First time flying Southwest Airlines: What to know – Flying with a Carry On

Hi there!

Are you someone considering flying with Southwest for the first time? Looking for a lower fare airline to try, but not sure which ones are worth it, or what they’re like? Sit back, grab a snack and or a drink, and let’s go over my experience flying Southwest Airlines for the first time as an Independent Travel Agent and travel consumer myself!

            One of the first things I want to mention is the way Southwest Airlines organizes their boarding process. It is a little different than other airlines and is the part that I personally found to be the most confusing. When you go to board, they have boarding groups associated with a letter and the letter is accompanied by a number also which signals where you stand in line. When you go to line up to board your plane, there will be metal poles / pillars if you will, that have a number range on both sides. See the video below for reference. Depending on your assigned boarding position, it will determine where you stand, and on what side. After you determine that, you simply get in line, and board the plane as usual. When you board, you are not assigned a seat at this time and will pick your seat yourself. Please be advised that regarding seat choices and assignment, while Southwest has never done this, they will begin doing this starting sometime in 2025 by popular demand from consumers.

            When I traveled with them, I did carry-on instead of checking my bag for my first two flights going to my destination. If you’re not familiar with this, it simply means that I brought my luggage with me onto the plane in addition to my personal items. The process for carry-on was easy and most fellow travelers were willing to help get your bag to you if it was not necessarily close to you. That is something I had an issue with on my first leg of my very first flight with Southwest. Because of how the boarding process is organized I did have to put my luggage in an overhead compartment that was otherwise not close to my seat. But my fellow passengers helped me get my bag when it came time for us to de-board the plane. In contrast, on my second leg flight, I was able to put my small suitcase in the overhead storage area above the row where I sat.

            With all that being said, I will stop here. I would argue that the first day flying with Southwest Airlines was a positive one! In my next post, I will cover my experience flying Southwest Airlines and checking my suitcase on my flights returning home. Please follow us on our Social Media(s) here should you be interested and so you can stay up to date on what we are sharing! We look forward to seeing you in the next one!

 

Best wishes,

Megan at Polaroid Travel, LLC