I do generally fly early in the day. meant though that I have not seen half full planes before any boarding. They would of course be half full by mid B boarding as almost every flight we take is fully sold.

Southwest reminds me of bus or train travel, where some passengers get off and others stay on. You see this frequently flying from smaller cities where there are already passengers on board from a previous city "A" who are continuing on to another one "C" and don't get off in "B."
Flying first thing in the morning where the plane has been parked at your departure airport overnight helps to eliminate this situation.

>have never encountered a plane half full on boarding.<

I haven't, either; several times, I've been one of those "through passengers," and it doesn't seem like there are ever more than 15.

Sorry for the hijack, Dukey~I hope your original question got answered!

When I flew last SW (in June), the flight I was on must have had one or two stops before it reached my departing airport. I checked in for the flight EXACTLY 24 hour before it departed, and my number was C30! It was clear that a lot of through passengers were on that plane--at least half or more of the plane. I've never seen it before, but it clearly happens. (And, yes, I ended up in a middle seat, but it was only a 3 hour flight.)

As was already answered, it does carry over to your next flight and I like the early boarding a lot! It is so nice to be able to find an overhead bin close to where you choose to sit! DH and I both like isle seats so with early boarding we are always able to find isle seats across from one another with bins overhead! I find it's worth the 12.00pp charge.

I had an early bird boarding pass that I paid for. I was bumped from my flight and was told that my early bird pass would not be good for any of the other flights I was moved to. They told me when I complained that an early bird pass is not good for any connecting flights anyway. This was in April 2012.

Last time I used early bird, Dukey, I chatted with a lady who merely checked in at the 24-hour point, & was a couple of spots ahead of me in line. Might have been a fluke, but I haven't bothered with the early bird since. The cost is so low, though, you can hardly go wrong.

First they board the A passengers (60 of them), then they board people with special needs or small kids (some of whom seem pretty big), then come the B's. That's where I usually am, and if you're traveling alone there are individual seats available up front, or if you are with someone there are usually quite a few seats available together in the back. I pity anyone ending up as a C.

I never pay for early bird and check in 24 hours ahead of time. I almost always get a high A number.

I almost always get a high A number.

Either you haven't done it in a long time, or you're not flying on a popular route.

I usually get low A, high to middle B. Only twice have I gotten C boarding; once, I still got a decent seat, the other I was in a middle seat in the back of the bus. I survived.

I flew to Boston in May. I do have the SW app on my phone.

First they board the A passengers (60 of them), then they board people with special needs or small kids

"Secial needs" [formerly blue sleeve/card holders] go on first.

And can bring a companion.

Because my dad walks with a cane, he gets the "blue card" boarding, and they allow my mom to board with him.

I always pay for Early Bird if the 24 hr mark is some very inconvenient time for me to be on the computer, or if I'm on vacation on that date (ie returns) and won't have easy access to one. I don't travel with a computer and the 24 hr mark is sometimes not a time I can get online. Even if you get on exactly at 24 hrs, you often don't get the A group due to some people with perks, I guess. But you would get at the top of the B group. If I can check on 24 hrs in advance, you usually get in the B group. Either is fine, I think if you are in B you can always get an aisle or window, at least I have. The fee is minimal to me for the convenience. I'm always surprised at the people who are too cheap to pay for it only very long flights (short ones, I can see) of 5 hrs or so and then complain about being in a middle seat -- I've been next to such people. Or some moronic couple who complained because they couldn't sit together due to that (boo hoo) and it was a 4-5 hr flight. That was when it only got $10, also.

I'm surprised at someone who says they only checkin 24 hrs online and always get a "high" A number, which I presume doesn't mean 60 but 1-15. This has never happened to me, maybe it's the routes I fly. IN fact, numbers 1-15 or so are often empty, so doesn't matter. But I usually get at least 30 or more, even if I checkin exactly at 24 hrs. Which works for me, I get the seat I want with any A or low (not high) B number.

The Early Bird certainly does carry over to all your boarding passes for your flight, you get them all at the same time, after all (either print yourself or get them at the airport for your first flight).

When I said I get a high A number I do mean 54-59(that is a high number) 1-15 is a low number.

Has anyone flown SW to San Jose, Costa Rica from BWI since they started this non-stop service?

Don't count on too many people scrolling through 35 entries to answer your question as it has nothing to do with the topic--Early Bird program on Southwest Airlines.

If you really want to know about this new service to Costa Rica, you should start your own thread.

I am debating whether to purchase for flight from Michigan to Chicago and then onto to LA. My husband and I want to sit by each other and he wants a window seat. Given these two things are important to us, it is worth the extra $30 each way?

Even with Early Bird being paid, there is no guarantee as to where you end up in board line. IF you are on the same reservation, it is likely that your numbers will be sequential but no guarantee. IF you have separate reservations; you can end up several #s apart which means you board differently.

The easiest thing to do is for whomever has the earlier boarding # goes to the BACK of the plane and gets the window seat. Then the second person goes back there and sits in middle seat [which most likely not get filled until very end of boarding]. IF someone wants that middle seat before the second person gets to it, the first person can say - " My wife/husband is sitting there."