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Automatically Check In To (get an awesome seat on) Your Next Southwest Flight

checkintomyflight.com

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Re: Automatically Check In To (get an awesome seat on) Your Next Southwest Flight

#21

Post by Osiris »

nikilster wrote: post #18
gregcohn wrote: post #12

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that what this discussion needs is a "Hey - thanks for making this."

Thanks!!! I was feeling pretty bummed after the comments.

I'm on the Southwest A-List right now, but that expires in December so I'm definitely going to be using this next year. I was actually thinking about doing something like this myself but knowing me I never would have actually done it, so THANK YOU.

Just don't mention how you can add the "A-List" tag to your boarding pass to get through the fly-by lane.

Re: Automatically Check In To (get an awesome seat on) Your Next Southwest Flight

#24

Post by caseysoftware »

nikilster wrote: post #18
gregcohn wrote: post #12

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that what this discussion needs is a "Hey - thanks for making this."

Thanks!!! I was feeling pretty bummed after the comments.

Don't feel bummed this is pretty nifty. I've been meaning to do this for a while, but you actually made it happen. :)

The only thing I was going to do different is then text me that the check in occurred and tell me what the boarding number is. It's just an FYI but would make me feel better.

(And since I work for Twilio, obviously I was going to use that. :) )

Re: Automatically Check In To (get an awesome seat on) Your Next Southwest Flight

#25

Post by Osiris »

wangarific wrote: post #17
lazerwalker wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Southwest is one of the few (American) airlines that assigns boarding groups based on checkin time rather than some other factor (usually seat assignment). Also, since Southwest is the only major American airline that doesn't offer pre-assigned seating, it's the only one where getting in an earlier boarding group gets you a tangible advantage beyond having an easier time finding overhead luggage space.

Some other factor is usually $.

Having been a frequent flyer, I have noticed that Southwest's rates are no longer as low and competitive as they were in the past. Frontier Airlines here in Denver usually has lower rates and better amenities, like Direct TV and stretch seating. Too bad I have all my airline points with Southwest.

Re: Automatically Check In To (get an awesome seat on) Your Next Southwest Flight

#26

Post by nikilster »

taurussai wrote: post #19

Very cool! Can you somehow make sure, I don't have to put in all this information? For eg. if I forward the confirmation email to an "automatic checkin email id", can you pick up the relevant information and automatically check me in.

Thanks!! Awesome idea - totally - do you think people would be okay forwarding their itinerary?

Re: Automatically Check In To (get an awesome seat on) Your Next Southwest Flight

#27

Post by tterrace »

Very nice! I wrote a simple python script with urllib2 and beautifulsoup to do the same thing a while back. When I was making it I noticed that the southwest servers would sometimes report slightly different times in the response headers (I'm assuming because of load balancing or something). To deal with this, I had the script start polling the check in page 5 minutes before and steadily increase the rate as time went on. I doubt it actually made much of a difference but it was pretty fun to make.

Re: Automatically Check In To (get an awesome seat on) Your Next Southwest Flight

#28

Post by jetcom »

gregcohn wrote: post #12

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that what this discussion needs is a "Hey - thanks for making this."

Yeah, nice job on this Nikil- very cool implementation. HN has been becoming increasingly cynical as of late- don't let it get to you.

Re: Automatically Check In To (get an awesome seat on) Your Next Southwest Flight

#29

Post by MartinCron »

nikilster wrote: post #18
gregcohn wrote: post #12

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that what this discussion needs is a "Hey - thanks for making this."

Thanks!!! I was feeling pretty bummed after the comments.

Don't be bummed. Even though I personally wouldn't use this (my life is too short to fly Southwest if I don't have to) I think it's great that you made something and are sharing with a community of people who are making things.

Re: Automatically Check In To (get an awesome seat on) Your Next Southwest Flight

#30

Post by nikilster »

Osiris wrote: post #20
nikilster wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that those are taken out even before they release the check ins to the public.

Correct. Early bird and A-List automatic checkins occur 36 hours prior to the departure of the flight. The general boarding checkin starts 24 hours prior.

Awesome, thanks for the info - just curious how did you find this out?
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