Southwest Early Bird Check-In

Chicago Midway to LAS flights on Southwest don't seem to ever have any thru passengers or maybe I am just not paying attention when coming on. I assume the people on the plane already are the ones who cannot walk onto the plane yet walk fine off of the plane

 

what are these #s you guys mention. a6 b30 etc??? In canada we have assigned seats and while you can pay in advance and get premium seats i usually pick them when i check in and have never been stuck in a middle seat. I have never been on a plane without assigned seats, we also flew delta once.

 

Southwest does not have assigned seating. You board in 3 different groups, A, B & C. Each group has 60 passengers and you are assigned a boarding number 1-60 in each group. The As board first and can take any open seat. Then Bs, then Cs.

For $12.50 each way, you can purchase Early Boarding which will usually get you into the A boarding area. You can also go on-line anytime after 24 hrs prior to your flight and book your boarding position w/o paying the $12.50.

I know it sounds confusing, but imo, it works.

The last option is to purchase premium boarding position for a fee. i've never done it, so don't know the cost. It still doesn't give you a seat assignment, just early boarding

 

For my flight in October, the premium boarding was announced at $30. Don't know if this $$ varies or not. I never paid for it.