Has anyone used Southwest's Espress Bag Drop?

[laprana]

I was on Southwest's website this afternoon and happened to see a small news item about their Express Bag Drop service. Apparently, they have this in select airports, MCO being one of them and St. Louis another, which is where we are flying out of in May for our WDW trip. The website says you just scan the bar code on your boarding pass, show your ID to the customer service agent standing there, and they take and tag your bag. You don't have to wait in the regular ticketing line.

I'm planning on trying this when we leave St. Louis, but I'm wondering if it is really as easy as it sounds? If it is, it would be great! We always have our boarding passes printed out before we leave for the airport, and in the past we've still had to wait in the check-in line for 30 minutes or longer at MCO and St. Louis (before we even got to security!) So, does anyone have any experience with this that they could share?

[lovinmesomedisney]

I'm not sure if what you are referring to is something new or curbside check in. We fly out of St. Louis all the time, probably because we live here, and have never had any problem. We usually just have someone drop us off at the departing flights outside, and pretty much it is what you describe. We hand the man our boarding pass, our ID, and he tags all the bags. We then head into the security line. Leaving Orlando, we check our luggage at our resort and we don't see it again until we get home. It is the greatest invention ever!!

[laprana]

I think this is something different...Southwest is touting it as a new offering and the article says the Express Bag Drop is a separate line at the end of the ticketing counter. But, the info you provided is great to know! If we try the Express Bag Drop and it turns out to be a hassle, maybe we'll do what you've described! Thanks!

P.S. I meant to say "Express" in the title, not "Espress!" My fingers must be tired from typing at work all day!

[cer]

Like lovinmesomedisney said,

Another possibility (on your trip home) is that you can now check your luggage at your Disney hotel. We have done that now twice at POP Century. I think they have expanded it to other Disney resorts, not sure which though, could be all of them.

It is an amazing service, checking in your Southwest luggage at the hotel before you depart for the airport. Then there are truly no lines at the airport, well, except security.

[sassafras]

We fly out of St.Louis on SW and we always use the curbside checkin. Never a long wait and we're done and thru security in about 15 minutes total. Don't know what the new service is, May have to check it out April 30th when we fly to Orlando.

[lovinmesomedisney]

I'm thinking it's actually easier to use the curb side check in if it's not crowded, which as Sassafras said it never is when she goes, and we have never had more than a five minute wait, which actually I doubt we ever waited that long. It's just so nice to get out of the van, drop all that luggage on the sidewalk and wa laa! The other system sounds good, but you would still have to drag all your luggage in.

Just a thought!

[ransam]

one of my favorite things about staying on property.

[laprana]

Thanks for all the info, everyone! Definitely good stuff to keep in mind. I've thought about trying the resort check in for our luggage before, but never have. Mostly because I travel to WDW with my sister and she is totally against it. For whatever reason, she is convinced our luggage will get lost if we don't check it ourselves at the airport! I figure it's easier to just do it her way than to argue too much about it, but I might have to start trying to convince her again. It sounds so easy!

Has anyone ever had problems with lost luggage when using the resort check-in before? What exactly do you have to do to check your luggage at the resort? (We're staying at BCV, if that makes any difference.) Thanks!

[MariMouse]

I believe the express check-in is for people who already have their boarding passes. It was a little faster for us. And we have never has a lost bag using any Disney service. They are great!

[KylesMom]

I've thought about trying the resort check in for our luggage before, but never have. Has anyone ever had problems with lost luggage when using the resort check-in before? What exactly do you have to do to check your luggage at the resort? (We're staying at BCV, if that makes any difference.) Thanks!

We've been doing this for quite a few years, and now wouldn't even consider flying on an airline that didn't participate in this. It makes your last day at Disney so much more enjoyable when you can check your bags & not worry about them until you return home. In fact, this is the first year we've flown Southwest home, as last summer they still were not a participating airline at WL.

We've never had a problem with lost luggage utilizing this service on American or United into O'Hare. Our bags have always beat us back to Chicago, but they are held in a secure area whereby you need to show your baggage claim tickets to retrieve them. I can only assume it will work the same coming into Midway with Southwest.

It's simple. Go to the Resort Airline Check-In desk at BCV with your luggage, airline record locator & photo ids for all. They'll get you checked in for the flight, tag your bags & off you go.

If you were flying on an airline which had bag fees, you'd need to call the night before & pay for your luggage fees, then take that confirmation down to the desk with you.

One thing to note: The desk has limited hours, so you need to ensure you can utilize the service. For instance, if you had an 8 am flight out of MCO, I don't think you could utilize it since the desk opens at something like 5 am. It really is a great service.