First Class or Coach flyer?

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I haven't flown on a prop plane since 1981...little puddle jumper from Volcan, Chiriqui, to Panama City where they seated us by weight so the plane and cargo would be properly balanced. Prior to that my other 2 prop plane experiences were a little Cessna on a sightseeing flight with my grandfather from Lunken Field in the mid 70s, and a short hop from Port Clinton OH to Put in Bay on a Ford TriMotor about a week before one crashed in 1972.

I don't have a burning desire to travel by air in anything non-jet powered.
 
I also did the Ford across to Port Clinton. IIRC, Island Air had two of these at one time as well as a Boeing 247D.
It was an experience not to be missed.
The last prop airliner we flew on was a Dornier 328 CLT-DAY in 2000 while returning from a family trip with all four of us. It was fast and comfortable and I'd be happy to see one waiting on the ramp to fly us on a shortish hop today.
 
Don’t recall it on that or a King Air 1900 ~ but if it’s just a couple hours that can beat the alternatives …
 
When we fly it's generally only between Dulles and Orlando. I'm a pretty big guy now so sitting in coach for even two hours feels very long and uncomfortable and can even be a little claustrophobic. We took business first once and now we're totally spoiled. The seats are the perfect size and sitting in the front of the plane makes its movements feel way more 'natural' so my wife gets a bit less nauseous. One trip every 2-3 years won't break the bank either.
 
Looks like the vast majority of Ultimate Air Shuttle's fleet is the jet-powered version of the Dornier 328. They advertise heavily in the Cincinnati market but only go to a couple of destinations, none of which are useful to me. I'm intrigued by the concept of flying out of Lunken...pull up, park 50 feet from the terminal, get there 15 minutes prior to departure, and off we go.

https://ultimateairshuttle.com/aircraft-information/
 
There is the possibility of flying one of these UAS 328Jets to CLT and then taking AA to a Florida destination.
I've looked at this and the cost would have been reasonable.
Unfortunately, UAS did not offer a return flight that would work with our schedule.
I'll have to look again at this when we once again fly to FL, but the problem was that if we left a car at Lunken and then returned to either CVG or DAY it wouldn't be very convenient.
I do need to get a fight on one of these rare and inefficient jet Dorniers.
We were booked on one once DAY-CVG-LAX in the glory days of Delta at CVG, but that flight was first subbed to a CRJ and then cancelled altogether due to really bad winter weather.
 
Originally Posted By: CincyDavid
Looks like the vast majority of Ultimate Air Shuttle's fleet is the jet-powered version of the Dornier 328. They advertise heavily in the Cincinnati market but only go to a couple of destinations, none of which are useful to me. I'm intrigued by the concept of flying out of Lunken...pull up, park 50 feet from the terminal, get there 15 minutes prior to departure, and off we go.

https://ultimateairshuttle.com/aircraft-information/


The airport that they fly in and out of in Cleveland you can walk right up to the gate without a ticket. The waiting area they have is very nice and plush. I hope they're able to stay in business. $198 R/T to Cincy/Cleveland seems like a good deal. I think originally it was $350 or so when they first opened.
 
fdcg27 said:
There is the possibility of flying one of these UAS 328Jets to CLT and then taking AA to a Florida destination.
I've looked at this and the cost would have been reasonable.

I can grab such cheap direct flights to Tampa or Ft Myers on Delta that there's not much point in doing a connection on 2 different airlines unless I'm just dying to take a spin in the Dornier 328Jet.
Click to expand...
 
Originally Posted By: CincyDavid
I don't have a burning desire to travel by air in anything non-jet powered.


I don't mind them as long as they're a newer plane. I went up in a newer Cessna that a flight school operated. The owner of the plane sub-leases them to the flight schools. I located the flight school off of Cessna's website when they were offering $50 introductory flights. Real cute flight instructor from Canada. We traveled east along the lake and I was able to do the take off, flying along, the turn back and practicing a stall maneuver. She said we better turn back before they start wondering what we're doing up here.
smile.gif
 
Well, to me the whole point was to grab a ride on a rare and vanishing airliner.
Is Delta now offering cheap fares to Florida destinations out of CVG?
That used to not be the case at all, back in the days when Cincinnati was famous mainly for having the highest airfares in all the land and you could take the same flight for maybe 30% less by originating from DAY and taking a regional flight to CVG rather than fighting traffic the whole way there.
Last time we flew to Tampa we departed CLE on United in order to travel with family.
United at the time still had non-stops to a number of FL destinations from CLE, although not anymore.
CLE and CVG both seem like ghost towns these days, with the merger of Delta and Northwest having eliminated their need for a CVG hub and Continental's merger with United having eliminated their need for a CLE hub.
DAY really is a ghost town these days, especially since the demise of AirTran at the hands of Southwest and Southwest has itself deserted DAY as well.
Last time we arrived at DAY, there was a single AA MD-80 on a gate along with a couple of CRJs and that was it.
It was mid-day, not typically a busy time at any airport, but still.
We were on a Delta MD-80 that had a build date from when I was still in my twenties.
 
Originally Posted By: CincyDavid
I can grab such cheap direct flights to Tampa or Ft Myers on Delta that there's not much point in doing a connection on 2 different airlines unless I'm just dying to take a spin in the Dornier 328Jet.

Not a lot of opportunities these days. I've flown on them quite a few times but it was 10+ years ago on Skyway Airlines out of Milwaukee.

Got my fill of DC-9s and MD-80s on Midwest too, some of the safest airliners in existence. Donald Douglas knew how to build a plane. Not saying Boeing doesn't either, but it was a different design philosophy.
 
I like the larger CRJ that Delta Express flies. Seems like a fair amount larger than the other small jets that other commuter airlines use. Seating capacity is 76 versus 50.




I think even better are the EMB jets that have one inch wider seats compared to an A320.

 
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Just about all the Southwest planes look very nice lately. Esp compared to some of the older paint schemes they've had. Some of those planes seemed really old that I used to fly on. Plush my ears popped like crazy on those planes. But the newer fleet seems very nice.


 
I recall that on our first flight on a CRJ years ago the thing seemed like a miniature DC-9 or MD80 inside and out, even down to the little seats and the tiny lav.
The ERJ is even worse. When we first boarded one, it was so narrow that I thought you gotta be kiddin' me.
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Originally Posted By: opus1
I flew Southwest once. That was two times too many.

Fortunately I can fly other carriers and stay within the bounds of corporate travel policy. Also fortunately, I don't have to travel often.

And coach unless the airline upgrades me. United did this for me several times when I flew more often.


This sounds really cute, but I'm curious to learn what airlines you've flown that are better in coach than Southwest.
JetBlue used to be nice, but they've fixed that.
Otherwise, they're all about equally mediocre unless you really like regional aircraft, in which case the old legacy carriers have a treat in store for you.
Unless you're flying to another continent, you're looking at single aisle equipment from any airline.
If you want a little better seat pitch as well as free bags and plenty of snacks and drinks, then Southwest is a good pick.

I'm uncomfortable on a plane no matter what so I didn't really see an advantage on SWA vs the other airlines. Interestingly enough, I had to fly last month for work and the regional jets UAL used were more comfortable than anything I've recently flown.

I don't fly SWA because despite Midway airport being closer to my house than O'Hare, it's easier for me to get to O'Hare. Baggage fees are a non-issue for me since if I fly on company business, they reimburse me. What I really dislike about SWA is the cattle-call boarding process. I know you can get early check-in to get on earlier, but paying for that is kind of like paying for baggage, isn't it?
wink.gif


And the few times I've priced SWA for travel, there really hasn't been a cost advantage over the other carriers.
 
I've never flown Southwest...I'm not opposed, I've just fallen into the habit of pricing out trips on Delta and Allegiant and if the spread isn't too wide, I choose Delta. Last trip, Delta was within $20 of Allegiant round trip once you factor in bags and sitting together, it was a no-brainer.

I do sometimes wonder if we would do better on an 8 year old Allegiant A320 than a 28 year old Delta MD88.
 
Delta has plenty of older aircraft in its fleet and they keep them very nice in and out. You would never know how old they were unless you knew where to look.
The MD88s are on their way out in the near future although the MD90s and 717s will be around for a number of additional years.
Delta also has its own very good MRO at ATL and so is not reliant on third party maintenance for its fleet.
Personally, I'd rather grab a flight on one of these developments of an old Douglas design than a ubiquitous A320 or 737.
 
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