Post all SW questions concerns, etc. here...

I feel like that is completely dependent on each flight. Maybe more often than not you get a better position but it's always a toss up.

For example that same flight I spoke about in my comment just above yours for that December flight on the way from Newark to St. Louis (as we flew through STL on the way home instead of through MDW) my Boarding position was A44 but from STL to my home airport it was B2.

The composition of each flight becomes different (number of A-listers, number of EBCI purchased, number of Anytime fares purchased, etc).
And that's the reason why the very first word in my response was 'normally'. Every situation is different but she will still be assigned a boarding number before all the guests that need to wait to check in at the 24 hour mark. What will make the difference is how many people purchased EBCI for her second flight.
 
And that's the reason why the very first word in my response was 'normally'. Every situation is different but she will still be assigned a boarding number before all the guests that need to wait to check in at the 24 hour mark. What will make the difference is how many people purchased EBCI for her second flight.
Yup just sharing my experience for informational purposes :)
 


How long do you have to do this?
Not sure if there's a deadline. But flights tend to have lower prices further out, so much harder to find a better deal closer to your day of travel.

The credit must be used for travel within a year of the original date of purchase.
 


I am still on the fence about purchasing EBCI. I don't want to spend the extra $120 and I really don't care where we sit but I don't want to be seperated from the kids.
 
I am still on the fence about purchasing EBCI. I don't want to spend the extra $120 and I really don't care where we sit but I don't want to be seperated from the kids.
Same with me.

The longer you wait, the less value you get for your money since I believe numbers are assigned in the order purchased. So either jump in with both feet or try it without.
 
I am still on the fence about purchasing EBCI. I don't want to spend the extra $120 and I really don't care where we sit but I don't want to be seperated from the kids.

Same with me.

I used to be the same but after my experience in January I've changed my tune, at least for the return flight home from Disney.

At the exact 24 hour mark we were tied up at Disney so I was delayed in getting our check-ins done. When I did so I was quite comfortable as we were in the B50's. Not ideal but I wasn't concerned.

All that changed when my 8yo DD and I boarded the plane only to find out that there were no 2 seats together ANYWHERE in the entire plane!! We stood at the back with her gently crying into my chest as the flight attendants requested (a few times) if anyone was willing to move seats. I was fully prepared (and already asking the flight attendant) if we could get off and take a later flight if they couldn't find us seats together.

Thankfully after a few calls on the PA system (and what felt like an eternity to my DD and I) someone offered to move seats so that we could sit together.

I NEVER want to experience that again so for myself, buying the EBCI for the return flight is an easy decision. On the way down I'm not as distracted and busy so can arrange to be online exactly at the 24 hour mark to check us in. I just won't risk it on the way home again though. For us, lesson learned the hard way!
 
The answer is probably no - I made a reservation for myself, DH and DD. Two months later we decided to take a friend of DD and I made a reservation for her on the same flight. Is there any way to combine the single confirmation into mine? We have TSA Pre and want her to have it too. I was hoping someone would have experience with this before I call. TIA:sunny:
 
we've always purchased EBCI for all our return flights. I can't be bothered interrupting the last day of our vacation to make sure i'm online checking in. for the flights down, it depends on the date and time of the flight, and whether or not i think it will be an issue checking in at the 24-hour mark.
 
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New to flying with SW and I want to make sure I understand the policy if you cancel a Wanna Get Away ticket. If you paid with cash, you can cancel and receive a voucher good for 1 year from the date you originally booked the flight, correct?


If you paid with points, the points go back to your SW account, correct? Do you have to then use the points within 1 year of when you originally booked the date, or will they remain indefinitely (provided the account is kept active?)
 
New to flying with SW and I want to make sure I understand the policy if you cancel a Wanna Get Away ticket. If you paid with cash, you can cancel and receive a voucher good for 1 year from the date you originally booked the flight, correct?


If you paid with points, the points go back to your SW account, correct? Do you have to then use the points within 1 year of when you originally booked the date, or will they remain indefinitely (provided the account is kept active?)
If you paid with a credit card (or gift card, etc.) for the flight and cancel, you need to retain that confirmation number to apply the travel funds to future travel; the new travel must be completed within one year from date of original booking. If you had EBCI, that value will be lost. There is no voucher involved, so keep that conf. number in a safe place.

Flights that are booked with RR points and cancelled are much simpler. The points will be returned to the original account, and the taxes and fees will be credited back to your credit card. There is no time frame, whatsoever, involved with a points booking. Just be sure to cancel the flight before departure.
 
If you paid with a credit card (or gift card, etc.) for the flight and cancel, you need to retain that confirmation number to apply the travel funds to future travel; the new travel must be completed within one year from date of original booking. If you had EBCI, that value will be lost. There is no voucher involved, so keep that conf. number in a safe place.

Does SW ever bend on this rule?
I have travel funds and would like to use them towards an upcoming trip, but the travel funds expire in Feb and the trip is later than that. Can I book a flight now for February and then cancel and rebook again?

Seems a bit unfair. IF you find a lower fare two days before your flight, but you booked 9-10months out, your travel funds would expire within days.:badpc:
 
Seems a bit unfair. IF you find a lower fare two days before your flight, but you booked 9-10months out, your travel funds would expire within days.:badpc:
Obviously you're just venting and I can understand the frustration. It's worth noting that Southwest already has the best policy in non-refundable fares that they give the credit in the first place. With other major carriers...non-refundable = NON-refundable. SW does clearly state the limitations of using their credit.

Also it's not possible that someone booked 10 months out (at least based on recent history). Historically speaking (over the past 470 days) Southwest has on average 223 days of schedule released which is 7.3 months at any given time. On two occasions, their releases included a full 9 months of dates meaning that they only had 9 months of schedule available on 10 out of the previous 470 days and the other 460 days were < 9 months. (For those interested, their lowest point was 5.2 months of schedule available which occurred this year prior to their holiday release). Typically their releases go 7.5 - 8.5 months out.

I'm somewhat of a SW release date historian, so just figured I'd share this info for those interested :)
 
For those wondering where that analysis and info comes from...Here are the historical release dates in recent history:
  • 5/18/17 - travel through January 7th, 2018
  • 6/22/17 - travel through March 7th, 2018
  • 7/27/17 - travel through April 6th, 2018
  • 8/28/17 - travel through June 1st, 2018
  • 11/2/17 - travel through August 6th, 2018
  • 2/15/18 - travel through October 1st, 2018
  • 3/8/18 - travel through November 3rd, 2018
  • 5/31/18 - travel through January 6th, 2019
  • 6/28/18 - travel through March 6th, 2019
  • NEXT RELEASE: 8/16/18 - travel through April 5th, 2019
This could also be useful to approximate when your travel time may become available for upcoming releases as they seem to follow a fairly steady pattern from year to year.
 
Does SW ever bend on this rule?
I have travel funds and would like to use them towards an upcoming trip, but the travel funds expire in Feb and the trip is later than that. Can I book a flight now for February and then cancel and rebook again?

Southwest won't extend the expiration date of travel funds. You can wait until they expire and then call Customer Relations and ask for them to be reissued as a LUV Voucher. The fee for this is $100, which will be deducted from the funds balance.
 
For those wondering where that analysis and info comes from...Here are the historical release dates in recent history:
  • 5/18/17 - travel through January 7th, 2018
  • 6/22/17 - travel through March 7th, 2018
  • 7/27/17 - travel through April 6th, 2018
  • 8/28/17 - travel through June 1st, 2018
  • 11/2/17 - travel through August 6th, 2018
  • 2/15/18 - travel through October 1st, 2018
  • 3/8/18 - travel through November 3rd, 2018
  • 5/31/18 - travel through January 6th, 2019
  • 6/28/18 - travel through March 6th, 2019
  • NEXT RELEASE: 8/16/18 - travel through April 5th, 2019
This could also be useful to approximate when your travel time may become available for upcoming releases as they seem to follow a fairly steady pattern from year to year.

Yikes! Our next trip (if we can make it happen) would be from about August 5-August 15, 2019. Based on your chart, we might be able to book our outgoing flight in early November, but would then have to wait 3 months (!!!) to book our return flight?! Ouch.
 

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