Check In and Security
I arrived at DCA at 4:55, just over an hour before departure.
Southwest has self service kiosks for check in where you can print boarding passes and bag tags, you then tag your bag and drop it off at the bag drop. It took less than 2 minutes.
DCA’s Terminal 1 is for lack of a better term… a mess. It’s old and small. Because it’s small, the TSA lines aren’t that long and you can get through really quickly, even if you don’t have clear or Precheck.
When you get through security and to the gate area, it’s a round terminal space but there’s not enough seating for even half of the passengers flying through it, and Southwest stacks its flight back-to-back, so even at an hour before departure, there was nowhere to sit.
Boarding, the Cabin, and Seat
Boarding began right on schedule at 5:30. This was when Southwest still had open seating, so the boarding process was still by their system where you board with a boarding position and have to line up. I had A 34, so I was in the first group of people to board. When I boarded, there were plenty of seats still open on the flight.
The 737 MAX 8 that Southwest operates is in an all economy 3-3 configuration. Each seat, on average, features 31 inches of pitch, 17.1 inches of width, and 1 inch of recline. It also features a USB-A and USB-C charging point.
I chose 2F, the window seat in the second row. When I sat down, they made an announcement that there were only 87 of us traveling to Nashville today. Which meant that there were less than 2/3 of the plane was filled. This meant that nobody had to sit in a middle seat, if they didn’t want to. They told us to spread out for weight and balance.
Taxi and Takeoff
At 6:00, we pushed back and the safety demonstration began.
At 6:10, we rolling down runway 1 for departure.
Typically, when departing from DCA and sitting on the right side of the aircraft, you can get a good view of the national mall on departure. But, today, we had a lot of rain and low cloud layers so you couldn’t see anything.
Cruise
At 6:16, we reached 10,000 feet, and well on our way to Nashville.
They made an announcement that they wouldn’t be doing an in flight service because they wanted to let people sleep. I fount hat off because I appreciate the idea on this early morning flight but at the same time; a cup of coffee would’ve been nice.
I decided to check out the IFE and entertainment.
Southwest offered free WiFi on this flight if you were a rapid rewards member. All you had to do was sign in to your rapid rewards account and it connects.
Additionally, Southwest offers free entertainment that you can stream on your personal device. The selection was really good, even with some really new releases. I was surprised.
At 6:45 in Washington, they decided to do a beverage service after all.
They started by handing us these graham crackers.
At 6:56, the flight attendant came by to ask me what I wanted to drink.
2 minutes later, he brought my coffee. I like how Southwest uses bamboo cups.
I also like how Southwest actually seems to utilize the mood lighting on their Max’s.
At this point I decided to switch my clock to Nashville time, which is one hour behind Washington, making it 6:01 am in Nashville.
Descent and Arrival
At 6:03, the captain came on to announce that we were beginning our descent into Nashville, and that we’d be in the ground in about 35 minutes.
Southwest decided to prepare the cabin for final approach at 18,000 feet, which is quite early when most US airlines will do this at 10,000 feet and European carriers literally on final approach. They made the announcement that we need to have our setbacks upright, tray tables and carry on items stowed, and that they’d be taking the last of any service items. Despite there being 20 minutes left in flight.
We touched down on runway 2C at 6:43 am local time.
We taxied to the gate and parked ar gate D8 at 6:47 am local time for an early arrival.
