beth@umcp-cs.UUCP (Beth Katz) (11/29/84)
In response to the long article about a bad experience with Frontier Horizons, I think that one experience should not lead someone to all the conclusions presented at the end of the article. First of all, I have never flown on that airline, but I have flown on a number of small airlines (Empire, PEOPLExpress, Piedmont, Henson). The cheapest flight does not necessarily give you the worst service. I regularly fly Piedmont (A growing airline primarily in the South but serving LA, Denver, and San Fran.) and would easily choose it over Eastern when they have the same fare. Not all small airlines are a mistake. Sometimes the service is much better. I almost always buy my tickets by calling around to airlines to find the best price and then having them mailed to me. If you call a major airline that you know doesn't serve the place you are going, you can ask them who does serve that place. They will usually give you the name of several other airlines and maybe even phone numbers. Buying tickets with credit cards often gives you accident insurance as well as the safety (sometimes) if the airline goes bankrupt. Just because one small airline was not very good does not mean all are bad.
marie@harvard.ARPA (Marie Desjardins) (11/29/84)
> I regularly fly Piedmont (A growing airline primarily in the South but > serving LA, Denver, and San Fran.) and would easily choose it over Eastern > when they have the same fare. Not all small airlines are a mistake. I fly fairly regularly between Boston (where I go to school) to Baltimore-Washington (home). I used to fly Delta a lot (they had a $80 round-trip deal, which was the cheapest thing around). They had very good service: the planes were almost always on time, no luggage problems, etc. I flew Piedmont ONCE. The plane took off 1 1/2 hours late. This is the same 45-minute flight! I was absolutely livid by the time we took off. The pilot came on the PA and blamed the airport several times -- but I had never had problems taking off from BWI (this was BWI-Logan) before on any other airline. Once we finally got to Logan, it was at least a 20-minute wait before the luggage came off the plane. I had similar problems the one time I flew People (Newark-National, I think). They almost cancelled the flight, but so many people went up and threatened lawsuits, etc. (there were no more flights that day) that they finally did have the flight. Now maybe airports treat the major lines better than the small ones, but then to me this is a good reason to use the major lines when the price isn't too different. Marie desJardins marie@harvard
ron@brl-tgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (12/02/84)
> > I fly fairly regularly between Boston (where I go to school) to > Baltimore-Washington (home). I used to fly Delta a lot (they had a $80 > round-trip deal, which was the cheapest thing around). They had very > good service: the planes were almost always on time, no luggage > problems, etc. > Unfortunately, Delta (my favorite also) scrapped the Boston to BWI flights. You are now stuck with Eastern, Piedmont, USAir, and People's Express. I refuse to fly USAir because they bumped me without compensation once and their Baltimore based ramp supervisor was not very nice about it. People's Express insists on dumping you in Newark taking an otherwise 50 minutes flight and stretching into two hours (however they are the cheapest). As far as being on-time, TWA is consistantly the worst at arriving on schedule -Ron
ecl@ahuta.UUCP (e.leeper) (12/06/84)
REFERENCES: <886@ihuxb.UUCP> <1455@umcp-cs.UUCP> <173@harvard.ARPA>, <6279@brl-tgr.ARPA> > People's Express insists on dumping you in Newark taking an otherwise > 50 minutes flight and stretching into two hours (however they are the > cheapest). Of course, for those of us in New Jersey, landing at Newark is a feature, not a bug. I *hate* having to drive to JFK (2 hrs.) for a flight that takes 1 hour (NYC to Ottawa). (The following experience is cadged from my review of the World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa. There are also flights from LaGuardia, but that's even more inconvenient to get to. There is nothing from Newark.) The first thing we learned was that in spite of the fact that Ottawa is the capital of Canada, it is almost impossible to get to. The only direct flights from New York (JFK) are via Pilgrim Air. If you want to fly a real airline, you have to fly to Montreal and then take Air Canada the rest of the way. This costs more and takes longer (in theory). However, since our flight, aboard an F-27 prop plane, was diverted to Montreal anyway because of fog, it took us 6 hours to get to Ottawa the "fast" way. (The airline bussed us from Montreal to Ottawa--a two hour trip.) ... When we got to the airport for our return flight, we discovered we would be sharing a plane with Donald and Elsie Wollheim, Peter Straub, Whitley Strieber, F. Paul Wilson, Joan Vinge, Jim Frenkel, Chris Claremont, Chris Steinbrunner, and other well-known people in the publishing world. Not bad for a plane that only holds about 40. Just as I was saying that if this plane went down, there would be a major dent in the SF/horror publishing world, Pilgrim Airlines announced that due to mechanical difficulties the flight had been cancelled! After a lot of confusion ("What do we do now?" "I don't know." "What is the loudspeaker saying?" "I can't hear it!"), we got ourselves straightened out. Most of us opted for re-booking on the next day's noon flight (the clerk said that the 7AM would be cancelled due to fog). Some went through the problem of booking flights through Montreal, either because they were sick of Pilgrim Airlines, or because they needed to get back to New York earlier. The rest of us cruised back to Ottawa and hung out at the hotel (we stayed with friends who were staying through until Monday anyway), then returned to the Ottawa Airport Monday for a remarkably uneventful flight back. So my suggestion--stick to the majors; they have back-up planes, etc. Evelyn C. Leeper ==> Note new net address: ...ihnp4!ahuta!ecl (Mail sent to my old address will be forwarded temporarily.)
mdash@sftri.UUCP (M.D.Scheer) (12/06/84)
> Unfortunately, Delta (my favorite also) scrapped the Boston to BWI flights. > You are now stuck with Eastern, Piedmont, USAir, and People's Express. > I refuse to fly USAir because they bumped me without compensation once > and their Baltimore based ramp supervisor was not very nice about it. > People's Express insists on dumping you in Newark taking an otherwise > 50 minutes flight and stretching into two hours (however they are the > cheapest). Try New York Air between Boston and Washington.
ron@brl-tgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (12/09/84)
> REFERENCES: <886@ihuxb.UUCP> <1455@umcp-cs.UUCP> <173@harvard.ARPA>, <6279@brl-tgr.ARPA> > > > People's Express insists on dumping you in Newark taking an otherwise > > 50 minutes flight and stretching into two hours (however they are the > > cheapest). > > Of course, for those of us in New Jersey, landing at Newark is a feature, not a > bug. I *hate* having to drive to JFK (2 hrs.) for a flight that takes 1 hour > (NYC to Ottawa). I think you missed the point. Having stops on any flight between Baltimore and Boston is a pain in the ass. If I wanted to stop in New York on the way to Boston, I'd go AMTRAK.
ron@brl-tgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (12/09/84)
> > Unfortunately, Delta (my favorite also) scrapped the Boston to BWI flights. > > You are now stuck with Eastern, Piedmont, USAir, and People's Express. > > I refuse to fly USAir because they bumped me without compensation once > > and their Baltimore based ramp supervisor was not very nice about it. > > People's Express insists on dumping you in Newark taking an otherwise > > 50 minutes flight and stretching into two hours (however they are the > > cheapest). > > Try New York Air between Boston and Washington. It would take me two hours to drive to Washington. I live on the other side of Baltimore. Besides, I think DELTA probably still works from DC. -Ron