Clarification on Southwest Boarding Procedure
 

I just checked in for my flight tomorrow morning. Got A-50. Does this mean I will be the 50th person in line?

What are the odds of me getting an aisle seat with this high of a number in A?

This means that when the gate agent tells the passengers to line up, you will stand behind the person with A-49 and in front of the person with A-51.

If you're specifically wanting an aisle seat (instead of a window seat), you won't have a problem, since many (maybe most?) of those in front of you will grab the window seats.

Happy travels!

There may not be 49 people in front of you -- they block out several "spots"/numbers for last-minute "business selects." I don't know how many but you might be able to tell by seeing how many people are actually standing under the first couple of signs in the A line.

Cassandra, thats the part that was puzzling. How could 49 people get in front of me when I checked in 24 hrs in advance. Was wondering how many they block out.

tchoiniere,

I've heard they block out 20 for the Business Selects, but maybe the number is more or less depending on the flight.

Your flight is probably a connecting flight for some other passengers. So when they checked in 24 hours in advance of their first flight, they checked in before you did.

Its definitely the original destination for the flight. Hartford to Baltimore to Ft Myers.

Who knows? Not a big deal unless I don't get a window seat.

Oops, meant to say not a big deal unless I don't get an aisle seat

I suspect you also came in behind those who paid the just-plain-business fare who also checked in 24 hrs. ahead. In my experience, you have to check in 23 hrs. 59 1/2 minutes ahead of departure.

We flew SW yesterday .....our first time using the new boarding procedure.

It went just fine....but DH and couldn't help laughing at the thought of a boarding procedure like this being tried in places like Cairo!!! What a hoot that would be!

tchoiniere, presumably other people may connect <i>to</i> your flight. Say your flight departs at 1PM. Their first flight may have departed at 10AM <i>their time</i> so they checked in at 10AM, hours before you did. When you check-in with Southwest, you check in for <i>all</i> your flights, so you may well wind up checking in more than 24 hours any connecting flight you will be on.

I have never had a problem getting an aisle seat being anywhere in the A group. Actually, I've gotten an aisle row exit a few times being way back at A-25. There aren't always people given A1 to A19. As noted, Southwest holds a few back for business travelers who don't always book the flight to use them.

You will not be #50 in line.

You will be behind business class passengers and disabled.

But to make you feel better, you won't be behind families with small children. Those will get on between groups A and B.

I flew Business Select on Wed from PHL to MDW. I was awarded A-1 and I booked and checked in 12 hours before flight. I also got a free drink!

SWA blocks out 15 seats for Business Select pax. You will definitely get an aisle seat.

As was said before, they have the preboarding group, then Business Select A1-15, then the rest of the A's.