There are different ways for you to improve your boarding position when flying with Southwest. You can pay for Early Bird which checks you in before the 24-hour mark, thereby getting you ahead of the rest of the passengers. If you’re a frequent flyer, you’ll get A-List, which checks you in 36 hours before the flight, 12 hours before those with Early Bird.
But there was a way to get one of the coveted A1-A15 boarding slots if you knew a little-known Southwest offering called Upgraded Boarding. If there were still spots in the first 15 positions (which are for those who purchase Business Select fares) when you got to the airport, Southwest would sell the spots for a reasonable upcharge. Even better was that the Southwest Priority co-brand credit card reimbursed the fee for four Upgraded Boarding fees per year.
We’ve used this trick several times to score great seats and it became one of my favorite airline hacks.
Imagine my disappointment when I read that Southwest was going to let passengers buy Upgraded Boarding spots during check-in, from 24 hours to 30 minutes before the flight.
When available, Upgraded Boarding can easily be added to a reservation when checking in for a flight via the Southwest® app or Southwest.com®.
Open the Southwest app and select the “Check-In” icon at the bottom of the screen. Enter the confirmation number and verify the flight information displayed is correct. When available, the Upgraded Boarding position option is located below “View Boarding Pass.” Once selected and as available, Upgraded Boarding can be added to one or more flight segments in the itinerary.
On Southwest.com, navigate to the “Check-In” window and enter the confirmation number. The Upgraded Boarding option is displayed below the flight’s itinerary.
NOTE: Upgraded Boarding can only be purchased within 24 hours of the flight’s departure time depending on availability. Upgraded Boarding sales will end 30 minutes before departure.
I was curious to see if passengers would pay for a better boarding position now that the option was more mainstream. Much to my disappointment, it looks like many of them are.
When I checked in for my flight at 24 hours, I received a mid-B group spot (since I didn’t purchase Early Bird). On the final screen, I got the up-sell for Upgraded Boarding. 
I was curious to see how much they were charging for the 90-minute flight from Atlanta to Orlando. I could have upgraded for $40, which is an average price.
I didn’t pay because I figured I’d save my credits for a flight when I needed a better boarding spot. I did check the next morning before the flight to see if there were any spots left.
There was still a button to pay for Upgraded Boarding but when I tapped it I got an error message saying there were no more spots available.
For comparison, I’ve only had one flight where all of the spots were sold out when you needed to check in at the airport counter.
Good for Southwest that they’re now going to be able to sell more Upgraded Boarding spots. That doesn’t mean that I’m a little peeved that they took an IYKYK trick and turned it into a mainstream offering.
I’ll just need to decide right away, when checking in, if I’m happy with my boarding position. If not, I’ll buy the Upgraded Boarding spot before I’m done checking in.
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