KCI Flight Schedule Adjustments

[herrfrank]

The big problem with a US domestic connection on an international itinerary is the return. You have to clear customs at your first arrival point, which if you have a wife and kids means a lot of baggage being handled -- in the middle of your journey. Then again at the end. It doubles the level of irritation of one of the least likable aspects of travel -- baggage checking.

[KCPowercat]

Fair point. Global entry makes that second one pretty simple though.

No doubt when we get the europe connection I'll prefer to use it but I can't see many driving 4 hours for it.

[Chris Stritzel]

JetBlue acquired Spirit. I’m not familiar with the direct flight route map for Spirit from KC, but I expect this merger means a whole lot more direct routes for JetBlue from KC. Some people might not be happy this happened, but I am.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/28/jetblue ... lines.html

[dev49]

Frontier is such a weird airline.

They just added Vegas

Now they cut Orlando from the schedule (surprising) and pull Philadelphia from most of Nov-Jan (not as surprising)

[brewcrew1000]

Kind of disappointed the MCO flight is going away, flew that twice this past year for 25 each way and the flight times were perfect, it was basically leave thursday night and return sunday afternoon, even the sunday return flight was 25 bucks

[normalthings]

Frontier is such a weird airline.

They just added Vegas

Now they cut Orlando from the schedule (surprising) and pull Philadelphia from most of Nov-Jan (not as surprising)

Frontier is sponsor increased CBP staffing at KCI announced today.

[herrfrank]

^Customs and Border Protection (the US Immigration services)

Does this mean Frontier is going to fly from KC to Mexico?

[normalthings]

^Customs and Border Protection (the US Immigration services)

Does this mean Frontier is going to fly from KC to Mexico?

I would imagine. Do they operate the flights for Apple Vacations?


Edit: Volaris, Frontier, and VivaAerobus do

[Chris Stritzel]

^Customs and Border Protection (the US Immigration services)

Does this mean Frontier is going to fly from KC to Mexico?

I flew them from STL to Cancun a few weeks back. Disliked everything about that experience. I get that they're a budget airline but jeez, sometimes you got to step back and wonder why people degrade themself to that level. Base fare price + you need to choose a seat (+$100 roundtrip) + a carryon bag ($76 round trip) = $196 round trip. It shocked me that the add-ons and fees were more than the base fare price.

You want to recline? Nope. Do you want a snack? Pay up. Want more knee room? Pay up. How about a credit card for free flights? Pass out the papers! Want friendly staff? Choose another airline (except American). The seat sucked too and made the 3-hour flight feel like forever. You just sit there and watch an already downloaded movie on your phone or listen to downloaded music. There's not even a usable seatback tray to play a game on or solve puzzles.

Anyone is free to fly on Frontier anywhere, including to Mexico, but it just wasn't a good experience in my opinion. Southwest is bare bones too but at least you know what you're paying for when you book your ticket and have a more comfortable experience. Southwest > Frontier. I'm happy Frontier lost out on the bid to get Spirit because one less extremely low-cost/budget airline is better for everyone.

[im2kull]

^Customs and Border Protection (the US Immigration services)

Does this mean Frontier is going to fly from KC to Mexico?

I flew them from STL to Cancun a few weeks back. Disliked everything about that experience. I get that they're a budget airline but jeez, sometimes you got to step back and wonder why people degrade themself to that level. Base fare price + you need to choose a seat (+$100 roundtrip) + a carryon bag ($76 round trip) = $196 round trip. It shocked me that the add-ons and fees were more than the base fare price.

You want to recline? Nope. Do you want a snack? Pay up. Want more knee room? Pay up. How about a credit card for free flights? Pass out the papers! Want friendly staff? Choose another airline (except American). The seat sucked too and made the 3-hour flight feel like forever. You just sit there and watch an already downloaded movie on your phone or listen to downloaded music. There's not even a usable seatback tray to play a game on or solve puzzles.

Anyone is free to fly on Frontier anywhere, including to Mexico, but it just wasn't a good experience in my opinion. Southwest is bare bones too but at least you know what you're paying for when you book your ticket and have a more comfortable experience. Southwest > Frontier. I'm happy Frontier lost out on the bid to get Spirit because one less extremely low-cost/budget airline is better for everyone.

Believe it or not some folks routinely fly without gobs of luggage, or caring about choosing a specific seat. Many elitists as well.

[Chris Stritzel]

Believe it or not some folks routinely fly without gobs of luggage, or caring about choosing a specific seat. Many elitists as well.

I'm aware of them and won't knock them for being savvy and traveling light (I try to do that as well). But I have more of an issue with Frontier. Choosing a seat, for me at least, is more important than other things because I like to be at the back of the plane or, if I have to be near the front, at an aisle seat so I can get up whenever allowed.

[dev49]

Believe it or not some folks routinely fly without gobs of luggage, or caring about choosing a specific seat. Many elitists as well.

I'm aware of them and won't knock them for being savvy and traveling light (I try to do that as well). But I have more of an issue with Frontier. Choosing a seat, for me at least, is more important than other things because I like to be at the back of the plane or, if I have to be near the front, at an aisle seat so I can get up whenever allowed.

I think it’s popular in 3 specific instances.
1. Families, if you have a family of 4, you don’t need the extras for the kids. You can combine into bigger bags and then everyone can have a book bag.
2. People (especially younger) going for a weekend. They fit all they need in a book bag and don’t pay for any bags.
3. If it’s the only nonstop or only nonstop time wise that works.

Most of their flights are short enough people aren’t as concerned about where they end up sitting. I know plenty other people that pay the $49 fare to go to Florida for a weekend and pay no other fees. If you buy your ticket at the airport it’s even cheaper. They don’t charge the CIC fee. Knocks off a chunk. I think it’s $15-$20. I bought tickets at the airport for someone once and they even gave them free seat assignments.

I would probably be paying for a seat personally but I know not everyone cares as much as me.

[brewcrew1000]

Believe it or not some folks routinely fly without gobs of luggage, or caring about choosing a specific seat. Many elitists as well.

I'm aware of them and won't knock them for being savvy and traveling light (I try to do that as well). But I have more of an issue with Frontier. Choosing a seat, for me at least, is more important than other things because I like to be at the back of the plane or, if I have to be near the front, at an aisle seat so I can get up whenever allowed.

U not knowing the rules is why I can fly frontier for 25 bucks each way so I would like to thank you for that.. The American tourister underseater roller bag is a great frontier/spirit bag, it would qualify as free. I can fit 5 days worth of clothes in that roller bag. You call SW bare bones but it's actually not anymore, they offer the most perks for any airline now but SW is more expensive these days, it does not really qualify as a budget airline anymore.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/American-Tou ... /395068781

[Chris Stritzel]

Believe it or not some folks routinely fly without gobs of luggage, or caring about choosing a specific seat. Many elitists as well.

I'm aware of them and won't knock them for being savvy and traveling light (I try to do that as well). But I have more of an issue with Frontier. Choosing a seat, for me at least, is more important than other things because I like to be at the back of the plane or, if I have to be near the front, at an aisle seat so I can get up whenever allowed.

U not knowing the rules is why I can fly frontier for 25 bucks each way so I would like to thank you for that.. The American tourister underseater roller bag is a great frontier/spirit bag, it would qualify as free. I can fit 5 days worth of clothes in that roller bag. You call SW bare bones but it's actually not anymore, they offer the most perks for any airline now but SW is more expensive these days, it does not really qualify as a budget airline anymore.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/American-Tou ... /395068781

You’re welcome but I don’t get why they charge for a carry on bag. If I knew that little bag was sold, I likely would’ve bought one and saved some money. True about Southwest, but compared to others out there, it’s a pretty simple and straightforward operation (which is how I should’ve described instead of bare bones). JetBlue still takes the cake for me followed up by Delta and then Southwest. All are close together in my book. Frontier is 4th and American is bottom of the barrel absolute last ditch effort if I must go somewhere and they’re the only one available.

[taxi]

https://www.walmart.com/ip/American-Tou ... /395068781

It should be illegal to post a link to Walmart on a forum about urban development. Moderators!

[herrfrank]

Not a lot of love for AA American Airlines on these boards!

The station chief for AA actually paged me to the old departure "lounge" (LOL -- but it used to be an AC, now basically where TSA is in terminal C) with cake and a swag bag when my odometer hit 3 million miles -- happened to be in KC heading to Philly for that milestone. It was a nice touch. I even remember the ancient AAdmirals Club upstairs in terminal A in the 1980s -- lots of beige decor and a tiny bar.

Each airline experience somewhat depends on your frequent flyer status. I never fly United, but I know Global Services peeps who swear by them. Since I fly AA all the time, they treat me well -- club access, upgrades, preboarding, status extends to AS and JetBlue plus some European carriers too. It is strange how variable the experiences can be between travelers, even on the same airline.

[GRID]

It probably also helps if your home airport is a hub of the airline you use the most. I never used to use United, but since they are a hub at Dulles and they offer a lot of international flights, I have started to try and build more miles with them, but it's still hard to use them over Singapore or Emirates.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

Not a lot of love for AA American Airlines on these boards!

The station chief for AA actually paged me to the old departure "lounge" (LOL -- but it used to be an AC, now basically where TSA is in terminal C) with cake and a swag bag when my odometer hit 3 million miles -- happened to be in KC heading to Philly for that milestone. It was a nice touch. I even remember the ancient AAdmirals Club upstairs in terminal A in the 1980s -- lots of beige decor and a tiny bar.

Each airline experience somewhat depends on your frequent flyer status. I never fly United, but I know Global Services peeps who swear by them. Since I fly AA all the time, they treat me well -- club access, upgrades, preboarding, status extends to AS and JetBlue plus some European carriers too. It is strange how variable the experiences can be between travelers, even on the same airline.

Agreed with this assessment. I’ve known people to have ONE single bad experience with one airline, usually not even within their control, and completely swear off that airline for life.

To add to Chris’s point though, I’ve given AA more than a dozen chances, and have been at best underwhelmed, at worst down right infuriates with their quality of service. Of the mainlines in the US I avoid AA like a plague at this point.

[WoodDraw]

A lot depends on how you fly too. If you don’t fly (and spend) enough it makes sense to just fly based off of price.

What Anthony said is completely true though. I have family and friends that won’t fly certain airlines or even to certain stops because of a bad experience.

Most people I know use American with southwest as a back up, or other way around. I fly delta exclusively, and I think they’re the best of what we have, but it fits my travel.

I think if we could get American, delta, and southwest all solid here we’d be in good shape.

[beautyfromashes]

Starting to think about vacation destinations for next summer when I'll be coming out of the NEW TERMINAL!! When's that international nonstop going to be announced so I can book it? Surely they won't wait til the last minute.