By Staff Writer: Julia Simmons
If you are thinking about travelling this spring break, make sure you pick your airline carefully. I flew domestically for the first time in years, and the process is more time-consuming, exhausting and expensive than I remember it being.
Specifically, I flew Key Lime Air and transferred to American. If you want to avoid a drive to Lubbock or Albuquerque, Key Lime Air is the only option. They fly from Clovis to Dallas or Denver, where you must change airlines. On this trip, I flew from Clovis to Dallas, Dallas to Boston. On the way back was much worse, going Boston to Chicago, Chicago to Denver, Denver to Clovis. This second trip was a really long day with at least two hours in each airport.
One thing I really hated was the inability to check-in for my flights online. Usually when flying, I check in to my flight 24 hours before to get a good place in the boarding line. However, when you start with a Key Lime Air flight, you will be forced to check-in on the morning of your flight. This is both stressful and frustrating.
Airlines are getting stricter about baggage as well. On this trip, I watched stewardesses refuse to let passengers onto the plane if they had more than two bags- this included food bags, or things purchased in the airport. I specifically had issues with my carry-on, being forced to place it in the sizer at a gate in Chicago. This carry-on bag was a soft-sided duffel bag and was much smaller than allowed, so why I was bothered before boarding was baffling.
American Airlines also did not have seatback TVs on any or my flights. They offered streaming on mobile devices, but only through their app – which I had not downloaded before my flight, therefore I could not use. One of my flights also did not have the Wi-Fi working, rendering the entertainment useless.
Overall, I could have paid for a trip from Lubbock to Dallas, Dallas to Boston through United Airlines for less than I paid for my flight on Key Lime/American. While the convenience of not driving to Lubbock was nice, I think trying a different airline in the future will make the trip exponentially better.