I needed to travel between Austin and Baton Rouge for some meetings and ended up booking my first flight on Southwest in over a year. With limited options into Baton Rouge, I opted for a nonstop flight to New Orleans and then rented a car to get the rest of the way.
Booking
As I typically do, I started my search on Google Flights. The ability to search multiple destinations was great as I was trying to determine if it made more sense to connect and fly into Baton Rouge or take a nonstop to New Orleans and drive. Ultimately, prices into Baton Rouge were crazy so Southwest won out.
I had a few points remaining in my Rapid Rewards account and, since Southwest points redemptions are directly tied to the price of the ticket, I booked my flight for 6,886 points plus $5.60 in taxes and fees via Southwest.com.
Check-In
As most of you may know, Southwest is unique among U.S. airlines as they don’t assign seats, though that will be changing soon. Instead, passengers are assigned a boarding position based on the order that they check in.
I mentioned in the introduction, it’s been over a year since I’ve flown Southwest. Between ATX Jr. and work, I completely forgot to check in for my flight at the 24 hour mark. I remembered an hour later and ended up with a boarding position of C3. Southwest boarding positions are assigned in three groups (A, B, and C) with 60 positions per group.
Thankfully I still have my Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier credit card which gives me 4 upgraded boardings per year. I was able to upgrade directly through the app and received a new boarding position of A6. The $50 charge was credited to my account a few days after the flight.
Pre-Flight
I arrived at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) just before 6:00p for my 7:20p flight. There was no line for TSA PreCheck or CLEAR and I was airside in under two minutes. Frigid weather was present in Austin and I learned the hard way that the terminal isn’t heated (apparently it is just air conditioned). Everyone from gate agents to bartenders were all bundled up against the cold.
My flight was scheduled to depart from Gate 18, one of the closest gates to the TSA checkpoint. A slight delay had been posted for my flight and an earlier flight to Tampa was occupying our gate.
Boarding was pushed back from 6:50p to 7:20p so, I grabbed a seat in the gate area as I didn’t have access to any of the lounges here in Austin for this flight. I managed to catch New Mexico One at the gate next door.
Boarding
As soon as the Tampa flight departed, the Boeing 737-800 that would be taking me to Austin pulled into the gate. Unfortunately this was an equipment swap from the 737 MAX-8 that was supposed to operate this flight. The Southwest crew in Austin turned the aircraft around quickly and we were called to line up for boarding a few minutes after our scheduled time.
I took my A6 boarding position next to the assigned stanchion and, after six wheelchair preboard passengers, A1-30 was called and I headed down the jet bridge.
Southwest Airlines
WN 4562
AUS-MSY (Austin-Bergstrom International – Louis Armstrong New Orleans International)
Seat: 16A (Economy)
B737-800 (N8564Z)
Scheduled: 7:20p-8:40p
Actual: 7:15p-8:46p
Southwest Boeing 737-800 Economy Seat
Southwest seating is a free for all, literally. With no assigned seating, you are allowed to pick whatever seat is available. The plane is configured in an all-Economy layout and all seats are essentially created equal. Southwest’s Boeing 737-800s feature 175 seats arranged in a 3-3 layout.
This aircraft was sporting Southwest’s newest interior, though these will be changing as the airline rolls out extra legroom seating. The blue certainly pops compared to most other airline interiors.
In my opinion, the best seat on the aircraft is 16A. Due to the position of the emergency exit, there is no seat in front of you which provided almost endless legroom. A bulkhead aisle and window were both available when I boarded though I decided to roll the dice and see if I could get back to 16A before someone ahead of me snagged it. Luckily, my bet paid off and I was able to snag my “poor-mans Business Class” seat.
With a seat two rows in front of you there is still space to stow your personal item. There is a literature pocket, tray table, and a seatback pocket that technically are available to use, though the logistics don’t really work.
A separate tray table is located in the armrest which can be folded over in half or fully extended depending on your preference. It can also be adjusted forward and back as needed. When the tray is folded over in half, there’s a small cupholder indention for your beverage.
Standard Southwest Airlines seat pitch on the Boeing 737-800 is roughly 32″ which is better than most airlines in Economy. I wouldn’t say it’s roomy but the difference is noticeable.
Southwest’s interiors are fairly bare bones as the carrier doesn’t offer seatback IFE on any of its aircraft. Some of the airline’s Boeing 737 MAX-8s are equipped with in-seat power but its 737-800 fleet doesn’t feature them.
This is definitely unexpected to many passengers who don’t regularly fly with Southwest. The guy in front of me boarded with an entire power strip in his hands ready to plug in, so make sure you charge up your devices before boarding.
Departure
Despite the initial delay, the crew did a great job of getting everyone boarded and we managed to push off the gate a few minutes ahead of schedule. We only went a few feet before we had to pause and wait to be de-iced, not something that is a regular occurrence in Austin.
According to our Captain, we just needed to de-ice the leading edge of the wings due to some accumulation on approach. He also let us know that, due to some bumps expected en-route, the crew may not be able to do a beverage service.
Fortunately, the de-icing crew got us handled quickly and we were able to finish our pushback and head for the runway.
25 minutes after pushing back from the gate, we took off from Runway 36R before making a right turn to head towards New Orleans.
In Flight
A few minutes after takeoff we crossed through 10,000 feet and the Captain announced that the crew would be allowed to begin service shortly. I took the time to connect to the Wi-Fi. The airline offers free Wi-Fi enabled texting, free movies, and free live TV. A full day internet connectivity pass is available for $8.
Even though we had roughly an hour in the air, I splurged and spent the $8 to connect and get some work done. The Wi-Fi was fast enough, but struggled at times with loading photos and other large items.
Once the seatbelt sign was turned off I headed to check out the rear lavatory. Southwest has three on its Boeing 737-800s with one at the front and two at the rear of the aircraft. Southwest’s lavatories are fairly bare bones and feature the now standard single hand sink.
Seriously, how are you supposed to actually wash your hands in this thing without water going everywhere?
A good sized changing table is located on the wall above the toilet. As a new dad, I appreciate these more now than ever before.
Back at my seat, the beverage service began 20 minutes after take-off. Southwest doesn’t use drink carts and, instead, flight attendants take orders a few rows at a time and return with drinks on trays. Alcoholic beverages came pre-mixed instead of the mini-bottle and mixer approach I’ve seen on other carriers.
I ordered a vodka soda which was served with a small bag of mini pretzel braids from Maui Monk. Payment was collected when I ordered via a handheld tablet. I’m not sure if this is a new policy This is the first time I haven’t seen the Southwest branded snack mix available onboard.
Thirty minutes after service began, and 20 minutes before our scheduled arrival time, the crew began preparing the cabin for arrival.
Arrival
We approached New Orleans from the west and encountered a few bumps on initial descent. Things smoothed out for a bit but, as we turned to the north to line up for Runway 2, we encountered some low clouds and a few more bumps but landed without issue a few minutes before our scheduled arrival time.
We had a short taxi to our arrival gate though we had to wait a few minutes to be marshalled into our gate. We ended up blocking in at Gate B9 six minutes behind schedule.
I walked off of the plane a few minutes later into a deserted terminal at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY). Even though the new terminal is a few years old, I still cant believe my eyes every time I land here. The new space is such a major improvement over te old terminal which still sits at the south side of the airport.
Summary
Despite the fact that I rarely fly Southwest, I was looking forward to this flight. My trip came a few days after the airline announced the first layoffs in its history and I was glad to see that the crew was in good spirits.
Overall this flight was fine but nothing stood out, good or bad. I’ll have a few more trips between Austin and New Orleans coming up this year and I’m looking forward to Delta jumping in on the route to provide some competition.
While I won’t go out of my way to avoid Southwest, it certainly isn’t my top choice when I’m looking for flights. This is especially true when considering how uncompetitive the carrier’s hard product is compared to the major U.S. carriers.