Every airline has its in's and out's. Would love to know what they are for Southwest ... especially the Baltimore-Austin route.

Can you be a bit more specific as to what you want to know??

The biggest difference between SW and other airlines is their seating policy.

I'm not up on the current procedures, so others will have to chime in.

Just know to check in EXACTLY 24 hours before your flight so you get in the "A" group. YOu will get either an A, B, or C and then a number with it. That is the order in which the board the planes. Go to their website.....they have an entertaining tutorial.

or pay the extra ten bucks to have them check you in if you don't want to worry about it.

Well, they are less expensive, better, and give free peanuts and pretzels still. Plus they screw up less. All of this is my opinion of course.

The only drawback is that occasionally if you are in the C group you might not be able to sit together. But that can be avoided by simply not being lazy and check in 24 hours in advance. Then you will most likely be sitting close to the front in whichever seat you prefer. Even B group usually works out just fine. You can pay $10pp and do this before the 24 hours as jubilda suggests.

You will line up in numerical order 1-60 in groups of A, B, and C. That is the order that determines which seats you can choose from.

I checked in exactly 23:59 before today's flight and STILL was almost in the B group (A57 to be exact)!

With a son at UT and family in Austin, I've done that BWI-Austin flight more times than I care to remember! It's actually an excellent flight because they offer several nonstop flights; it generally leaves on-time and because it only lasts just over 3 hours, it doesn't really matter if you don't get in the "A" group. I've been in the "C" group for that flight sometimes and was in a middle seat, but I can manage that for 3 hours.

If you really must have an "A" group, you are probably going to have to pay the $10 extra for priority check-in. Since they started offering the $10 priority fee, I have checked myself in exactly 24 hours in advance and only gotten a very high "A" number or a "B" number.

Have you ever been in the Austin airport? If not, be sure to allow yourself some time there before your return flight to BWI to eat a meal or buy a meal for the flight. The hard part is deciding what to eat--Schlotsky's sandwiches, Salt Lick BBQ or Maudie's Tex-Mex.

We just took a flight RT on Southwest and we took advantage of the $10 early check-in. Now let me tell you - I hate paying extra for anything - but this worth it. Not having to worry about getting an "A" seating assignment was well worth it. This was especially important on our return flight when I knew we may not be able to get checked in early enough for an "A".

I have also checked in exactly 24 hours ahead and like Longhorn55 have gotten the high "A".

Other than that, I like Southwest because of the no charge for first two bags, no $$ for change fee, except fare difference. They get you there and I fly them when i can.

When in Texas - go for the BBQ or Tex-Mex.

This is quite interesting. Thank you. We will be somewhat regular on the BWI-Austin-BWI route and so appreciate the insight to those flights. I noticed one can book "business" and get some kind of priority treatment. I gather that is the same as "A" or "B." All I care about is getting an aisle seat not too far back. Happy to arrive whenever to make that happen.

My favorite thing about Southwest is that if I have to change my flight, I can do so without a massive charge. I can log in, find my flight and change the flight myself no trouble. If there is a difference in the far I have to pay that, but there is no penalty. If I have to cancel the flight, I get credit for the canceled flight and can use the money for a future flight (within a year). This is great when I am trying to schedule flights for a kid off in college.

You last comment makes me wonder if you understand that it doesn't matter when you ARRIVE, it matters when you CHECK IN. If you want "an aisle seat not too far back" you might have to pay the extra $10 to get an "A". I've gotten an aisle seat with a low "B", but it's generally in the back.
Also, I don't think any of us have mentioned how many numbers are in each group and how you board. There are 60 "A"s, 60 "B"s and the rest are "C"s. They board all the "A"s first. Then they board the families with young children (under 5 y.o., I believe) and those needing extra assistance. Then they board the "B"s and finally the "C"s.
Hope that makes some sense.

If you are going to fly Southwest often, get a Chase Visa Southwest card to earn points for free tickets.

Ditto what Deb said. My Chase Visa has earned us MANY free flights.

I've flown free more than I've flown for a fee.

Remember - there are no preassigned seats. Whether you get a boarding pass in the "A," "B," or "C" groups, you still pick your seat from whatever is unoccupied when you board. The earlier you board, the more you have to choose from. Oftentimes there are passengers who boarded earlier at another location, and they will be occupying seats already when you get on.

Also, you mentioned " business" fares - understand that those are the most expensive, fully refundable ( not just changeable) fares. A cheap non-refundable web fare to Chicago was around $139 last time I went, and the fully refundable business class fare was around $400. For that you get a fully refundable fare and priority boarding.

I've had pretty good experiences flying with Southwest.

My SIL should be a spokesperson for SW. She is a faithful SW traveller and has the credit card. For the last 3 years she has also been able to choose one person to fly free with her when she travels--how great is that.

We have never had a problem flying SW--love that they don't charge for bags. (We also get one free bag each on Continental with our credit card.) I don't pay the $10 check in fee on SW and I have never had to sit in the middle seat.

The best perk is the ability to change your flight with no charge. That is my pet peeve with the other airlines.

When you check in 24 hours ahead, you print your boarding pass - correct? Is there an option to check in 24 hours ahead (and thus get in group A, hopefully) but print your boarding pass at the airport? For the return trip I won't have access to a printer, but probably will have access to the internet so I could check in but not print the pass.