Post your Southwest Airline boarding pass results!

[6rugrats]

I think there was a misunderstanding of my post. I didn't mention to SWA that I was going because of a death (Its an hour flight and it isn't worth all the notification to save on that fare) .. I just paid the Business Select like anyone else could do .. and was happy that I did with such short notice to get to Calif.

 

I am sorry for your loss.

 

If you paid for Business Select, why did you have to pay the extra $10? With Business Select you are guaranteed boarding with the beginning of the A group.

[eddiesgal]

My father died last week and I needed a flight NOW to get to my mom. I booked the next SWA flight out of Portland for Sacramento and paid the extra $10 because the flight was in 3 hours from booking. I got boarding pass A4 and was actually the second person on the plane (some no shows I assume) .. and this was a good thing because the flight was very full.

 

I had always heard that if you booked at the last minute, you got the extra screening but this was not the case at PDX this time.

 

Please accept my heartfelt condolences on the loss of your father.

[twoputt.plusone]

Don't get too carried away with SWA's "humanity".

Every major airline out there has special policies for dealing with situations like this. At a minimum it's 50% off fares after confirming with the hospital or Red Cross.

Last year my wife was notified to get to her fathers side ASAP. American gave her 50% off and then when she arrived at the airport, the gate agents put her up front to first class.

 

Kllund, please accept my condolences as well.

 

It doesn't work that way in Canada. My husband had to make a fast trip west when a close family member died. The airline would only offer a discount on a full price fare. Nobody pays full fare these days. :mad:

 

2P.P1

[6rugrats]

Kllund, please accept my condolences as well.

 

It doesn't work that way in Canada. My husband had to make a fast trip west when a close family member died. The airline would only offer a discount on a full price fare. Nobody pays full fare these days. :mad:

 

2P.P1

 

In my limited experience, it doesn't work that way with all American carriers either. It is not a blanket 50% off all fares, and any discount offered is usually off the full price fare. When we investigated this, it was much less expensive to just book a regular fare. Link to an interesting article about this:

 

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/mcgee/2008-09-30-bereavement-fares_N.htm

 

Since this is a Southwest thread, I will note that WN, does not offer bereavement fares at all.

[Beth_55]

Sept 19

IND to LAS

no early bird

checked in 1 hr after the 24 hr mark ..... I forgot : (

seats B 9-10-11

 

Sept 23

LAS to IND

no early bird

checked in 5 min past 24 hr mark

seats A 53-54-55

[recyclelady]

Your hotel will be glad to get your boarding pass at the proper time. You don't even have to quit gambling!:rolleyes:

Which hotel???

 

We were staying at Bally's (Las Vegas) and no one was about to do it for me! They did have the kiosks in the lobby area where you could pay a minimum of $5 to log onto the computer and get your boarding pass.

[recyclelady]

I started this thread and thought I would post my return trip results.

 

We flew in the late afternoon (Tuesday, Sept. 29) from Las Vegas to Chicago. I didn't have Internet access at the 24 hour mark, so I had my adult daughter back in Michigan check in for me. (She is as obsessive about watching the 24 hour mark as I am and is extremely reliable)

 

WITHOUT the early bird checkin, we received B7 and B8. The flight was completely full. In this case, my husband and I prefer aisle seats across from each other.

 

Normally, this would not be difficult with high B numbers. We probably had the last two aisle seats near the very back. I think this was due to some factors:

1. A lot of handicap passengers traveling with groups of family, 3-5 in a group were seated first.

2. Some passengers from a connecting California flight for some reason got bumped to our flight and were given preferential seating

3. A large group of travelers with early A passes who got on and blocked several seats for their C friends. The flight attendents were blind and passive to this.

 

It worked fine for my husband and me. We were lucky not to have tickets any futher down the B list, however.

[6rugrats]

Which hotel???

 

We were staying at Bally's (Las Vegas) and no one was about to do it for me! They did have the kiosks in the lobby area where you could pay a minimum of $5 to log onto the computer and get your boarding pass.

 

What a rip-off. I've never had to pay at any hotel that had the kiosks in the lobby. Maybe you should have rolled them double or nothing for it.

[FlorenceItaly]

OMG.... a new twist to "Chair Hogs" !!! :eek::D .....Couldn't resist !

 

But seriously, I would never even consider saving seats to save that $10.00 fee....Just rude in my eyes.

 

 

I agree. Dh and I will be in Vegas later this month, and I spent $40 total for early check in to and from. I have read where people are seat saving, and I hope SW puts an end to it.

It's just not right, imo.

 

 

 

 

 

Marie

[cherylandtk]

I suggest that anyone who observes seat saving and blase' flight attendants write a quick email to Southwest to ask that they put a stop to the practice. It takes just minutes and given enough complaints you can bet Southwest will instruct the flight attendants to pay attention to that sort of thing.

 

https://www.southwest.com/cgi-bin/feedbackEntry

[recyclelady]

I suggest that anyone who observes seat saving and blase' flight attendants write a quick email to Southwest to ask that they put a stop to the practice. It takes just minutes and given enough complaints you can bet Southwest will instruct the flight attendants to pay attention to that sort of thing.

 

https://www.southwest.com/cgi-bin/feedbackEntry

 

Good suggestion.

 

I just emailed Southwest voicing my displeasure about the seat-saving and flight attendant apathy in the matter.

[FlorenceItaly]

I suggest that anyone who observes seat saving and blase' flight attendants write a quick email to Southwest to ask that they put a stop to the practice. It takes just minutes and given enough complaints you can bet Southwest will instruct the flight attendants to pay attention to that sort of thing.

 

https://www.southwest.com/cgi-bin/feedbackEntry

 

I will definitely do this if I experience the above mentioned. I will be on SW flights in October and November.

 

 

 

 

Marie

[Gsel]

We were very lucky, one lady on our return from PDX was trying to save 9 (!!!) seats and the FAs immediately put a stop to it. The passenger was furious, she shouted she paid her $10 to get on early and should be able to do what she wanted, sure didn't do her any good. What fun to see!

[gumballz]

I hope I'm staying on topic here.......if we pay for the EB check in for a post cruise flight, is there a way we can find out what our boarding group & number are before we get to the airport? Can someone log in at home and check it out for us or can we have it texted to us? Or, do we just need to wait until we check in at the airport to find out?

[FlorenceItaly]

We were very lucky, one lady on our return from PDX was trying to save 9 (!!!) seats and the FAs immediately put a stop to it. The passenger was furious, she shouted she paid her $10 to get on early and should be able to do what she wanted, sure didn't do her any good. What fun to see!

 

 

I wish the crowd would have shouted back "you should have paid $90 more", lol.

 

 

 

 

Marie

[6rugrats]

I hope I'm staying on topic here.......if we pay for the EB check in for a post cruise flight, is there a way we can find out what our boarding group & number are before we get to the airport? Can someone log in at home and check it out for us or can we have it texted to us? Or, do we just need to wait until we check in at the airport to find out?

 

Yes

[gumballz]

Thanks 6rugrats!

[Gsel]

ExaltHim,

Believe me, I was thinking it! Didn't want to cause a riot, just wanted to go home!

[cherylandtk]

Well, I have to say this answer surprised me, but here it is. I asked Southwest to clarify their policy on saving seats, especially in light of the new Early Bird fee, and what should we expect of assistance from the flight attendants if there was an empty seat being saved for a passenger boarding after you. Here is what they said:

 

Thank you for your inquiry regarding our new Customer offering, EarlyBird Check-In. We appreciate the opportunity to respond.

 

As you probably know, all flights on Southwest are "open-seating," and Customers are free to take any available seat onboard the aircraft. In light of this, it is not uncommon for a Customer to want to reserve a seat (or seats) for a friend, family member, or associate who will be boarding behind them.

 

Truthfully, we don’t have a policy either way--for or against--saving seats. In fact, we share our perspective on this issue on southwest.com as follows: "because Southwest Airlines maintains an open-seating policy, general-boarding Customers may sit in any open or unclaimed seat." With this in mind, as long as there is no Safety concern, it would be acceptable for a Customer to "claim" a seat for his/her family member or traveling companion who may be in a later boarding group. We are aware that the saving of seats is a by-product of our policy, and as long as the boarding process is not delayed and other Customers aren't inconvenienced, it usually isn’t a significant issue.

 

Again, we appreciate your contacting us. We look forward to welcoming you onboard a Southwest flight soon

I don't know if they have a limit on the number of seats that can be saved without "inconveniencing other passengers", but I guess I need to start thinking about printing out "CLAIMED SEAT" cards instead of paying for both of us to get Early Bird boarding. :confused:

[ahornb]

If you pay for Early Bird, do you still have to check in at he 24 mark? I thought I read that Southwest assigns your boarding number at the 36 hour mark. Is it that we are allowed to check in earlier than those who did not buy early bird, or are we automatically assigned by Southwest?

 

Thanks! :)

[kelmac]

If you pay for Early Bird, do you still have to check in at he 24 mark? I thought I read that Southwest assigns your boarding number at the 36 hour mark. Is it that we are allowed to check in earlier than those who did not buy early bird, or are we automatically assigned by Southwest?

 

Thanks! :)

 

You can check in any time inside the 24 hour mark, as your seats were assigned before anyone else. You could check in a couple of hours before your flight and still get the lower numbers.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[recyclelady]

During my last Southwest flight I watched as two members of a large group proceeded to block off large numbers of seats for friends boarding in the later C group. So I wrote to Southwest and voiced my displeasure as to how this would totally negate the buying of a Early Bird boarding pass. Here is a portion of the email I received today:

 

 

Thank you for your inquiry regarding our new Customer offering, EarlyBird Check-In. We appreciate the opportunity to respond.

As you probably know, all flights on Southwest are "open-seating," and Customers are free to take any available seat onboard the aircraft. In light of this, it is not uncommon for a Customer to want to reserve a seat (or seats) for a friend, family member, or associate who will be boarding behind them.

 

Truthfully, we don’t have a policy either way--for or against--saving seats. In fact, we share our perspective on this issue on southwest.com as follows: "because Southwest Airlines maintains an open-seating policy, general-boarding Customers may sit in any open or unclaimed seat." With this in mind, as long as there is no Safety concern, it would be acceptable for a Customer to "claim" a seat for his/her family member or traveling companion who may be in a later boarding group. We are aware that the saving of seats is a by-product of our policy, and as long as the boarding process is not delayed and other Customers aren't inconvenienced, it usually isn’t a significant issue.

 

Again, we appreciate your contacting us. We look forward to welcoming you onboard a Southwest flight soon!

So, the chair hogs are OK with Southwest!!

[PhoenixCruiser]

Hmmmm, interesting.

 

###

[rich40245]

... We are aware that the saving of seats is a by-product of our policy, and as long as ... other Customers aren't inconvenienced, it usually isn’t a significant issue.

So, the chair hogs are OK with Southwest!!

I sure would be 'inconvenienced.'

 

Rich

[ahornb]

You can check in any time inside the 24 hour mark, as your seats were assigned before anyone else. You could check in a couple of hours before your flight and still get the lower numbers.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

 

Thanks for the info! :)