Question for Pittsburgh Pa Southwest Flyers

[Rags]

We leave tomorrow 11/27 for WDW! I have a couple of questions for anyone who has used Southwest from the Pittsburgh International Airport.

1) Is there a skycap for curbside check-in?

2) We printed our "a" boarding passes for our 7:35am flight. What time do you think we should be at the airport?

3) Should we arrive earlier than the two hour min because it is the Sunday after T-giving?


Any other tips would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you!

 

[safetymom]

I would allow extra time. The security line can back up quite far on busy days.

http://www.pitairport.com/AirportGuideServlet?action=tips

 

[Rags]

I think we will be at the airport at 5am to be safe!

 

[safetymom]

If you get through quickly PIT is a great place to spend some extra time. If you are bringing a laptop there is free wireless. We used to go out every Sunday before 9/11 for a meal and to visit the shops.

 

[iluvflorida8]

1) Is there a skycap for curbside check-in?

2) We printed our "a" boarding passes for our 7:35am flight. What time do you think we should be at the airport?

3) Should we arrive earlier than the two hour min because it is the Sunday after T-giving?

1. There is no "skycap" for curbside check-in for Southwest.

2.I would not get there before 5:30 am (I myself would get there at 5:45).

3.Since you have an "A" boarding pass you won't have any problem,just get to the gate at least 40 minutes before your flight.

 

[Twende]

We have had two really bad experiences at PIT.
The first was the Monday after Thanksgiving. Oh my! I thought I was being smart having DD wait until Monday around noon to fly out. What a mess!

The security line was 4 rows all the way through the parking lot and into the motel at the other end! We were there 4 hours before her flight and she was not even half the way through the security line when it was time to board her plane! We ended up leaving and having her fly out 24 hours later.

One other time in late Jan. I flew out and it was cold, like below zero cold. DH dropped me off and left as there was no reason for him to stay when you can't get to the gates. I was headed to warm FL so I had left my heavy coat in the car when DH dropped me off at the departure driveway. I checked my luggage and headed to security very quickly and found again 4 huge lines extending half the way through the walk way to the motel. I had to wait 2 hours to get through the line and I thought I was going to freeze to death!
Here it was the day after the football game that the the playoff for the Superbowl.

So we have learned the hard way to look for another airport if possible. We are in Ohio so the Akron Canton Airport is about the same distance as PIT as is Cleveland. We normally shop prices but if it is a holiday we stay away from PIT if at all possible.

PIT is great to fly into to. Arrivals have never been a problem!

Since you are flying out very early in the morning I would suspect that it will not be bad but you just never know at PIT.

Good Luck and have a great trip!

 

[DebbieB]

I have flown out of PIT many times this year and have never run into a long security line. I think they have learned from the problems they had previously. I saw on TV last week that they have added more security lines in the old E terminal for high volume times. You get to it from the ticketing level rather than going downstairs for the regular security lines. Sunday will be a busy travel day, so I would get there early.

Air Tran does not have curbside check either, which was a factor when I chose Delta for a trip to Atlanta recently. I was alone on a business trip and didn't want to haul my luggage from the parking lot.

 

[iluvflorida8]

We have had two really bad experiences at PIT.

I am curiuos how long ago those experiences were for you at Pittsburgh?

I have flown out of Pittsburgh 8-9 times in the last 2 months, and have never waited more than 10 minutes to go through security.

 

[Twende]

The thanksgiving nightmare was in 2001 and the January freeze your butt off in security line was in 2005.

 

[mzspaz]

Thought I would bring this back to life......

How has your experience been with ME flying SW out of PIT?

 

[Rags]

Thought I would bring this back to life......

How has your experience been with ME flying SW out of PIT?

When we arrived in Orlando we just went down to the ME counter and checked in. We had our yellow luggage tags on our bags. It took form check in to boarding the bus about 20 mins. I am flying usairways this trip (frequent flyer miles) but I would fly SW again in a heartbeat!!!!

 

[iluvflorida8]

We leave tomorrow 11/27 for WDW! I have a couple of questions for anyone who has used Southwest from the Pittsburgh International Airport.

1) Is there a skycap for curbside check-in?

We flew yesterday out of Pittsburgh on Southwest. Now you can check your luggage curbside with Southwest.

 

[mzspaz]

Now that we have completed our trip, I can comment on my experience with Southwest.

I was quite happy with their service, even though we ran into a big delay in leaving Pittsburgh.

We used the curb side check in, which was such a breeze, got held up at security as DH forgot that you can't take lights on anymore. He was a little miffed at having to give up his Zippo that I got him, but we were kind of stuck as we were a little tight on time because I couldn't get out of bed and moving that morning.

We had no problems at the gate, grabbed a bite to eat, and then lined up to get on the plane. Once seated, I admired the leather seats as well as how quick the whole boarding process went.

That is where we ran into trouble.......

The plane was having computer/electrical difficulties. The Pilot came on to tell us that he had to "reboot" the computer. Once that was done, we backed away from the gate, where we then proceeded to sit. The electrical problem had not been resolved, so we had to pull back in the gate for the maintenance workers to get on and check things out. The captain chuckled as he informed us that the plane was new and had only been in service about 3 months.

The captain kept us updated the entire time and eventually we had to switch planes. I've been through a plane switching process with US Air before and SW handled it MUCH more smoothly. We were on our way with in 25 minutes. Some were upset as they were worried about making their connecting flights and then their cruise. But SW was able to get them on a different flight and I believe actually got them to their final destination faster than if they had been on their original flight plan. It was nice to see that SW had reps there as soon as the plane was delayed to help out people with connections.

All in all, we left Pgh a little under 2 hours late, which meant a delay in getting to Disney. But I think SW handled everything very well!

Our return flight was uneventful. Still the same great SW service.

Compared to Airtran and US Air, I have to say that I prefer SW.....especially with their rates.

 

[missymj]

How do you dispose of your luggage at PIT if using SW if not curb-side checkin?

Also, looking for low airfare 1st week of August (Pit-MCO)

 

[Donna]

We just flew SW last week to MCO and on to Ft. Lauderdale. We LOVED sw! We loved the leather seats, very smooth boarding process, everyone was orderly. They all are so friendly on SW compared to USAIR. We flew USAIR home from miami and they were just plain rude and abrupt. I also like AirTran but with SW being so low these days, i'm sticking with them for the next couple flights i have for 2006. The only thing about air tran that we liked more was listening to the satellite radio and getting the whole can of pop, lol.

 

[safetymom]

You can check in your luggage at the ticket counter.