We overnighted in Nashville in hopes of catching the 7:30 flight to San Francisco.  Last time we did something like this we got the airport before 6 am only to discover that Southwest hadn’t yet opened the counter.

So last night I got to thinking why get out there before 6 if there is no one to help you.  So we caught the 5:55 airport shuttle and drove up to an airport bustling with activity.  Several thousand folks had beaten us to the punch.  What I didn’t think about was that last time was a Sunday not Thursday and wasn’t Fall Break for a lot of kids.

The security line was about out the front door – longer than any I have seen a LaGuardia. Well we got cranking and I guess because we were Standby scored a Pre-TSA pass which got us through security fairly quickly. We got to the gate and got one of the last seats available and off to California we went:

Except the above map doesn’t factor in a 2 plus hour layover in Las Vegas. But lady luck was on our side there. We got off the plane from Nashville and walked down to the next gate to check on seat availability for the next leg to San Francisco. It turns out they were just finishing boarding a delayed flight to our final destination and even had a couple of spare seats. So right on to that plane we went.

Early start at Nashville Airport

Catching A Nap

We ended up getting to San Francisco an hour earlier than we had originally planned. The standby gods were good to us going out. Hopefully they won’t get their revenge on the flight back. Time will tell.