03-25-2024
06:14 PM
03-25-2024
06:14 PM
I travel extensively for sports and frequently do not know the schedule when I book. I love, love, love the flexibility of the same day change, I love the companion fare and love the ability to rebook and receive a credit when there is a sale.
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For most of my day-trippers and one-nighters, with a little help of rolling up my clothing, I can get everything packed into a standard school-sized backpack. For my multi-day trips that require more clothing, I roll with the 50L Carofield backpack duffle (about20x13x8). This piece came complete with packing cubes and a separate compartment for the laptop that allowed me to make the most of the space. I roll the clothes up and pack 'em in the cubes.
Also, I place the 311 bag, laptop/electronics, and any other 'unusuals' in an easily accessible area in case TSA ever needed to look at it.
One key benefit of this Carofield backpack...If there's no overhead bin space next to a vacant window seat, this bag (believe it or not) does fit under the seat in front of me, even toward the front of the plane where the total width is slightly narrower. Also works for middle seat, but not for the aisle seat.
This basically allows me to pick any open window seat regardless of how full the overhead bins are. Plus, a side benefit is I can have access to the bag during all phases of the flight anytime above the 10k' mark regardless of whether the seatbelt light is on.
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To those who follow SoCalFlyer97's posts regularly well know that this traveler's Free Flight Entertainment portal is enjoying the views straight from the window.
Some of the favorites:
Check out the rest of the Photo Album here:
https://community.southwest.com/t5/media/gallerypage/user-id/173487/album-id/24156
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03-14-2024
12:43 PM
03-14-2024
12:43 PM
Wow...Where do I begin?
First, I echo what everybody else mentioned. Agree 100%. SW's unique business model makes it stand out from the competition.
One of my personal hobbies involves me taking day trips to various places and letting somebody take me there: Go in early in the morning, relax for the ride up, spend the day there, and come back in the late afternoon or evening. In the picture above, I'm boarding a local regional train bound to downtown Los Angeles. For the longest time, I've always loved taking train and bus rides aboard SoCal's local regional rail system, the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, and numerous regional and inter-city bus routes. SoCalFlyer97 not only likes to go to places; he tries to make most of the journey to/from too!
Yes, driving is would have been much quicker than taking buses and trains but I would then miss out in the opportunities gifted to me during the journey to/from while I battled hectic and congested freeways.
Back in 2021, my job required me to make periodic business trips to my company's production plant in Tijuana Mexico; thus I got Global Entry so I can cross back into the USA quickly via the SENTRI pedestrian lane. With short waits at the border coming home, that meant I could do day trips down south and not have to spend the night in Mexico during my daylong business trips there.
Global Entry also includes TSA PreCheck, and I wanted to see if I could take advantage of any new day-trip opportunities with this benefit via the airline industry.
The following year, when I found out that Southwest offered multiple hour-long departures daily from SoCal to destinations in Northern California, Vegas and Phoenix from early morning 'til late night, I learned there was a possibility to complete day trips to these destinations both for work and pleasure via the LUV airline for affordable rates that I could not find anywhere else:
Combine that with having Global Entry to get through TSA quickly and with plentiful public transit options to feed me from a suburban park & ride lot into my primary airport at SAN (or decent 24-hour parking rates at my convenience airport at ONT), I saw new opportunities thanks to Southwest for both work and play.
I would have to say that my short-haul day trips that I post throughout this forum would not be possible on any other carrier.
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03-12-2024
10:43 AM
03-12-2024
10:43 AM
We have been through about five of these!
Southwest Stroller Bag (swathestore.com)
They usually have them at the counter though, you don't have to buy them online.
I don't mean to say they aren't durable - they are definitely getting a workout.
Now we are only bringing the booster seats so on the tail end of it. No more strollers.
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03-06-2024
03:38 PM
03-06-2024
03:38 PM
I’ve navigated the world of traveling with a baby/toddler over the past two years! Our almost 2 year old, James, has been to 19 states, so I feel like I’ve picked up some good tips!
Here are some of my best tips for traveling with babies: ● Pick morning flight times or flight times that work with nap schedule. When James was younger, I picked flights that coincided with his nap since the plane would lull him to sleep. But now that he’s older, I try to pick flights when he’s awake since now he just wants to explore and look at everything. ● Bring lots of snacks and entertainment. New toys or toys that they only get when they travel are a game changer. I know TV can be a controversial topic when it comes to toddlers, but this has been life-changing for us: we don’t let James watch screens at home... we save that for traveling and when we eat out at restaurants. Since he rarely gets screen time, he sits quietly and is entertained by kids shows for SO long (especially if we put Ms Rachel on). ● If you have a baby, wear them through security so that your hands are free! ● Don’t forget an extra outfit in your diaper bag! I once forgot and majorly regretted it when James had a blow out.
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