I flew to Vegas for a long weekend and had no problems on the outbound flights, but going home was much more interesting. When I checked in for my flight 24 hours ahead like I always do, I got a C boarding position. I thought that was odd, as that rarely if ever happens when you check in right at the 24 hour mark. I just assumed it was going to be a full flight and didn't think anything of it.
Then I got to the airport in the morning.
I wish I could describe what I saw. The Southwest terminal at the Vegas airport was completely packed with people. I mean absolutely jam packed at 8AM on a Tuesday morning. The check in area was so full that there was nowhere to go inside - the line of people went out the door onto the sidewalk and it literally went past the entire Southwest terminal area.
All I was thinking was thank *God* I didn't have to check a bag or I would have been totally screwed over - and I arrived 90 minutes before departure which is normally plenty of time. In all my years flying through LAS it takes me maybe 15-20 minutes max on average to get through check in (if I have to check a bag) and TSA. It's normally never a problem at all.
I'm not sure why Southwest was *that* busy - I've never seen anything like it even pre-2020. I heard someone say that a reason for the crowd was due to a convention ending - I wasn't aware those were happening again, but it could be true. In any case - pent. up. demand. is happening and I love to see it!
Despite being in the C group I managed an aisle seat about mid-way on the plane, so all in all everything worked out! 🛫
--Jessica
