LAX TBIT to Terminal 1 Hustle and Southwest 737-700 Economy from LAX to MDW
Map Below: Southwest Economy LAX-MDW
FLIGHT: LAX-MDW
DATE: Monday, September 9, 2013
CARRIER: Southwest (WN)
FLIGHT NUMBER: 302
AIRCRAFT: Boeing 737-700 (with evolve interior)
CABIN: Economy (single class aircraft)
SEATS: 7D, (empty 7E), 7F
DEPARTURE GATE: Terminal 1, Gate 7
DEPARTURE- SCHEDULED: 6:05pm // ACTUAL: 6:15pm
ARRIVAL- SCHEDULED: 11:55pm // ACTUAL: 11:45pm
DURATION: 3 hours 30 minutes
MILES FLOWN: 1,783 miles
The most exciting part of our travels!!! For most airlines, the official minimum connection time in LAX for international to domestic connections is 90 minutes (and many folks here on FT think that probably is too short for most connections). Well, we booked a
65 minute layover. And, it wasn’t even on the same airline or PNR. So, our schedule left us just about an hour to:
- clear immigration,
- retrieve our bags,
- clear customs,
- make our way from the Tom Bradley International Terminal to Terminal 1,
- check-in and check our larger bags with Southwest,
- go through security, and
- make it to our gate.
Further complicating this was that Southwest requires that all bags at LAX be checked at least 45 minutes prior to scheduled departure! So, we had
only 20 minutes scheduled for 1 through 5 above!!!
Why on earth would I book this? Well, mostly because of Southwest’s lack of a change fee (and this flight was before the no-show policy went into effect…and I had a “back-up”); so, it was worth a shot! But, also because we both have Global Entry, we were flying in Business (so, theoretically, our “priority” bags come out first), we’re fit and in our early 30s (so, were both ready for a run with our bags), and because I kept any eye on KE061 for months and it tended to arrive more than 30 minutes early very often (making the connection effectively 95 minutes).
So, did we make it??? Y.E.S.! (with literally 2 minutes to spare until the bag-check cut-off according to the time stamp on our bag-check receipt).
We made it only because of a confluence of factors. If any of the following didn’t happen, we would have spent the night at a Marriott near LAX (which would have added a hotel to my TR; but, I was ready to be home):
- KE061 arrived 42 minutes early.
- We were literally the first ones from our flight to immigration (we speedily walked past a handful of others from our flight).
- There was no line at Global Entry at immigration for us (and we weren’t sent to an agent).
- Our bags came out within the first 10 bags from the flight.
- There is a separate customs exit line for Global Entry folks (near the crew line) that had no one in it (and our bags were not searched).
- We walked/jogged from TBIT to T1 in less than 10 minutes on the upstairs departure level.
- There was no line to check-in/check bags at the Southwest check-in.
Photo Below: View of TBIT as We Raced to Terminal 1
Since we had already been traveling for about 30 hours (without a shower) and had just hustled from TBIT to T1, we weren’t the best-smelling couple on our flight. So, when I saw that the flight was only a bit over 1/2-full on the agent’s screen as we boarded, we decided to try and make our own tommy class on WN (or “secret first class”…but, we were technically too far forward for this)…and it worked! If someone had sat between us, they may have chosen to re-seat themselves after one whiff.
Finally, we were on a flight heading to Sweet Home Chicago!
Photo Below: Gate - Economy Class - WN302 (737-700)
Photo Below: Plane at Gate, Economy Class - WN302 (737-700)
Photo Below: Seats (Evolve Interior) - Economy Class - WN302 (737-700)
Photo Below: Legroom (Evolve Interior) - Economy Class - WN302 (737-700)
Photo Below: Mountains after Takeoff - Economy Class - WN302 (737-700)
Photo Below: In-Flight Snack - Economy Class - WN302 (737-700)
We arrived around midnight and our bags made their way to the baggage claim a bit faster than typical for Midway; but, we were home!
Photo Below: Arrival Back in Sweet Home Chicago!
