Why I Regret Buying Southwest’s EarlyBird Check-In

The idea sounds simple and great. Pay a small fee to automatically check in for your Southwest flight in advance, avoid the 24-hour rush, and (probably) get a better boarding number.

Plus, if your flight is early in the morning, you won’t have to wake up early the day before to check in for your flight. It sounds great, right?

Not necessarily.

After buying EarlyBird Check-In for the first time, I am shocked by what seems like false advertising, and I don’t think the airline is transparent about how the benefit works. Here’s why I’ll never buy Southwest EarlyBird Check-In again.

What Is Southwest EarlyBird Check-In?

Southwest Airlines advertises its EarlyBird Check-In as an automatic check-in with a better boarding position and earlier access to overhead bins. EarlyBird Check-In starts at $15 each way per passenger and can vary from flight to flight, though it can cost more on longer flights.

For a 3-hour flight from John Wayne Airport (SNA) in Southern California to Dallas Love Field (DAL), I paid $30.30 to add EarlyBird Check-in.

I figured it was worth the cost for a 6:45 a.m. departure so I wouldn’t need to wake up at 6:45 a.m. the day before to check in and get a decent boarding position. Put another way: I paid $30.30 to sleep in for an hour.

How Does EarlyBird Check-In Work?

In my experience, the marketing materials and how the EarlyBird Check-In feature actually works aren’t the same. There are 3 main benefits advertised with this feature:

• Earlier access to overhead bins: This was great, but I could’ve checked my suitcase for free on this flight if needed, so this benefit didn’t mean much to me.
• Better boarding position: Without EarlyBird Check-In, my options were waking up early (I’m not a morning person, mind you) or getting a poor boarding position in Southwest’s first-come, first-served boarding process. Thus, I paid to get a better boarding position while sleeping in.
• Automatic check-in: To me, “check-in” means you’re checked in. It turns out that’s not the case.

The day before my flight, I woke up as normal, made coffee, and started working. A few hours later, I realized that I hadn’t received any notifications on my phone about a boarding pass and checked the Southwest Airlines app. I was extremely confused when I saw a button prompting me to check in for my flight.

“If I get automatic check-in, shouldn’t I already be … you know, checked in?” I thought.

After checking in, I noticed a B10 boarding position. Given Southwest’s current boarding process, I would board after the 60 people in A group, people who pre-board before A group, military members, and families with small children who board after the A group — roughly 85 people in front of me, depending on pre-boarding and families. A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 (which I flew on) only has 143 seats. The plane would be 50% full by the time I got on, and I wasn’t sure how many non-middle seats would be available.

I was confused that I wasn’t actually checked in automatically, so I contacted Southwest on X (formerly Twitter).

Why I’ll Never Buy EarlyBird Check-In Again

I messaged Southwest to ask why I wasn’t automatically checked in. Being checked in seems like I would have a boarding pass and not need to check myself in — the “automatic” in “automatic check-in.”

Southwest replied without much explanation, saying I still needed to check myself in. We went through a few rounds of messages with me asking them to clarify what was “automatic” about this process.

Eventually, the representative explained 2 facts that make me think the marketing of EarlyBird Check-In is misleading:

• You aren’t automatically checked in. Your place in line is saved, and you can check in at your leisure, but you still have to check yourself in. Otherwise, you won’t get a boarding pass for the flight.
• Your position in line depends on a lot of factors. Those who buy Business Select tickets get guaranteed A1 to A15 boarding. Then, passengers with A-List Preferred and A-List status are put in line, as they get complimentary EarlyBird Check-In. Next, travelers with Anytime fares have EarlyBird Check-In included in their tickets, and they get a place in line next, starting at 36 hours before the flight. After that, guests with EarlyBird Check-In on Wanna Get Away Plus fares are placed in line, and the end of the line has customers with EarlyBird Check-In on Wanna Get Away tickets. These are the cheapest tickets, which is what I had.

Additionally, the time you purchased the early check-in feature matters within your fare group. That means those with the cheapest Wanna Get Away tickets who add EarlyBird Check-In closer to the flight date will be last in line when boarding numbers are assigned 36 hours before the flight.

None of this information was communicated on Southwest’s landing page for EarlyBird Check-In or the page where I paid for the feature. I only found an explanation after searching for it, which is the third or fourth result on Google, depending on the search terms.

To its credit, Southwest refunded my money after saying I felt the explanation of this perk was intentionally unclear.

To be more transparent for customers, Southwest could change the name of this feature to “Save Your Place in Line” or something similar — and stop saying you’re automatically checked in when you aren’t actually checked in.

What’s Happening With EarlyBird Check-In Going Forward?

Southwest will make major changes to its seating policy in 2026, moving to assigned seats and even offering seats with extra legroom for the first time. These seats will go on sale in late 2025.

With this change, travelers will still use boarding numbers, but passengers with elite status and those who buy premium seats will get to board earlier. Southwest hasn’t clearly stated what will happen to EarlyBird Check-In under the new pricing model.

Given that passengers will have assigned seats, it might go away. However, it’s also possible that EarlyBird Check-In will stick around to get a better assigned seat.

Final Thoughts

I bought Southwest’s EarlyBird Check-In for the first time, based on the promise of automatic check-in and a better boarding position. What I got was confusion, as I wasn’t automatically checked in.

If I’m honest, the feature is more like “save your place in line.” Unfortunately, the marketing materials and the way EarlyBird Check-In works feel misleading.