Seat: Very Good
Food & Drink : Very Good
Entertainment : (None)
Cabin Crew : Below Average
Breezed through check-in by using kerbside service , had already looked inside & saw the long long long queues. However, this time no tip was needed - check-in desks were set up outside & I brought luggage to check-in agent myself (unlike EWR 4 days prior!).
Long queues through security, but breezed through quite quickly.
Once onboard, seat was ok. Southwest's open-boarding policy isnt wholly accurate - they allocated you as an A, B, or C - and your called to board accordingly... Dunno how it works, but most people in the 'A' row were all dressed up in suits etc , whilst I always travel smartly dressed - I was also on the cheapest travel fare.... found myself as a 'C'.
Add to that the fact it was a thru-flight from Hartford to PHX that we were joining & that once all boarded the flight had 1 empty seat... Allround not a great seating policy.
So - a tad annoyed once boarding near last (angered by fact I was in the first 20people to be sat waiting at the gate) - although I wound up with a seat in row 5 ... my wife was back cica row 17. Yup - due to the very full plane, thats as close as we could get - both middle seats.
the 'worst' thing about this way of seating is how some people abuse it.... A family of 5 travelling.... had 3d, 3f ,4a, 5d, and, 5f. Which made the flight worse as the occasionally spoke (well shouted [;)]) across the plane @ each other. None boarded @ BNA, so mustve all been travelling from Hartford...
Whilst my seat was comfy enough, being a dozen rows from my wife was hardly ideal.
2 of the FAs were quite good, the other far from so during flight. About 2hrs into the flight, the 'joker' kept blurting out random noises over the PA system - to the amusement of some pax , to the annoyance of others.
Prior to that - he giggled his way through the safety demonstration - as did the girl reading out the safety procedures being described. Whilst Ive flown hundreds of times, I pity any first time flyers or flyers of a nervous disposition on board - in all, half of the demonstration this guy gave would have been useless had you needed to use it.
Food service on board... Dunno how this is meant to work (comp. or pay for) - I had nodded off when they first came round, but turbulence saw the captain inform all staff to sit down/strap in & whilst the juddering woke me - when the staff came back (to serve the orders theyd already taken) - I was askwed what Id like & wasnt charged!
Dont know if there is/isnt a charge - due to it being a thru-flight, the ones from Hartford were entitled to free drinks & a snackbox - which the guy seated next to my wife ordered for he (saying the BNE pax should be charged).
All in all, flight wasnt bad... 2 of the FAs got pass marks, the other one far from so.
Would I fly Southwest again? Based on this flight - would depend on alternates on the route & cost.
I took this flight with them as I needed to connect with an HP flight from PHX to LAS (booked as a 'vacation deal' - whilst I could have booked it from BNA , the added costs (few hundred $$ for the extra 2hrs each way flying time) wasnt worth it.
If they were to bring in a proper seating policy - or a proper open seating policy (like Ryanair had last I used them!) - then it would be worthwhile.
I was one of the first 20people @ the gate, yet of the 100 or so to board - i was near last as for some reason I was allocated the C channel for the 'open' seating?!? ....
