The boarding process for Southwest is one of the main things that travelers disagree about. I do this every time and have always gotten Group A, which gets you in the first 60 passengers and plenty of options on the plane. I mean if your flight leaves at 12:30pm on Tuesday, then at exactly 12:29pm on Monday you should have all of your details in the box and get ready to click “Check-in” for my flight when it turns 12:30pm. This is a well-known technique among Southwest fliers, so I don’t mean you need to check in 2 minutes after your 24 hour window or 10 minutes after. If you don’t want to pay for guaranteed boarding positions, you need to check-in to the flight exactly 24 hours ahead of time. You can also often choose “Early bird check-in,” which doesn’t come with all of the perks of Business Select but just means that you’ll get a guaranteed high boarding number without having to check-in at any particular time. If you want a guaranteed good boarding number, you can choose to fly Business Select which will make sure that you get from A1 to A15 and comes with other perks like priority security and a separate boarding lane. However, you can do a couple of things to ensure that you get as high of a boarding number as possible, which would then ensure that you get the best seat possible (and really what the best seat is is all up to you and where you prefer to sit on a plane, because the seats are identical with just a little bit of legroom more in the exit rows). You cannot prebook your seat on Southwest, no matter how much you pay or how hard you beg. The best is A1, then if you get B1 you’ve got all 60 people in A ahead of you, etc. You’ll learn more about how it’s used in the boarding process below, but you should know that there are 3 categories, A, B, and C, with each one having 60 numbers. Getting the best seat on Southwest all comes down to the boarding number you get on check-in. Carry-on that counts as a personal item like this one: some people use backpacks or duffels like these.Reusable water bottle like this one: did you know you can bring a reusable water bottle through security, then fill it up with water at the gate? Boom, thirst quenched.Compression socks like these ones that don’t look ugly: no one will even know you’re wearing them, and they can go a long ways towards keeping your circulation healthy in the sky.Ear plugs like these silicone ones: if you’re using regular foam ear plugs, you’ve already lost the battle of the crying baby.Sleep mask like this one: you’re not going to sleep, let’s be honest, but shutting out the light on an early morning flight is still a better way to travel. There is so much to love about this airline, but at the end of the day, it’s still a budget airline so you should make sure that you prepare your own entertainment especially if it’s going to be a long flight. Tablet with downloaded movies and TV shows and headphones: I love this tablet for air travel and these noise-cancelling headphones, and this is super important on Southwest because the only in-flight entertainment can be accessed via your phone or tablet, not in the back of your seat.Some of the best things to bring on a Southwest flight are tried and true flight essentials (like the ear plugs in case you get stuck with a crying baby), but make sure to read the first thing on our list because it’s Southwest-specific! You don’t pick your seats on Southwest at the time of booking, so there’s not much else to do in the booking process unless you need more luggage than the allotted 2 checked bags per person! What to Pack for a Flight on Southwest We’ll talk more about each below, but most travelers will simply opt for the Wanna Get Away fare. When it comes to the fare type, you can choose between Business Select, Anytime, and Wanna Get Away. Type in your destination and dates and whether it’s round trip or one way, and you’ll be presented with a range of options to choose from, including prices for each flight.
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