austin with a connection where I had to change planes in Las Vegas, booked on the same reservation (same confirmation number). I checked in 24 hours before my departure time from LA and received a position in the A group. I also received my boarding pass for my flight from LA to Las Vegas, but not one for the flight from Vegas to Austin. When it was 24 hours before the second leg of my flight from Las Vegas to Austin, I got an alert on my phone that I needed to check in for that leg of the flight. I had to check in again for the Vegas to Austin leg of the flight and because I didn't do it right away, I got a position in the C group for that flight 😞. It was only then that I received my boarding pass for the second leg of my flight. Based on the above comment I thought I was checked in all the way from LA to Austin but it turns out I was not.

[DancingDavidE]

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@mitchland5 wrote:

This was not the case for me. I had a flight from LA to Austin with a connection where I had to change planes in Las Vegas, booked on the same reservation (same confirmation number). I checked in 24 hours before my departure time from LA and received a position in the A group. I also received my boarding pass for my flight from LA to Las Vegas, but not one for the flight from Vegas to Austin. When it was 24 hours before the second leg of my flight from Las Vegas to Austin, I got an alert on my phone that I needed to check in for that leg of the flight. I had to check in again for the Vegas to Austin leg of the flight and because I didn't do it right away, I got a position in the C group for that flight 😞. It was only then that I received my boarding pass for the second leg of my flight. Based on the above comment I thought I was checked in all the way from LA to Austin but it turns out I was not.

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What you are describing is that you didn't have connecting flights - if you did then you check-in once for all of your flights for the day. 

Since you got a reminder to check in separately then it sounds like this was a separate flight?

It can still be one confirmation number but be a round trip or in your case point to point or multi-city.

[mitchland5]

How can I tell if it's separate flight vs a connecting flight? I booked a round trip ticket from LA to Austin. There were no early morning direct flights from LA to Austin so I chose one with a layover in Las Vegas. Wouldn't this be considered a connecting flight. I didn't make separate reservations. I booked the whole round trip ticket at once. 

[DancingDavidE]

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@mitchland5 wrote:

How can I tell if it's separate flight vs a connecting flight? I booked a round trip ticket from LA to Austin. There were no early morning direct flights from LA to Austin so I chose one with a layover in Las Vegas. Wouldn't this be considered a connecting flight. I didn't make separate reservations. I booked the whole round trip ticket at once. 

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Then the check in for both flights would have been at the same time, any difference in positions would be due to the other passengers having A-list, EBCI, etc. that for some reason fewer people were on the LAX-LAS leg but LAS-AUS was busier with lots of A-listers.

Edit to add: the only way to tell for sure is go back and see your boarding pass and if it had EBCI or Early Bird printed on it. You should have been able to get both boarding passes at the start of your trip (regardless of the positions). 

Going from A on one to C on the other is a big swing, but not completely unheard of for a flight packed with other A-list, EBCI, etc. 

I'm not sure that the system didn't work from the description, but then also you should have had a chance to get your second boarding pass when you checked in. You do have to click on them separately on your mobile device to get both, but the position was probably already assigned then as a C-number.