All things Southwest Airlines

[tee2green]

Early Bird is a MUST if you want to secure overhead baggage space on a busy flight (normally Fridays and Sundays) and you just wait until you get to the airport to check-in (e.g. the dreaded GROUP "C"). Otherwise, you can usually get at least a "B" group or even an "A" group if you check-in exactly 24 hours before departure. I have had the EB "vanish" a few times when I change a reservation which is solved with a quick call to customer service.

I was a bit lax checking in on both legs of my recent Vegas trip. Late by 4 minutes for the trip out and got C11 and late by about 10 minutes for the return and got C23!

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[clemi]

I pretty much do EB always, saves me the trouble of remembering that 24 hour checkin time.

[Slotspert]

I pretty much do EB always, saves me the trouble of remembering that 24 hour checkin time.

So many people now do the EB that I got a lousy B15 on my EB to Vegas last time and I bought the tickets months earlier. So there is no guarantee, but I would hate to think what I would get if I did not have EB.

[treyster]

So many people now do the EB that I got a lousy B15 on my EB to Vegas last time and I bought the tickets months earlier. So there is no guarantee, but I would hate to think what I would get if I did not have EB.

If you buy early bird and rebook, you get booted back to the end of the early bird line. Early bird is assigned in chronological order so the earlier you buy early bird, the better your seat number. If you buy early bird 5 months in advance, you might get A22, but if you rebook that same flight two weeks before the travel date, you might get B18.

My advice when buying SWA fights is to always book individual legs and not a roundtrip. The price is the same and it's easier to rebook. Also we now book separate flights for each of us, just gives you most flexibility if something comes up. Only drawback is you have 4 confirmation numbers to keep track of for two people.

[treyster]

SW is having a sale, how do I rebook and get credit? Do I purchase the ticket and charge it again? At that point I would have paid for the ticket 2x. Thanks

Did you get all rebooked and get a credit?

[RiverSong]

Did you get all rebooked and get a credit?

Not yet, I'll try tomorrow. Thanks.

[RiverSong]

Was your original ticket a "wannagetaway" fare or was it one of the others that are fully refundable?

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Yes, wannagetaway...

[treyster]

Not yet, I'll try tomorrow. Thanks.

If you log into your SWA account and click on the flight, you'll see 'change'. Click on that, select that flight and then you'll rebook the exact same flight. You'll see what the credit amount will be and you can abort the whole process anytime until you hit the 'are you sure you want to make these changes?' prompt.

BTW- your credit is tied to your confirmation number, you might need it when you want to use the credit. Keep track of it.

[SoCalRob]

I know it seems like a waste, but I stopped paying for EB and started just upgrading my boarding position at the gate for A1-15. It's $30 which is a lot, but for someone like me who is mildly picky about where he sits on the plane and have anxiety with flying, its well worth the price, especially since all EB ever got me was maybe FAR into the A or early B group.

[Nhcris]

If you buy early bird and rebook, you get booted back to the end of the early bird line. Early bird is assigned in chronological order so the earlier you buy early bird, the better your seat number. If you buy early bird 5 months in advance, you might get A22, but if you rebook that same flight two weeks before the travel date, you might get B18.

My advice when buying SWA fights is to always book individual legs and not a roundtrip. The price is the same and it's easier to rebook. Also we now book separate flights for each of us, just gives you most flexibility if something comes up. Only drawback is you have 4 confirmation numbers to keep track of for two people.

I completely agree with this. I have also been led to believe that the price you paid for your ticket is somehow factored in, although I'm not sure how they would do that. Sometimes I don't bother rebooking when the price changes by just a few dollars.