Flying Frontier Air. Do you feel lucky? Well do ya?
If the flight goes as shown then it’s a great deal. If it’s cancelled or overbooked then …….
Air Fare is out of sight!
- Thread starter ZZman
- Start date
Flying Frontier Air. Do you feel lucky? Well do ya?
If the flight goes as shown then it’s a great deal. If it’s cancelled or overbooked then …….
Disregard.
Nah, I do it all the time. Sleep a few hours in the car on the way, so it is actually closer to 24 hours. Actually, I usually stop at a motel on the way back. Last time was to near Dallas to see our son's family for Thanksgiving, three people. We spent the night in Albuquerque on the way back. That high up sleeping in the car can get rough. We mostly have food on the way down to an inexpensive, if not all that healthy, science. Hey, it is only one day.
Flying is safer than being on a very long drive. Think of all the near misses on that long round trip drive.
Other than the monotony of Iowa and corn its a breeze.
Air fares have returned to reality, where airlines cover their costs.
Driving rarely saves money. Most people underestimate the true cost/mile. Of tires, maintenance, depreciation, etc. Then there is the cost of hotels, meals, and, of course, your time.
Frontier is fine, until something happens. They might take three weeks to rebook you, as happened to a good friend. He was in Seattle with his daughter, looking at colleges. Flight canceled. Frontier didn’t have any seats for three weeks.
Three weeks. He could have walked home to Colorado. He was thinking about a rental.
I bought him a ticket on United.
JHZR2
Staff member
For us, yes, the flights have gotten more expensive in time, like fuel… but the bigger issue is that selection… I mean good selection has gone way down. And the airlines will present these options that are insane, like outright stupid. Flights that have a 30 minute connection In a big airport, flights that require staying overnight in the airport, etc. the number of nonstops have dropped, so even going From major place to major place can require a wasteful stop.
I like American, it’s what I fly primarily… they have decent economy seat (knee) space compared to delta and others, but sometimes I have to wonder if they really want to be in business and fly..l
I like American, it’s what I fly primarily… they have decent economy seat (knee) space compared to delta and others, but sometimes I have to wonder if they really want to be in business and fly..l
At the risk of bashing the competition, American is a hot mess.
Their CEO still had not completed the America West/USAir merger when he took on American. As a result, American has multiple, incompatible scheduling systems, fractious employee relations, and the worst reliability statistics of any major airline.
They’re big in Philly, so, more options for you, so I understand the affinity.
But operationally, they’re the worst.
I wouldn't say rarely...many factors to consider. Now that my kid is almost 3 and gets his own seat, we pay for 3 tickets and not 2 so that's a 50% price increase for any given trip on airfare as opposed to driving which makes no difference adding passenger. Families with 3+ kids it's minivan for the win almost every time from a dollars standpoint. I'm in a small market often traveling to other small markets, so paying for the regional connection to get to the mainline to then take the regional again to final destination adds up. The alternative is drive to a larger airport and then add parking, wear and tear, gas, etc. like you mentioned. I have my limits though and at the end of the day anything past 12 hours or so on the road we fly period...time is money after all.
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Over the last year, we seem to have had some temporary jet fuel shortages in various locations. Even South Florida is not immune. Maybe I'm wrong about this being fuel price related, but Jet Blue was recently charging a much higher fare when departing out of South FL than the reverse.
Being as I fly out of PBI regularly, it hurts me to pay $450 for a one way to NY. Traditionally, Jet A was about $5/gal in FL, it's suddenly about $10
Being as I fly out of PBI regularly, it hurts me to pay $450 for a one way to NY. Traditionally, Jet A was about $5/gal in FL, it's suddenly about $10
Frontier Airlines tends to be one of the better airlines for having on-time flights. Their utilization of their aircraft is roughly 13.5 hours per day which is much higher than many airlines
Higher daily utilization on narrow body aircraft is what leads to unreliable schedules.
Each negative event, like a delay or cancellation, will have cascading effects through the rest of the day because so many subsequent flights are using that jet.
I wouldn’t praise their utilization- it saves them money by getting higher usage out of a capital asset - but it means lower schedule reliability for you.
More like 21-22 if hours if you don't rush it, stop more often than necessary to stretch your legs (makes a huge difference!), walk the dog or grab a coffee. Stopping for a sit down meal along the way or a nap also does wonders for one's psychy. Been there and done that.
If they're a hot mess, they sure do a good job of working through it. I had 41 segments on American last year and the only issue I had was a flight to Fargo cancelling in November due to weather. Yes, I was already at the airport, they delayed it 30 mins and then cancelled it....but they didn't have us board. I went home and brought up the weather report and I guess the temps dropped unexpectedly causing freezing conditions. Perhaps they could have cancelled it earlier and saved me a trip to the airport.
The flight crew on American always seems to be friendly and attentive. No complaints.
