A Good Seat on Southwest

In my post from last week, I mentioned that I live in Salt Lake but work in the San Francisco area. That means I do a lot of flying. I have traveled my whole career and so this is no big deal. The way to make it bearable is to know a few travel tricks. Things like wearing slip-on shoes to the airport so you don't have to do a lot of shoe tying at the security line.

However, the most important trick is to know how to get a good seat on Southwest airlines. I buy my plane tickets several weeks in advance and Southwest generally has the best prices. That means I don't get a seat when I make my reservation. Yes, I have the option of paying an extra fee that allows me to board before everyone, but I found a less expensive solution that helps to be in the first boarding group.

Southwest allows you to check-in, 24 hours before your flight. The order you check in, is the order that you get to board the plane (behind those that paid the extra fee). When I make my flight reservation, I also make an entry in the calendar on my phone. I then set the reminder on my phone so that exactly 24 hours before my flight I can start the check-in process. Since I have an iPhone, I also have the Southwest application which allows me to check in from anywhere. Last week I was at the car wash when the alarm went off. I silenced the alarm and was checked in before the wash cycle completed.

Now that I figured out how to use my calendar to help me remember to check in for flights, I should probably throw in some important dates, like my anniversary and wife's birthday. That reminds me, Mother's Day is just around the corner. Now if I only knew what to get the mother of my children . . .

Travel Day

I am on the road again today. I woke up this morning to catch an early flight to the Bay Area and will be on a flight back home later this evening. I prefer to do a one-day trip as opposed to spending the night in a hotel. There is something very comforting about sleeping in your own bed.

I bought my ticket on Tuesday and so the cheapest airline was Southwest. Those that fly a lot know that Southwest doesn't have assigned seating. You are basically assigned an order that they use to load the plane. The sooner you check into your flight, the sooner you get to board the plane. This makes Internet check-in a very useful tool. The only rule is that you can't check into your flight earlier than 24-hours before it departs. That means if you flight is at 7am MST on Thursday, you can't check in until 7am MST on Wednesday.

I had a conference call yesterday morning when I could have been checking into my flight and so I had to wait until I was done before I could get on the Internet. I was still in the early boarding group and so I was happy with my plane boarding order. Last night when it came time to check in, I was at a Snowbird Ski Team Board meeting. I thought about using my iPhone to check in during the meeting. The only problem was that I needed my confirmation number and I didn't have it with me. I had to wait until I got home. When I finally did check in, I was stuck in the second boarding group.

This morning's flight out was not very full as there were only 60 people on the whole plane. My hope is that the flight home is equally empty. Unfortunately, I don't think that will be the case. Thursday afternoons are huge travel times. In any case, the secret to getting a good Southwest flight is to be on the Internet 24 hours before your flight leaves. And don't forgot to have your flight confirmation number with you.