Good Morning,
My family and I will be flying with Southwest next month for the first time. I have tried to convince my family to only pack carry-on. My question is this.....if we need to check luggage can I still check-in for the flight on-line? I wanted to check-in on-line so that we would be within the 'A' group for boarding (to ensure we have seats together) rather than arriving at the airport really early.

Also, we have a connection in Chicago and it appears, on recent flights on the same route, that they arrive and depart from the same gate....we have always had to switch gates for a connecting flight...are you permitted to leave the plane to grab something to eat? (we have a long flight once we depart from Chicago)

Thanks for your help

Yes you can check in on-line. You'll still need to stop by the SWA desk but you'll use the self serve kiosks to get tags for your luggage. Or you can check them in with the skycap. You'll have your boarding pass already.
I did this with no problem recently.

Usually the turn around time for SWA is pretty quick. I have boarded planes literally minutes after the departing passengers are off.
On arrival, they want all the connectors to stay on board for a head count while the departing passengers are deplaning. They usually say not to leave the boarding area since boarding for part II will begin soon after the other passengers deplane. It all depends on how much time you have on the gorund.

nibblette,

Thanks for the quick reply. With less than one hour from arrival in Chicago to our departure, I guess we will not have time to grab a quick bite. But at least we (and our luggage) will not miss the connection. Thanks.

I always check my luggage and always print the boarding pass at home.

I don't remember the rules, maybe they have them on the website, something like you can't check your luggage in earlier then 3 hours before the first leg (if you have stopovers) and no later then... 30'? 60'? don't remember.

Thanks FainaAgain for your comments.