TRIP REPORT - A Mess on Southwest, LGB to STL (737-700)

Southwest has been growing at STL, even during the pandemic. One of the new routes added as of late is to Long Beach. So after spending New Years with friends in the LA area, I thought this would be a great way to get home. Dan dropped me off at LGB on his way to LAX while I teased him about how much easier my day would be. After all, LGB is a beautiful little airport without any of the congestion and issues that are prevalent up the road at LAX. I headed into the terminal expecting a very easy flight home.....
Nope. 1 cancellation, 1 maintenance delay, and 3 flights later, I rolled into STL at 10pm just happy to have actually made it home. Dan got the last laugh this time.
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[@BrytonJones6063]

Amazing job

[@gladfan1989]

And that, Jacob, is what makes travel an interesting experience.

[@stacym735]

I love St. Louis too. I live 100 miles away from the city, but I get there as often as I can. It's my "home away from home." :)

[@dave11686]

SoCal really has interesting small airports. Burbank comes to mind

[@grand_vacation]

Aw nice! I spotted the Carnival Radiance! (Former Victory!)

[@RTSAvation]

The views are amazing out of Los angles/ Long Beach!!!!!!

[@ryanfrisby7389]

Wow Jacob, you really outdid yourself with this one! It sucks that SWA did this to you but like you said, at least they got you home. Excellent trip report and I can’t wait for the next one!😸

[@disneyfan9099]

I had a great experience at LGB in Jan. I was running so late for my SWA flight but I made it from dropping off my National rental to boarding my plan in less then 20 mins. Plus the flight was pretty empty.

[@marksmith4582]

Great video Jacob! Good grief what a long day just to get back home from Long Beach! Southwest definitely got you home! Miracle that your checked luggage followed you all the way! Have a great weekend! I am! Mark in Iowa.

[@ericsturniolo]

I know the three flights thing. Always fun with SWA!

[@michaelsharp3615]

Ive been on a Southwest plane 3 times where you stay on do a through count of passengers, stay on the plane and switch seats. All three flights have been either to or from Orlando in some sort of way. Once through St. Louis coming back and the other to were to and from Orlando through Chicago Midway. I realized those trips in 2011 and 2013 with so many passengers staying on the plane to Omaha or Orlando Southwest added a nonstop route direct from Omaha to Orlando in 2015. Still to this day 20 to 30 passengers fly Omaha to Orlando and make the same connecting flights.

[@matthewpettit4496]

I had a similar experience while traveling home from Orlando last June. Except my flight was canceled and there were no more flights available for me that day, because it was during the evening. So the next day I went back to the airport at 11 AM. 4 hours later, they announced that my 5 pm flight to Chicago was canceled. So I ended up taking the flight that went to Norfolk and Denver. In Norfolk, it was the stay on the plane stop. When I got to Denver, I got lucky, because the gate that my flight to Omaha was departing from was right across the hall from the gate that I arrived from Orlando and Norfolk, and the Omaha flight was boarding. When I got to Omaha, which was a little after midnight, I found that my checked luggage didn’t show up. After talking with the staff in the baggage claim office, they informed me that my bag was put on a plane that went to St. Louis. So they delivered my bag to my home the next morning. It was quite an adventure.

[@jasonn4597]

That’s crazy and if it’s that a bad experience enough, you wouldn’t imagine if it was spirit or frontier airlines

[@SimsAndStuff]

Another great trip report. Really is a shame more people dont watch your reports. Loved the Long Beach Airport, looked a great placed to travel to or from.

[@shsav2012]

I swear it seems like out of everyone who I’ve talked to since New Year’s I’m the only one who had a flawless trip by air. Did United round-trip from Chicago to Seattle and had no issues with any of my flights.

[@LillyMcNealWhite]

So far (knock on wood) only one issue the week after Nye. Alaska cancelled my SFO to LAX flight but I was able to book a new one for just a few hours later.

[@BHV0810]

Wow! The production quality on these trip reports has skyrocketed! I wish I had made some from my Europe trip, but it's okay!

[@737arrowjet]

Great video but I noticed you didn’t film any in flight service. Did Southwest not offer anything?

[@mackpines]

Never knew Long Beach had commercial flights. Cool terminal building. Sorry about your experience. I've never flown Southwest so I'm not able to compare the boarding, service, etc. The only airlines I've been on are American and Delta.

[@conrad1478]

20:40 the famous (and locally infamous) Dallas High Five

[@SamSitar]

nice long way from long beach to saint louis.

[@johnp139]

Are they turning west to travel east? Then heading south to go north?

[@MasonWright1234]

I hadn’t been to Los Angeles area which is LA area

[@Midwestaviationspotting1995]

Love it I will be flying the Pmdg 737-700 a lot when it comes out on flight simulator 2020

[@Midwestaviationspotting1995]

Ps. Love the flap sounds

[@carselevators930]

Hopefully SWA is keeping up with business during the pandemic

[@aviationfan2637]

I suppose that will be the last time you'll use Southwest for a while

[@matthewlindstrom8728]

What did you have to do in Long Beach

[@davidharris2519]

Do you think its a good idea to close the WN terminal and move everything over to the rest of the airport at STL

[@TheElevatorChannel]

Absolutely. T2 is well beyond its designed capacity. If they rebuild T1 into a single linear concourse like what has been discussed, it’s a great plan that makes the airport much more efficient. One big security checkpoint. One drop off and pick up zone (no more sending shuttles to 2 different places). All concessions would be accessible behind a single checkpoint which makes them more profitable/valuable. Not to mention that the new concourse would be a better space for passengers than any of our current facilities. It’s a win for everyone and I hope it proceeds as soon as possible.

[@michaelsharp3615]

I flew to Orlando 4 weeks ago and it was crazy due to Florida weather flew OMA to ATL to MCO on Southwest Airlines

[@liflyer0413]

No one cares

[@michaelsharp3615]

@@liflyer0413 do u wear diapers

[@johnp139]

Who came up with that airport code?

[@seannewberry7941]

That plane at 17:15 is pretty unique.

[@MidwestCWS]

Southwest seems to be having delays and cancellations much more often. Almost every flight I've taken with them since 2019 has experienced some sort of delay whether it be maintenance, staffing, or weather (out of their control) related delays.

[@Onboard_flyer]

True, both my flights to midway and returning from ohare were cancelled and needed to be rescheduled. Seems to be much more frequent than I rememebr

[@ElevatorCwashTravelingAndMore]

At least li Flyer won't reply here

[@jasonn4597]

That’s crazy, I wonder if it’s just as bad as American, Spirit and Frontier airlines

[@johnp139]

So much for a direct flight.

[@michaelsharp3615]

Fly to Omaha sometime please

[@liflyer0413]

Stop asking! No one wants to fly to that boring place!

[@michaelsharp3615]

Southwest replaced JetBlue at Long Beach

[@liflyer0413]

No one cares

[@pete84101]

JetBlue threw a hissy fit when they couldn't get the city of Long Beach to build an international terminal so JetBlue could fly to Mexico, Carbbean, and South American countries. Took their ball to LAX.

[@davidharris2519]

Southwest used to do quicker turns

[@michaelsharp3615]

No LI Flyer here

[@liflyer0413]

Stop mentioning me! It’s so creepy, if you continue I’ll block you

[@johnp139]

If you didn’t have A-list, all three of your flights would have been C-60, which I think is absolutely STUPID!

[@statecollegewx4060]

Wow, this is a mess

[@michaelsharp3615]

Your flight got cancelled due to staffing issues because they had Omnicron COVID

[@liflyer0413]

How do you know?

[@michaelsharp3615]

@@liflyer0413 it was all over the news about airlines canceling flights

[@adrickjone6472]

𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓂 😓

[@BrandondHasty]

5th

[@misterhat5823]

No one cares.

[@robloxgamesarsenalelevator8386]

First

[@misterhat5823]

Stupidest too.