Southwest Flight 449 Chicago to San Diego Trip Report

Southwest Flight 449 Chicago to San Diego

My drive to Midway airport was uneventful, thankfully.  I took my normal route from Mishawaka, so that I did not have to pay any tolls - State Road 2 to US 94 to 59th Street.  Per usual, I parked at Midway Park Saver, which is conveniently situated across from the CTA.  As luck would have it, I found a parking space very close to the entrance.  In fact, it was the 2nd space on the exit side, which will be great for my return.

As I walked to the TSA line, the iPad guy had me go through the PreCheck line - hooray for me!  After having someone cut me off before getting my identification checked, it was smooth sailing.  I got through TSA by 6:05pm and my 7:25pm flight (Southwest Flight #449 to San Diego) was to board at 6:55pm.  I checked the monitor to verify that I would be taking off from Gate B19 and off I went.  After being seated, the gate was changed to B1, though an almost inaudible announcement was made to let us know of the change.  I never received a text from Southwest to notify me of the switch.

Of course, my flight was delayed by 30 minutes, though no reason was given.  We finally were asked to form the boarding line.  I had A20 this time due to my A List Preferred status and the wonky Southwest algorithm for assigning my place in line.  There were 5 "throughs", so they boarded first.  There were some "preboards", or "blue sleeves", as well.  Regrettably, the gate agent allowed several family members board with some of them.

They called for A1-A15, then A16-A30 and off we went.  When I got on the newer 737-800, the first 5 rows were pretty much full, so I made my way to row 6.  After waiting for a guy to put his carryon above my seat, then proceed to row 7, take a few things out of his backpack and then place the backpack in the overhead above his seat, I settled into seat 6C on the left side of the aisle facing forward.

I ordered two Fat Tires, while on board, but, when I paid with my Southwest Premier Visa, I was told that her machine was broken and could not print a receipt.  She said that she would check with another flight attendant to see if they could print a receipt for me.  She never came back around to give me a receipt.  I will need to find another way to get reimbursed.  For my snacks, I picked the Wheat Thins 100 calorie pack and Ritz cheese crackers.

Unsurprisingly, we landed in San Diego 30 minutes past our scheduled arrival time.  I deplaned and made my way to the shuttle bus to take me to Alamo so that I could procure my rental car.