CX828

Great TR!!! and thanks for the pics.

Just to let you know you can fast forward the ads in a matter of seconds. Do that on your next CX flight, just press FF twice wait for roughly 3 or 4 seconds, then press play and it will start at beginning of movie.

concorde02

It's interesting to see that most of the reports on SQ 77W F lately do not feature Caviar!!

LH may be the only carrier in Europe to serve Caviar but in Asia/Gulf, there are TG, OZ, NH, CX, EK, JL, etc that still do.. Just wondering why SQ stops it... at least on 77W

BrewerSEA

SQ does still serve caviar in F, but I believe only on longhaul dinner flights?

davewho??

Great TR. Thanks for posting.^^

gba

I think when it gets down to IAH-DFW, even Yogi Berra would say it's over

But it was a great journey!

dat4life

Glad to be of service luv_flying!

That seat looks pretty bad, but new regional seats looks pretty good. But still it's hard to beat a SQ flight!

Thanks CX828! I will certainly keep that in mind.

Yes, I believe it has to be coded as a Dinner flight for the caviar service.

Thanks davewho??. I enjoyed writing it.

This is true, but I just may have a few more tricks up my sleave. I'm back to my normal life, i.e. on the road for work in BFE Texas... I just may be bored enough bang out a few more posts

dat4life

My next couple of installments will be the “From Sea to Shining Sea” part of my trip report.

WARNING: The next series of post will cover domestic travel in the U.S., including a few segments in economy and a low cost carrier. Reader discretion is advised.

Rocking Chicago: Introduction

In 2011, one of my friends talked me into running the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Las Vegas. Naturally, the first thing on my mind when he invited me was, “I wonder how I can turn this into a mileage run.” Go figure, right? I managed to find a nice Delta fare which netted me just under 4 cpm, since I was routing through ATL on the outbound and the return. But then came the training, which quite frankly sucked. However on race day, it really wasn’t that bad, and I actually had a great time running, as well as great time afterwards.

Like most FTers, I’m addicted to shiny metals. One of the cool things about the Rock and Roll Series races are the heavy medals, which are awarded for completing more than one race. After the Vegas race, I was hooked. If I run a few of these things, I get a bunch of shiny medals and turn the travel to race into mileage runs to help with elite qualification. And it was good excuse to spend more time with friends and get in shape. How much better can it get?

In 2012, I decided to aim for the Grand Slam medal, which is awarded after completing 4 races. To reach this goal, I decided to run the races in New Orleans(my hometown), Dallas (my current town), Chicago, and San Jose. The New Orleans and Dallas races were in March. The Chicago race fell on July 22nd, the Sunday after I returned from Hong Kong. Obviously, I didn’t know I was going to Hong Kong when I planned for the race. But I was determined to run it, despite how closely timed both events were. I figured it wouldn’t be much of a problem, provided I could avoid jet lag on the way home, which I managed to do.

All of the Rock and Roll series races do not allow for race packet pickup on race day. Runners must go the day before to pick up the race packet at the Fitness Expo. Thus, I booked a flight to Chicago on Saturday and returning Sunday night, after the race. Unfortunately, I was unable to turn my trip into a mileage run, but I did book my flight using an VDB voucher I got on one of my DFW-SFO runs. So my cost was essentially zero. My upgrade cleared at exactly 72 hours out.

After a few days catching up with things at work after a week off, I was pretty exhausted on Friday night and went to bed early. I woke up just before 6AM, after 10 hours of much needed sleep. I had already packed the night before, so I was able to get out the door by 6:20, after freshening up. Knowing traffic would be really light early Saturday morning, I stopped at Starbucks on the way to grab a latte. Parking was a bit of a pain at the DFW Remote North Lot, as it was very full due to summer travel. Not surprisingly, it was a bit crowded on the terminal bus, which deposited me at Terminal C a little more than an hour before my flight.

I was greeted by a large crowd at the check in counters and kiosks. But luckily, the Priority AAccess lane empty. After the family already at counter had finished checking in their cat and said good bye to Fifi, I was beckoned to come forward to the counter. The friendly AAgent quickly printed out my boarding pass, and I was off to security. The regular security line snaked around the check in counters, but again the Priority AAccess lane was pretty empty and I was through security in 10 minutes, after playing the name game and posing for an inappropriate picture, that’s for TSA eyes only.

I arrived at my gate, C-28, about 10 minutes before boarding began. Two middle age ladies provided entertainment before boarding, as they were loudly speculating on big the time difference between Dallas and Seattle, which was departing from the adjoining gate. One of them reasoned that it was at least 4 hours, as California was 3 hours behind, and Seattle is further away. I was wondering if I should point out the gate information screens to them (the information is on it), but they were too entertaining, so let I it slide. Boarding was called at exactly 30 minutes before departure. I walked briskly into the jet bridge after my boarding pass was scanned.

AA 2330
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)-Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
Saturday July 21, 2012
Depart: 8:20 AM
Arrive: 10:40 AM
Aircraft: McDonnell Douglas DC-9-83 (N579AA)
Seat: 4F (First Class)

I settled into my favorite first class seat on the Mad Dog, 4F. Unlike many people, I actually really like the MD-80/83s. They’re quiet, if you’re sitting in front of row 20. And 2-3 configuration makes flying coach a little more palatable, as there are fewer middle seats. That being said, I will be glad to see them leave fleet in the name of reduced fuel consumption. Although the flight appeared to be wide open on the day before, the flight was completely full up front and economy was announced to be full. Our friendly purser came through the cabin with a tray of water and orange juice for PDBs.


Just in case you forgot what a cup of airline orange juice looked like

The captain came on the PA welcoming us aboard and announcing a flight time of 1 hour and 59 minutes. We pushed back right on time and began our lengthy taxi to runway 17R. After take off, we flew on an easterly course for awhile before turning back to the north and setting course to Chicago. Beverage service commenced soon after we climbed above 10,000 feet. I was going to just stick with water or OJ, since it was less than 24 hours before the race, but the gentleman seated in 3F ordered a mimosa. Well, that sounds really good… So that’s what I went with.


Post take-off mimosa

Next up was the continental breakfast, with a choice of a biscuit or cinnamon raisin bagel. I chose the bagel.



While it doesn’t look like much, the breakfast was actually very filling. It’s hard to screw up cereal. The bagel was soft and warm, accented nicely by the provided cream cheese. The fruit was ripe and fresh. Overall, it was a very nice breakfast, though it’s not much different than what I usually eat at home. The FAs were very good, clearing trays as passengers finished and coming by on regular basis for refills. I worked on my aforementioned SQ teaser after I finished breakfast, and managed to finish it before our descent. We had a nice view of the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan just before we turned into the short final. Touchdown was smooth and we quickly taxied to gate H12. Overall this was a very nice flight, and certainly made up for my crappy LAX-SFO flight of the week before.

After deplaning, I headed to Blue Line station, spent $2.50 for a ticket, and made it to downtown in a little over 40 minutes.

Coming up next: Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile and Rock and Roll Chicago.

ung1

I did mean the 'new' SQ regional J seat - it is pretty awful in my opinion!

dat4life

After I arrived downtown, it took me 10 minutes to walk from the subway station to the Intercontinental. The weather was pleasant as the air temperature at the time was in the mid 80s, which is a little lower than what I left behind in Texas. The exterior of the Intercontinental was quite nice. I decided to stay at the IC since I found a pretty decent weekend rate of $155 per night. Not too bad for a one night stay on a busy weekend. Besides, I might as well put my Ambassador status to good use.



There was quite a crowd in the lobby as many people were checking out, including a VS crew, and people like me trying to check in early. The lobby itself was airy and nicely appointed. An interesting feature of the lobby is the large screen, running the length or the front desk, which shows a real time video of Michigan Avenue in front of the hotel. The line at the front desk was quite long, but there was only a short wait at the Ambassador/Royal Ambassador desk, which was staffed by a very attractive agent. I handed her my ID and credit card, but we hit a snag checking in. Being the idiot that I am, I had inadvertently canceled this reservation when I meant to cancel my reservation at IC New Orleans for a month later. Fortunately, she was able to reinstate my reservation and I soon was on my way to my “upgraded” room, 2114.








I think I had originally booked a superior room, and my upgrade was to a deluxe room. Overall, I was pleased with my room as it was pretty spacious and comfortable. But it was a bit of a let down compared to my fantastic rooms in Hong Kong. And besides, I’d expect a little more out of an Intercontinental. The view from the room was of the building next door, so I didn’t bother to take a picture. After I settled in, I got a text from a friend, whom I was running with, saying he had just checked in. I met him up in his room after he had settled in. He’s an Ambassador too and booked a superior room as well, but his upgrade was to a superior room in the historic tower, which was about 1/3 smaller than my room.

We headed down to lobby to catch a cab to the expo, which was held at the Hyatt McCormick Place, a 15 minute ride away.


That’s some useful information to know before a night out.

A day or two before each Rock and Roll race, they hold a fitness expo where many different vendors come to demonstrate their products, of course to entice people to buy them. Runners are required to pick up race packets and swag bags at the expo, as well. The expos are fun, though it can get expensive if you start buying a few things.


Nice view of the Chicago skyline from the McCormick Center.


Expo entrance


Race route







After the expo, we hung out for a bit on balcony at the McCormick Center before heading back to the hotel.


View from the balcony

After getting back to my room, I found my welcome gift waiting for me.



When I ran the Dallas race back in March, I went out the night before the race since it was another friend’s birthday. About midnight (Keep in mind start time was at 7:30 the next morning), I ordered another round of tequila shots for all of us and called it a night. I figured a few drinks and a few shots wouldn’t a big deal at all, since it was a lot less than a normal night out and I had a few hours to sleep it off. Man, was I wrong. I woke up feeling fine, but it was a different story when I started running. I ended up getting dehydrated and cramping up. To make a long story short, the race was a fiasco.

This time around, I decided to take it easy on the night before the race. So I went with my friend to see The Dark Knight Rises, at a theatre near the hotel. And then we grabbed a quick dinner at Michael Jordan’s steakhouse, located in the lobby of the IC. It was one of the best steaks I have ever had and the mashed potato trio was absolutely fantastic. I got back to my room at around 10:30 and fell asleep the night almost immediately. It would be a long day tomorrow.

dat4life

My alarm went off at 5:30 the next morning. Why the hell am I up so early on a Sunday morning? Because some genius sitting in an office somewhere decided on a 6:30 start time. I had put my race number on the night before to snatch a few extra minutes of sleep. After a breakfast of Gatorade and a couple of granola bars, I “laced up” and went down to lobby to meet my friend, about 15 minutes after I woke up. We were feeling pretty lazy, so we decided to cab it to the start line, which was near Millennium Park. Unfortunately, many roads were already blocked off for the race, so our cabbie dropped us off two blocks away, where we joined a thousand other people groggily stumbling to the start line.



After a 10 minute walk, I split from my friend as my corral was a little farther back. It was really pleasant and cool morning in Chicago. The rising sun made for some beautiful views.






Me and a few thousand other idiots…

At exactly 6:30 the first runners were off. I was in one of the later corrals so I didn’t reach the start line until 6:50 or so.


Start line


Pre-race concert


The elite corral, quite possibly the only elite status I don’t want


And we’re off…





Dude, where’s my Dreamliner?


Boeing Headquarters

One of the best things about the Rock and Roll series are the concerts along the race route. There’s band every mile or so. It keeps me distracted, which keeps me running. The bands are pretty good, for the most part.





And also, they pay people to cheer for you. In Dallas, they brought in the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. I didn’t know if I should slow down and enjoy the view or haul alpha sierra sierra, as they were stationed close to the finish line.



The water stations look fun on TV, but in reality they are messy affair.



With views of the skyline and running along the river and Lake Michigan, Chicago probably had the most scenic route of all the races I’ve ran.




Chicago Board of Trade


Soldier Field

I was making pretty good time, for me at least, averaging about a just under 11 minutes a mile. Unfortunately, I began cramping up badly at mile 9, despite drinking as much water I could on the way and not touching alcohol along the night before. The only thing I could think of that caused the cramps was the weather, which was a lot more humid than what I’m used to in Dallas. So the last 4.1 miles took a good bit longer and were painful, but I powered through it.


So close, but yet so far.

Literally 10 feet from the finish line, my cramps got so bad that I could barely even walk. So I ended up hopping across the finish line, and collapsing in heap just after I crossed it. The medical staff dragged me over to the nearby medical tent and massaged my calves until I could finally walk without much pain. I didn’t quite finish the way I wanted, but I still got what I came for.


Medal

Since the traffic on Michigan Avenue was bad, I decided walk back to the hotel, making it back at around 11. I took a good long shower after I got back to my room and took a nice refreshing nap. I got up around 2 in the afternoon and grabbed a late lunch and pounded a few well deserved beers with my friend. We got back to the hotel at close to 4PM, and I grabbed my bags and checked out. I bade farewell to my friend who was staying another night.

Feeling incredibly lazy, I decided to take cab to O’Hare. It was a hair raising ride, as the driver was making that poor Prius do things that it was never meant to do, like doing 90 mph in the narrow HOV lane. I made it to the airport at about 5PM for my 6:30 flight. As expected, my upgrade did not clear as this was a peak hour elite heavy flight. I dozed off most of the way, despite my talkative seatmate. Not a thing in the world to report. I finally made it home around 9:30 that night and went to bed almost immediately.

I would spend the next few days grounded before I made it back out to the West Coast the next weekend. Thankfully, I was working from home the next week so I was able to rest up.

Coming up… So Cal and a FT first!

BingBongBoy

Just read the rest of this report... Absolutely wonderful... Well written, whit and charm, as well as humble writing on well received service... Lovely, absolutely lovely.

I am IC Royal Ambassador, so looking forward to it a lot! What makes it even better, is that I have been planning this trip for some time, and managed to get the reservation for the pre-increased price of 25K a night! Bargain!

Dr. HFH

+1. I know exactly how you feel. Virtually identical thing happened to me flying AA 136 in F LAX-LHR. Waiting in line at a crowded gate for a late flight. Guy barged by me, shoving me aside, saying "I'm in first class." I said nothing, but did manage to catch his eye. When I boarded, I saw him in 3G, and the look on his face when he saw me settle into 2J (my favorite seat on that a/c with AA) was priceless. I wonder if either of the incidents taught these people some manners.

Omar84

Great Report Harrison, really enjoyed it. Glad you enjoyed your time upfront with all the DOM, something I have still yet to do.

One question, in Hong Kong you had quote a few close family members and yet you decided to stay in hotels? I dont understand why because I would personally see it as a waste of money or points. There are hotels in different locations around the world where those points could go towads where you would not have family preset. Apologies in advance if you explained why you did choose hotels over family and I just missed it.

dat4life

Thanks BBB! 25,000 points is a steal for this property!

Amen! Though I wouldn't hold my breath on that haha.

Thanks Omar. That is a fair question. For me it's a matter of personal preference. I prefer to have a little more personal space. And besides, it can get a little awkward you want to spend a little more time with one person over another, etc. I think the points and cash I burned were well spent, if it helped buy me a little peace.

dat4life

The next week passed quite quickly, as I buried myself in work. As I was still experiencing the afterglow of recent international First flights, I mustered up the courage to ask my boss for a raise to fund my newly acquired addiction.

Me: “Hey boss, look I just got off some fantastic flights in international first class. Mileage running isn’t quite as lucrative as it used to be, and I don’t think I can fly coach again on a long haul flight. So how about…I don’t know…a 25 percent raise to help fund my addiction.”

Boss: “Of course. That’s not a problem at all.”

If only it were so easy… At lunch that day, one of my co-workers proudly mentioned he saved a of bunch money redeeming some of his AAdvantage miles too. Upon further prodding, he had redeemed 25,000 miles for an AAnytime Award. On a domestic flight. From El Paso to Dallas. A sub 500 mile flight. All to save $150 dollars. To quote him, “I got to use those miles sometimes, right.” I nearly burst into tears. Man, I would have bought you that ticket if you would be willing to… Never mind. @AmericanAir, if you’re reading this, I would never make an offer like that. After all, I am an AAngel of an AAdvantage member.

To me, that was nearly as bad when another coworker told me her family flies paid EK F all the time, but didn’t have Skywards accounts. But I digress. As the week progressed, I was itching to get back on a plane. There’s just something incredibly exciting about someone ordering me to fasten my seatbelt and make sure my seat back and tray table are in the upright and locked position. TMI?

Anyways, back to your regularly scheduled TR.

I’ve been to Southern California every year since 2009, with the highlight being my 6 week assignment in Irvine in 2010, and I’ve grown rather fond of it. So when my parents offered me a chance to join them for a weekend in So Cal, I jumped on it. Of course with any great deal, there’s a catch: I had to fly Southwest. Yes, that Southwest, reviled by many a FTer. Here’s your FT first: name another TR with CX F, SQ F, AND WN. Exactly. There are none!

Why must it be on Southwest? To make a long story, I blame it on my dad. He started flying them back in 2000, for his weekly New Orleans to Houston runs. Ironically, after we moved to Houston in 2006, he’s been making the exact opposite trip on a regular basis. In the old credit based program, he earned 8-10 round trips each year, on average. We’ve redeemed more than 100 awards, between family and friends, over an 11 year period. Heck, I flew Southwest for more than 5 years before I’ve ever purchased a revenue ticket. But this gravy train ended once the second points based reiteration of Southwest’s Rapid Rewards was rolled out in early 2011. After the conversion to the new system, Southwest still allowed holders to use the old awards up to two years after they’re issued.

After burning 15 awards for travel in 2011 and 2012, we had one stray award left, which would get me to So Cal. As the standard award seats are now capacity control, I had to book early to take advantage of award space. I was going to fly into San Diego, to meet my family, and then we were going to drive up to LA to meet up with my cousin, who just got married. Thus, I would be flying home from LAX.

I woke up at 5:30AM on the day of departure. As I had packed the night before, I was out the door in less than half an hour. Southwest operates out of Love Field in Dallas, which is located near downtown. I live out by DFW, so it took a little over 30 minutes to make it there. Parking was easy and cheap at Best Parking ($6 per day for covered parking). The shuttle bus pulled up to my spot as soon I got my bag out of my car, and I was on my way to the terminal. The bus was halfway to the terminal, when I realized I had made a terrible mistake: I forgot to check in the day before.

I like to say that Southwest is one of the more pleasant US domestic experiences, if you know how the system works. For those of you unfamiliar with the Southwest system, their boarding process places passengers in boarding groups A, B, and C. Within the groups, passengers are ordered numerically, up to 60 in each boarding group. So if had the boarding number A1, you would be the first person to board after the pre-boards. A1 through A15 are reserved for Business Select (WN’s premium passengers). Next up are elites (A-List and A-List Preferred), followed by passengers who purchased Early Bird Check In (checks you in automatically to ensure you have a good boarding position). The remaining boarding positions are allocated by the order passengers check in, i.e. the earlier you check in, the better. I knew the system, but it just completely slipped my mind. It’s been a few months since I’ve flown WN, and the last couple times I bought a Business Select ticket, so I didn’t need to check in ahead of time.

There was already a long line at the check in counters when I arrived, around 6:45. A priority lane was available for Business Select passengers and elites, though I wasn’t eligible to use it. There was a dragon guarding the line, but it was still pointless as the check in agents ignored the priority lane and called people up from the regular line. Though the regular line was long, it moved quickly due WN’s efficient process. I made it to the counter in 15 minutes, despite the long line. The counter isn’t quite the check in counter in the traditional sense. There are two kiosks at each “counter position”. You just punch in your Rapid Rewards number or PNR, just answer if you need to check bags, and it spits out your boarding passes. All the agents have to do are direct the lines, check IDs, tag bags, and provide assistance if needed. This makes for a very efficient process.

With my bag checked (at no extra charge!) and boarding passes in hand, I made my way to long security line. I looked longingly toward the guarded priority security entrance, which I wasn’t eligible to use that day, on my way to the peon line. Man, it’s been a while since I’ve flown without some sort of priority privileges. But I can deal with this… I think.

A minute or two after getting in line for security, I got a text message from Southwest notifying me of a 45 minute delay. This would shrink my Albuquerque layover down to 40 minutes, but it was still doable. In my opinion, TSA at Dallas Love Field are among the worse I’ve ever encountered. They’re generally rude, inflexible, and arrogant. The ID checker I drew that day was no exception to the rule. As I got to the front of the line, she screamed, “Next”. I greeted her with a "Morning". The agent grunted in reply, stared at me for a minute, glanced at my ID, scribbled something on my boarding pass and sent me on my way to stand in the long line for the imaging/x ray machine. The line was slow because of the many families traveling were unable to figure out what they needed to take out/off before going through the machines. Of course, the screaming agents really don’t help. It was another 10 minutes before I finally cleared security.

After I got dressed, I made a beeline for the lounge… Lounge? Oh man, I’m really hallucinating now. We don’t need no stinking lounge here at Southwest. Instead, we get a plethora of fine dining options in the terminal, so you can choose what you want to eat. Feeling pretty hungry after not eating the night before, I headed to the Chili’s located across from Gate 4, which happened to be my departure gate. I ended paying $17 for way too salty bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast tacos, accompanied by tasteless hash browns, with a choice of freshly mixed Minute Maid apple juice or orange juice. This little breakfast almost made me long for the stale muffins at the Admirals Club. Just as I finished picking through my food, I got another text from Southwest. Uh oh, this can’t be good.

As it turns out, it wasn’t. My flight was now delayed for 1.5 hours, causing me to misconnect. Though I’ve flown WN many times, I’ve never experienced a major IRROPS before. From what I’ve heard here on FT, this could get interesting. I quickly paid my bill and hurried over to my gate, where a couple of people were already in line. There were several agents working the gate, so I was called up by a friendly agent in a few minutes. After explaining the situation to her, she rebooked me with no questions asked. She even called down to the rampers to make sure my bag got rerouted to my new flight. This took all of 5 minutes and I was on my way to my new gate, after thanking her. So far, so good.

I was rebooked on the 8:40AM direct flight to San Diego, with a stop in San Antonio. One positive that came out of this situation was that I ended up with a B6 boarding pass, since the first segment was lightly loaded. I arrived at the gate just as they began preboarding. Afterwards, the A group boarded and the B group was called to line up. I found my spot in line, and the B1-30 group was called to board a few moments later. I handed my boarding pass to the friendly gate agent, who wished me a good day. And I was off.

WN 934
Dallas Love Field (DAL)-San Antonio (SAT)
Depart: 8:40 AM
Arrive: 9:30 AM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-700 (N774SW)
Seat: Economy 4A

After a quick walk down the jet bridge, I was greeted by a friendly flight attendant as I turned right into a very familiar cabin. The all economy cabin was clean, bright, and adorned with attractive blue and tan leather seats. One of the unique features, if you want to call it that, of Southwest is open seating, i.e. seats are not assigned ahead of time and you sit where you want. Hence, why it’s critical to make sure you do check in early: to ensure a good seat. While many on FT loath this, it actually makes things easier on agents in case of rebooking as well as streamline boarding process, as people aren’t looking for a particular seat.

There was another passenger seated in aisle seat when I arrived. He willingly got up to let me through when I arrived. I kept my carry on with me, as I intended to do some work. I find Southwest’s seats to be very comfortable. They’re well-padded and the leather seating surfaces are of surprisingly good quality. As an added bonus, seat pitch is 32 inches, a little more than the 30-31 inches offered by other major carriers. It doesn’t seem like much but it does wonders in terms of comfort. However, this advantage will soon be eliminated, since Southwest is enhancing seats, with one inch less pitch, as part of their new “Evolve” interior.







Boarding was completed quickly, and we pushed back from the gate a couple of minutes early. The FAs began their manual safety demo, since WN does not equip any of their planes with A/V equipment. After waiting for the planes in front of us to take off, we rocketed down runway 13R and climbed into the wild blue yonder over downtown Dallas. At that point, I completely dosed off and didn’t wake up until we were descending into San Antonio. It took me a few moments to remember where I was going after I woke up. But I finally figured it out. A FA had noticed I had woken up while she was collecting trash, and offered to get me a drink, but I declined. We landed and parked at the gate a few minutes ahead of schedule.

As I was continuing on to San Diego, I remained seated until all terminating passengers deplaned and the FAs got the through count correct. I was pretty satisfied with my seat so I decided to stay put.

Parked right next to us was N759GS, a WN 737-700 equipped with wifi, as indicated by the conspicuous “hump” near the base of its vertical stabilizer.



While I’ve flown quite a few wifi equipped WN flights in the past 2 years, none of my longer flights (over 2.5 hours) were operated by wifi equipped aircraft. This was a bit maddening, but I can still pass time with my iPod and a good book.

After just a few minutes on the ground, passengers began boarding the aircraft.

WN 934
San Antonio (SAT)-San Diego (SAN)
Depart: 10:15 AM
Arrive: 10:50 AM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-700 (N774SW)
Seat: Economy 4A

Midway through the boarding process, FAs made an announcement for passengers still boarding that the only available seats were middle seats and passengers without a seat should just take the closest available seat and “get to know your 2 new best friends”. The seat next to me remained empty right up to the point the when the cabin door was about to close. And then someone else shows up… And this someone, to put it politely, was a big guy. Now, I’m not small by any stretch of the imagination, but I fit very comfortably in an economy seat. Not to sound judgmental, but this guy obviously would not fit well at all.

You know how you approach some random girl at a bar at 1AM, and she’s obviously not interested? But yet, you press on. As you continue your approach, she avoids eye contact and concentrates really hard on that fruity little drink. Of course, I know this from observation, and not from experience. This situation was kind of like that. As soon as I saw the gentleman turn right, I immediately buried myself in a game of Angry Birds, while praying he walks pass my row. Alas, this was not meant to be. He stopped at my row, and the passenger seated in the aisle seat let him in. It was a bit of squeeze, but I can manage for sub 3 hour flight.

The boarding door closed on time and we pushed back not a minute later. We took off after landing exactly 46 minutes beforehand, which is quite impressive. FAs were up and about to prepare for the drink and snack service after we reached cruising altitude. Unless you’re on one of the new 737-800s, there are no carts on Southwest, presumably to save weight. Drink service is done the old fashioned way: via notepad and delivered from a tray. While you won’t get a full can most of the time, refills are offered liberally.

After drink orders were taken, FAs came down the aisle with baskets of peanuts and Cheese Nips. Nothing fancy, but it’s more than you get on most legacy carriers. Drinks were delivered a few minutes later.



I washed the salty snacks down with a ginger ale, and got cracking on a little work. After I got bored, my seatmate chatted me up and we talked about travel and a little economics. Space issues aside, he was a perfectly pleasant seatmate. Time passed rather quickly as we cruised above the American southwest (pun intended).



We were soon descending into beautiful San Diego, and our friendly crew was tidying up the cabin for landing. As usual, the landing runway was Runway 27. This is certainly one of my favorite approaches, right behind John Wayne airport (just up I-5 in Santa Ana) and the River Visual 19 approach into Reagan National Airport. The approach took us over I-5, flying next to the sky scrapers of downtown, and screaming over the famous parking garage. Touchdown, spoilers up, reverse thrust, hit the brakes and then we slowed down enough to make a left turn toward the terminal, 3/4 of the way down the runway. We parked at gate 5. I was off the plane a few minutes after the jet bridge was attached and headed toward baggage claim. After a 10 minute wait, bags hit the belt and I happy to see that my bag was rerouted in time. I then headed to Hertz to pick up my car and headed to meet my family at the Marriot Gas Lamp Quarter.

All in all, it was another typical performance from Southwest. The plane was clean and comfortable. Drinks and snacks were adequate. All of the staff I encountered were friendly and eager to help. My bag and I made it one piece. All things considered, this is actually better than flying some of the legacy carriers. While they certainly aren’t the greatest airline on the planet, I don’t think Southwest deserves a lot of the grief they get on FT and other forums. Though, I do understand that the lack of upgrades and truly usable points/miles are a turn off to many people (including myself), I wouldn’t hesitate to fly them on most domestic hops.