Southwest Airlines Flight 369

The boarding process was more confusing and less evenly regulated than it needed to be. Either let everyone do what they want or be strict, but don’t be in some weird in-​between place.
I didn’t actually witness the beginning of boarding, actually, because even though I got to LAX in plenty of time, I had to wait 25 minutes for the TSA pat-​down. There were tons of extra TSA agents standing around, and when I complained about how long I had been made to wait, I got all kinds of attitude and threats from various TSA agents, including a supervisor who epitomized why many people hate cops; this woman believed it was her right to refuse to do her job just because I was expressing my frustration. I had assumed the pat-​down position and was asking that someone please begin reading me the requisite information so that we could get the entire unconstitutional process over with. No, I had to be quiet for some random amount of time before they could even go over the instructions even though I know them by heart. She also made up a rule about another agent being required to observe while I got patted down, and when I pointed out that this rule didn’t actually exist because I had been patted down dozens of times, including in this very terminal the previous month, she copped her attitude right back.
I only wish my childhood friend who had been in charge of the TSA at Terminal 1 still had that job. (She now works in DC.) If there was any chance that Andi was behind the curtain somewhere, I would have refused to be quiet until I got to see her.

Today my daughter, my granddaughter, and myself all took flight on Southwest Airlines. I headed to LAX out of OAK. And I used miles to fly them home to BWI from OAK via MDW. Our experiences in OAK, MDW, and LAX were fine. My daughter and granddaughter’s experience at BWI were not. Traveling by herself with an 11 month old infant, entailed her bringing along some baby equipment, ie stroller and car seat. The baby’s car seat was checked in at OAK baggage thru to BWI, it arrived wet. The stroller was checked at the gate in OAK thru to BWI and arrived missing its seat. When brought to the attention of baggage claim in BWI, the agent, Donay was rude and less than helpful to my daughter. She had to ask for the supervisor to be helped. So now they do not have the use of the stroller since it has no seat and my granddaughter rode home in a wet car seat. I find this very disappointing and upsetting. This is not the high standard of customer service I’ve experienced over the years. And definitely not what I’ve enjoyed reading about in Southwest’s magazine on the plane.