# Flying Southwest Airlines Cross-Country **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 8, 2006, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615 "2006-02-08T23:26:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/1 "2006-02-08T23:26:18Z")
Has anyone flown Southwest cross-country? I’ve flown them once before, but it was a relatively short flight: next week I’ll be flying them from Maryland to California. Can anyone confirm whether they offer an in-flight movie (I’ve heard that they don’t)? Is it a safe bet to expect dinner service on a flight that takes off at ~3:00pm Eastern and lands at ~7:00 Pacific? Just how “budget” are they? 🙂 Also, this will be the longest flight I’ve taken in more than 20 years, and will be my first cross-country flight … any warnings/suggestions? I take a lot of short flights (like from DC to NYC) and am a good flyer, so I know the basics about air travel, but I’m wondering if there’s anything specific to a 7-hour flight that I should consider or know about. (Aside from getting up and walking around every now and then so that I don’t die from an embolism. ;)) ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/2 "2006-02-08T23:34:00Z")
Southwest was one of the first “no-frills” airlines, and they mean it. No in-flight movies, no food, no reserved seats. Any food you want to eat, bring it with you. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/3 "2006-02-08T23:37:19Z")
If it’s Southwest, it surely won’t be non-stop. You may not have to get off to change planes, but if you do you might have time to grab a bite at the food court. Other than that, what **FBG[said**. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/4 "2006-02-08T23:41:03Z")
Absolutely NO on movies and food. And yeah, I’d be surprised if you don’t have to change planes. I’ve flown from CA to Providence, RI and managed to keep the same plane, but had 2 stops. Pack a lunch and bring a book. Having said that, I fly SW often. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/5 "2006-02-09T00:24:56Z")
Southwest does have a couple of non-stops between BWI and LAX, otherwise, expect a change, or at least a layover at Las Vegas (LAS), Chicago Midway (MDW) or Kansas City (MCI) As everyone else said - if you want to eat anything other than a little bag of pretzels, you need to bring it. Do be thoughtful of everyone else around you and don’t bring something stinky. No movies, no audio from the armrest - you need to be self-entertaining. Seats - the airplane will either be a Boeing 737-300 or a 737-300. Their whole fleet is the same airplane, so the seating’s the same. Aside from the exit rows, seating is first-come, first sat, just like a transit bus. If you want to have a choice of where you sit, be there \*\*EARLY \*\* and hope to be in boarding group A. Group C is almost guaranteed to have nothing left but the dreaded middle seats. Unless everyone in Group A is frail, don’t expect much chance of snagging an exit row seat if you’re not one of the first twenty people to check in. As for how to survive a long flight - Northwest Airlines has a [dandy page describing a bunch of exercises you can do in your seat](http://www.nwa.com/travel/tips/tips.html), in addition to walking laps up and down the aisle. Print it and put it in your cary-on. Drink water at every opportunity - after 7 hours, you’d otherwise be very dehydrated. Drinking a lot of water has the side benefit of making you get up now and then to walk to the lav. And note that I said water - not cocktails, beer, or caffeinated drinks. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/6 "2006-02-09T00:33:05Z")
> [@](#): > > the airplane will either be a Boeing 737-300 or a 737-300. Ah, so they’re 1960’s style passenger airplanes. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/7 "2006-02-09T00:37:41Z")
I can’t say I’ve had an inflight meal for years on any airline, but then again, I’ve only been flying halfway across the country (Chicago to the coasts) during the last few years. So I’d say you should bring food onto any flight regardless of airline unless you’re spending many, many hours onboard and were guaranteed a meal. Southwest does serve beverages and some tiny snack like cookies or pretzels. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/8 "2006-02-09T00:41:10Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Has anyone flown Southwest cross-country? I’ve flown them once before, but it was a relatively short flight: next week I’ll be flying them from Maryland to California. Can anyone confirm whether they offer an in-flight movie (I’ve heard that they don’t)? Is it a safe bet to expect dinner service on a flight that takes off at ~3:00pm Eastern and lands at ~7:00 Pacific? Just how “budget” are they? 🙂 There will be no movies, and no food other than snacks. You should check in online as soon after midnight the night before as you can, so you get in the A boarding group. There are no assigned seats, and they board by groups. If you are in the A boarding group, you will probably have a pretty good choice of seats and spots in the overhead bin for your carry-on bags. Oh, and don’t even think about not rushing up to get in line as soon as your boarding group is called. If you have to change planes, you will have two flight numbers. If you have only one flight number, you won’t have to change planes, but there almost certainly will be stops. If you have to change planes, and manage to get in the A boarding group, sit as close to the front as possible, so you can be on your way to your next flight instead of waiting for everyone in front of you to get off. Where in California are you flying to? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/9 "2006-02-09T00:42:03Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Ah, so they’re 1960’s style passenger airplanes. Perhaps, but that keeps maintenance costs low, which keeps fares low. ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/10 "2006-02-09T00:44:22Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Ah, so they’re 1960’s style passenger airplanes. Well if the model number is your measure then I guess most planes are 1960’s and 70’s model aircraft. The majority of their planes are 737-700 which went into production in 1997. They have a fair number of 300 and 500 series jets which at worst are early 1980’s vintage. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/11 "2006-02-09T00:55:38Z")
Back in November I flew Southwest from Los Angeles to Chicago Midway, nonstop. It was actually pretty pleasant. There was no meal, but we got a quite substantial (by modern standards) snack - a box with 4-5 snack-y items (granola bar, crackers, etc.) inside. On one leg I exchanged a laugh with the flight attendant about how this “budget airline” gave me more food on the plane than any “full service airline” had in quite a while (which is true). I ate it and enjoyed it. 🙂 The secret to boarding is checking in online as close to 24 hours before departure as you can manage (although any time the day before is probably sufficient). You’ll get assigned to a zone based on the time you do that, so you can print out a boarding pass that’s almost certain to be on Zone A. If you just want an aisle seat, Zone A should be more than adequate for that since you’ll be in the first 1/3 of the flight to board - and 1/3 of the seats are on the aisle. No inflight movie, though. I had my trepidations about the whole cattle-car approach going in, but I’d fly Southwest again quite readily. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/12 "2006-02-09T01:01:20Z")
Back in November I flew Southwest from Los Angeles to Chicago Midway, nonstop. It was actually pretty pleasant. There was no meal, but we got a quite substantial (by modern standards) snack - a box with 4-5 snack-y items (granola bar, crackers, etc.) inside. On one leg I exchanged a laugh with the flight attendant about how this “budget airline” gave me more food on the plane than any “full service airline” had in quite a while (which is true). A useful trick regarding boarding is to check in online as close to 24 hours before departure as you can manage (although any time the day before is probably sufficient). You’ll get assigned to a zone based on the time you do that, so you can print out a boarding pass that’s almost certain to be in Zone A. (I suspect, but cannot confirm, that it may be nearly impossible to get Zone A if you wait until arrival at the airport to check in.) If you just want an aisle seat, Zone A should be more than adequate for that since you’ll be in the first 1/3 of the flight to board - and 1/3 of the seats are on the aisle. No inflight movie, though. I had my trepidations about the whole cattle-car approach going in, but I’d fly Southwest again quite readily. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/13 "2006-02-09T01:03:02Z")
Dammit! :smack: My second post above is, in fact, slightly different from the first. As if that’s any excuse… ---
**Author:** ![KeithT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@KeithT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KeithT)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/14 "2006-02-09T01:14:47Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > If you want to have a choice of where you sit, be there \*\*EARLY \*\* and hope to be in boarding group A. Group C is almost guaranteed to have nothing left but the dreaded middle seats. Unless everyone in Group A is frail, don’t expect much chance of snagging an exit row seat if you’re not one of the first twenty people to check in. I can’t emphasize enough the benefits of checking in early to get in the “A” group. However, you no longer need to get to the airport super early, since Southwest has online checkin. You can (and should) get your boarding passes from [southwest.com](http://southwest.com) up to 24 hours before scheduled departure – and of course, earlier is better. If you don’t have a printer, that’s OK; you can always reprint your boarding pass when you get to the airport, while keeping the same boarding group assignment. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/15 "2006-02-09T01:39:53Z")
I’ve flown Southwest several times from NY (Islip & Albany) to Albuquerque and Phoenix. I think they’re great and would fly on them every time if I could, anywhere. They cut out all the extraneous crap, are cheerful about it, and on almost every flight I’ve been on they arrived EARLY! ---
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/16 "2006-02-09T02:05:51Z")
They’re a very good company, but do check in online. I thought it was midnight the day of your flight, but it might be 24h in advance. No matter what it is, find out and do it. You’ll be a miserable gal if you’re in the “C” boarding class. Bring a snack and a book, but they do offer in-flight drinks. I’ve done N/S to Albuquerque with them, and it was fairly good. But the point really is that they’ve cut the amenities to the bone to fly cheaply, so throw your thoughts of what a cross counrty flight should be out the window. But **Mach Truck** is right that Southwest’s staff is always friendly, and very competent. ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/17 "2006-02-09T03:06:51Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Has anyone flown Southwest cross-country? I’ve flown them once before, but it was a relatively short flight: next week I’ll be flying them from Maryland to California. Can anyone confirm whether they offer an in-flight movie (I’ve heard that they don’t)? Is it a safe bet to expect dinner service on a flight that takes off at ~3:00pm Eastern and lands at ~7:00 Pacific? Just how “budget” are they? 🙂 > > Also, this will be the longest flight I’ve taken in more than 20 years, and will be my first cross-country flight … any warnings/suggestions? I take a lot of short flights (like from DC to NYC) and am a good flyer, so I know the basics about air travel, but I’m wondering if there’s anything specific to a 7-hour flight that I should consider or know about. (Aside from getting up and walking around every now and then so that I don’t die from an embolism. ;)) If you or anyone in your party is a “person of size”, pleas check here: > **[Customer of Size FAQ | Southwest Airlines](https://www.southwest.com/faq/extra-seat-policy)** > > Get information about the Southwest Airlines policy for customers of size. Find our FAQ on purchasing a second seat for safe and comfortable seating onboard. ---
**Author:** ![KeithT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@KeithT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KeithT)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/18 "2006-02-09T03:07:51Z")
> [@BlueKangaroo](#): > > I thought it was midnight the day of your flight, but it might be 24h in advance. It used to be midnight; Southwest changed their policy in October. It makes those early morning flights more palatable – much healthier not to wake up in the middle of the night if you have a 6 AM departure! **Mach Tuck** , I know exactly what you mean about early arrivals. The last time **taxi78cab** flew out to see me, her flight arrived at the gate nearly 40 minutes ahead of schedule – on a two hour westbound flight. ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/19 "2006-02-09T03:08:21Z")
> [@Veuve\_ClicquotNJ](#): > > If you or anyone in your party is a “person of size”, pleas check here: > > [http://www.southwest.com/travel\_center/cos\_qa.html](http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/cos_qa.html) Ugh - as I finish my prematurely posted posting :wally: Other airlines have similar policies, but to my knowledge they are nowhere near as rabid about enforcement as Southwest. VCNJ~ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615/20 "2006-02-09T03:13:05Z")
I plan to fly Southwest from Albany to San Diego the end of the month, so this topic is of interest. I seem to be on the same plane the entire flight, though it’s listed as having one stop. I will have an inflight movie: I’ve downloaded a few flicks from [archive.org](http://archive.org) and can watch them on my laptop. I also plan to bring a sandwich and a bottle of water, plus a book. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-southwest-airlines-cross-country/343615.md?page=2)