Sale - Independence Air Questions???

[LoriB]

I have never flown this airline before, but they're having a big sale. Just to check, I plugged in Dulles to Orlando for the week of July 4th and some of the fares were 49. We usually fly out of BWI and are presently looking for some decent fares for our Thanksgiving trip. Given what's available now, we may just opt for driving a little farther and going to Dulles. Can anyone help with information on the airport and the airline?

 

[Caseybum]

Hi Lori,

We will be flying Independence Air ourselves in about 3 weeks from New Hampshire stopping @ Dulles and then on to Orlando! I booked it back in January for a price of $124 round trip! I was nervous to fly them also, but have researched tham and found nothing but good things. The are very similar to Jet Blue. They have all new planes and excellent customer service (warm towels, snacks, etc..). If you check www.eopinions.com and put them in the search quite a few reviews come up.
Good luck with whatever you decide!
Caseybum

 

[disneyjunkie]

I used them twice last summer from JFK to RDU. I was very pleased with the service both times.
We're using them again this month for our trip to WDW.

 

[Christine]

I can't tell you much only that I booked the same fair for my upcoming June trip. That fare is amazing isn't it? I wasn't even really planning on going but when I saw that, I had to take it.

I have heard nothing but good things about them.

 

[PlutoPony]

Have only flown I-Air once and they were fine. Friendliest crew I've had in a very long time! Dulles is easy to get to and well marked. Park in the outer lots and shuttle in (don't think there's any "park and fly" options). Just watch how much time you allow if you're driving during rush hour.

 

[UMTerp]

Just used IA for Spring Break trip. Had a 5-hour delay on the trip home due to "weather". No other airline had delays and the earlier flight (same route) only had a 1-hour delay - left when ours was supposed to leave. Plane was there, crew was there - except for the pilot. Don't know why it took 5 hours to get a pilot on site. I guess you get what you pay for!

UMTerp

 

[n2mm]

I haven't flown them yet, but have been having major issues with them today. I checked my flights for July today and they are either gone or changed. I printed my confirmation with the new changes and called and told them I could not do the times they moved me too, and the Rep. told me there were no changes. So now who do I believe. When I put in my times, my old flights times are long gone. Has anyone else had this problem with their website. Their customer service folks are not too helpful either. I wanted to book a flight for my GS today, but since I don't know what flights I'm on (depending who you listen to), I can't book his flight yet.

 

[ValerieK]

I think maybe they are rearranging flights etc to reduce costs.

There is an article in the April Loudoun Business newspaper that they are furlough about 150 employees and reduce flights to some smaller cities. The 3 top executives are taken large pay cuts also.

I know that MCO is probably one of there more popular routes though, so it could be rearranging of assests. Not that it helps when you flight times are changed.

On a better note, another article says that load factors are climbing and in Ferbuary they were up to 62.9%.

I just checked our flights for the end of the month and they haven't changed.

Independence articles

 

[Iansmom]

My son and I flew over New Year's from Charlotte to Dulles and back to Charlotte. I would definitely fly with them again.
However, I believe their site does caution about "rush hours" at the airport. Take special notice to what they recommend!
When my father dropped us at Dulles it took forever for check-in and security. Matter of fact, my father was calling me on my cell phone to let me know he was back at home (in Timonium) at the exact time we finally made it to the gate.

 

[Iansmom]

on the way to Dulles Airport, take the toll road to the airport. All the way to the left hand side of the highway, there's a lane for Airport Traffic Only. Take it! There is no toll for the airport traffic and it takes you directly into the airport!

 

[drizzt117]

Just a clarification, the road that goes directly to Dulles is the Dulles Access Road, not the toll road.

Thomas

 

[LoriB]

Thanks for your help to everyone who replied....as for rush hour....we will be trying to fly the 9 PM flight on Friday night to Orlando. How much time would it take to get there? We're talking about 110-120 miles to travel around Baltimore/Washington on a Friday evening. Normally we make it to BWI in just over an hour (York,PA) but that's not during rush hour. We were figuring on leaving home at about 4. Will that cut it?

Lori

 

[TDC Nala]

If your flight price goes down, you must still pay the $25 change fee to switch to the lower cost flight. This cuts way down on whatever savings you might end up with when they drop the price. When you see a sale, get the flights you want.

 

[ValerieK]

Thanks for your help to everyone who replied....as for rush hour....we will be trying to fly the 9 PM flight on Friday night to Orlando. How much time would it take to get there? We're talking about 110-120 miles to travel around Baltimore/Washington on a Friday evening. Normally we make it to BWI in just over an hour (York,PA) but that's not during rush hour. We were figuring on leaving home at about 4. Will that cut it?

Lori

I would check out going 30 to Gettysburg then Rt 15 through Fredrick MD and then down to Leesburg and then to the Dulles Greenway to the airport. We have family in Lancaster and we found that is the best way. Sometimes it takes longer, but we always go that way if it is around rush hour, especailly on a Friday. I think it took us about 21/2 hours and they live on the far side of Lancaster from you.

Oh and we have always had a great experience on Independence and my company uses them for business travel, one co-worker won't fly anything else if Independence flys there. He loves them.

 

[PlutoPony]

Agree that Rt. 15 should be easier (traffic wise) than around the Beltway, especially on a Friday when rush hour can start early.
Here's another suggestion...... leave home early, say noon, drive down and visit the new Smithsonian Air and Space Museum - the Udvar Hazey Center. It's just a few miles south of Dulles and a really neat museum! No entry fee, $12 to park. Spend a couple of hrs. with the planes (there's a Concorde and Space Shuttle there among others), go up in the "control tower" which overlooks the Dulles runways. Then catch an early dinner nearby since Dulles food is pretty predictable (there are several good reasonable restaurants close - we can give you suggestions) and drive the 10 minutes or so to the airport, getting there maybe 6:30-7. This gives you plenty of time if something unexpected happens (traffic, car, weather, etc.). Totally different approach but if you have the time it would be nice start to your vacation!
Have fun however you go!

 

[Christine]

Agree that Rt. 15 should be easier (traffic wise) than around the Beltway, especially on a Friday when rush hour can start early.
Here's another suggestion...... leave home early, say noon, drive down and visit the new Smithsonian Air and Space Museum - the Udvar Hazey Center. It's just a few miles south of Dulles and a really neat museum! No entry fee, $12 to park. Spend a couple of hrs. with the planes (there's a Concorde and Space Shuttle there among others), go up in the "control tower" which overlooks the Dulles runways. Then catch an early dinner nearby since Dulles food is pretty predictable (there are several good reasonable restaurants close - we can give you suggestions) and drive the 10 minutes or so to the airport, getting there maybe 6:30-7. This gives you plenty of time if something unexpected happens (traffic, car, weather, etc.). Totally different approach but if you have the time it would be nice start to your vacation!
Have fun however you go!

That's a great idea. I know if I was driving in from PA on a Friday at rush hour, I would not want to cut it that close. When you leave PA at 4:00 p.m. you are going to come crashing right into DC rush hour. Not saying that it will take you 4 hours, but you just never know around here. I like Pluto Pony's idea of coming down early and doing something else. This will ensure that you are there for your flights.

 

[cruiseonmagic]

Just used IA for Spring Break trip. Had a 5-hour delay on the trip home due to "weather". No other airline had delays and the earlier flight (same route) only had a 1-hour delay - left when ours was supposed to leave. Plane was there, crew was there - except for the pilot. Don't know why it took 5 hours to get a pilot on site. I guess you get what you pay for!

UMTerp

In general, most people have no idea how an airline runs. You don't know where the flight that was delayed originated. It could have gone ORD, EWR, IAD, MCO. and a storm or delays in any part of the route would have thrown the schedule off, so the pilot wasn't where he was supposed to be. Pilots can only fly so many hours/day per faa regs. so having one ready to go, sitting in the break room doesn't happen.

As far as Independence Air, if you have ever flown on a United Express flt in your area, then you've flown IA. IA used to be atlantic coast airlines. I've never had a problem with them.

 

[momsmall]

We traveled on Independence Air in January from Dulles to MCO. Had to change our tickets a week prior to leaving due to son's hockey schedule. It could not have been a better experience and we saved 20.00 to boot even with the 25.00/ticket cost to change. We had a slight delay upon our return to Dulles at MCO due to the inauguration but crew did what they could to lighten the mood. Played games and gave away credit to be used on a future flight. We are not world travelers, but fly as a family about 3 times a year. One of the nicest flights that we have had in a long time. Will be using them once again for a mother/ daughter trip in June. Was able to get the 49.00 rate to depart and 64.00 for return. It doesn't get much more economical than that.

 

[n2mm]

I haven't flown them yet, but have been having major issues with them today. I checked my flights for July today and they are either gone or changed. I printed my confirmation with the new changes and called and told them I could not do the times they moved me too, and the Rep. told me there were no changes. So now who do I believe. When I put in my times, my old flights times are long gone. Has anyone else had this problem with their website. Their customer service folks are not too helpful either. I wanted to book a flight for my GS today, but since I don't know what flights I'm on (depending who you listen to), I can't book his flight yet.

I finally got this problem resolved. On day 2 I checked my flight times and they were still different, so I called FlyI and FINALLY, they agreed that the flights had changed. They took the liberty to change my times. The AM was OK, but the PM had me leaving 4 hours earlier. That just didn't work for me, so they moved me to a later flight (I had 3:00PM and they moved me to 6:00PM--they wanted to move me to 11:00AM). Since they made the change, they did not charge me a fee, PLUS they gave me the credit for the lower price. So I got my times and they gave me a $20 credit. THEN, I finally booked a seat for my grandson with the sale rate of $49 each way, and I was allowed to apply MY $20 credit to his fare and his rt ticket from Wash./Dulles to MCO ended up being $96. I will fly with them the end of this month. Any negative things I've heard have not been any different than things I've experienced on other carriers.

 

[LoriB]

thanks again for everyones' replies....my only option for doing this trip on friday night is to fly out of dulles at 9, leaving york, PA at 4...could maybe swing 3:30m but not a second earlier due to work schedule. do you think I can make it? I will travel 15 instead of the normal 83 route.

LoriB