Southwest has a different boarding process from other US airlines. Instead of assigning seats, Southwest gives passengers a boarding position and then they’re able to pick any available seat once on the plane. Therefore, the passengers who board first are able to pick the best seats. Southwest passengers are able to check in for flights 24 hours before departure and your boarding position is first-come first-serve.
However, there are several ways to skip the line and get a boarding position before everyone else. The most common way people get a better boarding spot is to buy Early Bird. For a fee, Southwest’s EarlyBird Check-In automatically checks you in for your flight before the 24-hour mark. EarlyBird assignments are determined by when you pay your fee so the earlier you book your ticket (and pay for EarlyBird), the further up in the queue you are for a boarding position. EarlyBird needs to be purchased for each direction you’re flying (but you can choose to get the service on one flight but not the other). If you’re on connecting flights, the fee covers both flights.
Early-Bird costs between $15-$25 depending on the flight. While it will make sure you’ve checked in before everyone else, it no longer guarantees a great seat.
That’s because Southwest is now promoting Upgraded Boarding positions to passengers when checking in for a flight. Those positions can easily fill up the A1-A15 boarding spots previously reserved for passengers buying Business Select tickets.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that passengers needing additional assistance, including those in wheelchairs, get to board first. It’s “possible” that some passengers are taking advantage of this, to the point where Southwest needed to issue a statement stating they cannot question a passenger about their disability if they request early boarding.
But how much better of a seat will you get with Early Bird than checking in at 24 hours before the flight?
If I’m planning to get an Upgraded Boarding spot at check-in, I don’t pay for Early Bird. However, that still means I have to check in 24 hours before the flight to grab any of the available spots. On a recent flight, we only had 1 credit remaining from the Southwest Priority card so I upgraded to boarding spot A4 while Sharon kept the B8 boarding position we received when checking in for the flight.
Even with the A4 boarding spot, several of the front rows were partially taken by those who boarded with wheelchairs and their companions.
The plane was supposedly full so we didn’t expect to get an empty middle seat. The plan was for me to grab an aisle next to someone who already took a window seat. I’d explain that my wife would board later and I’d move to the middle if that was OK with them. I found a passenger who was cool with the plan and I took a seat on the aisle and waited for Sharon to board.
If you’re at the front of a Southwest plane, no one wants the middle seat if they paid for Early Bird. I watched groups of 2, 3, 4 and more head to the back of the plane to find seats together. By the time Sharon boarded, no one had asked to take the empty middle seat.
However, I also noticed there were still plenty of seats for 2 passengers together, further back on the plane. We could have easily sat together towards the rear of the plane without paying anything extra. That doesn’t mean a plan like this doesn’t come without any risk.
You never know how many passengers on a given flight have paid for Early Bird. You could end up with mid-B group boarding positions and hope there are still two seats together and room for your carry-on bags in the overhead. If you are sure that you’ll be able to check in at exactly 24 hours, you should be OK. But what if you aren’t available at that exact time?
In that case, it might be worth the few extra dollars for the piece of mind that you’ll get a decent boarding spot. Just don’t expect too much. What does $15 buy today anyway?
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