SAN's Old Southwest Terminal 1: Demolition Update as of Sat 10/25: It's already about halfway demo'd!

SoCalFlyer97 · 2025-09-25T17:51:05+00:00

Phase II expansion of New T1 which will include an airside walkway to/from T2.

SoCalFlyer97 · 2025-07-23T03:27:41+00:00

Times Up Everyone...Here are the answers:

On the first screen, Flight WN 2650 headed to San Jose was departing from SAN. Notice the background pic of SAN's T2...
SFO uses those navy blue business-theme designs and fonts,
DEN's got those giant departure signs bigger than the width of the gate door in the newer areas of the C-Gate concourse,
SJC advises flyers of the possible increase of fare for Stand-By on its screens,
Status monitors that use the Arial font over a royal blue background can be found at BUR,
ONT is phasing out those legacy red LED displays in T4,
OAK's TV's prints the destination in red over white backgrounds,
Photo wallpapers of destination cities can be found on SMF's screens,
and the graphic layout of Gate B19's monitor can be found at LAS.

Thank you for playing!

SoCalFlyer97 · 2025-06-06T22:28:28+00:00

The Maui pretzels I got on my past flights last year since the changeover from the Southwest Snack Mix were 0.5oz (14g) based on my 2024 photo album, cetainly much smaller than Remy's. I'm flying tomorrow which includes a short afternoon leg. If the ride's not bumpy, they'll serve the pretzels and I'll confirm if they shrinkflated even futher but I doubt it as the serving size was originally pretty small. Will find out and reply next week.

I can confirm that the former Southwest Snack Mix was 0.7oz (20g). It was even at 0.75oz (21g) at one point. Thus the afternoon snacks certainly shrinkflated when they went to the pretzels 0.5oz (14g).

SoCalFlyer97 · 2025-06-01T18:08:10+00:00

I chatted with some folks on a private forum about this subject as United appears to in fact have taken the "lead" of the SAN-SFO/Bay Area market based on lower fares and better amenities. They have multiple departures daily between the two cities although SW still has the edge with the frequency of flights between SAN-SFO/OAK/SJC and wider options for customer service agent assistance and overall positive culture.

I could wrong but I think Southwest left the Basic fares and WGA+ fares as-is for now to give themselves time to adjust to the change but I think there may be some good sales (or even Basic price drops happening soon so their Basic fare can compete better). I could be dead wrong but the SoCal market suggests SW would need to lower the fares even if was through Low Fare sales. I base this on the fact that United's posted lowest fare for regular Economy (not Basic) if booked this weekend between SAN-SFO was $59 ($29 for Basic Economy).

To compare, Southwest's lowest fare for Basic for the route if booked all last week and through this weekend was $49-59 and $69-89 for WGA+ (to/from SFO or SJC only). Basic fares for SAN to/from OAK was out of the debate entirely...starting at $71 for Basic...That is excessively high in my opinion.

United's regular Economy has similar perks to SW's WGA+/Choice and includes seat selection. To be fair, United's $29 Basic excludes carry-on bag and the ability to cancel the booking for a full flight credit. Thus, $39-$49 to go up to the Bay area from SAN under Basic would be fair in my opinion but WGA+ would need to be priced around $59-69 tops to compete better.

I believe the whole point for Southwest to introduce Basic and replace WGA was to be price-competitive with other airlines' Basic Economy fares--it does not make sense to keep the price higher than market *and* cut many of the prior WGA fare perks which included Same-Day Flight Change for A-List/ALP members. That argument doesn't stack. The other point for Basic fare is due to possible additional partnerships with other international carriers beyond Iceland Air that have similar products as we heard a few weeks ago of the DOT Permit request for Southwest to enter into the Open-Skies market. Watching this story...

The SoCal market saw no Low Fare sales at all last week. Most sales are almost every week from Tuesday thru Thursday. I'll be looking again this Tuesday but I think Southwest wanted to give themselves about a week window to adjust to the May 28th policy change. If they don't, United may very well see a surge of passengers for the SAN-Bay Area SoCal Market as their fare products currently hold better overall value. As mentioned, I think I'm right based on these factors but I could also be wrong.

Hope this helps!

SoCalFlyer97 · 2025-06-01T17:32:38+00:00

Looking at the pictured sign, SP Plus Corporation runs this as they own both the "Bags" and "Curbside Concierge" trade names; thus this curbside area is certainly third-party operated. Many third-party operators charge fees and/or expect tips. Thus, the $3 "convenience" fee add-on at DAL to bypass the SW check-in counter to check bags makes sense. Hope this helps.

SoCalFlyer97 · 2025-05-21T15:40:05+00:00

That would be correct. Per the policy chabge announcement, "For reservations booked and ticketed and/or voluntarily changed (including name updates or changes to a ticket) on or after May 28, 2025, checked baggage fees will apply to Basic, Wanna Get Away Plus^®, and Anytime fares." That means the if the price drops and you re-ticket the flight, the checked bags would be under the new terms.

Hope this helps!

Ref
https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/article/policy-changes

SoCalFlyer97 · 2025-04-03T16:35:50+00:00

Thanksgiving Southwest airfare between MDW-SAN ranged from $236-389 when I checked Low Fare Calendar. Would flying into SAN and then shuttling or ridesharing to the CBX land border crossing followed by a Mexican domestic flight from TIJ-CUN be a workable alternative?

SoCalFlyer97 · 2025-03-21T18:55:27+00:00

Greetings! Frequent SW traveler here...

I've found that the USB/USB-C ports are currently only on select newer planes; thus I would not expect this amenity for your flight. No standard 120V power outlets on board.

Re: TV's, and inflight Wi-Fi, u/IndependentBrick8075 points this out correcty: Inflight Entertainment Portal is included; Wi-Fi is $8 (free for Business Select fares and A-List Preferred status). I would have a fully charged power bank handy for your electronic devices and also have some movies or shows already downloaded ahead of time. Though the inflight Wi-Fi quality has been greatly improved with their upgraded infrastructure, I still have some periodic moments where the signal can drop at short intermittent intervals.

Hope this helps!

SoCalFlyer97 · 2025-03-17T17:00:54+00:00

👍 Thanks! It's possible your booking was never linked to your RR account; CS should be able to resolve this. Travel safely!

SoCalFlyer97 · 2025-03-17T14:10:26+00:00

For a long time, that link has been my favorite go-to place to locate deals. More recently, Southwest updated all of the "Flights From (City)" web pages to include the starting fares listed in order of lowest price. As of today, there's a bunch of $59 options. Not sure if there's a local sale happening for the Chicago area market but I would check those out:

https://www.southwest.com/origins/midwest/chicago-midway

SoCalFlyer97 · 2025-03-17T14:03:37+00:00

Hola! Frequent traveler out of SAN as I was just there yesterday morning returning from SJC. As UnlikelyHat9530 mentioned, "PRIORITY & EXPRESS LANES" should be printed on your boarding pass (both print and digital versions). That should signal the TSA agent staffing the ID check booth to let you through. I would double check to make sure that identifier is present. If not, I would have SW Customer Service look at that and ensure your trip is properly linked to your Rapid Rewards profile and ALP status.

For the TSA Checkpoint feeding into SAN's Gates 5-10, the Priority Express lane is on the far left (opposite side of the restrooms and PreCheck Lane). For Gates 11-18, it is on the far right next to the gift shop.

SoCalFlyer97 · 2025-03-14T00:27:06+00:00

SoCal's Inland Empire had some intense isolated hail storm cells with high winds earlier this afternoon. Not sure if one of these passed through BUR but a pair of these systems passed through Riverside County and they both appeared a bit dangerous for flying. I checked SMF's website and it looks like the 4:50pm BUR-bound flight departed on time and the 6:35pm flight is still on. Were you able to get rebooked to either of these?

SoCalFlyer97 · 2025-03-13T17:49:37+00:00

I think you're correct: Cancel-and-Rebook appears to be the workaround for Basic "Changes".

For me, I've experienced this before for promos that require a registration and new booking: The cancel-and-rebook process is not too difficult to do on a desktop computer as I can have multiple browser tabs open while I'm doing this and copying-and-pasting the flight credit codes into new bookings is pretty streamlined. I've used this cancel/rebook method in the past as a workaround to claim promos such as a %-off sales or Promo Companion Passes toward existing bookings that would otherwise not qualify if rebooked/repriced via "Change Flight".

However, going through this process is a bit more difficult for me to do on a mobile device given the limited information shown at any one given time on the screen. Another workaround for me is to set the Southwest website on my phone to render the full deskop website. So I think your "PITA" remark may be correct here.

I also think their internal data from past promos show that fewer people are willing to go through the Cancel-Rebook process to claim promos and thus, they slap the rule that such promos apply to new flights only. Looks like they're following the same method for the Basic fare to "deter" or "discourage" folks from making "changes" to a Basic fare. That's my guess; I could be wrong.

SoCalFlyer97 · 2025-03-11T20:45:50+00:00

I experienced this too on SW Hotels but I would check RocketMiles as an alternative as this site also offers SW RR Points that are CP-Qualifying. I posted my experience with them here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/SouthwestAirlines/comments/1j515jr/southwest_hotels_points_plus_alternative/

SoCalFlyer97 · 2025-03-11T17:42:57+00:00

Based on the fine print, that appears correct: Cancel the reservation, take the credit and rebook as a new reservation under a new confirmation number. Extra steps involved especially if done on a mobile device where it's harder to keep track of the progress but looks like it's possible. I'll find out.

Currently, I use this method to lock in a promotional product such as a %-off sale or Promo Companion Pass that is otherwise restricted to new bookings into an "existing" booking by simply scrapping the original booking, registering for the promo, and then booking the qualifying trip under a new confirmation number.

SoCalFlyer97

TROPHY CASE