Southwest Airlines same-day standby experiences?

[bcla]

take extra reading material, snacks, anything that will keep you occupied. we've had upwards of 12 hour delays doing amtrak (in california). at least you will be going through somewhat populated areas b/c if they get a particular crew member who is at the end of their legally allowed shift they will literally stop a train and have it sit until a replacement crew member can be brought in (there had been so many delays on one of our trips that they had gone through everyone on board w/the licensing to do some task so we sat for 2 hours while they had someone drive out to the middle of nowhere to drop a 'fresh' crew member off). keep an eye out for alternate transportation to your bus on arrival-we lost out on our rental car b/c we were so late/had no cell reception to alert them.

I was hoping for Wi-Fi. I brought my iPad Mini 6. I did go to Burger King in the morning and got their coupon special with two sandwiches and saved one for lunch. We were supposed to have a lunch break at a McDonalds in King City but had to bypass it because we were behind schedule due to traffic. The sandwich came in handy. And no Wi-Fi where the driver said they were switching to a new provider or something.

The train had no issues since it’s the Pacific Surfliner from San Luis Obispo to LA. It’s scheduled for about six hours, but it’s been delayed a few times. The only issue was a boatload of new passengers boarding in Santa Barbara. Quite a few seemed to have been tipsy and I could smell the alcohol. Some were getting a bit loud. I talked to a conductor who said that some were harassing the cafe car attendant who was closed while restocking. I think some left before local or Amtrak police would have removed them.

 

[barkley]

The only issue was a boatload of new passengers boarding in Santa Barbara. Quite a few seemed to have been tipsy and I could smell the alcohol. Some were getting a bit loud. I talked to a conductor who said that some were harassing the cafe car attendant who was closed while restocking. I think some left before local or Amtrak police would have removed them.

on one trip we observed the amtrak police do a removal. very much like in the old movies- approached, told him to stand up and leave but when he did not they grabbed him and hustled him off the train in what seemed a very remote and vacated station.

 

[RedAngie]

Fortunately DD and exH’s redeye flight SFO-PHL on Christmas night took off with just a slight delay. It made up time in the air and actually arrived 10 minutes early. It arrived from DFW but I don’t know where the plane was earlier on Christmas day.

 

[barkley]

hotels local to us are getting slammed with people whose flights have been cancelled and can't get quick replacement flights. our temps have gone up enough that all the ice is melting but now we are on a weather advisory due to projected high winds of up to 55 mph through tomorrow so between that and the temps back to below freezing tomorrow so back to ice laden planes and runways-it may be a loooooooong wait for people to get where they need to go.

i feel very sympathetic esp. come this weekend-we have hotels that sell out for the days surrounding new year's eve a year in advance with others only doing 'by invitation only' reservations.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

Time is running out for us to decide if we are canceling our trip. My daughter goes to school across the state and traditionally the passes can be impossible to cross. We decided to head south from WA and make it a quick Disneyland trip for a couple of days before I return home and she to her school. We fly United down and I'm really not concerned about getting there. Our returns are on Southwest on January 1st. Ugh. Lots of conflicting information out there and our flights appear to not be affected at the moment.

I will need to drive her there if we cancel. (husband working) A very long, possibly weather-affected drive.