Southwest Rapid Rewards - thoughts on first time Southwest flights

just got back last night from LAS. It is very different from the others. Leaving ATL, when they called the flight, the attendant did not mention how to line up by the signs. Considering that they are new to Atlanta, this is a must. The attempts at humor by the flight crew were funny at first, but after as few minutes---enough already! Comfy seats. I had paid the extra 10 both ways and had A24 and A37 boarding #'s. I got great seats 4A and 6 A. it amazed me how many people headed towards the back of the plane first to find seats.Me..I prefer to get off ASAP to either start my vacation or get home as soon as possible. Why spend an extra 10 minutes deboarding if you do not have to? I had WIFI on both flights, but it sucked. slow and took forever to stream video of of Amazon Prime. But for $5 I guess that it was ok. better than nothing.
Oh, the Southwest terminal at LAS looks like something out of the early 80's. Very old and dark. Even th Slot's are old. Not penny slots and nothing with a video screen.
Will I fly with them again? Yes, as long as the price is right(I also have a $42 dollar credit from re booking for a lower price. great feature).

it amazed me how many people headed towards the back of the plane first to find seats.Me..I prefer to get off ASAP to either start my vacation or get home as soon as possible. Why spend an extra 10 minutes deboarding if you do not have to?

If you check bags as I usually do, its a moot point to race off the plane at most airports....

We have a 16 month old, and try to sit in the very last row so we disturb the rest of the passangers the least amount as possible. - Were there many families toward the back of the plane? Also, flying out of Atlanta myself Southwest has sent an e-mail a couple of days before departure going over the ways that Southwest does thing compared to other carriers (because they are new to Atlanta). But, I'll admit it's good to get to the airport a little earlier when flying them to secure your position in line. One thing we didn't know is that we had to tag our stroller priorier to boarding (all other airlines, they give you a tag while you are boarding). With Southwest we didn't know that, and had to get out of line, and go to the counter (losing our position while waiting in line to get the stroller checked).

it amazed me how many people headed towards the back of the plane first to find seats.

Well, first class is back there...that's why I go to the back, even though I'm A-List.

Why spend an extra 10 minutes deboarding if you do not have to?

Because I still beat my golf clubs to the carousel. (If I'm on Southwest, decent chance my sticks are with me.) So waiting at my seat for a few minutes isn't bad, especially since it's so roomy being in F and all. Kind of wish that rear flight attendant would do a quick a PAB (post-arrival beverage) service but that'd probably be asking too much...

I guess I see the point of that. Still, the planes gets hot pretty fast. That is why they ask you to close the window shutters before you get up. So sooner out the better.

It's really not unlimited bandwidth on the wifi...

We have a 16 month old, and try to sit in the very last row so we disturb the rest of the passangers the least amount as possible.

^


Thank you for your consideration.

I had WIFI on both flights, but it sucked. slow and took forever to stream video of of Amazon Prime. But for $5 I guess that it was ok. better than nothing.


Stream video? I feel fortunate if I can stream ASCII.

About half the time, the WiFi is unusable for even simple tasks. That is on the 20% or so flights that have it.

(Could it be the other people trying to stream video?)

Just trying to check email or facebook took forever.

Just trying to check email or facebook took forever.

That has been my typical experience. I will start a page load and go back to work on my job report. I will occasionally check to see if the page has loaded or timed out.

I have found, with no proof just anecdotal, that very short flights have faster WiFi. Hmm........? Fewer paid? No need to eat BW? Luck of the draw? Who knows?

Fewer paid?

That would make sense to me. I'd be more likely to buy Wifi on longer flights, even if there's some sort of tiered pricing. On the typical Southwest flight (for me, midcon or less), I'd be unlikely to buy at all.

I have found, with no proof just anecdotal, that very short flights have faster WiFi. Hmm........? Fewer paid? No need to eat BW? Luck of the draw? Who knows?

Probably fewer people on it. Doesn't WN charge the same regardless of Flight Length? Someone is going to be a lot less likely to pay for access for 1 hour of access than they are on a 4 or 5 hour flight? The fewer people using it means less people taking up the bandwidth and means your wifi should be faster.

Probably fewer people on it. Doesn't WN charge the same regardless of Flight Length? Someone is going to be a lot less likely to pay for access for 1 hour of access than they are on a 4 or 5 hour flight? The fewer people using it means less people taking up the bandwidth and means your wifi should be faster.

I've never bought wifi access on WN but is it $5 per flight or $5 per one way? If it were the second, I'd be likely to buy since my WN trips usually consist of 2 flights each way...

I've never bought wifi access on WN but is it $5 per flight or $5 per one way? If it were the second, I'd be likely to buy since my WN trips usually consist of 2 flights each way...

It's $5 for all day access which is a good deal if you are on a long flight(s) and the speed is decent. Not sure about WN but with GOGO on Delta it isn't fast enough to stream video so I would be planning on using it for streaming.

While $5 is a good deal, one concern I would have with WN is that a lot of their aircraft isn't wifi equiped yet so I would be worried about paying for access on my first flight and then my 2nd plane not being wifi equiped. I am not sure if WN's site will tell you if your plane is wifi equiped or not.

It is very different from the others. Leaving ATL, when they called the flight, the attendant did not mention how to line up by the signs

When I was coming back from Atlanta a week or two ago the agent gave a full speech on the boarding process and procedure that lasted for a full three or four minutes and he did it for all the flights he was handling.