Printing Southwest Airline boarding passes on board the ship?

[TiogaCruiser]

I'm flying SWA for the first time next week for work. My boss told me to be sure to check in 24 hours before.

Probably a dumb question, but why?

And will a home printed boarding pass likely work?

[Kathyfromstl]

How early you check in (24 hours is the earliest) the lower number you will get . You line up to get on the plane by number, not seat assignment. The first people on the plane get first choice of seats. If you don't mind a middle seat in the back of the plane then no big deal. I have had no problem using a boarding pass that I print at home.

 

Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk

[TiogaCruiser]

How early you check in (24 hours is the earliest) the lower number you will get . You line up to get on the plane by number, not seat assignment. The first people on the plane get first choice of seats. If you don't mind a middle seat in the back of the plane then no big deal. I have had no problem using a boarding pass that I print at home.

 

Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk

 

Thanks. I think I will check in at 24 then.

[DaveOKC]

I'm flying SWA for the first time next week for work. My boss told me to be sure to check in 24 hours before.

Probably a dumb question, but why?

And will a home printed boarding pass likely work?

 

Go to page 1 of this topic and read post #20. A must read for first time SW passengers.

Edited June 2, 2016 by DaveOKC

[mrbeaver]

Most cruise lines offer a baggage service that allows you to check your suitcases directly to most airlines. (for a fee of course) We used this service for Southwest on one of our recent cruises. I don't recall whether this included the 24 hour check in. Has anyone used this for SWA recently?:confused:

[RuthC]

Most cruise lines offer a baggage service that allows you to check your suitcases directly to most airlines. (for a fee of course) We used this service for Southwest on one of our recent cruises. I don't recall whether this included the 24 hour check in. Has anyone used this for SWA recently?:confused:

I have used Luggage Direct with Southwest Airlines, and yes, the Front Desk does the check-in for you. The problem is that they do it on their time schedule, which is not necessarily as close to the 24-hour mark as you might like; your boarding number can be much lower.

 

I don't know what would happen if you did your own check-in at the 24-hour mark, and then the Front Desk tried to do it later as part of the Luggage Direct process.

[sammiedawg]

I'm flying SWA for the first time next week for work. My boss told me to be sure to check in 24 hours before.

Probably a dumb question, but why?

And will a home printed boarding pass likely work?

 

All airlines oversell seats. Depending on how many actually show for the flight people may get bumped. Southwest overbooks a little more because of their liberal change policies. Quite a few people double book two flights then decide which one to take. I double booked once while traveling in the dead of winter and iffy weather. Since we got out the first day so I canceled the second day flight.

Business people often book more than one flight, then they cancel the extra flight they don't want. Companies write this off as a business expense.

It is extremely important to check in so you don't get bumped. Checking in serves as a placeholder of sorts. Don't worry about the boarding pass as you can obtain at the airport.

We always travel with readily accessible booking numbers and we've used them to change flights as needed from ship Ethernet. Don't use wifi, TMI. We did this recently in South America. It is good to familiarize yourself with airline web sites and policies.

 

Disney cruise lines will check you in and print boarding passes for Southwest at no charge, just go to the front desk at the 24 hour mark. Southwest does not participate in their luggage direct.

Edited June 2, 2016 by sammiedawg

[USN59-79]

Is it really necessary to print a boarding pass? I have an iPad with a cellular chip so I can go online with either wifi or an AT&T service available. Can't I just download the boarding pass to the iPad and show that when boarding? Or do the same with a cell phone?

[sppunk]

Is it really necessary to print a boarding pass? I have an iPad with a cellular chip so I can go online with either wifi or an AT&T service available. Can't I just download the boarding pass to the iPad and show that when boarding? Or do the same with a cell phone?

It's dependent on the specific airport and/or airline, but in most cases yes.

[Rapunsel]

What I usually do is find a friend that doesn't mind checking me in. Then when I get to the airport I pick up the boarding passes. Just make sure you do it from the right time zone. IE: your friend is in California and they are checking you in for a Florida flight. Take the time difference into consideration! its 24 hrs ahead in the time zone that the flight originates from.

[TiogaCruiser]

SammieDawg and DaveOKC: thank you! I will be up early Sunday for check in!

[BKFlowerMound]

The OP here has the smartphone App, but it really amazes me how many people with smartphones don't get the Apps for the airlines that they are flying. They're free and they take only seconds to download.

 

Even though Southwest's App isn't the best of them, just yesterday it saved me. My Southwest flight was canceled because of weather. I was notified by text and immediately jumped on the app and rescheduled. My two colleagues who were on the same flight who were with me didn't have the app. One called. The other tried to go online. By the time they got through, the flight I was on was booked. They were booked on flights 2 and 3 hours later.

 

You're not locked into all the features of the app. As noted above, you can have someone else check you in and then bring up the boarding pass on the app. Or you can check in on the app and print a boarding pass either at home or at the airport. The pass can be uploaded to the Apple wallet.

 

Bottom line - get the app for ever airline you fly even if it's for just a single flight.

[Paulinda]

Thanks for all the good information!

 

My final question is - If you have the Early Bird Check In does it matter when you check in to get your line assignment? For example, if we use the SW app on our I-phones can we do so on the way to the airport the morning of disembarkment? Will it affect where we are in that line? ie We are assigned in the early A group for travel to the port so we will have choice seating. I am not familiar with how the line assignments are made using Early - Bird Check In.

 

I would call Southwest to ask them direct but there is a long wait for an operator.

 

Thanks again.

[DaveOKC]

Thanks for all the good information!

 

My final question is - If you have the Early Bird Check In does it matter when you check in to get your line assignment? For example, if we use the SW app on our I-phones can we do so on the way to the airport the morning of disembarkment? Will it affect where we are in that line? ie We are assigned in the early A group for travel to the port so we will have choice seating. I am not familiar with how the line assignments are made using Early - Bird Check In.

 

I would call Southwest to ask them direct but there is a long wait for an operator.

 

Thanks again.

 

Using Early Bird gets you a better number than checking in at the 24 hour mark, automatically. How it works is that SW holds A1-15 for full fare and very frequent flyers with them. Then the Early Birds are assign A16-?? depending on how early you paid for the Early Bird (this is done just prior to the 24 hour mark). Then the 24 hour check-in people.

 

Hope this clarifies it for you.

[Paulinda]

Thanks DaveOKC! That answers the question perfectly.

[DaveOKC]

Using Early Bird gets you a better number than checking in at the 24 hour mark, automatically. How it works is that SW holds A1-15 for full fare and very frequent flyers with them. Then the Early Birds are assign A16-?? depending on how early you paid for the Early Bird (this is done just prior to the 24 hour mark). Then the 24 hour check-in people.

 

Hope this clarifies it for you.

 

Just a note - with so many people doing Early Bird now-a-days, it is not unusual to get a B assignment when checking in, even right at the 24 hour mark. I sort of like a low B number (rather than a high A) as that way I can see where the families with small children are seated and chose accordingly!

[Paulinda]

Just an update for future travelers who fly Southwest.

 

We just returned from our Alaskan cruise and yes Holland America did print our boarding passes because we used luggage direct. I don't think they will print them if you are not using luggage direct. We recd the passes after 5PM the night before we were to leave. (Luggage direct is definitely worth the $ as you don't worry about luggage)

 

We do have the SW app on our I-phones and it's a good thing that we did because the printed passes we were given did not work at the TSA check in. Apparently the bar-coding was indistinguishable and didn't recognize the airline. TSA wouldn't let us pass. It took us a few minutes but we pulled up our boarding passes using the app on our I-phones and passed thru.

 

And yes we did have early bird check in and ended up as A18 and 19 in the boarding line. That feature is worth the $ too.

 

Thanks again to all for your information regarding this topic.