As I mentioned in today’s newsletter, my flight on Sunday from LAX to LAS on American Airlines couldn’t have been any smoother or quicker. Well, the opposite almost happened on the way home, but I’m proud of myself for following my gut and turning a bad situation into a good one. Something that doesn’t always happen.
When the Virtuoso conference ended for consumer media at the Aria Hotel, I made a beeline for the rideshare pickup area downstairs and ordered a Lyft. It was much cheaper than Uber and took just one minute for my driver, a cool Ethiopian woman, to arrive. She was impressed that I knew Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa.
After ordering the Lyft, but before meeting my driver, I was kind of kicking myself for not ordering a Zoox instead. I’ve never been in one and had seen their autonomous vehicles driving around the Strip. I’m not sure how much Zoox would have cost, but my Lyft was just $18 for the 12-minute ride to the airport.
Related: Here are 20 travel trends from Virtuoso Travel Week that could change how and when you travel.
Since I wasn’t checking luggage, I went straight upstairs to security. At 12:40 p.m., there was no line for either CLEAR or Touchless ID. I chose the latter since you don’t even have to show your boarding pass. I didn’t even have to take off my glasses. The ID check took about three seconds, then putting my bags through the X-ray machine took another two minutes.
Once I cleared security, I asked ChatGPT which airline lounge in Terminal 1 I should use with my credit cards and lounge memberships, including my Chase Sapphire Reserve, Priority Pass and Citi / AAdvantage Executive card. It suggested the Chase Sapphire Lounge near Gate C23. I was headed to the D gates, so I was going to pass.
But while I was on the tram to what I thought were the D gates, I got a push notification that my American Airlines flight was delayed more than four hours. Talk about a buzzkill.
Everything had gone so smoothly on this trip and I was exhausted. More than anything, I just wanted to get home to see my family and get some rest.
It turns out I had accidentally gotten on the tram to the C gates. Not my first time making that mistake. Since I was there anyway, I decided to check out the Chase Sapphire Lounge since I’d never been.
When I arrived, an employee outside was checking someone in for the waitlist. You put your name down and receive a text when it’s your turn to enter. I made the mistake of showing him my electronic boarding pass, which was required to join the waitlist. Since it had already updated to my new departure time, he said I couldn’t enter because I was more than three hours early. Had I been holding a paper boarding pass with my original departure time, it apparently would have been fine.
Travel tip: This is another reason it can pay to get a paper boarding pass.
Since I was now in the C gates, where Southwest operates, I decided to look up their flights to Los Angeles since AA had nothing else available.
Everything to LAX was sold out. Connecting flights were going for $474, which was ridiculous. I was about to check Burbank, but BUR is too far from our house, so I searched flights to Long Beach instead. Bingo.
Southwest had one seat available for $235 on a flight leaving in less than an hour:
Southwest Flight 820
LAS: 2:15 p.m.
LGB: 3:25 p.m.
I happened to be near the gate, so I asked the gate agent if she could book it for me. She couldn’t because departure was less than an hour away, so I quickly booked it online myself. I did manage to annoy the gate agent a few minutes later when I tried to ask her another question as she was walking away from the desk. I didn’t realize she was heading to the bathroom.
Fortunately, I later won her over when I asked if she could add my frequent flyer number because I couldn’t sign in to the Southwest app. It turns out I had been in such a hurry, and didn’t have the right glasses on, that I entered my first name as “Joh” instead of John. She also told me I had somehow requested a wheelchair.
I have absolutely no idea how I managed that, but I cracked a joke about the whole thing and fortunately got her laughing.
I was randomly assigned seat 18D, which was a relief since it was an aisle seat. The bad news was that I was in Zone 7 out of eight boarding zones.
Shortly after, the gate agents announced that passengers in Zones 7 and 8 should gate-check their bags for free because the flight was full and there likely wouldn’t be any overhead bin space left. I was about to hand over my duffel bag, but so many other passengers were checking theirs that I figured I might have a shot if I could be one of the first people in the Zone 7 line. I was second. My gamble paid off and there was space.
The flight attendant greeting passengers at the door was friendly. I told her it was my first time flying into Long Beach and she said it was much better than LAX for a number of reasons, including the fact that they can deplane using both the front and rear doors.
She also made some funny announcements, which I was happy to hear since that has always been one of the things that differentiates Southwest from other airlines.
Among her lines:
“Smoking is not allowed and hasn’t been since 1990, in case you haven’t flown that long.”
“A flight attendant will come around to check if your seat belt is fastened since we have trust issues.”
And finally: “Enjoy your 41-minute-long nap to Long Beach.”
While we were taxiing for takeoff, I canceled my American Airlines ticket. At that point, I figured it was safe. American gave me two choices: a travel credit, which of course was listed first, or a refund to my original form of payment. I chose the refund to my original form of payment and you should too, if you’re eligible for one. Why tie up your money in an airline credit if you don’t have to?
I had paid $165 for my American ticket, which is already a ridiculous amount for a midweek summer flight between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. But prices for just about everything have gone up over the past year, especially with higher fuel costs related to the war with Iran.
Back on Southwest, they did a credit card pitch near the beginning of the flight. We pushed back 25 minutes late at 2:40 p.m., took off at 2:50 p.m. and landed at Long Beach at 3:37 p.m.
The seats were tight, especially when the person in front of me reclined. I didn’t recline mine because the guy behind me had a lap baby and I didn’t want to be cruel. The couple next to me also tried the old Southwest boarding trick where one person takes the aisle and the other takes the window, hoping no one will choose the middle seat between them.
Unfortunately for them, I had been assigned 18D. She moved as soon as I said, “I think that’s my seat.” She didn’t speak to me for the rest of the flight.
Southwest now has free Wi-Fi for Rapid Rewards members. Since I couldn’t get into my account, I used my confirmation number and my newly adopted first name, “Joh,” and it worked.
The flight attendants also came through and passed out cups of water.
Since Row 18 was pretty much in the middle of the aircraft, I figured it would take about the same amount of time to get off using either the front or rear stairs. I chose the front.
I have to say, I really liked Long Beach Airport. It was quick, easy and about as stress-free as an airport can be. My wife said the same thing about driving there and parking.
I really didn’t want to spend $235 to get home, but I had a bad feeling about my American flight. I figured there was a decent chance the delay could get even worse or the flight might eventually be canceled altogether.
If that happened, getting stuck in Las Vegas could easily have cost me more than $235 once I factored in transportation, a hotel and food, not to mention the lost time. So I followed my gut and bought the Southwest ticket.
I’m really glad I did. Not only did my American flight end up being five hours late (landing at 9pm), but thanks to Southwest and Long Beach Airport, I actually made it home earlier than I would have if my original American flight had departed on time. That doesn’t happen very often.
My wife and kids picked me up at LGB and instead of spending most of the evening sitting around Harry Reid International Airport wondering when or if I was going to get home, I had a great evening and dinner with my family.
Sometimes spending a little extra money, trusting your instincts and knowing your alternative airports can completely change a travel day.
