What is this world coming to? Not only does Southwest Airlines offer assigned seating now, they also have an enhanced seating option with extra legroom and premium snacks. I recently got to try these updates on their 737 MAX 8 on a flight from Miami to Dallas.
Honestly? It felt like a weird new version of a once-unique airline experience. It wasn’t very Southwest-like in my opinion.
Never mind the fact that I was never a fan of their open seating policy and lack of premium seats. The quirkiness of flying southwest was gone. It felt like any other “extra legroom” economy offering on any other airline in the US right now, and that makes me sad.
Does anyone know how to revert back to version 1.0? Heck, I’d even be happy with v1.9 at this point. Thanks in advance.
Southwest Airlines 737 MAX 8 side view illustration by NorebboStock.comOur route from Miami to Dallas this morning as WN2565
My full review of the Southwest Airlines 737 MAX 8 Extra Legroom experience
It’s not very often that I’ll choose to fly Southwest Airlines all the way across the country, but all the recent changes got me curious.
My complete booking was MIA-DAL on the 737 MAX 8, and then DAL-SAN on the 737-700. This review only covers the Miami to Dallas segment.
Arrival at the Miami International Airport
I once flew from Miami to Dallas (DFW) on an American Airlines MD-11. As I walked into the terminal at 9:56 AM for this 1:00 PM flight (I know!), I had my suspicions that this wasn’t going to be quite exciting as that one was.
As much as I try, it isn’t always possible to fly on a badass widebody with a questionable safety record. Sometimes a 737 (with a once-equally questionable safety record) is the best option.
Welcome to Concourse G at MIA! Although, based on how lost I’m feeling at the moment, it’s probably something more like “MIA at Concourse G!” There’s not a lot of helpful signage here.When in doubt, enter through the nearest door (as you hope and pray that Southwest doesn’t end up labeling you as a missing person as your flight pushes off the gate without you).
I checked in online the night prior, so I was able to bypass the check-in encounter entirely. Which is probably a good thing, considering how long the queue for the security checkpoint was. You see? I actually did have a somewhat valid reason for showing up so early.
I’m in! Mental note: Perhaps the exclamation mark is unnecessary considering how unflattering Concourse G is?I’m not celebrating yet however, because I still don’t even know if I’m in the right place. At least there’s a sign pointing to where all the women are.F it. There’s a Southwest 737 MAX 8 parked here at gate G11, so I’m just gonna hang out here and see what happens.
The boarding process for flight number 2565 to Dallas
Due to the late arrival of the aircraft from Chicago, boarding was delayed by about 15 minutes. This was a blessing in disguise, as it gave me extra time to figure out how the new boarding process works.
And just for the record, I wasn’t the only one standing around waiting to see what happens. The guy on the far left seems to be on the phone with his wife telling her that nothing is happening yet. “I ain’t seeing shit, honey.”Actually, she might be on the phone with her husband. Oops. Oh well. Here’s my boarding pass.
Assigned seating eliminates the need for the notoriously chaotic A-B-C queuing system. They board by group numbers now (just like every other soulless airline). You still gotta lineup though.
It’s happening! But not exactly like it used to. Southwest boards by group numbers now, but you still need to line up before the boarding process begins.Jet bridge thoughts (which are kind of like shower thoughts but different): Have you ever seen a dirty Southwest Airlines plane? How do they keep them so dang clean?“Now boarding Group 1. Anyone confident enough to wear Christmas tree pajamas not only in public, but in freakin’ April, may board at their leisure.” I may not be brave (and cool) enough to rock Christmas tree pajamas in April, but at least I’m smart enough to know that the extra legroom in my seat won’t be as much as the people here in row 1 are enjoying. This ain’t my first rodeo, y’all.I especially like how the “reserved for Extra Legroom seats” sticker in the overhead bins seems to imply that the people sitting in those seats need to find their own space. Or maybe I just take things too literally.
Southwest 737 MAX 8 Extra Legroom seat overview
There are 30 extra legroom seats on the Southwest 737 MAX 8. It’s a standard 3-3 configuration, consisting 5 rows of seats. These are the seats at the very front of the aircraft of course.
Holy shit, they weren’t kidding. Seeing this much legroom on Southwest is like seeing dual zone air conditioning in a Yugo.Wanna know how excited I was about all this extra legroom? I didn’t even give my thumb enough time to become erect before snapping this picture. Apparently it takes my brain longer to send ‘thumbs up’ instructions to my hands than it does to send ‘take a picture of the under seat storage space’ instructions. Even though my thumb is still flaccid here, I can assure you that a proper (and firm) thumbs up gesture was in the process of being processed.
The extra legroom is pretty decent IMHO. Of course it’s not as good as what I once experienced in an exit row seat on this same aircraft, but it’ll do (and it did very nicely). Extra legroom looked to be about 3 inches more than a standard economy seat by my estimation.
Hey now. Never in a million years did any of us think that Southwest would offer assigned seating (with extra legroom), so don’t be discouraged about the lack of video screens. You never know!
In terms of overall look and feel, these seats are basically the same as what you’ll find in Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 Premium Class. There are no video screens, but there is a pretty good streaming in flight entertainment option (which I’ll show you in a moment).
Here we have the guy (yes, I’m 100% sure about it this time) in seat 2D talking on the phone, presumably to his wife, telling her about how awesome all of this extra legroom is. “Too bad the middle seat is occupied honey, because I’d love it if you could move up here and sit next to me. Oh well. See you in Dallas!”USB A and C charging ports. Southwest doesn’t hate us that much.
The departure from Miami
They got us pushed off the gate 6 minutes late at 1:06 PM. I was expecting worse considering how delayed the boarding process was.
Even the ramp workers were waiting for something to happen. “I ain’t got all day, bro.”Extra legroom verdict so far? Well, I’m not dead yet. Although……he’s for sure going to kill me (after his wife kills him) for blowing his cover. This airline review gig was fun while it lasted I guess.
It was a 16 minute taxi over to runway 8R, and we were in the air 12 minutes late at 1:22 PM.
As I await my execution, here’s a nice picture of the airport just moments after takeoff. Pretty neat, huh?Still not dead yet. Here’s downtown Miami.And North Beach! Seems as if the feeling of not wanting to sit next to each other was mutual (and that I’m going to live to complete the review after all).
In-flight entertainment
Despite all the changes that Southwest has been making lately, I’m happy to report that their in-flight entertainment product is still as good as ever. Remember all the good stuff I said about it in my old Southwest 737 MAX 8 review? Every bit of it still applies. Thank goodness.
Free Wi-Fi & Entertainment. *Where available. Available only on Wi-Fi enabled designated aircraft. Free Wi-Fi is only for Rapid Rewards Members (and anyone not complaining about waiting for something to happen, because technically, it’s happening).Here’s the main menu for the 65,000 bonus point offer for the Rapid Rewards credit card. If you squint really hard you might be able to spot the little links for Live TV and Movies.
Not only are there a wide variety of movies to watch, they also offer live TV. Most importantly, the streaming was rock solid. It was fast, and I didn’t experience any buffering or dropped connections.
And then he found the movie ‘Cars’. He is now 100% distracted, thus resulting in the conclusion of the in-flight entertainment portion of this review.
Food and drinks
Yes! Extra Legroom passengers do get premium snack snacks and drinks. However, as you’re about to see, the premium snack isn’t all that premium in my opinion.
All this stuff looks kind of expensive, doesn’t it? No worries! Pay for anything you want little by little at only 6.97% APR with that fancy credit card they were pushing earlier.And by golly, wouldn’t you know it, the free ‘premium snack’ you get as an Extra Legroom customer is the exact same ‘premium snack’ I recently got in Delta A321neo Comfort Plus. Somebody at Wonderful(TM) is a fantastic salesperson methinks (or at least a ginormous AvGeek).Hot take: the free snacks (the ones that everybody gets) are more premium than the premium snacks.
Don’t get it twisted: the only kind of food that they offer is snacks. Expecting anything more substantial (such as a sandwich or a wrap) is a great way to end up disappointed.
“Mmmm, sunflower lecithin, thiamin mononitrate, and leavening!”
I didn’t partake in the premium drink, but just know that alcohol (beer / wine / spirits) is available if you need it.
One free premium drink (to wash down those thiamin mononitrates) is included as well.
Seat comfort (and recline)
A word of warning: these seats are hard. So hard that it made me thankful for breaking up my trip across the country with a stop in Dallas.
I did like how deeply contoured the seatbacks are though. I don’t know. I guess I just like the feeling of being cradled like the man-baby I can be sometimes.
What’s long, hard, and not as girthy as you’d prefer? A Southwest Airlines 737 MAX 8 armrest of course. These didn’t jive all that well with my bony elbows.Trust me. You’ll enjoy those highly adjustable headrests when those thiamin mononitrates kick in (at least until the leavening goes to work on your spleen).
Just as how foolish it would be to expect actual food, it would be equally foolish to expect extra seat recline. Extra Legroom seats are extra in legroom only. Not recline.
An airline reviewers worst nightmare: nobody partaking in the seat recline, thus resulting in a less than satisfactory seat recline pic. All is not lost however, because, this ended up being a fantastic picture for showcasing the adjustability of the headrests and contoured seatbacks. Disaster averted.I’m comfortably crossed up, my phone is charging at a pretty good clip, and my spleen is holding its own against the leavening. Life is good.
The descent and arrival into Dallas
The weather was absolutely perfect as we began the descent just off the coast of southeast Texas. Other than a bit of haze and humidity, conditions looked perfect for a pretty sweet (non-deadly) arrival at DAL.
Perhaps the most stereotypical picture of Dallas I’ve ever taken. Strip malls, housing developments, and concrete spaghetti.I take that back. I reckon it ain’t really Dallas if there ain’t a Southwest Airlines 737 somewhere in the frame. Amirite?Holy shit, it keeps getting even more Dallas-y the closer we get to the airport!Welcome to Texas, y’all.
We touched down on runway 24 at exactly 3:05 PM, which is only five minutes behind schedule. From there, it was a short 6 minute taxi over to gate 16, and we were fully docked at 3:11 PM. Only one minute late, despite our tardy departure back in Miami.
“Thanks!” – my spleen, as I released the clasp on the seatbelt (he had been working pretty hard for the past hour or so).The final advantage of an Extra Legroom seat? Less grunting like an old man when you bend over to pull out your backpack from under the seat in front of you.The final_final_v2.jpg of an Extra Legroom seat? Being one of the first off the airplane. Yee haw!
Pros and cons
The Southwest Extra Legroom experience is essentially a new and improved version of their old (and now dead) Business Select offering. You’ll get the same premium drinks and priority boarding you used to get with that, along with a few extra inches to stretch out. It’s not a huge improvement, but it is progress.
Pros
Extra legroom really means extra legroom. Long time Southwest frequent flyers will appreciate the difference.
The premium snack isn’t all that premium, but I’m never one to complain about extra food. Especially when it’s free.
Free alcohol.
Cons
I think it’d be nice if they could premium-ify the premium snack a bit. It doesn’t have to be much. Maybe a simple snack box?
Those of you with bony butts may not like how hard the seats are.
Those of you with junk in your trunk may not like how narrow they are either.
