This is my first trip report- sorry it's so late- better late than never
Back in November of 2003, I had some friends flying in from Japan to come have Thanksgiving with old neighbors here in America. I know that they were flying NW into DTW and then SWA into MDW. I had their flights, and I thought to myself...why don't I fly up to DTW and meet them? And I checked, and getting a last-minute fare was SUPER cheap. Way cheaper than UA or AA. I was pleased, and 2 days later I grabbed my briefcase and left.
Parking at ORD is stupid. You park in a far off lot (avioding the garage- its $25 per day) and then you have to take a crowded tram to the terminals. I followed the signs at MDW (never been there before) and parked in the Blue Lot. Past the blast fences, I had a good view of the C Concourse, with Delta Shuttle 738, Frontier A319, American F100, and Continental ERJ. I saw a lot of ATA and Southwest planes too. I walked to a shuttle bus stop, and got on the free bus, which dropped me off in front of Door 1 at Midway. I walked inside, in the baggage claim area to see a bright, clean, spacious, and cheerful airport. Check-In is on Level 3. I head for the escalators and go up to Level 2, which is where all the gates are. I went up another escalator to see a very large check-in area, and it seemed open and spacious. I walked to the far left end, for Southwest. There was no wait at all, and they had great agents who were really happy and fun. The friendly agent put my A bording pass inside a ticket jacket, and wrote B17 on the front. I smiled and said thank you, and have a good day and she told me to have a good flight.
I went back down another escalator, to clear security. The lady checked my ID to my card name, then I walked through the screeners with no probelms. I explored MDW for a while, because all the gates are past security, before going back to B17. MDW is a clean and open airport and I really like it. The gates are pretty big, and have comfy seats. There was a 737-300 sitting at my gate, it was in the Canyon Blue colors. N303SW was the regestration. As soon as the A group was called, I got in the line that moved pretty fast. I handed the agent my card, and he scanned it on a computer and I walked down the jetway onto the aircraft, which had the old brown seats and the backwards facing onces. I settled into seat 2A, and had B and C to myself. The seats are very comfortable. The f/a did a great job with the safety greeting and we pushed back and taxied for an on-time departure.
Southwest WN1335
departs: 8:10am
arrives: 10:10am
737-300, N303SW, Seat 2A
Flight time was 40 minutes in the air, and promptly after take-off coffee, orange juice, or water was offered. Only this because it was an early morning flight. The flight was really uneventful. It went very fast and I saw a lot of NW planes touching down or taking off during our decent. We landed ontime and taxied to the L.C. Smith Terminal, which the Southwest area is nice because it is carpeted and is laid out well, but the rest is crap. It has dirty walls and chipped tile floors. United and US Airways use that area.
I deplaned and got a sandwich. I went and got on a shuttle bus to the McNamara WorldGateway. I waited in International Arriving Passengers, and when their flight arrived from Tokyo (they flew LHR-NRT-DTW) they were surprised and shocked to see me. We laughed and talked about their flight. We then got on a shuttle and went back to L.C. Smith Terminal. There was no line for SWA, so we were checked in and went through security in seconds. We went to the gate when boarding already started.
Southwest WN268
departs: 2:10pm
arrives: 2:10pm
737-300
The plane was the orange color, but had blue seats. We sat down and took off on time and we got a full drink service and 2 packets of peanuts. They were honey roasted, and very good. We were then ina holding pattern over MDW for 20 minutes. We landed at B17 (where we left from) and we all went to my car.
OVERALL
Southwest is great, and has great crew. Midway is also a nice airport. I will have to try them again some other time.