Wanna Get Away?

We still LUV you, Chris Jessee.

Hook 'em Horns!

It Pays To Be An "A"

I LUV Southwest Airlines. Been flying since I was a little kid in Dallas and have owned a few shares of stock since I was 13 (thanks, Nana and Papa). The perks have always been a little bit better than other airlines - fewers trips to get a free ticket, free drink tickets, Companion Pass and more. But times are getting a bit tough...

No longer can you receive double flight credits by booking on the web. Instead of 12 free drink tickets you now get 4 when you qualify for a free flight. And even though Southwest just rolled out a new and improved boarding procedure, starting tomorrow it may be harder to get in the coveted "A" boarding group (first in line to board the open-seated plane).

Southwest is instituting the "Rapid Rewards A-List Membership." Details:

Just fly 16 roundtrips in 12 months and we’ll put you on our A-List where we’ll
reserve you the best boarding pass available on all your flights for an entire
year, which means you’ll most likely get an A boarding pass.

I don't like this. It's already a who-can-log-on-first contest to get an A boarding pass 24 hours before your flight. I recently logged in about 23 hours and 55 minutes before my flight and I was nearly the 50th person who had checked in (almost a B...gasp!). So with this new membership I estimate the first few dozen spots will already be held for members - especially on heavily traveled routes like Houston-Dallas where most travelers will be "in the club."

Kind of funy how Southwest has been heavily promoting their new boarding procedure but just now announced this new twist on the same day the procedure goes nationwide. Guess I need to fly a bit more (and carry a flask to make up for those drink tickets).

All Aboard

I've taken a few Southwest Airlines flights over the past few weeks and went through the new boarding process for the second time. I first happened to use it during the test phase in San Antonio last August but the Dallas-based airline is rolling it out now. All flights out of Dallas Love Field now use the lettered-and-numbered boarding pass and me likey.

Here is a copy of my computer-printed boarding pass. Notice the boarding group (A) and position (04). The number tell you where within the group you will stand in line before you board.

I like this process as it will eliminate the need for people to line up at the gate an hour before the flight. I'm an A guy, no doubt. I try to check in online as close to the 24 hour window before my flights. But I don't like getting to the gate an hour or more before flight time. That means I could be the 60th or more person to board the flight which - thanks to Southwest's open seating structure - means I could be sitting in the back or in the dreaded middle seat.

On this particular flight not one person was standing in line until the gate agent announced they were beginning to board. Then we all methodically lined up at our positions next to numbered columns.

Rolling out a new process like this to frequent and infrequent fliers could have been a nightmare but like everything Southwest does, the directions are simple as peanuts.


The only downside is that I now need to set my Outlook reminder alarm to buzz me exactly 24 hours before my flight so I can get a low number. Luckily I can do that from my web-enabled cell phone.

Luv Is Everywhere Today

It's been a while since I took a hop on Southwest Airlines. By hop I mean a quick trip to a nearby city - no check-in baggage, no kids. I hopped over to San Antonio on Monday for a tour of Toyota's Tundra truck plant. More on that later but it was way cool seeing the processes of how those monsters are put together.

I came back this afternoon and noticed a few new things from our Texas-based airline. Here's something that I've been anxious to see at airports for years. A "power station" to plug in portable gadgets while waiting at the gate. Most of the Southwest gates at the SA airport had these stands. Notice I'm topping up my iPhone. Ironically (and gratefully) there is no charge to charge your gear (that means FREE for you peeps who don't get my humor).

So I land at Hobby right on time at 4:40pm and get off the plane to fanfare, hysteria, TV cameras and a horde of photographers. Nothing out of the unusual for me until I realize this wasn't for me this time.

The Storm Troopers, Darth Vader and R2-D2 gave it away that something unusual was happening. I had walked right into a press conference for a lightsaber. When the space shuttle Discovery launches the STS-120 crew in October, the force will be with them.

George Lucas is loaning Luke Skywalker's original Jedi weapon to NASA and it arrived today via a Southwest Airlines plane from Oakland at the same time I did. So I naturally whipped out my charged iPhone and snapped some of these pics.

Wonder if Darth got an extra bag of peanuts. I could have bought him a round or 40 of cocktails with my SWA drink coupons.