When headed to the Lone Star State, why not fly with the product of it - Southwest Airlines? From Chicago, Southwest operates exclusively out of Chicago Midway, the city’s secondary airport, and while not nearly as large as O’Hare International it has enough traffic to have earned the moniker “the busiest square mile in the world.” Booking As with all Southwest flights, we booked directly with the airline on www.southwest.com - Southwest is not bookable through any online travel agents and will typically not show up in travel search engines such as Google Flights. Given this was a family trip, we booked utilizing my parents' stash of Rapid Rewards Points that they had accrued through the opening of a new Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier VISA Card - long a contender for my wallet as well.
Ground Experience I arrived at Midway via the CTA Orange Line, just a quick 30 minute ride from my home in downtown Chicago. The train station is connected to the airport terminal via an enclosed walkway, which takes about 10 minutes to traverse. I then made my way to the Priority Check-In line, which I had access to with my A-List Status, where an incredibly friendly agent printed my boarding pass and whisked away my bag for free - Southwest famously doesn’t charge for your first two checked bags. Conversely, I could have also used one of the many Self-Check Kiosks arranged in the terminal. After a quick pass through TSA PreCheck, I made my way into the Concourse to meet up with my family for drinks and dinner. As a side note, Midway often gets slammed for having few concession options, but I find the contrary to be true, particularly for an airport of its size. I’m especially excited to see that new locally infused offerings beginning to come in! Boarding Boarding on Southwest is an oft-criticized process - by those unfamiliar - given the airline's open seating policy, but in my opinion it’s among the least stressful and most efficient in the industry. There’s nothing more frustrating to me than the gate lice that exist at other carriers. The process is simple, passengers check in 24 hours prior to their flight to get a boarding position - a letter (ABC) and a number (1-60) - which then corresponds to pillars in the airport to help align the queue. EarlyBird check in is also available for an added fee if you’d like an automatic assignment; furthermore, A-Listers such as myself are automatically checked in 36 hours prior to their flight. Once down the jetway, my family and I were very pleasantly greeted by a flight attendant at the door as well as two further back in the cabin, the legendary hospitality and Southwest smile are real! Seat & Cabin Southwest famously operates only one type of aircraft, a key to its success and expansion over the years: the Boeing 737. Our flight was served by a relatively new 737-800, which like the whole fleet, was equipped in an all economy 3-3 layout. Each seat had 32” of pitch, which is more legroom than most airlines, a full size tray table, upper literature pocket, and lower storage pouch. Food & Beverage As soon as the 10,000 feet ding rang out, flight attendants were up on their feet cheerily taking drink orders row by row, dividing the cabin equally among themselves - a unique feature on Southwest is that they do not utilize drink carts, thus speeding up the process. When at our row, we cashed in several drink vouchers, with my parents and sister ordering beer and myself a bourbon and ginger ale. After this, pretzels and Ritz-Bitz were handed out, and flight attendants began coming out with trays of beverages. After we had finished our first drink, flight attendants were making second rounds - truly impressive given you often don’t see this on legacy carriers, even on longer flights - and when they arrived at our row the flight attendant asked if she could buy our family another round! Naturally, we said yes! Amenities & Service Given the low-cost model of Southwest, there are relatively few amenities, but the airline continues to expand its offerings over time. The full fleet is equipped with WiFi, and by connecting to the network, an array of Movies, TV Series, and Live TV can be accessed free of charge via the Southwest App or Website. Also found are a number of games, music, destination information and an interactive map. Beyond this, Southwest offers a great inflight magazine and free messaging for all passengers. Service is where this flight, and Southwest in general, really shines! I can count on one hand the number of poor flight crews I’ve had on Southwest, but I’d need my hands and feet to count the great ones. This flight crew made their way near the top of that list - they were immediately warm, genuinely friendly, and just a joy to be around. You could sense the care they had for their passengers by the way they conversed with us all, as well as the pride they had in the airline by the way they strove to go above and beyond. It was truly an enjoyable few hours with this crew. Arrival A smooth landing and short taxi to our gate arrived us early into Austin Bergstrom International Airport. After a friendly goodbye and a genuine thank you for flying, we were on our way and off to the rental car lot to start our vacation! Final Thoughts
It’s no secret that I love Southwest, and it’s for good reason that they’re my favorite airline. This flight was just another example of why I love to fly with them; they’re the winning combination of value, convenience, amenities, and hospitality. They’ll always be my go to for most routes and I couldn’t recommend them more!
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