TOPIC: The flight is booked!

Now I can't back out!

This will be my first time flying Southwest. Any advice?

bring lube

bpsymington wrote: Now I can't back out!

This will be my first time flying Southwest. Any advice?

Actually you can cancel without penalty with Southwest IIRC...

(I like Southwest)

bpsymington wrote: Now I can't back out!

This will be my first time flying Southwest. Any advice?

Seating isn't assigned - so be prepared to either take a middle seat, or stand in a pre-boarding line for quite a while.

They don't charge for the first two checked bags (within reasonable size and weight limits), so take advantage of that.

I used points to grab a free flight from the west coast with southwest to Gencon!

Sadly there is a transfer flight in Georgia... But alias it was free!

Don't forget to check in online 24 hours prior to the day of flight otherwise you might get a bad priority number and be stuck in the middle.

Seats are a bit cramped and may be a little old (the plane) but haven't had much issues with shorter flights...

If you can drive, drive. For me it's about a 10 hour drive. I flew twice in the past to GenCon and both times the crazy Chicago weather affected flights into and out of Indy. Both times my flights were delayed. One a few hours, the second overnight.

Plus, with a car I don't have to worry about how much I buy at GenCon and how much stuff (food, Tokens, games, etc) I bring out with me.

Matthew Hayward wrote:

bpsymington wrote: Now I can't back out!

This will be my first time flying Southwest. Any advice?

Seating isn't assigned - so be prepared to either take a middle seat, or stand in a pre-boarding line for quite a while.

They don't charge for the first two checked bags (within reasonable size and weight limits), so take advantage of that.

If you check in online exactly 24 hours before your flight then you will definitely not get stuck in a middle seat (assuming you board in the order assigned; be at your gate 30min early). There's no fees for 1.5 carry on bags and up to two checked bags under 50lb ea. There are no cancellation or change fees. And you are more likely to be on time than with most other airlines.

Connecting in Chicago? O'Hare??

No. Just, no. We flew through there twice last month. TSA has turned that airport into a roach motel. If you're forced to land there, just rent a car and drive to Indy.

If you have any other option, just don't O'Hare. Otherwise, a three-hour line to get through security is not unheard of, so seriously, get there four hours ahead of time. Just in case. No, I'm not kidding.

If you are connecting though you are already through security.

Kirk Bauer wrote:
If you check in online exactly 24 hours before your flight then you will definitely not get stuck in a middle seat (assuming you board in the order assigned; be at your gate 30min early).

He's not kidding - EXACTLY 24 HOURS. My brother flies Southwest and has it down to a science.

Ro-gan wrote: If you can drive, drive.

Driving to Indy from So Cal? ¡No Gracias!

jedibcg wrote: If you are connecting though you are already through security.

Unless one of the flights is international (Terminal 5.) Fair warning to our Canadian friends. Or if your switching airlines and for some reason they won't tag your luggage all the way through, as happened to us.

Or if you're spending the night or starting in Chicago.

But our experiences were so bad, and 90% of the staff we dealt with were frustrated and angry themselves, forget the passengers. And most of those who were pleasant were sadly incompetent. We had one helpful person who almost knew what she was doing. I would seriously never want to go there again under any circs, unless there was literally no other option.

YMMV