However, if you end up boarding group C and position 60, you might have to settle for a middle seat in the back next to the toilet. Of course, if your goal is to board the plane first, it’s smart to aim for boarding group A. Once you’re on the plane, you can choose any available seat and store your belongings in the overhead bin or under the seat in front of you. Then, you board with your group when you’re called. You should head to the gate area and stand between the numbered posts, or “boarding columns” as Southwest terms them, that correspond to your assigned boarding position. This boarding position determines the order in which passengers board the aircraft and select their seats.ĭuring the boarding process, the gate agent will announce the boarding groups and their corresponding positions (e.g., Group A, positions 1-30). Each category has a range of numbers, and passengers are assigned a specific number within their category. The boarding process will start with Group A, followed by Group B, and then Group C. This information will be printed on your boarding pass. During check-in for Southwest Airlines, you will receive a designated boarding group and position, ranging from A to C and 1 to 60 respectively. Instead, passengers are assigned a boarding position when they check-in for their flight. Unlike other airlines, Southwest does not assign seats to passengers at the time of booking. How Does Boarding on Southwest Airlines Work? The Logistics of Boarding Southwest Flights.Other Ways To Secure Better Seats On Southwest.How to Get the Best Seat on Southwest Airlines.How to Get Your Southwest Boarding Position.How Does Boarding on Southwest Airlines Work?.However, Early Bird Check-In doesn’t jump ahead of the 15 priority boarding spots reserved people who buy Business Select tickets (meaning the A 1-15 spots). It’ll guarantee that you’re among the first to board if you pay between $15 and $25 per flight (meaning you pay twice for a round-trip booking). Southwest does have a program called Early Bird Check-in that gets around the whole issue of setting an alarm to check into your flight the second opens - to a point. There are also Southwest A-List and A-List Preferred flyers who get their boarding number before the rest of the passengers can check in. If there are any passengers on flights that don’t require a plane change, they will already have their seat as well (Southwest doesn’t kick them out after they spend the first leg of a trip in a certain spot, after all). Southwest credit cards come with four upgraded boardings per year, so your position may depend on who is using their perks on your flight regardless of how early you check in. Keyes notes that even waiting five to 10 minutes after check-in opens could mean getting bumped to the B or C seating groups (which means a lower likelihood of sitting with your group or getting an aisle or window seat). Like other airlines, check-in starts 24 hours before the flight for Southwest. Scott Keyes, founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights, told Travel + Leisure that Southwest is one of the few airlines where it actually matters how early you check in because seats are first-come, first-serve based on check-in time. The better your boarding group, the better chance a passenger has of finding overhead bin space and snagging an aisle or window seat. Those boarding groups are, for the most part, assigned based on when passengers check in. Passengers get boarding groups (either A, B, or C with a subsequent number from 1-60 of where in that boarding group they stand) instead of assigned seats. There is one simple reason: Checking in as early as possible leads to a better boarding group.įor the unfamiliar, Southwest uses a different boarding process than other major airlines.
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