Flying Southwest Airlines for the First Time: What should I expect?

Real World Aviation
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Hello everyone! I’ll be taking a Southwest Airlines flight soon and I would like to hear your thoughts about the airline.
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Credit: Zdenek Bubak

Flight Stats:

Departure Time: 7:10 AM

Route: KLAX-KBWI (Los Angeles to Baltimore)

Expected Aircraft: Boeing 737-700

Hopefully the information above might help with telling me what I should expect.

Thanks everyone!

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Bring a camera and enjoy yourself

Oh remember to go to the airport earlier for a good seat ;)

Just to add you get very high chances of cockpit visits. Super nice crew

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Good service! They are super nice and funny.

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Arrival time at the airport doesn’t mean squat about where you’ll be sitting on Southwest. When you check in 24 hours before the flight, if you get an early boarding position (preferably in the A group), your chances of scoring a good seat are better.

@Infinite_Flight_Dude If you have some extra money laying around, I’d recommend purchasing Early Bird check-in. It’s $15 per person each way. It checks you in 36 hours before the flight instead of the usual 24, and every time I’ve used Early Bird, I got a boarding position in the A boarding group.

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But anyways, I think you’re going to love SW. Their staff are always looking to go above&beyond to make your flight better. I’ve made a list of some positives and negatives for you (for the flight experience):

Positives:

  • Very friendly and helpful staff and flight crew
  • Free streaming TV and wifi on planes, movies are $5
  • Free snacks and drinks, however if you’re 21+ you can pay $5 for an alcoholic beverage
  • First and second checked bags fly free, so do carry-ons
  • Pretty decent legroom, not the best if you’re tall but definitely far from the worst
  • Large tray tables, I fit my 13 inch laptop, a drink, and a few snacks the other day!
  • Very detailed in-flight magazine

Negatives:

  • No setback IFE, you must use your own device
  • No electrical outlets to charge device
  • Free wifi is only limited to a flight tracker, southwest.com, airport&connections information, and guides for all their destinations. Full wifi costs $8
  • Depending on the type of person you are, you may be a bit uncomfortable after a while on a long haul flight like LAX-BWI on a 737-700

I hope you enjoy Southwest! They’re my favorite airline and always have been. If you have any questions/concerns don’t hesitate to ask!

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That is 30 inches I believe, which is equal to what the other main US carriers offer.

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You should expect amazing service, and a great overall atmosphere.

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Expect the most delicious plane peanuts.

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Honestly, I wouldn’t know what to expect because I’ve never flown Southwest before.

But I do know some tips to make your travel better!

  • Bring any device that’ll fit on the aircraft, but not something too small, like a 9.7 inch iPad, and make sure you have some movies on it, because no one likes buying WiFi for just five hours.

  • Bring your camera! It’s nice to get some memories and post them for me! And do some planespotting at the gates!

And last off all, don’t worry! If you think you’re gonna crash, just say “There’s an eleven million to one chance I’ll crash”, because it’s a fact!

Have fun and save travels!

  • B3ASTMOD3X
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Planter’s are still better, though!

And make sure they’re salted!

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Southwest’s on board snacks and drinks are free (except alcohol)

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If you happen to be traveling with small children, there is no need to pay extra for the early bird check in. They will board familes with smaller children after the ‘A’ group but before the ‘B’ group regardless as to what your boarding pass says. Still plenty of open rows/seats available at this point in time…have done this numerous times when flying with our young kids. Love that they do this…another reason why they are one of the best.

Hope you have a nice flight…also if you need any info about BWI, feel free to message me.

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Oh, didn’t know about that! Sorry!

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And their peanuts have both salt and some kind of sugar on them too. I love them.

But if somebody is allergic to peanuts they won’t put them on the plane so you are stuck to pretzels and Oreos and Figs on select flights.

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All the drinks and snacks you want

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Personally I would not write that down as a negative, actually quite the opposite… I have seen the IFE on SAS, and JetBlue, and my Ipad Mini is about the same screen size, but way nicer in every way, resolution, brightness, being able to position it where it is comfortable, and if you had a regular IPad or laptop, an eaven larger screen. And you may say well what about phones, and my dad was watching on an IPhone 8 (not plus) so pretty average screen size, and he had no complaints, still a way better panel than most good IFE…

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Oreos! We got belvita breakfast snacks 🤢

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Thanks for letting me know about these things! I’m much more excited for my flight!

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That;s what I meant instead of the fig. Yeah, they are good too, a 6 or 8 pack I think.

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We had weird cinnamon ones, that was not a very happy moment… I had also gotten up at 3am, so the fact that I was on a plane, and going to Florida were about all keeping me sane, so maby a twisted opinion 😂

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