Vacation Express, anyone use them yet?

[msr709]

There are 11 of us going in Aug. and we took a chance on Vacation Express out of Scranton, PA. Wondering if anyone here has used them yet, they just came to PA. TIA!

 

[mryder]

I am wondering also? We are leaving on 4/30 and will be using Vacation Express from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton airport.

 

[msr709]

I'm bumping to see if anyone used them yet!

 

[Superman]

I am scheduled on Vacation Express for May and October. However, I was at the airport last week for a flight to LA and my connection to Philadelphia left about the same time as the Vacation Express flight to Orlando (8:00am). The line to get through security was a disaster. Tip - Get there EARLY!


--------------------------------------------------------

1989 - Hilton
1994 - Holiday Inn
1997 - Embassy Suites
2002 - Doubletree Suites
2003 - Springhill Suites
2003 - Swan
Jan. 2004 - Sheraton Vistana Resort
Jan. 2004 - Grand Floridian
May 2004 - Dolphin
July 2004 - Fairfield Inn
August 2004 - Swan
Oct. 2004 - Undecided

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Today was the debut of Vacation Express from the Youngstown airport.
Its flight to Orlando was delayed 1 hr 20 mintes because of the weather here(snow).

 

[msr709]

Originally posted by Nick@ VB+OKW
Today was the debut of Vacation Express from the Youngstown airport.
Its flight to Orlando was delayed 1 hr 20 mintes because of the weather here(snow).

That's hardly their fault. Anyone use them out of Wilkes Barre/Scranton yet?

 

[MaryKatesMom]

How are the planes? Old?

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Bump

 

[RUDisney]

I met a woman from Clarks Summit in the Steamtown Mall on Friday in line for the bunny pictures. She had just returned from WDW on Monday. She said that the planes were very clean and nice and that everything was on time.

I mentioned the DIS to her so she could join us, too. I told her that there was a MaryKatesMom on the boards and she thought she might know you. PM me if you want to know her name, MKM.

It's a small world. She lived close to many of our friends in CS.

 

[Carlnne]

Todays flight from Youngstown, OH to Sanford that was scheduled to take off around 2:30 had not taken off by 10:30PM. Many upset passengers spent Easter in an airport! Delay was blamed on mechanical problems with the plane coming in from Scranton PA.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Yikes. We just bought our tickets for a trip in August on Sat, and then hear the news about mechanical problems Sunday night. This isn't going to sit well with my not-crazy-about flying mother.

I'm nervous that the airline is going to fold and there goes our tickets.

I was really excited about a non-stop to Orlando from Wilkes-Barre-Scranton. Usually we have a change of planes in either Pittsburgh or Philly. I was thrilled about leaving at 8AM and getting into Fl at 10:30 instead of a 6AM and arriving 10:30 plus avoiding the hassle of getting small children through a change of planes.

Not to mention Usair ran out of breakfast in December on the flight down. Probably wouldn't have been a problem if my 4yrold hadn't heard the announcement about Oreo's.

 

[Pollyann]

RUDisney - thanks for the info about Vacation Express. I was glad to here that the planes are nice. I also saw the news about the Easter flight problems. I hope that's the exception and not the rule. On the news last night it was reported that it was some type of fuel pump problems and that the flight left in the afternoon with a new plane. They also reported that the last 48 flights were on time.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

They were on the news again this morning because another flight did not show up on time. One gentleman described the trip as fine while another woman compared it to National Lampoon's Vacation.

They will be in the news in NEPA for awhile because they just started flying here in April. Although I've been on USair and Conair flights that haven't gone smoothly that isn't news so take what you here with a grain of salt.

 

[msr709]

Well I guess mechanical problems happen to ALL airlines, and I would rather they delay or even cancel the flight that has some mechanical difficulty then find out at 10,000 ft in the air!! I'd rather be safe than sorry. I know all airlines have these troubles once in a while, I don't think they would fold because of it unless its habitual. I'm keeping the faith that everything will go smoothly!

 

[Pollyann]

Me too!

 

[Mskanga]

Tuesday, April 13, 10:15 a.m.
By Rob Stewart
Delay Means Free Tickets for Fliers
Email to a Friend Printer Friendly Version

Some holiday travelers had an extended vacation but not by choice. Their flight on Vacation Express from Florida was delayed a full day. Now the company is offering free tickets to those who were delayed Sunday.

A representative for the company defended the airline after its sixth delay in just a month of flying. The 85 customers of Vacation Express finally got home Monday afternoon, a day late. It was the airline's sixth delay in a month.

"Well, we went on Vacation Express and it turned into National Lampoon's Easter vacation!" said Natalie Lucke of Dalton.

"They took care of us. It was a good airline. I think they did a good job. I'll fly them again, certainly," said Mark Nauman of Mount Pocono.

Vacation Express representative Jim Gallagher said his airline is on the right track and will fly high. "We know that during the first month of operations here we've had some growing pains. We're trying to work the systems out so that we can prevent them in the future, so that you don't have the delays," explained Gallagher.

Nearly 100 flights are scheduled to take off from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport on Vacation Express each month. Gallagher said with only six delays so far, Vacation Express is doing better than the other carriers there.

"But we ask you to be patient with us because we're going to improve our systems throughout the course of our time," added Gallagher.

"We stayed in a nice hotel and stuff. A lot of people complained but they gave us free tickets and it wasn't all that bad," said traveler Tracy Martin of Taylor.

Vacation Express will give passengers a free, round trip ticket for travel until September 30th for use between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Orlando.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

The only reason Vacation Express is in the news is because they just started flying. I've been delayed in and out of Avoca many times and that just isn't a story.

I think it is wonderful that they are giving those passengers free tickets. The other airlines out of the airport didn't do that.

 

[msr709]

Thanks for the post Mskanga, you've renewed my faith! LOL! I just spoke to my boss who came back from FL flying on American and he had a 10 1/2 trip home (that should have been 2 1/2 hrs. flt.) because of delays so it just proves that it happens to all of them. I'm not going to worry about it. It is a new airline so we have to give them some slack, at least they are trying to compensate the passengers, (which they don't have to). Thanks again for all the replies.

 

[mryder]

I leave for Disney 2 weeks Friday on Vacation Express out of AVP. I will post how it all went when we return on May9th.

I saw the Easter thing on the news, they did finally take off from AVP at 2PM. It was a fuel pump problem, According to the news, the part was special order and would take a few days to come in. So they got another plane to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The owner of the airline even showed up.

Minor delays are common, 6 in one month is good as far as I am concerned.

 

[leslieh]

My DD last spring break (03) flew out of the BWI to Cancun on Vacation Express (a package trip), the trip down was fine, they stopped somewhere along the way to p/u. Then the trip back was like a nightmare, they were suppose to get in BWI 5 p.m. got in 2:30 a.m. the next day. Supposedly a bird flew into the plane, then the pilot was over hours, they flew a pilot down from atlanta to fly them back, gave each person a rt certificate back to Cancun only in one year, not during holidays, spring break etc. Needless to say they never got to use it. Most of this was not their fault, just a wierd situation. By the way where was the co-pilot?