The Southwest EarlyBird Check-In program is changing and that could triple the cost of boarding early. This paid upgrade, priced between $15-$25, has allowed us to get on flights early multiple times. It has also been an epic failure on others. See more about that below. Paying more to board early is an “artful” way to get increased revenue without raising ticket prices. It is akin to other airlines charging for seat assignments.
Where you sit on 5+ hour Southwest Hawaii flights is important.
Since Southwest relies on boarding groups and positions within groups to let passengers gain access to their seats of choice, this is of critical importance, especially on 5 to 6 hours flights to Hawaii from their mainland gateways. The EarlyBird option gave travelers the convenience of checking in prior to the 24-hour period and thus have a better boarding position.
Southwest announced that while it hasn’t eliminated EarlyBird entirely at this point, it is “limiting the number of spots available for purchase on certain flights, routes, or days, as we work on product enhancements.” That will result in Hawaii travelers finding EarlyBird “Is unavailable for some customers looking to purchase it.”
New Southwest EarlyBird rules started August 15.
Did you go on a Southwest Hawaii flight in August? If so, you may have noticed EarlyBird being unavailable with the new limitations that started August 15. It isn’t fully clear yet how much of an impact this will have on Southwest Hawaii travelers. And, the airline has chosen not to comment or provide more specifics on how this will work.
What’s the point? Call it a fare increase for many!
EarlyBird was the low-cost option of trying for a better boarding position, to have a better seat selection on Southwest. By limiting the EarlyBird availability on long Southwest Hawaii flights, the hope is that it will help get passengers to choose other higher-priced options. Those include “Upgraded Boarding” all the way up to what Southwest calls “Business Select,” which will offer nothing different in terms of your seat, but does assure you a front-of-the-line boarding position every time.
Jumping the line on Southwest Hawaii flights just got more expensive!
Southwest wouldn’t comment about how extensive this cut will be. But clearly the ability to secure a top notch boarding position has just gotten significantly more expensive. It’s interesting to note that on their earnings call last month, Southwest reported that they had earned $100,000,000 on EarlyBird, in just the second quarter of 2023. But that’s small change to Southwest, inasmuch as that reported a mere 1.4% of Southwest’s revenue during that period.
“EarlyBird had been lagging a little bit through the pandemic recovery, but it performed very well in the second quarter.” He also said that Southwest has been raising prices across its range of upgraded boarding options.
Southwest CCO Ryan Green.
Beat of Hawaii’s experience with EarlyBird on Southwest Hawaii flights.
Traveling this summer on Southwest Hawaii flights to and from the mainland, we encountered a mixed bag already using EarlyBird. When we purchased $25 EarlyBird to Las Vegas recently, it did get us an automatic check-in 36 hours in advance. That was 12 hours earlier than general boarding check-in.
The other option we had when purchasing tickets was to either pay the highest price, Business Select fare, which would have guaranteed A1-15 boarding, or buy Upgraded Boarding to that same A1-15 group, at 24 hours before flight, if available.
In any event, we purchased EarlyBird in hopes of sitting together during the more than 6-hour flight. But that did not happen. Instead, we would have needed to pay an extra $80 (rather than $25) for “Upgraded Boarding,” which would have provided the A1-15 group with its great choice of seats, or opt for the much more costly Business Select.
Remember too that the earlier you buy your tickets the better your chances with EarlyBird.
What happened when EarlyBird failed.
We paid for EarlyBird, but following family boarding and the other pre-boards, it turned out we were among the very last ones to board the flight to Las Vegas. Others who had paid extra for EarlyBird noted the same phenomenon.
Thus, by the time we got on the plane, we could no longer sit together. In addition, we also found that the overhead bins were largely full which resulted in more issues.
As we noted before, however, on a connecting flight from Las Vegas to Nashville, “Early Bird got us a position in A group (near the bottom of that line), but that was good enough for two of us to sit together in an exit row and be able to work. However, that flight was not packed like the Hawaii one was.”
And a final thought on Southwest Hawaii flights and early boarding options.
Without a guaranteed seat assignment (which is not happening at Southwest), editor Jeff reported that on a short interisland flight for a half-hour, early boarding to him is simply not an issue, and he’s happy to fly Southwest. But otherwise, he at least finds everything about their boarding sales and airport process to be stressful.
What’s your take on EarlyBoarding and the direction in which this is headed?
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Bottom line…pitting passengers against each other is another example of the “SWA effect”…flood a market with cheap seats and a cheap product and little regard for the consequences. It has fueled SWA’s massive corporate growth and stimulated some markets on the mainland, however in Hawaii it resulted in a backlash against over tourism. They truly are not a good fit for here.
So what happens to handicap passengers
Aloha Jeff and Rob! Southwest should dump its stressful and resentment-producing Early Bird program and go with assigned seating. Nothing creates animosity between passengers like having to hover in the terminal for the boarding call and then jostle for first place in the boarding line, hoping you will be able to find a place to put your carry-on. Petty stuff in the long haul, but flying is already painful enough without adding competition for a good seat to it.
Quit whining about SW you know what you get when booking with them.
If you bought SW’s cheapest ticket added EarlyBoarding and get C boarding pass then you got what you paid fore.
If you want to chose your seat then step up and fly Hawaiian.
Im a so exhausted from saving for 5 years to visit Maui. the rates are higher now in South Maui since the crowd is rushing there. SO average looking rooms are expensive. Now the airlines is just ridiculous with their greedy seat prices. I wish could just come over after Maui has healed and enjoy a visit with the history of this beautiful land, and its people and not have to pay for the tourism that is destroying all travel including air.!
Personally I think the whole scramble for seat’s pitting passengers against each other is very anti “Aloha”… I know SWA isn’t from here but it’s not a good thing for the Hawaii market. You should be chilling when you come here, not competing with other passengers for a better seat. Seems like a recipe for conflict to me.
I wonder how this will impact handicapped boarding?
While you talk about the early bird failure experiences, you fail to acknowledge that is one of the main reasons for the policy change; to ensure the value of paying for early check-in. Instead you take a more cynical view calling it a revenue booster.
While I am sure the expected increase in sales of other early board options factored into the change, it is wrong not to acknowledge the preservation of the value of early bird check-in.
I see it as an appropriate and reasonable improvement to early bird check-in.
Just paid for the Early Bird Check-in from LAS to HNL through Maui. Complete waste. There were less than 30 people on our flight. I guess I didn’t think this through very well.
That sucks, but honestly, all the early bird check-in actually got me was into the low C’s the last few times, so…not worth the money really. Like someone else said: Flying sucks. Period.
I flew on Southwest in June from Sacramento, CA to Detroit, MI. I paid for Early Bird boarding and checked in as soon as I could-24 hours ahead. I was given a B-58 boarding pass which meant that 117 travelers were ahead of me boarding. I wanted to get the A 1-15 and pay extra, telling the check in person that I had a very painful foot and didn’t want to walk through the aisles. She let me pre board, not paying for the 1-15. But it’s really getting hard with Southwest and I think I’ll be paying a bit more with other airlines to get an assigned seat. I wish Southwest would change to assigned seats.
SWA should bite the bullet and just assign seats. Their convoluted boarding game is getting old as it “evolves”.
If I recall correctly, Aloha moved to assigned seats prior to its untimely demise.
But I should talk….haven’t been to the mainland for 8 or 9 years. No need.
We just flew home from Kona via Maui on Southwest. We realized that when we checked in for our Kona-Maui flight exactly 24 hours in advance, it also checked us in for our Maui-Sacramento flight about 28 hours in advance. So, do people with connecting flights generally get a better boarding number than people with direct flights because essentially they get to check in earlier? We never thought of it before this flight because we try to fly direct when we can.
Connecting flights auto check in at the same amount of time as the first check in. For instance, if your first flight is at 7 am and your connecting flight is at 11 am, and you check in at 7:03, the system will check you in for your connecting flight 3 minutes after as well, at 11:03.
For our family 6 flying from Vegas to HNL or OGG we book under one reservation. Always got A boarding both ways.
There are many passengers, literally scamming the Southwest boarding procedure. I counted 28 passengers on a recent flight that had “special needs”and got to go to the front of the line. None of them were injured, on crutches, or wheelchairs.. when I asked the flight attendant about this, she simply told me that it is a “known problem”…
The same type of people who abuse the system with fake service animals, unneeded handicapped parking placards, permanent disabilitiy benefits, et. al. abuse the boarding process. It has been reported that only about a third or those requesting wheelchairs boarding ask for them upon arrival! (they have to wait for the rest of the plane to deboard with a wheelchair). A sad sign of our times but imagine if Southwest tried to weed out the phonies!
They are not just scamming SWA, they are scamming their fellow passengers….
Southwest boarding is the worst, especially at Reagan National in DC. A short inter island flight isn’t bad, but anything longer than two hours on Southwest is terrible. Paid for Early Bird boarding. My husband was A60 and I was B1. They would not let me board with him. I had to await for all the “families” to board. He said he got nasty looks from people when he was trying to keep the seat next to him for me. If we can avoid Southwest, we do.
Ridiculous raising fees for every aspect of a vacation one plans probably once in a lifetime to see Hawaii, then when things happen like recent Maui disaster they beg for people not to change vacation plans they need the tourist money.
Do you get your money back if get early bird but board in group B or C?
No.
An excellent example of dynamic pricing
I have used Early Bird for years on mainland travel routes and have been (mostly…) happy with the option. However, on occasion, we have been deep in the “B” Boarding group, a handful more of numbers and we would have been in the “C” Group.
I asked an Ops person once if there was any cap on the number of Early Birds available for sale on a given flight and was told not that she was aware of. So, I posited, it would be possible (unlikely, but possible) for 130 passengers on a 175 seat airplane to purchase E/B and maybe some end up in the “C” Group, like it or not? Probably a stretch, she replied, but possible. (she was very nice, it is SWA)
So, purchasing a SWA trip as soon as the schedule opens up for our needs and we’ll see how it goes.
I’m with Jeff, Inter-island not really worth the bucks.
I completely agree with Jeff, Southwest’s seat-auction game playing is very stressful and gives me anxiety. . I will now only be flying Southwest when absolutely necessary as a last choice.
Definitely not ever flying Southwest. It sounds completely confusing and without any guarantees. Just fly another airline. I ❤Hawai’ian.
It was brought up here about helping Hawaii recover from tragedy….
Tickets purchased on Hawaiian do far more to support the local economy and the people that live in Hawaii then on any other airline.
I was surprised at a HAL job interview that the pay was minimum wage. I asked other employees I know about that and everyone fell silent. They agreed that they work for HAL for the benefits. Surprising that the company makes so much money and pays very little to their employees. Many friends and family I know discuss needing to take a trip to keep their benefits status, sometimes stressing over it or taking special trips for it. One person traveled last minute from Honolulu to Boston to keep his “Pualani” elite status. Is this what you mean that Hawaiian Airlines does so much for Hawaii? With everything being so expensive, I need a deal today and with free luggage. Southwest usually has the best rates.
Flying sucks. Period.
I wish there was a way to eliminate some “pre-board” with disabilities people. Many are totally capable of standing in line like everyone else. There are customers that paid for early boarding. I once counted over 40 people.
Yes, there may be some `that can stand in line with you and others. However, many people, my wife included, can stand but cannot tolerate the pushing (accidental or on purpose) of the others around her.
When we board, I make sure to stand behind my wife so that she won’t be pushed from behind.
You must have boarded an aircraft with a special needs group to have seen over 40 preboarders. I have flown Southwest exclusively for the past 4 or 5 years. I have never seen more than 5 or 6 people waiting to preboard my flight or flight at adjacent gate.
Yes, that is a problem that we have in our society these days we don’t want to offend or hurt anyone’s feelings or be called out on things. Some people work the system for their benefit..
I am probably the only person who has never flown SW across the mainland or to Hawai’i where I travel once to twice a year. They never had the offerings coming from DCA or IAD that were beneficial to me. That’s not to say, I am not aware of their travel novelty. It seemed in the past they had quite a unique approach to their business model, but have evolved to more closely reflect the other major airlines. They are in the business to make money as are the others, so unfortunately I can’t get all tied up in a knot over this. These are such first world problems…………..
My employer’s airline of choice for business travel is AA. Southwest has typically been an easy choice when travelling for personal pleasure due to their lower fares, even with Early Boarding. I do pay for early boarding on Southwest and haven’t had anything but A Group, though I do know that it sometimes does stretch into the B Group for people. It might be luck or it might be that I almost always have plenty of advance notice for personal travel.
aloha,
i believe most tourists want to the right thing to help maui residents recover from this devastating tragedy, by doing whatever it takes to help. i also think more tourists would travel to maui to help the island’s economy recover, if the hotels in south maui did not increase their pricing by 50%. its horrendous that these hotels are taking advantage of the tragedy to increase their prices.
your thoughts are welcomed.
thanks
Mark