diversion: Southwest Airlines review

i meant to write this post ages ago, when the flights were fresh in my mind, but i remember them both well - mostly because they were so good!

for those of you flying any time soon, you really should consider southwest. they're a great company to work for (i hear), they're super-nice with their customers (love their twitter feed @SouthwestAir) and they have cool deals like their new early-bird check-in service. in the past year, southwest started early-bird check-in. between when you buy your ticket and 25 hours in advance, you pay $10 per way for a boarding pass that allows you on the plane right after the frequent southwest flyers and business select ticket holders. the sooner you pay $10, the better position you'll get. i purchased the early-bird check-in for my flight to phoenix and back home about three weeks prior to my trip. in southwest days of yore, every passenger can check in and print their boarding passes starting 24 hours in advance - with the idea that the sooner you checked in, the better chances you have for a group A pass, and thus a better seat on the plane. with the early-bird check-in, your spot is automatically assigned 36 hours in advance - and you can print your pass starting at 24 hours to go. gone are the three groups; instead, southwest gives everyone a place in the a, b or c group, plus a number. you check in based on that number. if you're a person like me who likes to have a certain seat (my preference - window, as far front as possible), getting on the plane asap is critical. on my flight to phoenix, i was in a window seat in the fourth row. on my flight home, i was in the third row - another window seat. totally, completely worth it.

now if you don't care where you sit, it's probably a waste of $20 (roundtrip). but if you're hesitant to pay and checking a bag in, consider this - southwest lets you take two bags for free. on some other airlines that's $40-75 you'd have to pay. after being on some flights where my seat fate was not in my hands, having the luxury of picking it - and getting a good one! - is priceless to me.

a fear

so i don't know when this started - maybe landing in indy in the middle of a thunderstorm, maybe on september 11, but i have turned into a really bad flyer.

i love airports. i love the hustle, the controlled (for the most part) chaos. i love watching planes land and take off. i know there's a theorem to it all, but it completely mystifies me that we've figured out a way to get a piece of metal that ways thousands of tons off the ground and keep it in the air for hours and hours. i could do nothing all day except watch planes land and take off, especially jumbo jets, because apparently i'm a five year old boy. but i hate flying. i hate take off the most, that horrible feeling watching the ground slowly float away, as the plane shakes for the first time going up in the clouds. i hate the silence as the plane is descending, and then the sudden pops as gadgets and mechanics start working to get the plane on the ground. i hate the unknown of it all, the sheer hopelessness and helplessness if anything went wrong. and i hate - i really hate - how even though there are thousands of flights every day all around the world, i can't help but think about those 'what-ifs'.

maybe what i hate the most is i have to fly if i want to get to places i want to go. sure, i could drive to arizona...if i had three days to kill. but i can't drive to ukraine to visit olesia. i can't drive to russia to fulfill a lifelong dream of mine. and i really can't drive to china to adopt that baby girl several years down the road.

when i flew to europe last year, it was really scary for me, and also incredibly annoying that i couldn't stretch my legs except when i went to the bathroom. my dad, who flies all the time for his job, gave me melatonin, which didn't put me to sleep, but did take the fear away. i know i'll have to fly again, with fear in my heart and melatonin in my stomach. and for all the worries, it was worth it to see london and paris...and even more to get home safe.