Gottem SW! About This Page:

[disneygramma]

Just purchased my flight tix on Southwest Airlines. I will be flying SW for the first time, and I even paid to do the Early Bird check in. I am not sure exactly how this works, and hope that I did not waste my money for this "service".

Any tips/advice? Do you get to choose your seat when you are checking in online, or do they assign your seat to you? I have only flown Delta for over 10 years and am so used to choosing my seats ahead of time. I prefer window or aisle (I am sure everyone does), so I am hoping this EB means I get to look at the available seats and pick mine out.

[CRCrazy]

Getting the early bird check in doesn't allow you to choose your seat on Southwest. There is no assigned seating on Southwest planes. What it does is give you a number in the queue for seating when you board. They divide the plane up into 3 boarding groups - A, B, and C. Each group is given a number starting at 1 (although numbers 1-15 are reserved for people who get a preferred spot - either very frequent travelers or people who pay extra for the privilege of a guaranteed A - full price ticket plus.) At boarding - you line up in the prenumbered queue line, and as you enter the plane - you are allowed to choose any unoccupied seat you wish.

If you get an A boarding pass - you are pretty much guaranteed a decent choice of seats. With a B - you may be able to find the aisle or window seat you want, and probably a full row together if you need it for your family - but chances are that you will have to head further back in the plane to find it. With a C boarding pass - all bets are off - you may find that window or aisle - but chances are good that you'll get stuck in a middle seat. (All Southwest planes are grouped in sets of 3 seats on either side of the aisle)

Good luck with your Southwest experience - they are my favorite airline - and I like to choose my own seat - that way I can avoid the smelly passenger or loud group - I just choose a different spot on the plane.

[home4us123]

Congrats on the tickets!!

[AGentlRose]

I was nervous the first time I flew SW, as I've always flown on an airline with a seat assignment upon ticket purchase. I was pleasantly surprised about how smoothly everything went. We were in the A group and got seats in the third row.

[lazanya]

Congrats!

[WeRDisneyFanatics]

Congrats on the tix. I was a little nervous the first time we flew SWA because their boarding process was so unfamiliar to me. But everything went very smoothly and they are the only airline we've flown in the past year. We've always gotten As when checking in right at the 24-hour mark. I really don't like the idea of paying for the EB check-in (I hate extra fees) but I might just do it for our return home only so I don't have to worry about it when we're out and about in the parks our last day.

[Colexis Mom]

We love Southwest! Great airline!

[carters_mom]

Trying out SW for the first time in February Heard nothing but positive things about them!

Congrats on booking!

[chezp]

Congrats! We'll be trying out the early bird service for ourselves in December as well.