Joel's Airline Travel Blog

June 23rd – June 30th, 2018

Austin Bergstrom International Airport: Standing near a parking lot bus stop waiting to be taken to our gate with my back pack and carry on luggage at my feet, I was a walking zombie for 3:30 in the morning. My parents and I were quite early for the 6:05 flight from Austin to our layover destination of Nashville for good reason. As our bus came into the Southwest section of drop-offs, we instantly looked at each other and smiled. Good thing we left the house extra early this morning. The line for security checks at four in the morning on a Saturday was backed up a good 500-600 feet. Whatever the reason of it was, I’ll never know. As my family and I made it ever closer to the actual security checks(which moved quicker than expected), they had a police dog sniffing all the passengers as they walked by. After finally making it through the security checkpoints, all we were thinking about is food. All of us had been up since 3 am and had not eaten a bite of anything. So, after some pondering of where to go, we decided to get breakfast tacos at Maudie’s Tex-Mex. And after scarfing my two tacos down, I came to the conclusion that Maudie’s Tex-Mex far above my subpar expectation of airport food. Though we were all nearly about to fall asleep any minute, we were content with food in our bellies. Although my family and I were thrown off of the incredibly long security check-in line, we were impressed at how quickly we had made it to our gate. It was early, we were tired and all we wanted to do was get going on our vacation.

Overall: B+

In Flight: For how early this flight was, some things were a little hazy while on our layover flight to Nashville. For people who have never flown with Southwest, they have an open seating policy with given group assignments of A, B, C or D. So, when it comes to seat availability, first come first serve is going to be the case instead of an actual assigned seat number like other airlines such as American or Delta. After all the passengers were boarded on our Boeing 737, our pilot did something I had never seen before. He came out on the intercom and announced the humorous flight weather charts for the path to Nashville… The pilot himself! ‘I hope you are all having a wonderful morning here in Austin, I will be your Captain today for our flight to Nashville. Flight time shows us about two hours and ten minutes, I can do it in an hour and thirty five.’ This provoked a bit of nervous laughter from the passengers. ‘On the way there I see we have some broken clouds at 4000 feet and 3000 feet as we get into Nashville. Now, I have been doing this since 1974 and have never seen a broken cloud in my life, so, if you guys see one, be sure to let me know.’ At this moment, the passengers roared in laughter as any sort of their fears or jitters for this flight vanished, myself included. The pilot then went into his cockpit and we were off on our way to Nashville. And as it turns out, the pilot was right! Our flight lasted just over an hour and a half and was fairly smooth throughout. For a 6:05 Southwest airlines flight, it was one to remember and one that boosted my opinion for Southwest’s brand even almost a year later.

Overall: A

Nashville International Airport: The layover to Ronald Reagan Int’l airport was a short one. About the only thing my family had time for was coffee. So, as we got off our flight, we went straight to Starbucks for the time being. Nashville is not a particularly big airport, about the same size of Austin comparatively. Given that, it wasn’t terribly crowded and it wasn’t terribly difficult to navigate compared to other big airports with multiple terminals in them. Although the time was short in Nashville, I felt welcomed and felt the hospitality of Southwest just as good of an experience as it was during my flight here.

Overall: B+

In Flight: Unfortunately, the experience I had with the previous pilot from Austin to Nashville, this pilot did not come out of his cockpit to shed light of his flight charts (shucks, right?). From Nashville to Washington D.C., the flight was quite short of an hour and a half. This flight was a bit more rough to say the least for the second one of our day. Out of Nashville, a belt of storms were sweeping northeast towards the D.C. area. During the whole flight, the seat belt sign was on pretty much the majority of the flight with intermittent turbulence throughout. But, the service of the flight attendants was nothing short of the expectation from Southwest. Very friendly and quirky, but also stern when they needed to be with the presence of turbulence a commonality. Coming into the D.C. area, the weather was pretty crappy with clouds and small amounts of precipitation on our descent. During this time, the views of the Potomac river were easy on the eyes to say the least. From the views of the river to the views of the Atlantic as well, they were all incredible to me. Given this was my first time in the D.C./Baltimore area, the landscape was all new to me and my experiences in life. With a very smooth landing into Ronald Reagan, Southwest made it a very nice welcome into the D.C. area.

Overall: A

Washington D.C.: My time in the D.C. area was unforgettable. From the time we first stepped off the plane, it immediately was a majestic feeling for me. Growing up as a kid, Patriotism has always been an ever present emotion in my life. While on this trip, seeing the history of America and the value behind all of the monuments and areas of interest was just overwhelming for me. My family and I were here for a week and it was honestly not enough time to truly take in all that Washington D.C. had to offer. From hopping around in the countless numbers of Smithsonian museums, to visiting the various monuments around town. Coming from Austin, Texas, having a vehicle for getting around town is a common sight to see. But in D.C., subway is the main form of transportation for many of the D.C. residents. Our hotel was located in Arlington, Virginia, which was across the Potomac from the National Mall of countless Smithsonian museums and various monuments as well. So, that meant my family and I were going to be needing a way across the river and Uber or Lyft would have just been too expensive for every day use for a whole week. After not much thought at all, we decided to conform to the ways of the local residents and use the subway as our means of travel. And it worked out quite nicely for our feet. The only downside about being a tourist in the D.C. area is going to be the walking around the National Mall area. By the third day, my feet and body were feeling the mileage of the long, daily walks (being out of shape could have been a possibility but we’ll assume that last). As I said before, the feeling of patriotism has always been present in my life and I truly exploded with it as we toured the Arlington cemetery. While here, I highly recommend taking the tour that takes you around a good portion of the cemetery. Covered seats trailer cars to keep the sun out and a tour guide to shed light of information as well was a nice touch. Not only was I feeling incredibly proud of my country and overflowing with gratitude for the multitude of stones present, but I was also feeling a sense of sorrow not only for the men and women buried, but their families as well. To see a sight like Arlington cemetery was an experience that plainly left me speechless and something I would recommend to anyone who is ever in the D.C. area for their first time. In short, my time in Washington D.C. was a memory I will cherish forever. As I said before, there is just incredibly so much to do in a matter of a week, which may be overwhelming to some. But, if you are there for only a few days, I would recommend starting with the monuments such as the George Washington monument, Lincoln memorial and the Capital.

Overall: A+

I’m going to say this first, my trip to Washington D.C. was in all honesty unforgettable. From the Arlington cemetery to the monuments and National Mall, it truly was memorable. For anyone who is looking to fly Southwest in the near future, I would recommend. As I am not the biggest fan of the open seating, I never enjoyed Southwest my first time around. But, it eventually grew on me because of their customer service and their passion towards their jobs. For only my third time on a Southwest flight, I thought it was nothing short of top notch. Not only does Southwest have a knack for caring for their customers, but they also care about our pockets as Southwest tickets have been universally known to be lower than other carriers. Overall, this was a great trip to a great destination thanks to Southwest and the city of Washington D.C. that I think many others should relish in just like my family and I did!

Overall Trip: A