Denver International Airport
My Colorado Photography Weekend has started. It feels great to be back on the road again. Currently sitting at Denver International Airport, sipping some much needed coffee (up at 4am to catch the early bird from KC to Denver), and awaiting transport to Colorado Springs. Since my agenda is a bit uncertain (fairly standard for me), I’m not sure when I will be able to send travel update articles. So…..thought I would catch this opportunity for a very brief post – a few observations about air service with Southwest Airlines .
Having not flown Southwest with much frequency, I found the experience to be just about as efficient and stress free as air travel can be today. No problems with reservations and a relatively late flight change on my part was handled quickly and there was NO CHANGE FEE! The change actually resulted in my getting a $10 credit due to a $10 difference in fares. Unfortunately, Southwest does limit how you use such credits. I asked to apply it toward their early check-in fee and was told firmly but politely,”no”. Apparently such credits can only be applied toward future fares. To me this doesn’t make sense. It’s my money/credit – I should be able to apply it (or get a refund?) as I choose. So, Southwest is nice about change fees and related financial issues – but only up to a point.
Speaking of fees, Southwest does NOT charge extra for carry on or checked luggage! Outstanding!
Airport check in is quick and painless. A heads up for future flyers. Southwest allows on line check in beginning 24 hours prior to flight time. I checked in on line about 22 hours before the flight and was assigned to be number 45 in Group B! Lots of travelers must check in 24 hours in advance on the dot. Of course you can skip this problem by paying the extra $10 early check in fee which puts you in the front of the line. This is good and probably worth it if you have large carry ons, etc. You get first shot at the overhead storage space. Still, my good old #45 Group B assignment didn’t prove to be a problem. I was easily able to snag an aisle seat ( my preference as a six foot four inch flyer) as well as plenty of space for my back pack with all my camera gear. Actually, legroom was very generous on this 737. My knees had sufficient clearance from the seat back in front of me. I’ve had much less room on some international flights.
Anyway, that’s about it. Overall it was a great flight experience for me. But, in the interest of full disclosure, I do have to add that six other photographers who came out to Colorado later in the day had a different experience. Their Southwest flight was delayed for two hours due to “equipment problems.” Just goes to show that nothing is perfect. But in general the feeling was that it was better to be two hours late than fly on “broken equipment.”
There will be more. This is a photography outing. Should be fun.
Until then remember…… Enjoy The Adventure!
DR.B, THE PHOTO TREKKER