Ok, I’m not one of those super loyalists who absolutely must fly one particular airline or program when it comes to travel. Sure I fly with American most because it works for me, their loyalty status is relatively easy to achieve, and I’m most familiar with the way they operate. But if the price is right, I’ll gladly fly on United or Delta, maybe Jetblue or Southwest. Heck, if I’m going backpack only, even Spirit and Frontier are options for me. Especially if free travel with miles is an option. I haven’t flown Southwest since we all were kicked out of our dorms in March 2020, so I wanted to revisit the experience.
Check-in
Southwest has long been a standout with their two free checked bags. Without status or credit cards, it might just be the best deal as other airlines charge $30 or so just to check a bag. Personally, I’m Team #CarryOnOnly, but I decided to check my carryon just to have the full “Southwest Experience” 🙂
Check-in* was a breeze. You were to tag your own bags at the self-serve kiosks and drop them off with the agent. All in all, checking my bag in took less than 5 minutes.
*Southwest’s Check-in and Boarding Process
*Keep in mind that checking into a Southwest flight via the website or app exactly 24 hours before departure is crucial. Southwest doesn’t have set seat assignments, so your boarding order determines your seat. Your board by the order of check-in time, so the person who checked in last is stuck with the middle seat in the back of the plane.
That being said, they can’t monetize “premium” seat selections in any way. Instead, they provide the option for Early Bird check-in for $15-25. Or, if you get stuck with a C boarding group, you can buy up your boarding position, but these are often expensive ($65 for a full flight).
Boarding
I unfortunately couldn’t say the same about the boarding area for my flight. Southwest operates a lot of flights out of Las Vegas, so the gates are very tightly packed. My flight was, thankfully, next to the walkway, so we had a little breathing space.
But even the process itself was just organized chaos. Instead of waiting until your boarding group on other airlines and having the option of waiting until the line died down to board, you had 60 people at a time trying to squeeze into a line too short by the markings they put out. I did find the constant “what number are you” questions quite funny.
And yes, make fun of me all you want, but I got stuck with boarding position B46 (because I forgot to check in right at 24 hours)
The Plane
Southwest’s planes are all Boeing 737s, most of which have been in service for a long time. Its interiors are a little dated but operable. There are plans to change up the interiors in the near future though! I found the legroom to be quite generous and tolerable for even longer flights.
I picked one of the last non-middle seats in the back of the plane. Good news for all of you, it was a window seat so that means more pictures! Bad news for you, I didn’t take pictures of the outside. Whoops.
Credit where credit is due, we boarded the plane in about 15 minutes, much faster than the traditional 25-30 minutes. This is all thanks to Southwest’s random seating policy. But still, we left the gate about 10 minutes late and took off after a short taxi to Runway 1R.
Inflight Service
Southwest doesn’t believe in beverage carts, in that they aren’t blocking the aisle with a big metal trolley. The good thing is that it allows the flight crew to split into 4 sections, serving each simultaneously. Those in the last row don’t need to wait a full 30 minutes to get a cup of water!
I also decided to try out the wifi for this flight since I still technically had work to do. Unfortunately, Southwest’s Viasat doesn’t offer free Internet for T-Mobile customers. Also, they recently changed their wifi pricing to $8 per flight as opposed to per day. Probably not the best deal for a quick 2.5-hour flight to St Louis, but that’s ok. The things I do for this blog!
Anyways, the speeds weren’t super fast, but pretty decent for web surfing and emails. I didn’t try out streaming, but I’d imagine you would be ok too.
One thing I will comment on is the sheer number of babies and children onboard this flight. There was crying and screaming the whole flight. I’m used to it at this point, but it wasn’t the most peaceful. Keep in mind where your connections are and plan accordingly.
Before long, we were on our approach to St Louis. The sun had just set (dang it winter!). We arrived at the gate about 25 minutes late, and there was not enough time for me to visit the lounge this time. Oh well!
Final Thoughts
Southwest has its pros and cons. I personally found the flight to be decently pleasant. The soft product is well-rounded and the flight crew was friendly. It gets you from A to B with free checked bags too! However, the added stress of an exactly 24 hour check in and the chaotic boarding process are downsides that I can’t overlook. In the grand scheme of things, I’d rank Southwest as every-so-slightly above average.
Leave a Reply