Confirmation number

[Fox Mike]

My wife is traveling to Providence RI via Southwest. She has a confirmation number that was similar to AABFO3. I contacted Southwest and asked if that was a "zero" or the letter "O"? Received a reply that the numbers 1 and 0 are never used, they only use the letters "O" and "I". Nowhere do they ever tell the 'user' that little bit of information.

 

[SamV]

Is that true in general or just for Southwest?

 

[blume357]

It's possible that if you enter the numbers instead of the letters on a keyboard or computer or such their software program automatically corrects it....

 

[eveled]

I notice that same thing with serial and model numbers at work. Switch from numbers to letters and back again with no rhyme or reason.

What ever happened to the zeros with the line across them? I still cross my "z" from high school algebra class so they wouldn't look like "2". A guy I work with crosses his "7".

 

[Ka6otm]

Is that true in general or just for Southwest?

Hawaiian Airlines uses no numbers, nor does Alaska Airlines the last time I checked.

 

[pisgah]

I took my 86-yr-old mom to board the last flight she took. Tried to sign her in at the self-serve carrel. Her confirmation number had a zero -- clearly, since it had the slash through it -- so entered it as a zero and got the response that the number was invalid. After a long wait in the check-in line, I was told, essentially, that I was an idiot -- you're supposed to enter it as an "O", even though it IS a zero! "You should NEVER use the numbers on the keyboard, sir!" Oh, really? How do you enter a "2"? This was American.

 

[Fox Mike]

Is that true in general or just for Southwest?

We rarely fly on any other airline, and never had a confirmation number that I would have questioned, so I have never had the need to ask.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

When you are dictating numbers on the phone, like to refill a prescription, do you say 'O' or 'zero' ? I always try to say 'zero' but have never had a problem either way. Am I just lucky or what?

 

[JFB]

.... "You should NEVER use the numbers on the keyboard, sir!" Oh, really? How do you enter a "2"? ...

been there before :evil:

 

[Fox Mike]

When you are dictating numbers on the phone, like to refill a prescription, do you say 'O' or 'zero' ? I always try to say 'zero' but have never had a problem either way. Am I just lucky or what?

I am former military, it Is "zero" in the numbers and "O" in the letters. If you dial an "O" on a phone you will press the number 6.

 

[WAYNO]

It goes farther.

When I recently changed to postimage for my photo hosting, they assigned a 12 character password. It contains a combination of numbers and letters, including both the number ZERO and the letter O multiple times in the password. There is enough of them that I still cannot put the password in myself correctly, not knowing which are a letter or a number. I have to copy and paste the password to get it entered correctly.

This is not the password, but just a similar example...

05X02O7QOOo1. Entering the characters from my keyboard, I can see a difference between zero and O. When they sent the password to me, zero's and O's are identical.

Very recently, I was told that some states will not use the letter O on a license plate because of this confusion. I remember in the Army, on any official form, we were required to put a slash through a zero, to denote it as a number and not a letter.

My vehicle VIN's have combinations of zero's and O's with no visible difference. When I talk to the insurance company on the phone and I read them the number, I always say zero or O, I can't tell, when I come to this character.

 

[coach]

I fly SW a lot and the confirmation is always letters. If you look at the fonts you'll notice the 0s (zeros) are elongated and the Os are more rounded.
BTW- pay the extra $15 each way for early bird check in. No need to check in right at the 24 hour mark and you'll get A boarding usually. Even if you have the ticket you can go back and add it. You'll be pretty much guaranteed a choice of seat, aisle or window as you want if the flight is crowded.

 

[Colonialgirl]

I fly SW a lot and the confirmation is always letters. If you look at the fonts you'll notice the 0s (zeros) are elongated and the Os are more rounded.
BTW- pay the extra $15 each way for early bird check in. No need to check in right at the 24 hour mark and you'll get A boarding usually. Even if you have the ticket you can go back and add it. You'll be pretty much guaranteed a choice of seat, aisle or window as you want if the flight is crowded.

Gee; My Flight on American Air is at 06:00 (Zero Six :Zero Zero) on 28 Feb for my flight to John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, CA; I checked in at 06:01 (Zero Six: Zero One) on 27 Feb and it didn't cost me a CENT !! Printed off my boarding passes for Tampa and one for DFW too; the passes even told which gates in Tampa AND DFW.
I'm spending the week there to see my brother, otherwise CA would be in my "no travel zone" for a variety of reasons.

 

[coach]

SW doesn't have assigned seating. You get a boarding group and number when you check in. The earlier the better except you can pay extra to not worry about it.

 

[Fox Mike]

SW doesn't have assigned seating. You get a boarding group and number when you check in. The earlier the better except you can pay extra to not worry about it.

Checked the wife in yesterday 24 hours ahead. A-37. No special anything.

 

[coach]

Ya did good

 

[SWR]

On Southwest I check in the day before like everyone else. But I dont worry about the boarding number. I always head straight to the back of the plane and pick any seat I want. Everyone else wrestles getting a seat in the front half of the plane. If I pick the last row, a majority of the time I have the row to myself. I get first service from the galley and 3 steps to the bathroom. Ok so I wait 5 or 10 minutes for the plane to empty out. Still beat my bags to the luggage carousel though.

Steve

 

[Fox Mike]

Ya did good

I honestly cannot remember the last time I checked her in and didn't get an "A" something. I have everything already set up so when the time reaches "zero" I hit the "check in" box. Perhaps I am just lucky. When we fly together it doesn't matter as I use a wheel chair since I cannot walk long distances due to my COPD. That gets me on ahead of most everyone. In an airport I would be laying on the floor if I had to walk everywhere.

 

[coach]

As I'm flying on business usually I can't always check in right on time. And it seems like my flights home in the evening are often full. Gotta have a bin for my carry on. For me it was worth the extra money. Anyway I got bumped to A list so I don't have to pay extra and get my own A list line for security at BWI if I don't get pre check.