What Does 'Position' Mean On A Southwest Airlines Boarding Pass?

If you've ever flown with the underrated Southwest Airlines, you know about their unique boarding process. Unlike other airlines that simply board you by group number (if you don't have elite frequent flier status or a legit reason to board early), on Southwest, you're given your exact boarding position when you check in before the flight. If you're not familiar with their procedure, here's the deal. For most passengers, you get your spot in the boarding order when you check in, beginning 24 hours before your scheduled departure time. The faster you do it — like the second it hits the 24-hour mark  — the better position you get. (If you've ever seen someone's hand hovering over a mouse or a phone with the Southwest website up and shushing you if you try to talk to them, now you know why.) 

You're assigned a group letter, which is either A, B, or C, as well as your position. That's the number within the group, usually from 1-60. That means you can have something like A37, so you're the 37th person in the first group to board, or C20, which is the 20th to board in the C or third group, etc. You're called to line up in order under signs, and get on the plane in that order.

The actual boarding process is much more organized than other airlines, which can be absolute chaos. So much so that American Airlines has introduced penalties if you become "gate lice," which is the term for people who hover by the gate before their group is called. On Southwest, you know the exact order you're boarding in, so there is no need to hover. 

Southwest still has things like pre-boarding for people with disabilities that require specific seat accommodations. (There will be a PRBD code on your boarding pass, and you can speak to a customer service agent if you need that.) In addition, those with disabilities who don't qualify for preboarding can do so between groups A and B with an XT code on their boarding pass. If one or two adults are traveling with kids 6 and under, they can also board between groups A and B, as can active military. (They'll do their best to seat your kid next to one accompanying adult.)

Southwest has open seating, so the first people to board in the A and early B groups are likely to take all the window and aisle seats. You may be stuck in the middle and/or be out of luck with finding space for your carry-on in the overhead bin if you check in late. Of course, there is a sneaky trick to getting priority boarding on Southwest that you can use: You can purchase EarlyBird check-in starting at $15 at the time of this writing. That lets you check in before the 24-hour mark, and you're assigned a position within 36 hours of the flight no matter when you check in. You might not get an A spot, but you'll be higher up. You can also purchase Upgraded Boarding starting at $30 to upgrade your position to A1-A15 24 hours before the flight if those spots are available.