Southwest...What's The Worst Boarding Position You've Gotten With EBCI?

beccasmom · Jul 21, 2018

The “worst” has been A in the high 20’s; the best was A-20. Have never had a B assignment even before EBCI, have been fortunate with that.

Best Aunt · Jul 21, 2018

I will be flying Southwest from DAL to MCO. I have flown Southwest before, but never into MCO. I paid for EBCI because I want to maximize my chances of getting an aisle seat, which helps with my claustrophobia.

Are there typically lots of people doing family boarding on flights to MCO? (I assume there are lots on flights out of MCO.)

ktate82 · Jul 21, 2018

We have gotten mid B's but only a few times. This last time we flew home from MCO to Indy, we got A17-A20 and was super excited.

tobikaye · Jul 21, 2018

In January, I had something like B30 on my MCO to CMH with EBCI.

CT Disney · Jul 21, 2018

FreeTime said:
Last week we were in the C’s from Vegas to Columbus. Purchased EBCI when the tickets were purchased at six months out. Made me consider buying business select going forward.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/sw-moving-from-wanna-getaway-to-business-select.3693534/

CT Disney · Jul 21, 2018

tobikaye said:
In January, I had something like B30 on my MCO to CMH with EBCI.

How far in advance did you buy your tickets? We purchased ours 10 days before the flight so I'm a tad nervous about what we'll get.

a1tinkfans · Jul 21, 2018

A50... I just remember like the last A seat.
And it was a very long wait as Any and Everybody seemed to get in ahead of us. And my other family got a low B.. we left the middle seat open and thankfully he got it.
My experience with Jetblue With assigned seating has been crazier of late. ..with people who just move their assigned seats because they feel like it. We were delayed twice because
Of this..despite pilot asking and stewardesses asking for cooperation . Each time it was like they didn’t want to Upset the passenger who moved... yet we Pay for the seats assigns.. not a fan!

CT Disney · Jul 21, 2018

Candlelady said:
Which is why we now fly JB almost exclusively. After our end of B flight I need to know where I'm sitting and with who without all the needless worrying. I worry about everything! The TV in the seats is also a bonus. Plus the price is pretty much the same for our flights.

I enjoy JetBlue as well...especially the TVs in the seats! For our trip I checked out the JB prices. Everything with a good flight time was way expensive, plus all of the regular seats were pretty much gone. I could have upgraded to "even more space" seats, but it would have been too expensive. I did consider not upgrading and just leaving our seat assignments up to chance at the airport...I wondered if they would just assign us the "even more space" seats for free. But, in the end I didn't do that. I was afraid of what we'd end up getting.

Cinderumbrella · Jul 21, 2018

CT Disney said:
How far in advance did you buy your tickets? We purchased ours 10 days before the flight so I'm a tad nervous about what we'll get.

I was on a full last flight out of MCO last night. I booked 50 days out and had A25 (A19 for flight down)

Also, they cracked down hard last night on medical preboarding (only 1 adult to assist) and family preboard (no extended families allowed- just parents and their children, no grandparents or aunts & uncles etc).

CT Disney · Jul 21, 2018

Cinderumbrella said:
I was on a full last flight out of MCO last night. I booked 50 days out and had A25 (A19 for flight down)

Also, they cracked down hard last night on medical preboarding (only 1 adult to assist) and family preboard (no extended families allowed- just parents and their children, no grandparents or aunts & uncles etc).

Good to hear about the better rule enforcement. Out of curiosity...were they allowing both parents and older siblings to board during family boarding? Or just one adult per kiddo under age 7?

Cinderumbrella · Jul 21, 2018

CT Disney said:
Good to hear about the better rule enforcement. Out of curiosity...were they allowing both parents and older siblings to board during family boarding? Or just one adult per kiddo under age 7?

A whole family of 4 (for example) could board with the younger kids if the older sibling was under 15(?)
It was grandparents, aunts, uncles etc that they were cracking down on because there were lots of large traveling parties last night.

FreeTime · Jul 21, 2018

CT Disney said:
How far in advance did you buy your tickets? We purchased ours 10 days before the flight so I'm a tad nervous about what we'll get.

From CMH to MCO I recently bought at 60 days out and had the high A’s for an April flight. The return was A16. Last summer at about six months out and in the B30 range both ways.

We always book an originating flight also as many people stay on direct flights that have stops in Columbus which can leave 100 seats already occupied when boarding starts.

tobikaye · Jul 22, 2018

CT Disney said:
How far in advance did you buy your tickets? We purchased ours 10 days before the flight so I'm a tad nervous about what we'll get.

Scarily, about 4 months. I spent the extra to upgrade to A3. I really needed a window seat on the way home as I had an upset stomach. It was leaving MCO and there were about 20-25 people in family boarding. I looked around after family boarding and there were only a few window seats left. I doubt I would have had a window seat. I still saw many people that got seats together until about the last 12-15 people.

DebbieB · Jul 23, 2018

B9, PIT-MCO last April. A27 on the way home. I booked both on the day my dates came out.
Most recent trip - A22 both ways.

Betty Rohrer · Jul 23, 2018

worse was a flight where A's did not get much seat choice as a lot stayed on the plane from first leg. this flight an A3 would not have gotten you a window seat as was a full flight but less than 50 people were getting on at my airport

goofy4tink · Jul 23, 2018

Here's the biggest issue with EBCI....it's Early Bird Check In..,not early bird boarding. Yes, by getting EBCI you usually get a better spot for boarding, but that isn't the reason for it. And with so many people getting it nowadays, it makes the possibility of getting a mid-B group slot very possible!!! I've ended up with a B32 slot even when getting EBCI. But, I buy EBCI so that I don't have to hassle with checking in myself.
And that whole family boarding issue? I have no issue with those that board with just their immediate family. But there are plenty of families that board in this group without kids that are young enough to qualify, as well as with extended family. Drives me nutty. Same with the medical preboards....I can see one other person, possibly two if it's just the three of them, boarding with the medical preboard. But, the entire group of 10??? Yeah, no. I've seen them board, get the preboard person seated, with one other person beside them, then the rest head to the exit row seats!!! That shouldn't be allowed.
I like flying with SW and seldom have any issues. But, it would be nice if SW adhered to it's policies, all the time, and that policy didn't change depending on particular gate agents!!! And that whole seat saving issue? That needs to be changed. The whole 'we have no policy on saving seats, so any seat that is empty is available' is nuts!!! That just causes issues between passengers. One or two board early and saves entire rows with articles of clothing....and no one says a word.

Marsh215 · Jul 23, 2018

If you are the type of person who absolutely wants to be at the front of the boarding line then you should not even pay for EBCI. What you really want is Upgraded Boarding. https://www.southwest.com/html/trav...x.html?clk=GFOOTER-PRODUCTS-UPGRADED-BOARDING

CT Disney · Jul 23, 2018

Marsh215 said:
If you are the type of person who absolutely wants to be at the front of the boarding line then you should not even pay for EBCI. What you really want is Upgraded Boarding. https://www.southwest.com/html/trav...x.html?clk=GFOOTER-PRODUCTS-UPGRADED-BOARDING

Question about this...it says it's $30, $40, or $50 depending on your itinerary. Do you know how much it's going to cost for you flight prior to showing up at the airport? If this was an option for $30 per person I may consider it since it's only twice the price of EBCI. I may hesitate at the $50 per person though. If I knew at the time of booking that it was $30...I would probably seriously consider doing this rather than purchasing EBCI. I wonder if you ever show up at the airport and Upgraded Boarding is already sold out or not an option?

Marsh215 · Jul 24, 2018

CT Disney said:
... Do you know how much it's going to cost for you flight prior to showing up at the airport?

Sometimes you can find out by calling right after booking.

CT Disney said:
I wonder if you ever show up at the airport and Upgraded Boarding is already sold out or not an option?

This has never happened to me, but it totally is a risk.

Currently I have A-List, but when I didn't I would use this option often. It's been $30 each way for flights within California and it cost me $40 each way for a trip to Cancun. I travel alone mostly, but sometimes I fly with my SO. When flying as a pair from OAK to SNA it can be $120 for the Upgraded Boarding plus $240 for the fare making $360. (Pardon the mental math)

Personally I don't think it's worth it to get if you want to save money. Just like Disney SW is glad to take your money for a slight advantage in lines. Upgraded Boarding is for the type of person who gets MaxPass at DL or extra FastPass+ at DW. My last trip to DW was cross country on frontier, I can't justify the cost. really I only use Upgraded Boarding when my job pays for it, or when the trip was booked on Miles. I don't think I'll ldo it again for a while since I have A-LIST, but it's important to know that it's an option to save for if you want it.

tinkerbella16 · Jul 24, 2018

I have only flown SW twice, the last 2 WDW trips. Both times, we got A-16 through A-21. We did book our flights and EBCI right when flights were released both times, so that could be why we had such a great boarding position.

Southwest...What's The Worst Boarding Position You've Gotten With EBCI?

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