We got to the airport around 6:30am, checked our baggage and got our boarding passes. Everything went pretty smoothly there, until we got to the line for boarding passengers. It was so long! After just a few moments, we were approached by a guy from TSA who handed us a yellow card. He asked us to give it to the security person when we got to the front of the line. (They were using it to time themselves.)
Not even a minute after we were handed that card, another airport security person approached us and said, “There’s an alternat check point, why don’t you go there.” So, we did. But I remembered that card we had just gotten so I asked, “Do you want me to give this to someone else in the line?” To which he replied, “No… you can bring it with you.”
At this point, it smelled a little fishy. 🙂 We ended up in a shorter line, which was just fine with me. And they ended up with a shorter time. Good for them.
Everything was going just fine until the weather changed in Florida.
See, the Southwest plane next to us was heading to Orlando, leaving at 7:30. BUT, just as we were about to board (at 7:30) they decided to switch planes. They announced later that the plane we were supposed to take was better equipped to handle bad weather. (That got a laugh from all of us who were switching to the “less safe” plane!) 🙂
They swapped all the already loaded passengers from the original Orlando plane, as well as their luggage, and our luggage, and both flight crews… and the Orlando plane is finally leaving now at 8:25am. Too bad for them. 🙂
So, we’re about 30 minutes late so far, but all is probably just fine. Our next flight leaves at 9:55 central time. (Or, 2.5 hours from now.)
One other interesting thing about Southwest is that there is no assigned seating. You don’t purchase a seat, just a ticket. So, you may or may not get to sit with whomever you are flying with. The way to assure that is to just get in line even before they start boarding, which we did. The problem was, we were at the front of the line for the first plane! So, when we switched, we were at the back!!
The first shall be last.
Thankfully, Jen & I did get to sit together. Found two seats at the back of the plane. That’s nice.
Here we go!
More to come…