They loved the low-cost flights but hated the thought of being stuck in a middle seat if they got stuck in a traffic jam on the way to the airport. In , Southwest toyed with the idea of abandoning open seating. It tested assigned seating on flights out of San Diego and repeated the experiment in San Antonio. The tests proved that assigned seating increased boarding time by one to four minutes.
Although open seating remained, Customer feedback pointed to frustrations that warranted some big changes.
By , Southwest had said goodbye to the first-come, first-served boarding approach and eliminated the need for Customers to camp out at the gate for a shot at a coveted aisle or window seat. Instead, it assigned letter and number combinations that were printed on boarding passes. When an Operations Agent called a boarding group by letter, Customers took their place in line, in numerical order. The Company has also grown to incorporate some add-on services to better meet the needs of business travelers, including Business Select and upgraded boarding options.
These members are automatically assigned boarding positions ahead of general boarding. They even board ahead of EarlyBird flyers. Some travelers will attempt to save seats for people boarding after them. But beware! Some passengers take saving seats to the max. You may need to speak up or ask a crew member for help.
How do I select a seat on Southwest Airlines can be a confusing question to answer. Shelli Stein is a health and fitness entrepreneur who travels the world in search of culture, food, and fun! The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. Shelli Stein is a travel writer, health educator , and story teller. She has come to realize writing as a way of sharing travel experiences brings her a lot of pleasure!
Her areas of expertise are: all things Southwest Airlines , hotel reviews , and what to do, see, and eat in destinations around the world. She sees travel as an adventure, trying to somehow get inside and experience a different way of life, a different cultural heritage.
Inspire you with new ideas for your next vacation. Attempt to put a smile on your face. Help you learn from her mistakes. Or challenge your assumptions about the world. She lives life with humor, gratitude, and humility and always sees the coffee cup as half full! If you check in C group, check your carry on. It saves everyone time! Departure is earlier and the time wasted could be used drinking a beer or walking to baggage claim.
It takes 5 minutes at baggage claim compared to 30 mins waiting for SW to check your Carey on because there was no room in the overhead bins. No worries, William. Glad the math worked out as it should have. Thanks for reading! I have a connecting flight and paid for early check in. Does that roll over to my connecting flight? Did you buy the connecting flight separately or by connecting flight did you mean a stop and then a change of planes?
I think Karen means, I. Does the purchased early bird cover both boardings or need to buy two? Hi Jame, Thanks for reading and for your follow-up question. I still need more information from Karen, though, to properly answer. Here is a post on Early Bird that might help clear up any confusion. I purchased the early bird check in so what do I do once I get to the airport.
Do I still need to get online at 24 hours prior to departure to reserve a boarding pass? And what do I do once I get to the gate? Hi Donna, Thanks for reading. I need to fly to Florida nonstop with my wife who is disabled, how do I board with a wheelchair?
I also need to make sure we make the flight and not be put on standby. Any tips for me? Hi Steve, I suggest you call Southwest Airlines directly and talk with them about your needs. Safe travels and thanks so much for reading and taking the time to ask your questions. Hope my suggestion to reach out to SWA helps! Our trip to Florida went perfect. This is important: Set an alarm to go off one minute ahead of check-in time or ask your mom to call you at that time — whatever it takes.
Even waiting a minute or two after that check-in period could put you significantly down on the boarding list. This means you will generally get a better boarding position than if you checked yourself in 24 hours in advance. Here are thoughts on whether EarlyBird Check-In is worth the investment.
Travelers who pay for pricier Business Select fares pay a premium to get priority boarding spots marked A1—A15, no matter what time they check in.
Getting the ideal seat this year might be more important than ever, so this is a huge benefit of the cards. And best of all, the current sign-up offer on the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card is up to , bonus points.
Earn a Companion Pass with the new sign-up bonus on these Southwest cards. Travelers who are headed for the final destination stay on board while others deplane at the midway point. This becomes more and more common later in the day, as delays and cancellations sometimes happen and travelers end up rerouted onto other flights, which means less available space for passengers boarding the flight later on.
Related: This is the difference between a nonstop and a direct flight. But there are a couple of tricks you can employ if you really, really want to sit together with someone else. As a general rule, Southwest travelers have less carry-on luggage for the overhead bins because of its generous free checked bag policy, and open seating allows people to shuffle themselves into order as they board the plane.
So next time you fly Southwest, pull up this guide so you know what seats to target, and how to get there as efficiently as possible. Terms Apply. Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser.
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Sign-up Successful! Welcome to The Points Guy! Katherine Fan is the Senior Travel Features Reporter at The Points Guy, covering a number of beats from personal finance to travel and aviation since She spent a decade working in the tech industry before joining TPG.
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