Southwest-Midway-Cleveland-HELP!

[noflyingfan]

After a year or so with my feet on the ground, I booked a ticket today from Chicago to Cleveland on Southwest. I've read some good things about Southwest (my favorite thing, however, was the two digit price!), and it's only an hour flight, so I'm feeling okay about it, but I'd really appreciate any words of wisdom about Midway/Cleveland/Southwest. I'm flying there Oct. 28 and back Oct. 31 (Halloween...as if flying itself wasn't scary enough!)

[WillFlyToDisney2]

Hey Erika!

Welcome to our world. You'll obviously be on a 737 if you are flying Southwest. Check in online and get there early so you are in the "A" Group to board. Also be sure to ask to Meet the Pilot! :ray You never know, it might be Ray!

What else do you need to know? I have flown out of Midway before - nice airport - much easier to navigate than O'Hare in my opinion.

Once again, :welcome

Kelley

[xiknal]

Erika...welcome!!

I have flown SWA quite a lot and have nothing but good things to say about them--but bring your own snacks and get there early to have a leg up on the boarding frenzy! I have also flown into Cleveland in the winter--no probs there either, but Beth is the best source on that airport...she's on this board, too!

Again, welcome!!

:welcome

[noflyingfan]

Wow, you guys jumped right on and responded! This board is great! I'm looking forward to posting freaked out messages about how scared I am! :lol (And Kelley, I don't know if you remember me or not -- I'm the dream interpreter).

I'm excited about flying Southwest. I've heard great things about them (except I'm not looking forward to the cattle call seating thing, but it's not as if I'm flying cross country). I was driving to work this morning and saw a Southwest plane overhead (they're not hard to spot, as bright as they are). My first thought was, it's nice they're so bright; that way, people can tell who they belong to. Of course, it then occurred to me that that probably wouldn't matter much unless I took my plane to Wal-Mart and forgot where I parked. :rolleyes

Believe it or not, I'm excited about flying in general, just to see how I do, if I'm scared or not. I also think I'm excited about flying because I just saw Airplane! I think if I was ever on a plane and the flight attendant started singing and playing guitar, I'd have to stand up and applaud. Well, you know what they say...See a broad to get that bodiac lay'er down an' smack 'em yack 'em.

I'd love if Ray were my pilot. But as long as my pilot is interested in staying alive and being safe, I'm all for having whoever it is fly me!

[Passenger Mark]

Hi Erika!! :welcome

You will be just fine on Southwest. They are a great airline, with the #1 safety record of domestic carriers.

They fly only B737s so no worrying about what plane you will be on.

http://photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Aircraft/th_SWAMIDWAY.jpg
Southwest 737 at Midway

http://photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Aircraft/th_swacabin.jpg
Interior of a Southwest 737

I have flow into and out of Cleveland once. No problems, and it was snowing at the time!

As far as Midway, I have not had the chance to fly into or out of there, but I have not heard anything bad about it either

http://photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Aircraft/th_swaapproachmidway.jpg
Southwest approach into Midway

Now with Southwest, they do "open seating" in other words, there is no assigned seating. But you can check-in on line to get a "A" boarding card (First Group).

Also, if you let them know you have discomfort in flying, and would like to meet the pilot, they will usually let you board first, to give you time for the pilot-meet.

But get to the airport early, and let them know at check-in!

A nice hour flight. You will be up and back down before you know. A perfect flight to take after being on the ground for a year.

I wish Ray was around to give you some words, but he is busy... well... flying planes!

Again welcome, and be sure to post your flight report, and let us know how you liked Southwest!

Take Care,

Mark

[noflyingfan]

I just noticed that it said I'm posting as an unregistered user. I don't mean to be an unregistered user. I have a password. Stupid board. :cry

I'll post in the Fear Of Computers forum here and see what I can do to fix the problem. :think

[Passenger Mark]

No problem with unregistered. A lot of folks had the same problem at first. One way to fix it is to get a new account with a new screen name. Or get a global account.

But post it over at Chelle's board, for the "expert" answer! :happyguy

[noflyingfan]

Thanks, Mark. I do feel pretty good about the flight already, although it's three weeks away, so who knows how I'll feel then.

But you're right, just a short flight after a year of no flying will be nice. The last flight I took, I was scared but not terrified (i.e. not absolutely positive I was going to die any second but still considered the possibility of that happening ;) )

You may remember, I got into this whole fear of flying community because I was a journalist working on a story about fear of flying and writing about how I myself tried to combat it. (A glutton for punishment, I often like to write about my personal challenges in the paper. Nothing like doing the hardest thing you've ever done in front of 50,000 people). Anyway, my latest challenge was going from never ever doing anything remotely athletic to training for and running a 10-mile race. Not that this has anything to do with flying, if I can run 10 miles, I can certainly sit for an hour, right?

It's funny. Thinking of flying being safer than driving doesn't really work for me, for many reasons. But I certainly feel that it's safer than running, at least for me. And much less sweaty.

[Passenger Mark]

That cool that you trained and ran!

Think of the flight coming up the same way... you train, and get ready for it.

And then the flight itself is like the race. I am sure you did not think about the entire race all at once, you took a part at a time.

Do the flight.. or the day of the flight the same way. One part at a time!

You may also want to post over on Ray's forum that you are flying SWA if you have any questions about their operations or about Cleveland and Midway.

[WillFlyToDisney2]

Oh yeah, the dreams... LOL Are you still doing that? I have more to entertain you with if you are! :think

Glad to see you around. :wave We're a fun group. :dancers No drama allowed! :shakehead We also have alot of informal chats so check the top of the board to see if anyone is in the room then come on in! :tiphat

I think you should definitely meet the pilot! :ray

:airplane
Kelley

[canoga]

I'm known as a Cleveland expert!

Oh well, living 8 yrs in the tundra should be worth something.

I have actually flown CLE to Midway. The route I was on followed the shoreline of Erie. It was a short, calm, uneventful flight. SW is a fantastic airline.

The only thing I can tell you is that you might have some small bumps before landing in Cleveland. The route usually takes you out over the Lake (heading NE) and turns around for a SW approach. So you go from being over land to over water back to over land. At the end of Oct, the Lake will probably still be warmer that the air over the land so you may have some bumps as you go through the diff temps. Just know this is very, very normal and since you are on the final approach, it won't last more than a minute or so.

I have seen 5-6 planes flying to/from Hopkins on each way of my commute. I have done this 5 days a week for 8 years. This is only counting the 15 minutes I am under the flight path. Think of how many planes take off/land there every day. Each one has done so safely. I have never even heard of any problems in my years here. We are also used to anything Mother Nature can dish out so snow/ice wouldn't even be a problem (good grief, I HOPE it isn't a problem in October!)

Beth

[noflyingfan]

Thanks for the warning on the bumps. I hate takeoffs and turbulence more than anything in the world, so if anything's going to be weird about either of those subjects, I like to know what's coming.