Have you ever ended up in the back of the B boarding zone, or God forbid, the C boarding zone on Southwest Airlines?

I have quite a few times, some because we messed up times zones and did our Southwest check-in too late. While other times, we checked in right at the 24-hour mark only to still end up in the back of B. In this post, I’m going to share my best tips about when and how to upgrade your Southwest boarding order after flying Southwest multiple times a year with my family since 2015.

How to Upgrade Online

An airport sign encouraging Southwest passengers to upgrade their boarding order at the gate.

The good news is that many times you can upgrade your Southwest boarding zone to A1-15 online within 24 hours of your flight’s scheduled departure time.

That’s because you can purchase upgraded boarding, if available, when checking in online. After you check in, you’ll see an option to purchase upgraded boarding if it is available.

If you hold Early Bird Check-in, which costs $15 per direction per person, you are checked in after Southwest Business Select fare holders and after Southwest A-List and A-List Preferred elite loyalty members.

While that does NOT guarantee you A1-15, it does mean you’ll be ahead of everyone else checking in on Southwest’s cheapest Wanna Get Away fares.

However, you can only purchase Early Bird Check-in up until 36 hours ahead of your departure time and not after.

SO… if you hold a bad boarding position and it’s too late to purchase Early Bird, what to do?

Purchase upgraded boarding on Southwest’s website 24 hours before your flight departs or, better yet, purchase upgraded boarding right after you check in.

They will sell upgrades for any unsold Business Select seats for a fee of $30-$199.

Business Select passengers get A1-15 boarding positions, so if all 15 are not sold, you can purchase one! If they are sold out, you are out of luck, but most of the time, we find that it is an option.

If you’re unable to purchase upgraded boarding online, you can try to ask the ticket agent at the gate if you can upgrade once you’re at the airport.

With upgraded boarding, you’ll be able to rest easy, knowing that your boarding position is secure!

Have you ever upgraded your boarding position? Was it worth it?

See More Southwest Tips…

Author

  • Lyn Mettler is a longtime travel writer for US News & World Report, USA Today 10Best and The TODAY Show who created Families Fly Free, a program that teaches families her simple system to use travel rewards to fly for free. She is one of the industry's foremost experts on collecting and using travel rewards with her expertise featured in major media outlets and on podcasts, television and radio.

    View all posts