This last trip, I took Frontier Airlines on the way down, with a layover in Denver. On the way back I took US Airways non-stop. This gave me the ability to very easily compare and contrast the two journeys and I'd love to get us to begin a dialogue about our own experiences so that we might better understand which carriers work best for our situation.
- Leather seating in all classes
- Efficient, perfunctory operating airline attendants
- Efficient layover, easy hub airport to nav
- Seats normal size and legroom also normal size. I was in 18a and 14a for each leg and it was just eh. Normal. I always get window because then I can lean against the window since I'm not aggressive enough to fight for my space like you have to in the aisle seat.
- Bonus: I do like that the jets are referred to by their tail animals, it's a cute addition even though I couldn't tell you what animals I had after the fact.
- On time.
Overall impression: Economy operator, customer service far from exemplary but obviously trained in efficiency.
- Leather seating in all classes
- A321 refurbished and the legroom was extraordinary. From what I overheard a flight attendant telling another passenger, this was one of the first flights this particular jet had been on since refurb and it showed. The regular seats I was in 10A so exit row and it was of course even better. Bonus: unlike other carriers, I didn't have to pay extra for exit row.
- Flight attendants....wow. I can't say I had any particular need of them, or there was anything specific where they went beyond the call of duty but that was what made the deal for me. They were just so sincerely happy to be there. That fake 'Hi,' 'Welcome,' 'I'm not really Southern but affecting the accent makes me seem more nice," really get on my nerves. These people were so very...happy. My kind of people. I watched them happily most of the while we were in the air (I had already finished my books and the battery on my lappy was misbehaving and I'm trying to give up my iPhone games addiction.) and they liked working with one another and their jobs. Absolutely highest marks.
- On time.
Overall impression: Airline of preference for the MSP-PHX route and maintained that position with this week's experience. I'd love to shake the hand of either their customer service training team or the individuals who consult for them.
What routes do you fly? I'm sick of poor customer service and never being on time (yes I mean you, Continental) and think I speak for all of us with that. Let's use the internet to collectivize our experiences and make sure to give our business in these trying times to companies that live up to our expectations instead of let us down!
I typically always fly Northwest/Delta into PHX (and most anywhere else), but that's pretty much always because DTW is a Northwest/Delta hub, and I typically find flights through them that are the same price as (or less expensive than) the discount carriers.
ReplyDeleteDespite the prices being pretty competative, I can never say I've actually been "wowed" by the fleet.
As of late, the only discount carrier I've had dealings with was Spirit, and that was for a quick little weekend jaunt from DTW into Vegas. It wasn't terrible, but it pretty much was exactly what I expected a discount carrier to be- inexpensive tickets, cattle-car type accomodations.