Tag: Southwest

From the Airplane

I’m writing this while flying just east of the North Carolina coast at 30,998 feet. I know that because I’m on Song, Delta’s airline within an airline.

Song is supposed to be an airline that can compete with the discount independents like Southwest and JetBlue. My round trip fare to Florida, $116.70&#185 is certainly a bargain.

The plane itself is a pretty pedestrian Boeing 757. It is configured as a one class with 3+3 seating. The color scheme is blue and a muted light green. The flight attendants wear designer outfits from Kate Spade (or possibly her husband, I can’t remember).

The pre-flight briefing was done by a recorded voice. She was over the top sultry with an over the top script to read. I presume it’s part of Song’s positioning.

On the back of each seat is an LCD touch screen. Once the plane is in the air, the screen controls individual channels of entertainment (movies, live satellite TV, music, a trivia game or flight tracking).

I like the idea of live TV while flying. It works pretty well, though not perfectly. As we were taking off and the plane made some turns, we lost the signal. Every time an announcement is made or someone hits a call button, the TV audio stops.

People hit the call button more often than you’d think!

I like the idea of a TV, but the flight’s half over and I’m not watching. I’m playing the music trivia game – fighting it out with whoever’s in 15F.

The monitor itself is wider than a normal TV. The broadcasts that are seen are stretched to fit, so everyone looks a little heavier… a little dumpier. As someone who is on TV, this bothers me. It probably won’t bother you as much.

If my two checked bags are out on time, I’ll consider Song a success.

&#185 – the $116.70 fare includes $25.54 in tax leaving $91.16 for the airline.

I’m Upset With First USA Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa

I am upset, again, at the way my credit card account is handled. This afternoon the card was denied for a purchase. Of course the credit card is totally current and has never been late&#185.

The battery on my car died last week (a story in itself). After six years it’s probably given me all I could ask for, so I had Steve at the Exxon station get me a new one. He installed it today and I gave him my First USA Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards VISA to pay. Perfect. No problem. Right through.

We stood around and schmoozed for a while and then, before leaving, I realized I might as well fill the car with gas. So I drove it to the pump, ran the card and… nothing. In fact we tried it three times and then tried running it through the reader in the gas station’s office. DENIED.

You tell me, what impression would you have of someone who handed you a credit card that had been stopped?

This time (this is not the first, second or third time this has happened) I had the presence of mind to pick up my cellphone and call First USA. After entering the account number, part of my mother’s maiden name and a bit of my Social Security number, a computer started reading off our recent purchases – asking me if I recognized them.

I did recognize most, but this is an account used by both Helaine and me. I had some idea what she had bought recently, but didn’t specifically recognize one purchase that was probably OK.

The problem in dealing with a machine like this is there are no gray areas. I couldn’t ask for more information on purchase 4. It was either yea or nay. I said yea.

It turns out going through this purchasing quiz was enough to restart the card, but First USA didn’t tell me that! I had to speak to an operator to make that discovery. She also told me this hold was caused by my unusual pattern of purchases.

I see their point. What could be more suspicious than buying a battery and gasoline at a gas station that I have gone to at least once or twice a week for more than a decade? How could I have been so foolish?

Astute readers might remember me kvetching about this card in the past. Then why, you might ask, am I still with it… it’s not like there’s a shortage of VISA issuers. The answer is Southwest Airlines and their mileage program. This might be the best free flight program around, and I’ve became a major Southwest fan.

However, if Southwest decided to move their business to a different card issuer tomorrow, I would shed no tears.

&#185 – With Helaine running the finances we haven’t gotten a late notice for anything… anything… in well over 20 years. When I was single and ran my own financial life… well, it just wasn’t pretty.

Nearly Worthless Mileage

We did some vacation planning today. Over the past few years we have changed our family’s airline loyalty from USAirways to Southwest. We haven’t been unhappy. Southwest has met our expectations.

Still, we have USAirways miles left in our account. Steffie has over 40,000 and I have a little less than 30,000. Today we tried to use them

We were thinking of going to California in March and I would like to visit my parents in Florida in January. We went scouring on the USAirways website.

No matter how we sliced it, our flights were unavailable.

USAirways shares their frequent flier program with United – an alliance that can’t be booked online. So, that remains a possibility. I am, however, not optimistic based on prior experiences.

I called USAirways on the phone to double check on the United deal. This truly was voice mail hell. I had to go through three or four levels of prompts, with long explanations and admonitions to go to their website, before being left to listen to ads and advised my wait was five more minutes.

Their menu options have changed. Whose hasn’t?

What I don’t understand is why most airlines avoid Southwest’s very easy, very customer pleasing, solution. If a flight is available, you can book it with miles – period. There are a few minor date restrictions, but compared to the draconian controls used by the legacy carriers, it’s amazing. And, the mileage requirement is much, much less.

I really want to use these miles before USAirways goes out of business.

Greetings From Las Vegas

Good morning from seat 7F, cruising at 35,000 feet. I’m typing this aboard our non-stop Southwest flight to Las Vegas. Outside the plane, the Sun is shining. Puffy white clouds sit thousands of feet below. The ride is smooth.

As is customary on getaway day, we were up early. Very early. Outside, it was pouring. The Accuweather meteorologist on WCBS (they hide the fact that it’s Accuweather providing their forecasts since co-owned WINS has promoted Accuweather exclusivity for years) said there were thunderstorms and flooding in the area.

With a plethora of unused cell phone minutes, I transferred our home phone to my cell number. We’ll see how that works.

Instead of pulling the car out front, I loaded the bags in the garage. Farther to carry, but worth it to stay dry. If I needed to, I could have rearranging for more room, but with casual throws, the bags filled the rear of the Explorer.

It’s a holiday, so the traffic was light. Parking the car and the ride to the terminal were uneventful. Checking the bags was not.

We have locks on our bags. The locks are approved by the TSA and their employees are supposed to have master keys. The screener said he could get a key, but it would be easier if we’d unlock them and he’d see they were locked before hitting the log flume ride they take on their way to the plane.

As Helaine watched, they went through the X-Ray machine and then onto the belt without being relocked. By the time she told me, they were on their way downstairs – unlocked.

It’s not as if someone wants to steal my underwear, but there are some valuable items in there. It was out of the TSA’s control. If Southwest wanted to help, they could… and they did.

My hero is Jeanette, a counter agent at Southwest. She went downstairs and found my bags. And, when the lock wouldn’t work, she called the desk and asked me to help her on the phone.

There’s another reason to like Jeanette. This morning at 12:01 AM, I went on Southwest’s website to print boarding passes. Helaine and Steffie got into Group “A”. Because my ticket used a paper frequent flyer voucher, I couldn’t get a pass. When Jeanette saw our plight, she hand wrote a note on my boarding pass to let us go together.

Neither task was a big deal, but she did both with a smile, even though she was working at an ungodly hour on, what to most folks was, a holiday morning. She is part of the reason we have switched our allegiance to Southwest. There will be a note sent to Southwest commending her when we return.

The flight got off on time.

I like to sleep while flying, and did sleep a little, but this was a “Gus Souflas” flight. Gus is… or probably was a pilot for a major airline. One day, as my friend Howard flew coast-to-coast, Gus decided to note the crossing of every state boundary.

Today’s pilot was on the PA four or five times, always ending with the exact distance to Las Vegas.

From the air it’s astounding to see how much of the country looks empty. No disrespect to folks who live in the ‘great flyover’ but there does seem to be loads of unused space.

We flew south of Denver, over Colorado Springs. As we crossed the Rockies, there were still lots of snow covered peaks. No mountain was ‘capped’ with snow, like an idyllic picture of Mt. Fuji, but there were many veins of white.

We got to Las Vegas right on time. There’s construction in the baggage claim area and things were really jammed up. Thankfully, all our bags came – though the locks never were locked on one of the bags.

We went to Dollar to get our car. We had reserved a Dodge Intrepid, or similar. They were out of that class of car, so they said take a Pacifica – a car I’d never heard of, but turns out to be a six passenger, roomy cross between a van and SUV.

When we went to check out, the amount on our contract was different than what we were quoted. Unreal! It always happens. Is this a scam or what?

I had to go back to the office and work it out, which removes the advantage of being a Dollar Fast Lane member. But, things are now correct – and the car is nice.

My parents are seeing Mama Mia tonight at Mandalay Bay. The tickets were on Helaine’s name. So, we stopped there (and I double parked in what looked like a bus area) and she went to the box office. Then we stopped at Walgreen’s for a few cases of water.

I have never seen Las Vegas more crowded. It’s unreal. The sidewalks are jammed with people and Las Vegas Boulevard moved at a crawl. We turned in to the Mirage valet area and ended up in a long line of cars. Helaine got out while I made my way to the front of the line.

Helaine says nothing she asked for was here! Not a room near the elevator. Not two rooms nearby – one for us, one for Steffie and her friend Ali. Not a Strip view.

Still, the room is very nice. After all, it’s the Mirage – one of the most beautiful hotels in Las Vegas.

On the way to the room we ran into my folks and then my sister and brother-in-law. Only Cousin Michael, Melissa and Max are AWOL. I’m sure we’ll see them soon.

Meanwhile, a call to the Bell Desk says it will be at least 30 minutes until we get our bags! Helaine can’t wait. She’s showering. I’m writing.

More later from Fabulous Las Vegas.

What Have I Forgotten?

We’re about 12 hours from airplane departure for Las Vegas. What have I forgotten?

Most of my packing is done by Helaine. It’s much better that way since I have the same sense of fashion I had in 1967 – and that’s not a good thing. I do have some responsibilities, like my toiletries and electronics.

The toiletries are easy, because I’m taking what I use on a daily basis and just throwing it in a little bag. Everything is congregated around the sink. If anything looks like there’s not enough for a week, I just take a new one and leave the old one for my return. Brainless. I’m perfect for this.

Electronics is different, because I’m taking things I might not use everyday – things which are spread out across my home office. Do I have the right cables for the camera? The right peripherals for the computer? Forget the 10/100 PCMCIA card and forget about the Internet. Or, is it 802.11b? I took one of those adapters too… and a dial-up modem. Who can tell? The Dell laptop has a charger with the longest power cable I’ve ever seen on an electronic device. You can plug it in in a different time zone if you want.

I have 12 AA NiMH batteries and three chargers. The digital camera sucks juice like crazy. There’s also a small can of compressed air. Lately, I have noticed some dust inside the camera lens. The air gets rid of it. Is compressed air restricted by TSA in this post-9/11 era?

I’ve finished up the last of my school work, taking three weeks of classes in two courses over the last few days. As the week goes by I’ll be able to check the online bulletin board and watch my grades pop up. It is very unlike me to be early for anything – certainly not school!

My last assignment comes at 12:01 AM. I will be on Southwest’s site getting our boarding passes. With no assigned seats, getting a Southwest “A” pass is crucial.

Then it’s to bed, never letting one thought out of my mind. What have I forgotten?

Greetings from Boynton Beach

I have arrived – and it’s warm! What more could you ask for? Considering what I saw when I walked out the door today, Florida is especially nice.

Getting to Florida today was much easier than I ever imagined. First, the snow was over early and there really wasn’t all that much of it. Second, the roads were in good shape. Third, the airport was in good shape. Fourth, Southwest – excellent.

My flight was scheduled to leave at 12:15 PM. On the way to the airport my pocket started vibrating. It was a text message on my cellphone from Southwest. The flight was on time and would be leaving from Gate 2.

Helaine pulled up at the brand new terminal at Bradley International. Compared to the old “bus terminal” it is phenomenal. But, it’s still pretty sterile with too much wasted vertical space to suit me. However, remember what it was before!

Gate 2 is pretty close. I got there early enough to watch a flight to Orlando board and leave.

Let me add here that the Bradley Airport experience would be greatly improved with the addition of Cinnabon. If there’s one in the new terminal, I didn’t find it. Cinnabon is required eating for air travel in the new century.

I struck up a conversation with the gate agent. It looked like the flight would be 2/3 full. So, even though I had a “B” boarding pass (no assigned seats on Southwest) I was in no hurry. As it turned out, I had a full three seat cluster and slept for about an hour. Unlike some other airlines, the Southwest seatbelts stowed nicely out of the way for comfortable sleeping in the airborn fetal postion.

The plane was nice. Southwest flies 737’s and nothing else. There are different model and configurations, but they’re all 737’s. The seats were leather and firm. The plane looked clean, though it was 8 years old. It’s tough to judge legroom and seat width when you’re all alone, but both seemed adequate.

The flight to Tampa was fine. There was a little light turbulence, but it only helped put me to sleep.

After waking up, I struck up a conversation with a flight attendant. The first thing I told her was the first thing I noticed – the Southwest attitude. Everyone was friendly. Everyone was happy. I know this is an overstatement. Even in the best of jobs there are people who are upset, or hate the boss, or feel overlooked and overworked. Still, the aura was there. As someone who’s flown mostly United and USAirways over the last few years (two airlines in financial troubles with labor unrest) it was easy to pick up the vibe.

I had planned on watching a lecture for my Synoptic Meteorology class, but after 7:30 minutes I pulled out the GPS receiver and watched our progress instead.

It was a ‘nerdy cool’, seeing the map and our position, then looking out the window and seeing everything where it was supposed to be. Where I-75 bent on the map, it bent in real life. Lakes and streams were positioned correctly.

We landed in Tampa about 20 minutes early. One of the flight attendants joked on the P.A., “You tell your friends when we’re late. Let them know we were early.” And now I have.

The early arrival added to the ground time in Tampa. I sat on an arm rest and talked with a Connecticut couple and their 21 year old twin daughters. They were on their way to Key West. The dad was a dead ringer for John Goodman, though I didn’t want to say anything, in case he had seen King Ralph or hated Goodman for other more cryptic and sinister reasons.

The door to the cockpit was open, and I asked the flight attendant if I might go up and take some photos. When I got their, the co-pilot had left the cockpit, so I schmoozed with the pilot who asked me if I wanted to sit down. Then he took my picture, at the controls. OK – we were at the gate, but still… It’s a guy thing. I can’t explain it.

The plane was around 1/4 full when we took off for the short run to West Palm Beach. As we headed skyward I studied what looked like cirrus clouds. Closer inspection leads me to believe it was a massive cluster of jet contrails which, in the nearly calm Florida atmosphere, slowly atrophied as it expanded.

My folks were waiting at PBI. They look great. Florida living is life extension. They have a great time and live the best lifestyle they’ve ever had. As I get older, this type of retirement life seems more enticing.

I knew a friend from high school, Ralph Press, was now living in South Florida, so I gave him a call and asked him over for dinner. Though his car was seriously smoking from the engine compartment when he got here, the rest of the journey seemed uneventful.

Ralph looks exactly the same as I remember him. Of course, he’s a lot older – that’s a given. But many people radically change as they age. Ralph has not.

We had dinner and worked on my parents wireless computer network. The network seems to be working except with my laptop. And, the laptop is giving me an error message I’ve never seen before. I have some CAT5 cable, so it’s not a major deal. I can plug-in. But, I will obsess until I fix it and go wireless again.

Bad News, Bad News

Helaine woke me up early this morning. She, as my driver, is concerned about the forecast for tomorrow. The map piece on the left, a little snippet of what I’ve looked at, says a few things. It shows between &#188″ and &#189″ of liquid equivalent over Connecticut by 7:00 AM tomorrow. The two sets of lines show it won’t be too windy but it will be cold enough aloft snow. Other maps, that you don’t see, show this event over at, or before, 7:00 AM.

Bottom line, 3-5″ of snow on the ground.

If you’d like to be a geek in training, these forecast maps are part of an ever changing suite of maps published around the clock by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, in Silver Spring. MD.

I called Southwest. They’ll move me to today – if I pay about double my current fare!

The plan right now is for Helaine and me to get up early and do our best getting to the airport. The hope is I-91, our main route, won’t be too bad. However, I-91 is the road that separated me from the radio station early this season when &#188″ fell!

This story is not yet over.

The Weatherman’s the Last to Know

So, here I am at 3:30 AM, schmoozing on IM with my friend Bob in Florida, when he springs it on me. The computer models are now calling for about &#188″ of precipitation on Monday, my getaway day. And, to make matters worse, it looks like snow.

The snow had been in my forecast, but as recently as Friday it looked quite minor, like flurries or snow showers. Earlier, it seemed like it might be a mix of precipitation.

This forecast calls for about 2-3″ for my drive the Bradley Airport (and Helaine’s drive home). And then there’s always the chance that flights will be delayed due to weather.

Depending on what’s going on later today, maybe I’ll give Southwest a call and see how cooperative they are?

My $222.50 ticket is now closer to $400, so they might not want to make an even swap. On the other hand, if they anticipate bad weather for Monday too, and how can they not, maybe they don’t want me hanging around in the airport.

Now that I’ve written all this, I realize that maybe I’m becoming a little bit of a wuss. After all, I lived in Buffalo. How bad can 2-3″ of snow be?

High Alert – Steffie Flies

We’re under a High Alert from the Department of Homeland Security. Hopefully, police and security agencies know what to do, but for us mere mortals there are few clues.

The official word is, “Go about your business.” Great. It’s like being told not to think about an elephant in pajamas. What else could you possibly think of after that?

If you boil this alert down to its essence, the only effect it’s having on the general public is to scare us. If we’re not supposed to do anything different, what other benefit is there?

Meanwhile, Steffie had reservations to fly to Florida and visit my folks. This was going to be our first experience with Southwest, after switching my frequent flier allegiance to them a few months ago.

Helaine and I never talked about it, but there was no point when we considered changing Steffie’s plans. I feel confident in the safety of air travel. Beyond that, it would seem a Southwest 737 from Hartford to West Palm Beach via Tampa would be a very unlikely target.

Speaking of Southwest, the report back from the airport was mostly positive. Helaine and Steffie got there early so Steffie could be in “Group A” under Southwest’s non-reserved seating policy. Depending on when you check in, you’re assigned A, B or C. A’s board first and have their choice of seats and overhead storage.

There had been a time when National Guardsmen inspected cars on their way to the parking garage at Bradley Airport. Not so today when you’d expect it.

Southwest is in the new terminal at Bradley and Helaine reports it’s bigtime. Southwest allows three bags at 70 pounds apiece, so Steffie was easily accommodated. Helaine asked for, and was quickly issued, a gate pass, so she could stay with Steffie while she waited to board. We were expecting good, friendly service from Southwest and weren’t disappointed.

Once onboard, in row 7, Steffie called Helaine to let her know things were fine. The next call came after arriving in Tampa. All I got was a reply to my cellphone text message. Without going into the entire message, I’m a loser.

It’s OK. It was said with love. I think.

Steffie’s flight made it on time. Now, she gets a full week of being spoiled (and listening to A&E at stun level volume) with my folks.

The house will be eerily quiet, and though Steffie and I are often at odds, I will miss her.

Southwest VISA revisited

I got to the bottom of the credit card flap thing morning.

In 2000, three years ago, my mutual fund says they sent me new checks and had me sign for them. This May, they stopped honoring the old checks. I’ve been using the old ones all along, so they could have told me I was headed for a tree.

Bottom line – they’re wiring $5,000 into my checking account. They will waive any fees. Southwest’s VISA will refund my bounced check fee and will wire $5,000 from my Wachovia checking account. Wachovia, an innocent bystander, will probably charge me to receive the wire transfer (and make a huge profit on it).

Is this chapter closed? It should be. It probably isn’t.