Southwest Flight 4567 From San Diego to Chicago Trip Report

I took the very early morning direct flight (Southwest Flight 4567) direct from San Diego to Chicago Midway, due to depart at 6:35am, so that I could get home at a decent time.  You lose so much time every time you go from West to East.  On this flight I received a boarding assignment of A19, one better than my flight to San Diego on Monday on Southwest Flight 449.

I arrived at the airport on the Alamo shuttle at 5:15am  after returning my Chevy Cruze.  There was a line of about 20 people in the TSA line, which I was able to bypass due to the A List Fly By Lane.  I got through TSA in less than 5 minutes, since there was only one person that I needed to wait on to put my belongings through the scanner.

Southwest Flight 4567 San Diego to Chicago

Boarding was a breeze on this newer 737-800.  I ended up in aisle seat 5D, since A1-A15 was full for this flight.  Amazingly I didn't see any preboards on this flight and I can't imagine that there were any "through" passengers as it was a 6:35am flight.  We backed out of the gate at 6:45am and took off at 6:51am, since we were the first in line to take off.  Take off was a little more difficult, as the plane leaned left a bit just after take off.  The pilot easily corrected it.

While in-flight I chose Ritz cheese crackers and the Chips Ahoy 100 calorie pack for my snacks.  To drink I chose a can of Coke Zero.  I always ask for a cup of ice, as well, since I have not received ice on occasion when I have not specified as such.

In seat 6D, the row behind me, sat an older gentleman, who was a chair puller.  He would use my seat as an aid to get out of his seat and to sit down as well.  Luckily, he did not get up and down too often during the flight, or it would have gotten very annoying.

The whole flight was turbulence free, except with bumps during the descent and we landed at Midway airport in Chicago at 12:10pm with a very rough landing.  The plane landed roughly and then reversed engines really quickly, which caused a large jerk.  We arrived at the gate, B1,  at 12:12pm , 28 minutes early!  It made up for my 30 minute late arrival in San Diego on Monday night.